ClutchFans Game Thread: Grizzlies @ Rockets 4/12/2013

There was 9 sec on the shot clock, enough time for a Lin PnR with get this ... Patrick Beverley. Beverley drags his man with a diagonal cut towards to top of the key and also picks off Lin's man as Lin slides into the corner. He can then either pass to a single covered Omer under the basket or take a corner jumper.

 

remember that game where Lin tried to do that with Cole Aldrich? I LOL'ed so hard at that possession.

 

But, it doesn't matter whether he was "hot" or not. He was OPEN! He also hit his last two clutch 3s. And he's been 40% plus for the past 3 months or so. He should've passed it. Do I think the shot that Harden shot was a bad shot? No. Harden's isos are very effective, clearly our best iso guy by far, and should be our go to play at the end of the clock. But, if there is a man open, especially Jeremy or Chandler, or Delfino/Garcia, you pass it. No question. His job is done, which is to create a shot, not to be the sole person to score in crunch time. And that's exactly what we need everyone to buy into.

Harden iso's are unquestionably gonna be one of our offensive mainstays. But as many have pointed out above, it leads to stagnation and predictability. I'd much rather a Harden pick n roll, because at least it involves other players, and it is less likely to predict in terms of who could get a kick out, etc. But isos over and over and over again.. Even if it works a few times, in the end, it will catch up to us. Personally, I just do not like iso ball no matter how you slice it.

I fault McHale just as much as Harden and Jeremy on this, fyi. Harden should've passed it to the "hot" hand or the "open" man, Lin should've demanded it more or had better voice his opinion in the locker room from now on so as to get it next time if he's gonna be good enough to help Harden lead our team, and above all, McHale I must assume, no matter what he says, must like isoing Harden in the last 3-5 minutes of the game. It's not like this is the first time this has happened. I'd be calling out a time out right away after the first ineffective iso or turnover from an iso. I'd tell him, "Harden, you're the man, lead us home, BUT it's too early, and even if we get it to you up top, trust the offense, make the good pass when available." Rarely have I seen McHale call timeouts or get upset during games when Harden isos for the last 3 sometimes 5 minutes of the game. That's taciturn condoning of what is going on on the floor, imo.

For God's sake, enough of the isoing for too many possessions. And still, no matter what anyone says, I got nothing but love and respect for Harden, he's a budding superstar and he's gonna learn from this. I know it. He's unselfish and has great basketball sense. He's just trying too much to take over when he doesn't need to sometimes. It's a tough balance but I know he'll get it done.

Let's finish the rest of these games off strong and get that 6th seed. Our destiny is in our hands. Doesn't matter what GSW does, we can get it if we do our part. Go Rockets!

 

That would've been epic and I could've lived with that, lol. At the least, it would've made me laugh. And if Omer caught it high and slammed it, dang...... It would make my week!

 

Just caught the game now. Eh... rough night for the Rox, huh?

TJones looked great. I have no problem w/ Harden taking that last shot - who else would? But 8 TOs and blocked 4 times? Is Harden still hampered by that foot injury?

 

Yeah, Harden probably should of gave Lin another shot near the end there for sure (but not the final). Harden wanted to win the game badly because of all the bogus calls which caused him to play angry.

He was fouled driving to the basket and replay reversed the possession.
He was called for foul on the 3pt attempt by Tony Allen which was pretty bogus.
He was called for offensive charge on the fast break finish when Bayless stepped in front of him.

 

Imagine if it were Greg Smith instead of Omer under the basket defended by Tayshaun. A lob into Smith for the jam. Now you have a highly confident 4 just before the playoffs.

OK a lob into Omer is probably the home run play that McHale hates, but all of Houston's future opponents will have that in the back of their minds. A perfect set up because they'll never know what's coming next time Harden is iso'd. You get to run these play in the best situation possible - a playoff like game without all the negative ramifications if you lose. a definite win-win for the Rox. Like I said, this game was a great game for the Rox, even those it was a loss. Lin even said they got to work on some things in the 4th, some things they haven't tried before (like a 3 guard lineup).

 

I have to agree with your points on Lin as 2 shots cannot predicate the assumption of the 3rd and 4th going in. However, this situation was one based upon "clutch," or a moment in time where insurmountable pressure is placed on everyone, from fans to coaches and to players especially, thus inciting the term, "pressure cooker," where a man is either made or broken; and I think we can all agree by now that Lin is a made man in crunch time, or in other words, he has the clutch genes. Now, I am not sure if anyone can prove whether the clutch genes exists, but Lin's numbers during the clutch, which I am sure you are already aware of, show that he does indeed perform during that time.

