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

I think we shouldn't go overboard with the loss against Denver. Even tho rockets lost, I wasn't too upset on overall how well we played. Nuggets in there home court are tough to beat. Yes, I think Mchale may have made a mistake with his substitutions, but we will never know if it did cost the game. Overall tho, you can see how well this team is going to be once everything falls in to place. Yes, some of the posts here are correct, such as Lin should be doing more of the PG duties (which we can see is now happening on a more consistant basis) and Harden doing less unfavourable ISO situations and more passing (which we can see is happening less, and Harden has admitted he needs to do less which is a good sign). We know that Mchale also needs to trust Lin more but that will come with Lin being consistant (which will come with him doing more of the PG duties). I was worried before that Mchale was losing faith on Lin, but after the last few games, I can see he is just trying to measure and control Lin's improvement into his system as well as protecting him (he was overused last year by MDA which caused his injury). In some ways it has been an benefit for Lin, because I can now see Lin has improved on some of the weaknesses he had last year i.e. defense and keeping the dribble. I think Mchale is thinking more of the bigger picture (i.e. Next 2 years).

 

running in higher altitude vs normal altitude. is not the same thing. youre going to get tired more quickly because of the gravity pull

 

You are just kidding right? If I was Mchale, after having done all the reading here, I will be a very depressed man. :grin: You can not let those stuff to get into your brain.

 

They need to trade Lin. Some Rocket fans who obviously didnt even watch the game are arguing. yeah they lost the game but Lin stepped foot onto the floor right when gallinii already lobbed up a 3 pointer to make it by 5 so he really stepped into the game and settled into the defense when they were down 5 as the Rockets own coach even said in his post game interview that gallani threw up 2 3 pointers. that threw his coaching staff off. theres no point arguing with people who dont watch the games and comment as though they where there and the people watching on television dont know nothing.

 

Ever wonder how different the coaching would be in response to a veteran superstar like kobe, nash, etc. who spoke up more and was actually involved in calling plays at times? anyone know if those superstars on other teams have more clout with regards to how receptive the coaching staff is to accepting input from players? changing a play?

After all, Rockets have no established veteran superstars.... falling on coaching staff's deaf ears then? I remember a quote from mchale complaining how young the team was over and over again. maybe bringing in via trade or offseason a verifiable veteran star is the key to getting mchale and co. on the right page?

just a thought.

 

Really, we were leading them by 10 or so in the 3rd. And it was going to take someone on the Nuggets to play out of their mind to beat us. Well that happened in Gallo making some circus and unbelievable shots.

 

It would have been nice for Asik to make that dunk where Lin faked the shot and passed it to him. I wonder if we could have gotten the momentum if he did.

 

At least they got into the playoffs.

First of all there aren't many of them. 2nd of all there are many other players on the team - 1 player can't do it all. There are plenty of teams that won championships with PLAYERS that were pass first and who caused great team Chemistry to occur. Magic Johnson, Lary Bird, Walt Frazier, Oscar Robertson and LeBron James. The Rockets certainly play a lot better when the ball is moving and everybody is involved. Anyhow it's sure a lot more entertaining to watch then ISO ball.

 

What about Magic Johnson? What about the 2004 Detroit Pistons w/ Billups? What about Bob Cousy? What about the 1972 Knicks, Walt Frazier? If you have respect for the Clippers, like most people do, what about Chris Paul? Is he irrelevant?

 

isnt rondo a pass first pg, didnt the celtics win a championship with him in 2008?

 

haha yeah i would be depressed too if i was mchale. but still there are a lot of good comments given here, no matter how smart he is (or not), anyone can use some fresh ideas, especially from some veterans here. with all the money he makes he should have a whole team of experts monitoring this forum lol

 

How about Jason Kidd and the Mavericks in 2011?

 

Whether or not a team has all the necessary pieces to win a championship it is certainly a plus to have a pass-first point guard who gets everybody involved. I doubt any halfway knowledgeable basketball fan would deny that.

 

That sounds like something Popovich would do, which is why hes one of the best coaches around!

 

McHale needs to go i'm sorry. He never comes in prepared with a solid half court game plan so we always have to rely on running and gunning... You just don't win championships like that. We have no resemblance of a system and right now are relying way too much on Harden to create stuff for us. Add on his horrid rotations and well you don't got a very good coach.

 

Lin for Stephen Curry go go go. Make it happen bay area sport fan.

 

Did you watch NBA in the 70's? that's like 40 years of experience.

 

They say anything notable?

 

Absolutely not.

Lin can be whatever he needs to be to win a ball game. Pass-first or shoot-first. The mark of a great player.

I was just making a point that a "pass-first" backup PG isn't the answer. When has a "pass-first" backup PG ever won a championship? I don't want a backup PG who can "run a team." I want a backup PG who can shoot from the perimeter. The Rockets need the backup PG position to supply instant perimeter offense for 15-20 minutes per game, and if used properly, Douglas and/or Beverley can provide that. Right now, McHale has Douglas looking over his shoulder and that's a shame. We're not seeing the confident shooter Toney we saw prior to Beverley's arrival. When McHale tried Beverley as the team's backup PG for a stretch of games the Rockets lost most of them and the chemistry collapsed. This also affected Lin. The numbers show Lin plays better with Douglas as his backup for some reason. Not sure why, but they both came from NY and sit together on the plane.

Basically, I'd rather have a scoring PG off the bench who can shoot, than a pass-first PG like Machado who can't.

 

The higher the altitude, the less "gravity" there is actually.