[ClutchFans] Conspiracy Theories Be Damned – Just Enjoy The Game

Couldn't agree more

We as fans tend to overreact because we love our team
National media attacks Howard because he left LA and has not won a champ yet.
Lebron went through the same stuff but now...He's the greatest...

It's still the start of the season and chemistry needs months or even a year or so to be established.

Defense IMHO especially in the perimeter is the main issue
Once it is fixed we should be contenders

 

Unfortunately the garm is like a bunch of high school biology students trying to dissect everything. Sure hope your excellent article reverses this trend somewhat, Jeff.

 

Yes, it's worse than in the days of Yao. Times are changing too: different internet culture, new generation of posters. Didn't used to get memes posted all the time, now we do. . . .

But I believe there are actually a very few LOFers in the world--some not even on this board--who are willing to actively make up stuff, like that Reddit post "quoted from facebook" with no link. Claimed her could hear AB talking to the coach. No one could find the source on that. The Reddit poster wants Lin on GSW. Why are CF members starting threads from GSW fans?

Just post some crap and it starts showing up on google, other boards quote it as QFTOS, it gets translated into Chinese and enters a different world over there. . . .

Harden gets attacked. Howard gets attacked. Beverley gets attacked. McHale gets attacked. And of course there is the Jeremy Lin universe. Never so much negatively motivated posting as there is now.

 

Seriously? Bye.

 

I love this thread, the others have gone TMZ for now.

 

I think the GARM meltdown started when the supposed insider Cyberx made a post about Dwight not liking the point guard situation.

A lot of posters questioned his statement, but they were crucified and was told they didn't knew cyberx and how he was, bla bla bla

you couldn't always blame fans for reacting.

 

Good, level-headed article.

That said, there are a couple of valid criticisms at this juncture.

Free throws: There is no excuse for a player like Howard, whose shooting form is not bad, to have such a low free-throw percentage. I think this is more mental than physical. I would bet he has a higher percentage in practice. Helping him find a way to translate that into game situations should be a priority for somebody. I was hoping Calvin Murphy would help improve free-throw shooting across the board for the Rockets. These are easier to accomplish in off-season time. Practice time is more limited during the season. Free throws made as much difference in the loss last night as any other statistic. In addition to learning Hakeem's moves, Howard should want to develop and emulate Hakeem's mid-range jump shot. That is/was deadly.

Sloppy passing: None of these guys are BB rookies. They have all played the game enough to know when a pass is likely to be unsuccessful or not. Lob passing and passing into the post has been a topic of discussion by McHale and, then in the media. That might be a fairer item not to criticize, as most players haven't played with a post player, as, potentially, dominant as Howard could/can be. (The post game analysis on TNT, was essentially about Howard's need to become more dominant -- i.e., ask for the ball more aggressively. If his teammates can't get him the ball at the right time and place, it isn't his fault.

Intensity and focus: I understand the tendency of players to think that having Howard just step on the court with them takes some burden off them. And I think they buy into that thinking in the beginning of games, leading to less effort. Defensive intensity picked up in the second half. Having it for most of 48 minutes (i.e. as in Beverly style) will help the supposed first-half doldrums. With proper focus and effort you rarely get into 19-point deficits which, then, have to be overcome with even more intensity than needed to prevent it in the first place.

And... having said that... I agree with the essence of the article. It's way too early to make judgments about the success of Twin Towers, or the rest of the team chemistry and performance.

I would like to sit back and enjoy the team... unfortunately, like a lot of fans, I will only get to see whatever games are on ESPN and TNT. NBA.com channel still blacks out the Rockets games. League Pass doesn't help, either. And as we all know, DirecTV doesn't have CSN Houston. The Clippers game was blacked out here in College Station, even though it was on NBA TV.

I used to get the Rockets games as part of my regular subscription when they were on FSN. I like to fantasize that losses like last night are karma for the Rockets moving to CSN and depriving their fan base from enjoying the games. If one is of the mind that the crowd in the stadium provides energy for the team, I'll argue TV viewers do, too. Mr. Alexander, we are all still hoping you will rectify that situation.

 

We just got chewed out and 6 games in...

it's about time.

Thanks, Jeff.

 

I just watched the Lakers game again, and I have to say that despite the slow start and the disappointing ending, it was an enjoyable game. Just like last year, these guys are capable of turning it around and erasing big deficits, and for me that makes for exciting basketball.

Hey fellow CFers, let's have more cheering, and less jeering. Go Rockets!

 

Pelicans just did what we had to do.... have the Lakers score 14 pts less

 

Most of the GARM just has to learn how to be realistic. It's 11:30pm here on the west coast and I decided to log into CF before bed and all I saw were Jeremy Lin threads. I'm sick of everything getting blown out of proportion.

Bottom line: THIS TEAM IS A WORK IN PROGRESS.

People have to realize this. Even the Heat were shaky their first year together. It will probably get even shakier if/when Asik is traded. Let's just be thankful that we could even be in this position as fans to cheer for a team with so much talent and potential, especially after all these recent agonizing mediocre seasons.

