ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Mavericks 3/6/2013

There was a recent post---wish I knew where it was, if it was an article or a native of Minnesota (TWolves fan?) or both---talking about McHale's tenure there as a coach. He doesn't know how to call plays, he just doesn't.

I think Morey's thinking was, Okay, hire McHale for $2,000,000 a year, then surround him with playcaller assistants.

Except, in the heat of a game, it's gonna come down to McHale to substitute players (he's horrific at this) and pretty much choose the "plays" that go down anyway. McHale's favorite play? "Harden Please Save Us."

I'm sure the players like McHale---he's not a yeller, he teaches, etc.

But what they need is not my mom----funny, irreverent, but NO DISCIPLINE---but, rather, my dad. I love the guy, he's funny and cool and whatnot, but he pretty much laid down the law when I was a kid. "I ever find out you're using drugs, I will break every bone in your body, and I won't miss a one." Didn't matter if it was true. I believed it.

That's the kind of coach they need, not, "Well, Jeremy made another slight mistake, I'll go ahead and passive-aggressively sit him and put in Beverly."

Unfortunately, I don't see Phil Jackson moving to Houston, nor is Pop available.... (sigh)

 

The Rockets are going to lose some games like this. The Mavs were at home and playing the Rockets for the second straight game. Dirk is improving and the Mavs are not THAT bad.

The playoffs are still going to be tough, someone is going to be left out and it very well could be the Rockets.

The game came down to a couple calls and near misses... Makes me shake my head but cannot really blame anyone. The Rockets are not good enough to win at 80%.

Harden had a rough shooting night but like an elite player, still put up 28/9 with only 2 turnovers. Parsons was good, and Beverley and Lin and Asik did their job.

 

Highly entertaining game. Disappointed with the loss, but it was an interesting game. I thought Dallas played a really good game, and I'm surprised it was as close as it was.

I know many people are going to second guess McHale as they always do, but I don't have a problem with the rotations or anything else. McHale has all these new players and he's trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. I thought Beverley and TRob really provided a spark in the second half, so I understand McHale leaving those guys in until the end of the game.

The 4th quarter was rather intense and we saw some great hustle on defense for a change. I'm really surprised that McHale went with TRob as long as he did, and I'm thinking he is seeing something in TRob that he really likes. Look, the truth is that the Rockets have to improve on defense in order to compete against the top teams. McHale is trying to find a combination of players that can stop the other team. The first half was horrible with the Mavs getting easy layups and points in the paint. I was glad to see McHale experiment with different player combinations in the second half to improve the defense.

I know some people are going to be unhappy with Harden and the offense the last couple of minutes. I would have liked to have seen more ball movement, but let's face it Harden has come through for us late in games many time this season. Harden had made 16 free throws in the game, so I'm not going to complain about something that has worked well all season long.

Omer had a great rebounding night, but missing all those free throws really hurt us. I think his poor free throw shooting is a big part of why he wasn't on the floor at the end.

Anyway, I think the team can learn a lot from this game.

 

Personally i think its his defensive presence...Personally, I think TRob played his best game this season including Sacramento...He was huge...It was more of our offensive counter...Cant gamble on our offense and thats what Mchale did...You cant say "this set is providing me better defense/better energy" when the strength of our team is outscoring people...you put your best offensive weapons out there on the court...and Beverley and TRob arent as effective as Omer and Lin...Its what we needed to win...scoring...bc we couldnt stop Mayo or Dirk down the stretch...and we were only able to rely on Harden...that isnt winning basketball coaching...and if the Rockets do miss out on the playoffs, it will cost Mchale his job...

 

I think the team can learn a lot from this game. Are you sure about this? :grin:

 

Yup.

Then he bangs on about passing the ball and the ball sticking, and he advocates hero ball at the end, it's so face palm!!!

He did look totally stressed out in the post game interview!!!

 

Also personally, i think TRob will make our defense so much better...so i think its time to start TRob, and have DMo come off the bench and run with Beverley Delfino, and Garcia...This way, you can operate off the post with DMo, and have excellent spot up shooters on the court...

Start with : Lin, Asik, Parsons, TRob and Harden
Bench Rotation: Delfino, Garcia, DMo, Beverley, and Smith.

I can promise you this...TRob's addition to the starting lineup may actually make our defense much more better...Omer needs a true PF, and that is what TRob is...

 

I for one am not happy to see Mchale experiment...We're trying to make a run for the playoffs man, and Lakers are gaining...

Experimenting is reserved for the beginning of the season pre All Star Break.

We've seen, coach Mchale has seen Lin and Asik all season long, and he doesn't trust the two to close out the game for him and relies on Trob (I actually like him, but the guy is really for next season) who's been pretty average over Asik (2nd league rebounder, best defender, great picks, interior presence.) and Patrick over Lin. Patrick came in obviously for Douglas, but the guy cannot control the game, he's great at some facets of the game and unless he improves controlling the tempo he will forever stay a backup energy PG.

