ClutchFans Game Thread: Hornets @ Rockets 2/5/2026

they’re trying to rewrite history, and they’re crazy if they think we’re all here desperately waiting for his return

they talk like we got Jayson Tatum out with injury

 

****en lol

 

These be trying times.

 

Yeah the crazy thing is Boston is still better than us without Tatum

And they made moves to get better

 

This type of loss would generally upset me but i got a deal on a 5070 ti at msrp earlier today so im chillin.

16gb of vram lets go!

 

You can’t beat them aussies.

 

after the way Alpi tried to throw JG under the bus during his Inside The NBA Pregame interview I’m happy he’s being exposed cause he will do it to other teammates also

 

where at tho?

 

I don't think of "Fred" as a person but rather as a concept. To me, "Fred" is any average NBA point guard, any of whom would greatly improve this team bereft of same. We need a Fred and not necessarily the Fred. Any Fred would do at this time.

 

Sengun saying that the difference is Fred makes him look more pathetic than he already is

Shouldn’t you be stepping up your game? Shouldn’t you be trying to carry the team?

instead you embarrass yourself and drop 7 points on 3-11 shots after giving us 13 on 5-12 last night

Tatum went out for the season, and Brown elevated his game

instead we’re sitting here crying over the loss of freaking Stephen Adams and Mid VanVleet because we’re apparently lost without them…lost without 2 dudes that aren’t even top 50 players in this league while you’re the supposed “All Star”

 

sengun is saying this because they were spamming Fred & Sengun pick n' roll last year

with fred out, no one on the roster to spam the pick n' roll with.

 

The Rockets were 11-11 without FVV, yes they lost bad games, but that is bound to happen. I mean, we just lost to the Celtics...who played the night before...that had multiple players out...at home. I'm not sure there is a worst loss than that last season or this season. That should have easily been a scheduled loss for the Celtics.

It's only been like 3 games but the Rockets actually look just fine without KD funnily enough, they don't look helpless and lost or like this terrible team, they just move the ball more and play like a team. They are undefeated without him.

I do think there is something to that, most of the offense is just watching KD Iso, this is not even something new if you look at Suns fans they were saying the same thing last year and its not like Harden Iso that came with a lot of assists...it instead comes with a lot of TOs.

I also don't want anything to do with Giannis. We're going to turn into the Clips or Nets, a team ring chasing with aging all-stars...yeah I miss the young hungry Rockets of last year.

 

He should just bench him and tell him if he doesn't buck up he can watch the team play.

It's what Pop would do, exactly. He needs to maintain a standard that if you are not giving effort you do not play. Period. He's the one that tolerates it so often then complains about it post game. His mentor would literally just sit starters for the whole game to teach them a lesson. You don't give effort, you don't play, you don't get your stats.

 

Also I'm not saying the team is better without KD but the mentality of the team with KD is just stand around and watch him ISO, it's force feed KD, let him carry the team. I feel like its strangling the rest of the team, everyone is just so used to him getting to his spots, hitting his shots, so there is no movement, no work to be done, IDK, someone earlier said they play like a team that's expecting to win and I agree to a point. They play like a team that thinks KD is going to bail them out.

I've said for a while now that I wish KD took a week or so off, not wishing for injury or anything, but I'd like to actually see our young guys just try to win games without him or relying on him.

 

That's the thing... which is a bigger indictment on coaching. Regression.

Posters keep forgetting Rockets were blowing out teams earlier this year (thirteen 15-point victories before Jan 2nd). OKC had the insane point-diff, but Rockets were 2nd by a mile. Since Jan 2nd, ONE 15-point victory. Rockets are now almost 4th and their differential is 40% of December's number.

We are witnessing a team deteriorate, mid-season, right in front of our eyes. That's the clearest sign of a coaching/internal issue.

 

I keep thinking about Codman’s post about the team meetings where it was announced that KD should always get the last shot and that Alpi took that the hardest.

Alpi had a super summer in FIBA, starts the season strong, and (if the rumor is true) then our idiot coach basically tells him “I don’t trust you to win us games.” Obviously, giving KD the final shot will often be the right call, but a coach should be emphasizing that the goal should be to get a quality look. That’s coaching psychology 101, and furthermore, determining who gets the final shot shouldn’t be the topic of team meetings - it should be the topic of the huddle during the time out before the final possession. But as we’ve all observed. Ime doesn’t call plays - he just barks at everyone to hustle and play harder. It’s his lack of coaching that causes this to be an issue in the first place. And then to add the cherry on top of this, we don’t have a point guard to ensure the right guy gets the last shot.

I think Alpi is the most frustrated because more than anyone, his game would benefit from a more sophisticated offensive scheme. Put him in an offense designed by Dantoni, and you’d see the full display of his powers. But under Ime, he’s a center who rarely gets the ball in his ideal spots - instead, he’s having to create from the perimeter while Amen and sometimes even Jabari’s man pack the paint due to their inconsistent (or nonexistent) shooting. It’s just a complete waste of his talent, and I believe it’s caused him to lose focus and motivation. It doesn’t excuse bad effort like tonight’s but even if he hustles like Okogie, I don’t think we’d be seeing a much better team.

What is clear to me that this team is now KD’s and all development has been made a secondary priority to him pumping up those career stats. Sure he’s an automatic bucket when he’s on but he really doesn’t elevate the play of his teammates at all. Hes a one man show just like Harden was, just older, even more selfish and more prone to stupid turnovers. Asking him to be a leader now when it’s clear he’s never demonstrated an ounce of leadership is a fool’s errand.

If the team continues to flounder through the rest of the season, I’m sure we’ll see some combo of Alpi, Reed and other players traded for Giannis in the offseason It won’t make us a better team - two ball dominant divas together are often less than the sum of their parts - and soon we will be rebuilding again

 

But is he wrong though? I mean you have to tell your teammate to get his **** together sometimes if he keeps ****ing up, right?

 

I will agree to disagree about VanVleet’s importance last year. The Rockets would have been a lottery team without him because they did not have a competent backup (just like this season). They had a high-school level collapse under two minutes left against a terrible Nets team in Brooklyn because they literally could not inbound the basketball. They also lost easily to that same Nets’ team at home without VanVleet. That Nets team was far worse than the Celtics team they played last night.

I do agree last year’s Rockets last year were fun to watch, but for them to actually win in the playoffs, one of Sengun, Thompson or Jalen Green needed to become a franchise player. At this point, I have my doubts any of them get there. Sengun is in his fifth year and Thompson his third, and neither has fixed their shooting weakness. That’s a big red flag. Jalen Green shrunk in his first playoff experience and couldn’t regularly score efficiently.

Finally, I disagree that the Rockets looked fine on Monday beating a 13-38 Pacers team missing Tyrese Halliburton 118-114 without Durant. If anything, it shows how much they miss VanVleet and need Durant without him.

 

My point was the old Sengun would come out breathing fire after copping a cook from a coach or a teammate.

Now he just says **** it and plays even less hard. The team stopped doing the little things to help each other that win games a long time ago. We needed a trade in the worst way but apparently it's just not our year.

GODDAMMIT SILAS!

 

Snagged a 5070 for $450 just before Christmas

Felt like getting the last train out of the city before the nuclear bomb hit