 

Seems obvious. Howard just let one rip and is laughing about it. Lin smelled it immediately. As for Harden, his beard blocked out the initial scent but if you look closely at his face, it seems like he's just starting to smell it.

It was never really split since no one really questioned how good Yao was or whether he should come off the bench for "fit" purposes. So it was really only a vocal minority that complained.

The only thing was talks about trading him because he was injured so often.

 

Interesting article and mostly accurate. Just a couple points, one of re-emphasis, one of emphasis:

1. Re-emphasis: Enjoying the game for the rabid fans is analyzing everything that goes on to the nth degree.

2 Emphasis: The scrutiny of the Lin situation is not a one-shot tv frame, one-incident scrutiny and interpretation. It is a cumulation now of a training camp, season, off-season, a second training camp, and the start of a second season.

Just to reset and remind everybody of the history:

We acquired Lin with the idea of letting him be the star here. Don't doubt for a second that when Morey got him to sign that contract that Morey was going to make him the talk of the town. If we had not acquired Harden, Lin would have been running this ship and putting up insane numbers simply because of the high amount of usage. Lin was sold all that in his free agent recruitment.

Then we acquired Harden. So the scrutiny and analysis began from there. How was the Harden/Lin dynamic going to work? That was over a year ago. Not yesterday. Not Wednesday night. But a year ago.

We observed and analyzed all season last year as rabid Clutch fans are prone to do. (I'm talking about the real fans here. Not the LOF band wagoners that jacked up thread after thread after thread simply pushing Lin down our throats because he was their demographic without any demonstrable knowlege of basketball.) We debated back and forth whether Lin was being used correctly to his strengths (he was not), whether he was getting the right amount of usage (still debatable), whether or not he was a good enough defender (he wasn't signed to be a top-notch defender), how poor his shooting was (he wasn't signed to be a spot up shooter), and whether or not he was the right fit with Harden.

Then the offseason rolled around and we observed as Lin was the guy left out of the recruitment process of Dwight. Lin, the starting point guard, the guy we signed to be our star, the best friend of Parsons.....left out of the free agent recruitment process. What was Lin doing???? He was hitching up over 1000 jump shots a day to turn himself into a better fit playing alongside Harden and Howard.

Then we observed pre-training camp and Hakeem hyping Lin and Dwight being "deadly". (That was laughable.)

Then we observed training camp. We were raving about how much improved Lin's jump shot is (very true) and analyzing and debating on whether Lin was the better fit alongside Dwight and James or whether Bev was the better fit. I enjoyed all that.

(Didn't enjoy the mindless promotion of Lin without factual information. Didn't enjoy the mindless promotion of Harden without factual information either. However I have learned to put up with a lot of crap on this board to enjoy some good basketball conversation with some of you here. But this board could be improved with a bigger think tank and being more open-minded to improvement suggestions. I've quit making suggestions myself. Don't see the point in wasting my keystrokes.)

Now the season has started and we're 6 games in. I agree 6 games is not enough time to see what this team will become. They're new. We've torqued everything once again by introducing a second superstar. That's one superstar introduced last year. And now another superstar introduced to the team this year after we signed Lin to be our star.

I've seen enough and analyzed enough. Lin is not going to work here. Harden doesn't want a point guard engaging in pick and rolls. Harden doesn't want to share the duties of initiating and running this offense when he is on the floor. He doesn't want it 50/50. Nor does he want it 80/20. He wants it 100/0 when he is in the game. He wants a point guard that will do the dirty work of defending, then will hand him the basketball and spot up at the arc or in the corner. Harden does not respect Lin's game. I could speculate a lot as to why but this post is not about that. It's about showing that the Lin take is not a one-shot, one-moment take. We've been watching this thing play out now for over a year. Not this year's team mind you. But the Lin experiment. We have watched the Lin experiment play out. I think it's fair at this point to form some conclusions. There's enough facts and data and time to form logical conclusions. And that's what rabid fans on Clutchfans do, form conclusions.

 

Great post!!! Real sad that Harden is like that. So you think it's Harden who wants Bev over Lin rather than McHale?

Something I don't get is:

We observed and analyzed all season last year as rabid Clutch fans are prone to do. ​

Since: Feb 2013

So you were banned or something?

 

couldnt say any better. the result is sad but guys need to face the truth, blindfolding yourself wont make it get any better. if you are a Rox fan and wish they are on the right track towards the title, when you see something wrong you just say it. when you see the problem last for a year still not being fixed, push the organization make action. remember what your veteran fans did before? they went to Rudy-T's home and begged him retake the head-coach position to save the team. if you really want it.

 

I really hope this is not the case.

 

A few my own comments.

1) I agree we should enjoy the game. Rockets is currently 4-2 and the sky is not falling.

2) I also agree that the situation in Rockets is somewhat mind-bugling, especially the way the coach staff and management handle Lin ever since he joined the Rockets. Like many other fans, I am not an insider so I don't have any insider information to explain what is going on. So many, like I, just speculate and draw our own conclusions.

3) From bits and pieces, I am sure that Lin was bothered by the way he has been treated. But so far he has been very professional. I am glad that he handles it well. His improvement is really promising.