Donuts has played well but has only been playing since post all star and trade.

The seasons has essentially been built by:

Lin
Harden
Asik
PPAt (Gone)
Delfino
Parsons
Douglas (Gone)
G Smith to a smaller extent.

How can you not trust your guys who's been with you for the whole season...it should be a no brainer by now. Unless they were playing astonishing bad...you need your starters to close out the games, not rely on one guy to close it out....Harden is great, but he ain't MJ and even MJ needed team mates...

Last 5 minutes of ISO ball was painful to watch and is so different to the way Houston plays most of the game.

 

As much as I love Beverley, no way should he be playing the entire fourth quarter. He had 0 points, I mean nobody should be playing a consistent full quarter, espicially not a player fresh from D-league.

Not trusting your starters in crunchtime is not going to work during the playoffs.

 

When we go iso heavy, we are not at our best. The losing streaks that we've had has already shown us that a spread offense typically with Lin running the point works best. Tonight is yet another example of many. I know that many posters are sick of the Lin fanboys and all, but if they can't see that, I don't know what else to call it but willful ignorance or compromised objectivity. There was a game where Lin was sat in favor of Beverley and it was a good call. A sound decision which nearly everyone could clearly see. This game wasn't that game. Our offense stagnated like you wouldn't believe and anyone could've seen that we needed someone else to relieve the burden on Harden. Anyone.

I love Harden, and I want the ball in his hands at the end of the game but not for 5-6 minutes! That's unfair to Harden. He's less efficient and less dangerous when he has to play the point and be the scorer especially when there is noone else to give him a rest every other play.

Sadly, I don't think Mchale will "learn" from this. I expect he will continue to sit Lin or have Lin go back to December Lin and have Harden make every play so lin doesnt make "homerun" plays all the while messing up rotations for Asik and D-Mo and running Harden into the ground. You can't "learn" until you acknowledge something is wrong and McHale doesn't seem like he feels he did anything wrong by playing 2 rookies new to the team while sitting his starters who brought him here. No, I almost guarantee he will not change what he is doing as we'll still continue to win cuz we're just that talented (I believe that we have something special with our team), just like most posters here who hate Lin fans will never agree that what McHale did tonight was wrong. They'll even justify sitting Asik just to not defend Lin.

 

I got to watch the last minute of the game, thanks to NBA TV. Where was Lin? I know Beverley has some good defense, but isn't this a time and place for our starting point guard? Was he fouled out or making bad decisions in the game?

 

Teams aren't always going to have great games offensively, that's when the defense wins games. The Rockets have to improve on defense to compete with the best. The Rockets are a work in progress, and most of the work needs to be done on defense. I hope McHale keeps experimenting with the rotation until he knows what works best. If we make the playoffs we need to know what works and what doesn't. This year is the perfect time for experimentation. The Rockets aren't going to win a championship this year, but they do have an opportunity to find out what our current players are capable of and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Last nights game was interesting, because I'm more concerned about what this team does in future years as opposed to what they do this year. I want to see what players like TRob and Beverley can do in crunch time. I already know what Asik and Lin can do. For me it's all about next year and the year after. Should Beverley and TRob be a part of our future plans? Games like the one last night helps us answer some of those questions. Earlier this year I said this season should be like a very long pre-season, where we find out what players are capable of so we know who needs to be part of our long term plans and who doesn't. Let's use this time so we can make good decisions going forward.

 

This entire season is like a pre-season for next year and the year after. Don't be so concerned about this year, focus on the future.

 

Bev didnt just play the whole fourth. He played the last 15 mins straight. TRob played the last 17.5 mins straight from the third quarter.

That makes zero sense to me. Even Harden doesnt get that might straight burn let alone Lin or Asik.

 

From a psychological point of view, it does indicate that McHale held some grudge against something related to Lin. Either he felt he was unfairly pressured to play Lin against his own judgment, or he was annoyed by some of Lin's plays, and he was simply too proud to give it up for the sake of the team.

At some point of the 4th quarter, it was pretty clear that the offense became stagnant, and having both Lin and Harden on the court would open a lot of things up, and there were a few timeouts during that time. McHale simply didn't adjust, or refused to do so.

 

What answers did you get by watching them play the entire 4th over Lin and Asik. Just curious.

 

McHale will get fired. Morey and Les isn't going to let 50 million worth of assets sit on the bench.

 

He was playing too good, so McHale benched him as usual.

 

For those that think the Rockets iso'd too much in the end of the 4th quarter and ALSO believe that Mchale made the correct decision in sticking with Beverly do not understand that when Lin runs pg is when the Rockets move away from iso ball the most.

 

Yeah I kind of have to agree. Also we went away from our running game in the 4th & descended into half court stuff & no way we were beating dallas in the half court game.

The entire match it was clear that Dallas had us doing exactly what they wanted. McHale needed to make the necessary adjustments so that we could get Dallas on there heels. I think back to back matchups like this are a great way to parsse good coaches from bad coaches. McHale is a lot more the latter than the former.