ClutchFans Game Thread: Pacers @ Rockets 3/27/2013

mchale is kind of an enigma but we could do worse..., i really like doug collins as a coach especially with young teams it takes a special coach who can teach and have them play defense.

 

My Top 3 BEST takeaways from this game are:
1. Greg Smith's 18pts/19rebounds monstrous performance.
One or two more games like this should earn him the chance to start over D-Mo.
2. The 2nd team (GSmith/Bev/TRob) managed to come back especially when Hibbert was out.
3. Lin/Asik connection in early Q should be explored more as the 2nd offense when Harden struggles with his shooting.

My Top 3 WORST takeaways:
1. It is very disheartening to see the recurring slow start by the starters today. Asik and DMo got dominated inside by Hibbert and Hansbrough. Lin looked passive and made lazy passes.
2. Coaches should shoulder the blame for overplaying Harden for 42 minutes when he struggled. When he turned his ankle, my heart skipped a beat.
3. Harden went ballistic with failed 6-24 HERO mode after being the hero in the Spurs game. He was not a good teammate in a balanced attack today. But coaches should have given him a breather to reset and reload.

I thought the biggest mistake that the coaches made was not capturing the momentum that Lin/Asik made in the early Q3 by trusting Lin to run the offense while giving a chance for Harden to rest and calm down on the bench to come back strong. Coaches kept trying to find any combination of players to complement Harden even when he was struggling.

Harden is the best player but not having a backup plan to have Lin as the 2nd best playmaker to run the offense when Harden struggles is irresponsible on the coaches' part.
It made the offense very predictable for the opposing team.

 

Yeah... It was really awful. Asik got slapped multiple times on his Arne and no call. gred got pushed and no call. on the other end, Asik got a foul because his arm was not 100% straight...

 

Agreed. That's why the team has games like tonight.:grin:

 

Well said. 100% agree.

 

Harden is in the game strictly for his offense. Tonight, he had none, so basically there was no reason to keep playing him 40+ minutes.

Harden should have been benched in the 3rd, not Lin. Then they should have run a Lin + Beverley backcourt to close out the 3rd and until about 8:00 remaining in the 4th then brought Harden back in after he's had a breather and a reset.

 

Stats definitely needs to be interpreted, but perhaps an argument supported by stats is better than one without? And one's an attempt at using data is better than another accusing someone of drawing a conclusion in the wrong way without any proof to back it up?

Please!

 

Gee whiz, what an idiot!

There is no such thing as " turnaround".
Suppose both teams score with the possession,
w/o TO, Rockets2, Pacers 2.--> then Rocket possession
with TO, 0-2.--> then rockets possession
That is a net loss of 2 points, not 4. No doubling, no turnaround!

 

It's at least 12 losses in a row with Eli reffing, including tonight... I posted a list of 10 games a while ago in a game thread, but I don't remember which one. Also one more fun fact for the conspiracy theorists :grin::

Eli Roe

Born: March 18, 1974 (Age 39) in Anderson, Indiana
High School: Highland in Anderson, Indiana

http://www.basketball-reference.com/referees/roeel99r.html

 

Found it... from the 2/23 game thread against the Wizards (loss).

 

If we had gained the lead, your point would be valid. But we never gained the lead. In this particular game, in which we trailed the whole time, we can pinpoint where the game got out of hand. We lost by 9. The point at which we crossed that threshold of 9 points is right here:

5:45 17-9 Chandler Parsons makes 7-foot two point shot (Jeremy Lin assists)
5:28 Tyler Hansbrough makes dunk (Roy Hibbert assists) 19-9

The Pacer lead goes from 8 to 10. From this moment on, we actually outplay the Pacers. They will score 81 more, and we will score 82 more. But the first 5:28 outweigh the rest of the game in terms of +/- for the Rockets. This is indeed the time between the DMO and Lin substitutions.

 

Jesus Christ you guys are still arguing about that?!?

We lost, it happens. Move on.

 

finger pointing is meaningless.

pacers is better, plain and simple. they showed rox today what is the best and only meaningful way to play the bball, strong defense, low post threat, and playing inside-out.

 

That's a silly notion, isn't it to have such a deterministic view of how the game will turn out?

Fact is the game was within our control and we blew it. Come on, why are you arguing this? You should know that a 4 point lead can go away in one possession which means this game was even at that point.

 

This.

 

This game was almost like the last GS game, could have swung either ways...just that the Rockets didn't capitalize on the shift and loss. It's not that the Pacers is a better team. But again at the end of the day what matters is the W or L.

 

I blame McHale for this loss. It was obvious the line-up of

Smith
Robinson
Parsons
Harden
Beverley

was the best choice to end that game.

 

Hope for a win against Memphis...

 

Mchale was probably at the bar taking shots, and binge drinking with Rudy-T minutes before the Pacers game.

 

I hope Harden can save us as he did so many times this season, after all, we're 7 games above 500. Double team, triple team, doesn't matter, the ball needs to go in Harden's hands. If it doesn't work out, pass it to another player with 2 seconds left on the shot clock so that way Harden's scoring would be super efficient.