ClutchFans Game Thread: Blazers @ Rockets 11/3/2012

Lillard would've been the perfect fit beside Harden

 

Yeah I am still really baffled by McHale not calling a time out for that last shot. Like even Pop called a TO in the Spurs OKC game to run a final play that got Parker wide open for a 3. This is the Spurs we are talking about a veteran team. To expect the youngest team in the NBA to execute end of game possessions effectively without a TO is baffling to me. Not blaming McHale just thought it was odd.

 

Same with Durant and Westbrook. Oh wait...

 

Did anyone else notice PPat was -29 +/-

discuss....

I think its time for jones to get his shot....-29 is not a coincidence, for goodness sake Asik was only -6. That is insanity in a game that went to OVERTIME. I mean charlotte lost by 27 tonight and no player had a +/- over -17

 

Playing devils advocate, I smell another trade in the works and Morey wants people to forget about our rooks and ur Morris' and aldridges (etc) of the world are being showcased.

2-1

At least I hope that's what they're doing.

Otherwise.....Mc needs to be shown the door.

 

Nothing to be ashamed of, we shot 35% and 5 for 26 on 3-pointers. Most teams will lose, yet we went to OT. We have consistency in rebounding, as long as we have that, we will win more games than lose.

 

My thoughts on the game:

Umm... should've they have won when Harden had his hand hit right before the buzzer? Refs should've called a foul; really bothered me that Bill/Clyde/etc kept praising them by saying "they're lettin' them play this year!" Ugh.

Hate on Douglas's offense and missed shots all you want (I agree--his offense was awful), but I think his defense can be really useful in the future. Dude really guarded Lillard well. People always refer to Lin as being "fast"; actually, in this case, the shorter, quicker-footed Douglas is actually "faster" than Lin--that's how he kept up with Lillard. I doubt they would've tied it up before OT had it not been for his D. I think they should've kept him on Lillard (and either put Lin elsewhere or taken him out temporarily).

Wow. Harden just... It was so painful watching him gas out. I really hope he recovers and rips **** up in their next game. I don't know though--they say superstars should be able to keep up with this kind of exertion every night though (I think Larry Bird had some quote about this, forgot). I guess he's been on the bench while at OKC for too long--hopefully he can acclimate himself to the superstar, full-time exertion role.

Asik seems to have a lot of trouble finishing strong on offense. Oh well... hope he gets better.

McHale just...I won't even go there. I swear, a ton of ClutchFans members can do a better job than him...

 

It's very frustrating for me to watch Douglas because I've watched him all of last year with the Knicks and he's no different this year. There's a reason why Knicks forum members are so glad he's no longer there. What is he 1 for 15 this year? He's detrimental to our offense, he can't make a layup and most of his shots are straight up bricks.

Delfino seems to be too one-dimensional as well, if his shot isn't going in he's pretty much useless. If anything, we should be shopping for a backup PG and SF instead of trying to land that all-star PF. We have a bunch of promising PFs already just riding the pine..

It bugs me that McHale continues to play guys that we know have reached their ceiling like Douglas and Patterson, while more promising prospects get no love.

 

So upset at this loss

These types of grind it out games,especially at home, against a western conference opponent have to be won. Terrible no time out by mchale and terrible refs for no call at the end of regulation. Terrible job on plays right at the rim by EVERYBODY. Absolutely this team needs lay up drills!

The bright side is being 2-1. Treat the season like baseball, just keeping winning 2 out of 3.

 

You win some, you lose some. Oh well. Gotta shoot better. Harden is still evolving as a #1 option and still getting used to heavy minutes. Not too disappointed.

 

I have ATT&T. Les doesn't want me to watch games so I have no idea what you're talking about. Hopefully by March I will.

 

Harden seemed to be so gassed in the 4th quarter the outcome was pretty much a forgone conclusion once it reached OT.

 

Get used to games like this, we are riding high off of the first two wins but this team is not much better than last years. Were going to be much more fun to watch but we just don't have all the peices yet to win game in and game out. Lillard is going to be a star in this league, portland now has to superstars.

 

This is pretty much my feelings on the night as well.

To be honest, the Rockets have yet to really implement any of their plays in practice. Right now, all they are doing is riding Harden like Seabiscut out of the pick & roll. Its worked against the lesser defenses of Detroit, Atlanta, and almost worked against a very good defensive team in Portland.

I assume if they want to win more games this year, they are going to need to go back to the drawing board in practice this week, and find easier ways to get other players involved in the offense to take pressure off of Harden. I felt tired just watching Harden from my couch. He was really gassed, but I give him credit for giving it everything he had till the end.

I guess if we can take some positives from this as fans its in the fact that the surrounding players couldn't really play much worse. The effort was there, but going 5 for 26 from 3 wont happen very often from this team. Nor will they miss who knows how many uncontested layups in a given night.

All in All its been a pretty exciting fun start to the season. Wish we could have went 3-0 to start, but hey.... 2-1 with some superstar performances isn't that bad.

 

parsons sophomore slump start early. he's doing everything else on the floor though

 

No to take anything away from Portland, but I feel that Houston could have won this game with more substitutions and better management of their time-outs. The starters were clearly gassed at the end of the 4th and during OT.

 

stop looking at the box score and watch the game

 

heart breaking lost. We were better than them - NEXT game ! go rockets!

 

My observations from this game:
- obviously Harden and most of the rest on the team ran out of gas. It was most obvious with Harden offensively but defensively everyone was a step too late at the end too. Shame too because there were so many dead leg shots that would have fallen on any other night and would have given us a win tonight.
- absolutely agree that McHale was a moron for not calling a timeout at the end of regulation.
- Harden waited way too long to take that final shot and had no choice but to pull up where he did and the defender knew it.
- Noticing a lot of the guys standing around watching Harden when he had the ball in his hands to see what he would do before making a cut. Kind of reminded me of some of the maddening side effects of the Hakeem days when the offense would stagnate. McHale has to make sure guys are still staying active off ball.
- Houston has fallen in love with the 3 ball which is fine but there were several times where a simple ball fake would have given them a much better shot. Got to work a little harder to get a good shot but this is a young team so I'm not surprised.
- Douglas is a decent defender - seemed to play Lillard much better than Lin but his offensive game is brutal.
- to comment on Delfino's lack of versatility - I think he is a somewhat useful piece but probably more so in a trade where he is basically an expiring.

...all and all it was a decent game despite the outcome. I see some real positives that could make us a legit team if we can cut down on the turnovers and get in sync offensively.

 

only was able to watch the 4th, but I felt like PPat played really well along with Lin and Parsons, while harden and asik struggled on offense