4) I am a long-time Rockets fan. In the past, I came to the CF, just browsing. You may notice that I only recently increased my posts. The reason is that I was a little frustrated by the Rockets organization and the way Rockets started the game for the past 6 games.

5) I have a different opinion on the starting line-up. I actually like TT starting unlike most people on CF and THE media. The two losses we had were mainly due to the hot outside shooting of two LA teams but the paint protection has been good except for the 1st half of Utah game. I also saw a glimpse of brilliance of TT line-up during the last two preseason games and the two 2nd halves of Utah and Portland games. TT totally changed the complications of those two games. If you go back to watch the two 2nd halves of Utah and Portland games and compare with the 1st quarter of all 6 games (Rockets trailing big). You will notice the ingredients for TT to be working to our favor. On defense, the perimeter defense must be tight and don't let other teams' perimeter players to have 3 pointer shot. Let them drive or shoot contested middle-range jumpers instead of spot-up shooting. One of the bigs must move up and defend pnr. This is why I was so critical of JH's defense even before all those threads ridicule his defense. JH does not have to play good defense for the TT lineup to work. But his defense must be acceptable. You can't leave shooters open and shoot uncontested jumpers. I have lost the count how many times he lost his man. That's ridiculous for a PROFESSIONAL basketball player! On offense, one of the bigs must come out and set pnr, which can create much-needed space. Not to mention that we have three of the best pnr players in JH, DH and Lin. If both sit up in the paint, we are doomed. Also the other three must be offense-threat. This is why I argue for Lin as starter. The opponent is not afraid of PB's offense and to a little less degree CP's at all. They simply clog the lane or double-team JH and DH as we saw just from the limited time PB was starter. The coach can try PB and TT starting. But I don't see how it is going to work with that lineup.

6) I don't the "fit" argument of Lin not starting at all. If that's the argument, Heat won't have Lebron and Wade in the same team and they wont win btb. In the current NBA league, you must have dynamic perimeter attackers to set up the offense. The age of post-up big man is over. Look at even Spurs. Duncan, arguably the best post-up big in NBA, only posts up situationally. Most successful bigs play off perimeter attackers. This is why I am a big supporter of Lin's starting. Don't tell me Lin doesn't fit with JH. The evidences from last season, especially after ASB, support otherwise. Both JH and Lin played well together in majority of the games. With Lin's clear improvement this season, that argument is garbage. If Lin is going to be used as a 6th man, JH and Lin will have to play significant minutes together. JH and Lin will have to play off each other no matter what! This is where the speculation comes in. Lin is playing so well so why leaving him out the starting lineup. The only reasonable answer is the coach and management do not think highly of Lin and Lin is not in the long-time plan of Rockets. They want to assess if PB is.

7) We also need to accept the fact Lin and Asik is untradeable in short term, even for the next two seasons with their poison deals (LOL, initially poisonous to Chicago and Knicks and now to Rockets). Look around the league, which team will accept them? So don't fool ourselves. The best solution is to make the best out of it. So with the current lineup, is Rockets a Champaign-caliper team. Arguably, yes, only if we play team ball in offense and defense. Thus my argument. Our strength is TT and perimeter attacking. So why not taking advantage of the strength? Or did I say JH must play acceptable defense? Also only ISO situationally!

8) Lastly, stop all the name calling. It does not help either sides' argument. Just simply childish.

A long post. Wish everybody a good weekend! Go! Rockets!

 

Excellent post and would rep if i could!

Was about to post something similar to this myself also adding, that McHale could try to counter the hack-a-Dwight strategy with Asik since his ft% has vastly improved this season and is also proven under pressure in last years po's.

People need to realise, that your defense is only so good as your weakest link aka Harden, who has to step up in that department for us in order to go to the next level.

On offense Asik tries to get out of everybody's way, hence his low orpg numbers imo. Our 3 pt shot isn't falling in the early stages of the game (and I'm talking about very doable shots, open or semi-contested), but this is not going to continue, we are due to better %'s from there.

All in all we really have to be patient before we scrap a lineup which is absolutely unique in this league (and no Mem don't qualify for a TT since Gasol is a very weak rebounder for his size). TT can be the extra weapon to dethrone the Heat so we HAVE to make it work imo. We won't win against Miami with Casspi/Jones/Dmo at the 4...

 

What's funny is I thought the real test for this team would be when they went on their first losing streak and lost to some teams that they clearly should have beat. It will definitely happen, and this high profile team will have to be tested when they face that kind of adversity.

I didn't imagine the GARM's first real test would come after 6 games when the Rockets have a winning record, and ton of great play.

 

Keep in mind that Clutchfans is full of new posters. It is going to take a while for them all to gel with the posters already on the site. You can't expect it to happen overnight, it it going to be a process.

Look at the great websites of the past; they all have had growing pains. Over time as the new posters learn the culture of the site many of them will improve. The really obnoxious ones will be cut..uh, banned. And some of them will be really excellent posters for the future.

Things aren't perfect right now, but it will get better. We just have to put up with the growing pains.