ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Nuggets 1/30/2013

And you cook a lot of chicken fried steak!

 

LOL!

 

LOF Legion, I need Lin highlights, is it up yet?

 

Too easy.

 

Rockets lose a game and Clutchfans are all upset again. Losing a game in Denver is a very common thing for all NBA teams. I thought the Rockets played pretty well for much of the game, and then the Nuggets were the better team at the end. I guess people will second guess the coaching all day long, but in the end their players beat our players. Oh, and by the way, every fan base in every city thinks the coach of their teams is completely inept. Fans always think they know more than the coaches, it's really hilarious.

Playing in Denver is tough. The thin air really is an advantage for the home team. Maybe the thin air got to the Rockets in the 4th quarter, I don't know. It's one loss, big deal. I think Denver is a better team than the Rockets this season. Maybe in the next few years, after some trades and after our team grows up a bit, the Rockets might be the better team. But right now we just aren't good enough to win consistently on the road against good teams. This is what a rebuilding team looks like.

 

after every game people have to only talk about jeremy lin for 5 pages of nothing smh

 

We got to cut down unnecessary TOs, 6-7 per game from one player is plainly too many.

Any don't complain about coach, this is his style, not he was purposely doing something to piss LOF off, hehe. You ask McHale to change his style, might just change him.

 

To be honest, most fans are upset not because the Rockets have lost a winnable road game, but how it was lost. Every coach makes mistakes, but McFail stands out because he keeps making the same mistakes again, again and again. If you think about it, it is getting worse.

1. Player development, McFail fails to utilize his players. Overused Harden.
I don't believe at this point, players are inspired to play for the coach. As a lot of fans here said before, young players need guidance, need clearly defined role to develop. They need encourage, to be hold accountable. His team doesn't have those identity.

2. In game management, I don't want to start this, need check my blood pressure now. He really knows how to mess up his players rhythm, and confuse them. Sometimes the players don't know what the coach expect from them, just not consistent.

3. Game plan, I doubt he really cares. His game plan is so predictable, for that losing streak is all about Harden's ISOs. What surprises us is that that pony show had gone on for so long. Now the team is on its feet again, but he has not changed a bit, team basketball for him is just a temporary patch thing to save his heavily ISO game. He depends on his assistant coach to much to run this team. The other things like timeouts, substitutes are just too much pain to talk about.

McHale looks like a nice loveable guy, but not for this team as a coach to succeed.

 

Yes, Denver is the better team. Many of us know and acknowledge that.

Yes, there was a good chance we would lose.

However, the issue is not that we lost but HOW we ended up losing.

I think that many of us have said for some time that TD should NEVER be running the Point without Lin, Harden or Beverly on the floor. TD has skills, but being a serious facilitator is NOT one of them.

I think it was clear to many of us that the presence of Asik on the floor late in the game is absolutely necessary against a team like Denver that was a good rebounding team and had multiple players with strong driving skills.

I think it was clear to many of us that Harden is playing too many minutes. You can't average 40 minutes all season long without risking injury and serious drop offs in performance.

Yet McHale still plays Harden for 42 minutes, Asik still was sitting for vital parts of the game to close out in the 4th quarter, and TD was still allowed to run wild in the 3rd quarter without Lin, Harden or Beverly on the floor.

And yes, there is always going to be critics of coaches, however that doesn't mean that criticism of coaches is never justified.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that nobody is out to get you...

 

Chandler had a pretty rough stretch there in the 4th Q, and dug us too deep a hole. We need to sub more frequently when we're at mile-high games-- especially when a player's made a "tired" mistake. Sometimes I think our players should ask to come out of the game more.

 

This man is imbued with wisdom.

 

In our current stretch of wins, what's the average of pts against the teams we beat??? It seems that we can't win close games except for the Bobcats one..

 

http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20130130&game=HOUDEN

Generally, the points slipped towards Denver when Asik got winded (points started decreading) and sat, with the exception of the end of the 2nd Qtr when it was Lin, Parsons, Patterson, Harden, Morris.

Probably the reason why they didn't go back to it was because Harden needed a break. In theory, the slide could have been less extreme had Lin been in with perhaps either Delfino or Douglas.

 

Response

Yes, most posters expected Rockets to do not so well at the beginning of this season. They are not doing badly, so as long as their record is above 50%, I am not going to say Mac is doing terrible job. I just think sometimes Mac doesn't seem to have a close connection with the pulse of the game and takes too much of a gamble to get a "spark". Also, who knows what Sampson is telling him? As long as Lin plays over 30 minutes per game, no complaints from me, but I really do think Mac is running Harden to the ground with too much playing.

 

[ESPN Daily Dime Recap] written by "he who shall not be named"

MVP: Danilo Gallinari. He began the game giving Chandler Parsons (an above-average on-ball defender) major trouble, then spearheaded a huge Nuggets run in the fourth quarter with several key 3-pointers, finishing with a game-high 27 points in only 34 minutes of action.

That was … commanding: In the second quarter, Omer Asik swatted a Ty Lawson layup attempt so hard against the backboard that it led to an immediate 2-on-1 fast break for Houston the other way. The scorekeeper didn't give him an assist, but Asik certainly deserved one.

X factor: Late in the third quarter, Rockets coach Kevin McHale subbed Carlos Delfino in for Asik in an attempt to match up with Denver's versatile small-ball strategy. The move backfired, as the Nuggets went on a 17-0 run, turning a close game into somewhat of a route.

 

I guess it's not just the fans who notice stuff like this...

 

I must admit that some of the stuff that Coach McHale does sometimes has me scratching my head but, ugh, how I HATE to see all these keyboard warriors disrespect him so by calling him McFail! I guess respect doesn't play well on the internet. More's the pity.

 

I don't think he has much input as far as game plan. That's mostly the assistant coaches. And they do an alright job.

Its the in-game adjustments or substitutions where McHale probably has the most say. And, well ... not so good IMO. Yesterday, it was glaringly obvious that the lineup he was trotting out there in the late 3rd and early 4th was at a serious disadvantage. Now, the score was still manageable when he got Lin and Harden back in the game, so its not all on him. But giving up 17 in a row in a critical stretch of the game ... ugh, smh.

 

Response

Do I think Rockets would do better with another coach such as Sloan or GK? Yes.

Do I think Mac has some agenda against Lin? Got no proof, so I have to say "no". Maybe it's tough love sort of thing. For example, I think T Jones should be played more, but he ain't getting any minutes either.

Do I think Mac properly utilizes Lin's strengths? No. But at the same time, I can't say it's necessarily bad to control playing minutes of a player who has never played a single complete season. What I would like to see is let Mac play Lin longer when he's doing well and let Harden rest. I personally think Harden should play around 35 minutes per game.

 

Yo durvasa. I really want to steal the advanced stats row in your sig (for some time now). Would that piss you off or do you not care?