ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Thunder 11/28/2012

What are we trying to do this season ? What is the goal ? Is it to develop these players or is it to try and get a lottery pick ? Is management even set on trying to make the playoffs. I ask because if they were really serious about making the playoffs they would have signed Livingston to be the backup and not Toney Douglas. Whenever we win a game I start worrying that we're ruining our draft pick. Obviously at this point of the season we're almost 0.500 and hence we really won't be able to compete with teams like the Wizards and the Raptors for those top 3 draft picks.

 

woah, did you guys hear? OKC just sent J Lamb down to the d league

 

IMHO the most distressing part of last night's fiasco was TJ's ineptitude.

 

not suprising...dude has looked lost every time he's played. Not ready yet

 

Very little minutes..nothing to be alarmed about. But some of us did warn clutchfans about putting him on a throne without seeing much from him. He'll take his lumps just like every other rookie. It happens

 

I don't get the whole he is being passive thing either. It isn't just Lin though that you see this with it is with a lot of players. NBA fans overrate tough shots. You see guys like Kobe who take contested fadeaway jumpers & people worship them for it. But then you see other players who just play smart basketball & they hardly get any praise. It is all so foolish.

Same thing with player x is more tough than player y. How the hell do you measure toughness? Or BBIQ. People overrate all these unquantifiable characteristics.

 

Even though the loss was expected considering the emotional and physical fatigue our guys went through. There were still many flaws that are important to point out. I felt coach Sampson is incompetent with in game adjustment. First it was a mistake to let Harden guarding Durant. That's when the game got out of control in late first qtr. And then there was Cook who thought he was Kobe. Not blaming him trying to show off given the opportunity, but he's not a PG. All he needed to do was give the ball to Lin or Harden and pick n slash to an open area like Parsons does, he would've had a huge night. 3rd, rockets players need to come out and help when our guards being double teamed which was every single time when Harden and Lin touched the ball. 4th, Harden was forcing and pressing too much against 2 or 3 defendants which always doesn't end well. All in all, it was the coach's fault that he didn't instruct our players to adjust OKC's defense. One thing that's comforting is that PP shows he can be a consistent mid range shooter but he needs to be tougher on defense and rebounding. Finally I think this Houston team will have bright future. Last night's game was actually closer before the garbage time at the end.

 

We surely look a lot more composed when our glue guy plays. Hope his shoulder gets better soon!

 

Lin had plenty of P&R's, they just doubled every P&R so it never got anywhere.

 

When a player passes off of the PNR when it is being doubled. It is up to the next guy to make the right decision quickly. He has to make the next pass that would lead to a wide open bucket. Lin was making the right pases This is where Chandler was missed. Chandler would have made the right decision.

 

I guess I'm the only one that takes away some positives from this game. I mean we were pretty much in the entire game until halfway through the fourth quarter:

1. Without any time to rest (flying MN then directly to OkC)
2. Without Harden's normal play
3. Without Chandler Parson's
4. Without our true head coach.

We were in it until the end against the reigning WCF champs, while missing a few pieces - nothing to be ashamed of.

 

Yeah he looked really lost. I was like who is that kid doing dumb ****. Jones & Harden's play was disappointing. But Jones is a rookie so it is to be expected. Harden just needs to be smarter no excuses for him. He was just dumb last night.

I can't wait until we play Brooklyn. They will try to aggressively trap the PNR's. There defenders aren't as good as OKC though. I think Lin & Harden & Parsons would make quicker decisions then. I really want us to destroy the Nets.

 

nope, not just you. i agree. i'm proud of the way our team played.

 

I also thought the players play their hearts out good or bad. It's just that there's still things and decision that can be greatly improved regardless players' talent and effort. This game was on the coach.

 

A healthy dose of Parson would have done wonders imo, passing out of the double teams would have made them pay. After he slammed a few and laid a few in that would have changed pronto.

Plus the fact they were sleeping on the gym floor before the game from exhaustion says a lot. Rockets get a pass on this one. Saturday night is time to defend the home court against the Utah ...well u know.

 

I kind of disagree. If Parsons there hey would have had to stop trapping on the PNR. Or they would have continued trapping & forced Parsons Asik & Patterson to beat them. I think they would have continued with the latter to be honest. There goal from the beginning was to stop James & Lin Durant said as much. I am really excited for the Utah game I think we will beat them in Toyota center.

 

There was nothing distressing about last night's game, and it certainly wasn't a fiasco. The Rockets played about how I think we should have expected them to play. Playing a back to back, traveling for 24 hours, no parsons, playing the best team in the West, what did you really expect? TJones played all of 2 minutes and 26 seconds. TJones has had almost no playing time and then gets thrown into a game against the best team in the Western Conference, and then plays poorly. Not really a surprise. I'm not worried about TJones or the Rockets. They played hard on a difficult day and that's enough for me.

 

Parsons is the only player on our team that makes Durant work on both sides of the court. not saying it would have changed the end result, but him out there definitely increases our odds.

 

I agree. I remember Parsons play on KD & Kobe last year. I was talking more from OKC's end. Parsons wouldn't have impacted how OKC defended the back court. With Parsons there, KD would have definitely had to work harder to get his shot off. Parsons also would have scored a **** ton of points last night at a better efficiency than Cook. But Lin & Harden would have still been trapped.

 

Excellent Post!