I never thought that I would go about arguing against rationality and logic, but I find myself doing so in situations such as these. I hate cherry picking stats, and I hate cherrypicking data just to prove a point, but you absolutely have to cherry-pick in situations such as these. Every particle of my pre-frontal cortex is telling me that Tversky's thesis on cognitive illusions is correct, yet, when I look at, for instance, writers such as Kerouac who wrote his famous "On the Road" novel in one short brief time span, I cannot help but think that there is such a thing as an external metaphysical, and perhaps singular, consciousness in which a writer, athlete, artist, etc., can accidentally or even intentionally tap into.

Again, I am sure every mainstream academic institution and scientist like Neil Tyson Degrasse, Kaku, and Dawkins will call me and every believer of this crazy, as if it were pseudo-science, but that just reveals the stranglehold mainstream science has placed on belief.

There have also been some rebuttals to Tversky's by individuals much smarter than I; here is a link to one for example: http://library.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/ft/gg/gg_on narrow_1996.pdf

So take that argument and that research for what you will, as I, like many, just cannot truly say whether clutch genes or being in that moment, the zone, is real or not.

 

Let's see how he does in the playoffs first before labeling him with the "clutch genes". Too small of a sample size to give him that label.

 

They have to fix their slow starts, cant be doing that nonsense in the playoff's. In the playoff's we will end see a bunch of questionable calls indeed so yes this was an sample size indeed.

 

Fair enough. Though, I can argue for other arguments about Lin to be nullified since he has never played in the playoffs. Perhaps he turns into a super great ISO player in the playoffs, or perhaps he disappears. Perhaps Harden totally disappears as he did against Miami, or turns into a basketball god as he did against SAS, or perhaps Parsons shows the world the Bieber can indeed ball. Who knows right? Practically the entire team has 0 playoff experience.

 

Agree with you 100% on the slow starts. But ignoring all that has happened, the final 5 min of the game was an incredible learning experience for all 5 guys on the floor. This learning experience, in my opinion, was much valuable than if the Rox had blown out the Grizzlies. Young teams learn more from losses than blow outs.

 

I see a lot of fans complaining about Harden taking the last shot of the game. And that Lin was hot after hitting two shots in a row and should have taking the last shot. Quick question did yall see the Bulls and Knicks game. If so JR Smith hit a few shots in a row, Melo was hot as well but Kidd took the final shot for them and missed...

I am saying it basketball ladies n gents. The Coach dialed up Hardens number on that final possession. It was a wide open shot after he pushed off..LOL
Man chill out,

 

Harden iso is not effective at all... only 35.1 FG%. Lin's iso FG% is 33.3

 

But how many times does he iso and draw the foul or iso and kick out to open shooters?

The answer is many times.

 

You mean playing for your life as an NBA player is not a pressure situation? When he played for the Knicks he was playing for his life as an NBA player. When he played in summer league he was playing for his life. That's what helped him against Wall. Lin was playing for a much great prize than Wall, who probably was not giving his all. I've seen enough from Lin to convince me he performs at his best when the pressure is highest and the lights brightest.

Stunk if up against Philly and then had like 11 free throws in the 4th Q for the win. Getting dissed by Kobe and then dropping 38 on him - you think Lin had a chip on his shoulder that night. Playing against the Knicks twice this year and doing really well when he knew everyone was looking at him.

The only unclutch game was the rematch with Miami this year when he did not go off after having so much to prove. But then the Heat has some incredible athletes so I give them the credit there. To a lesser extent that first game against the Clippers which Harden sat out and there were high expectations for Lin, but he did not produce.

 

Agreed with that notion as well,,,we are young and getting some much needed learning experience. We will also build up more experience/confidence playing in the playoff's this season. So our future looks very promising pimpn for years to come..

 

that shouldn't be an excuse. he gotta step up, melo, kobe, kd, all those guys are around 40%.

kobe never dissed him

 

No statistical evidence for getting hot? Statistical analysis isnt almighty either. I remember was listening to BS report last year where simmons and hollinger was having this conversation. The producer quoted a biologist's email during the show. However i cant remember exactly what the email said, at least not quote on quote. What I can remember, is that the muscle memory's accuracy is related to temperature. I remember this because I used to train table tennis and before the game the trainer always asked us to wrap our arms in warm towel for a few minutes.

To say that there's no 'getting hot' is quite a stretch.

 

Love the chemistry between Asik and Lin.

That no look pass was amazing.