ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 12/23/2013

Houston’s defense was just terrible for most of the 2nd half. Multiple players missing their men, failing to help, switch back, or run back. There were several bone headed plays by Lin, but there was also a sequence where I thought his man was actually Calderon but he ended up having to run out to Crowder and Ellis to help defend because their defenders were caught elsewhere. TJones had to guard Dirk (which didn’t work well), and Lin on Calderon, which made those high picks with Dirk ending up on Lin look hilarious. Not sure what’s up with Garcia, just horrible shooting.

Nice night by AB after several slow games (I think he knew Mekel couldn’t guard his quickness). AB also played pretty well with Lin. On offense what was working was going to Howard, the few PnRs he had with Lin, and Lin and Parsons attacking the paint. Coaching basically only ran six and a half players tonight.

Congrats to Dirk.

 

Panda, if I go to Australia will you show me a good time/teach me how to make gifs?

 

how is that going to get any better with harden?? guy that keep jacking up 30 shots but only made 5-8.

And his iso offence going to cost us more on moving the damn ball

 

Boring trolling is boring.

 

Jones isn't the main problems it the chemistry and mindset. The rotation is constantly changing due to injury. guys aren't sure what there role are, one minute they play and the next they sit on the bench. We also need morey to make a final decision on the roster all of these trade rumor have to be on the player mind because that weak team chemistry. Personally I think we need asik to win a title cause our bench defense is weak. So we need to tell everyone to play there best trust each other and no one will be traded. And that this team will be chasing a title this year. (Trading demo, brewer, the two in the d leagues is acceptablle) cause a team need to believe in each other so hopefully the injury bug will pass and we have a full roster and everyone are know our role on the team. And once we get team chem to be good I think we can compete for a title.

 

That's the coaches fault as they may have gambled and made some of the double calls....if you have a solid defender to deal with Dirk, Brooks and Lin wouldn't have to. Also, what's up with having Lin/Brook on Dirk......you can't blame this on the player.

 

Mavs fouled him hard, maybe tried to re injure him, every time he went into the paint. You would miss some if you get hit like that.

 

Bass and lee would of helped tonight

 

Rockets defensive rotation is a JOKE. Everybody is late ALL the time. DH is arguably the best defensive player in the game and still the Rockets can't guard any team in this league (losses to UTAH, PHO, PHI, SAC). Transition basketball style does not win championships, McHale sucks in making adjustments during the game, lack of defense... Too many problems to solve, we'll be first rounders once again.

 

Anyone else not getting any sound with the press conference?

 

Oh lawd

 

I definitely agree with that. The team has MAJOR chemistry issues.

It looks like some nights, some players are just out for their own. You'll get Casspi ignoring players to take wild shots. You'll get Dwight getting ignored for an entire half. You'll get Brooks going into Iverson mode for spurts. You'll get complete Harden ISO for long stretches...

This is just on offense...the team chemistry on defense is horrible. This team has won games on talent alone it feels like.

It seems rare I ever walk away from a Rockets win and think that they won a game they shouldn't have because of great strategy. If they beat the better teams like OKC, Spurs, etc...it is usually because they just get insanely hot and everyone is on at the same time.

 

Gimme a break Dragic is not that much better than Lin if at all and has been inconsistent. Lin is more turnover prone but is shooting better overall. Dragic's numbers look better because he takes 4 more shots per game with higher usage.

Eric Bledsoe is actually showing him up in his first season as a starter.

 

One of the big missing elements is on the offensive lineman side. Asik sets screens. How many sceens did Calderon get. Lin played them well but he got a lot of them.

 

LOL I did.

It pissed the crap out of me when there were so many mismatches caused by our switch defense. It's not working and frustrating to watch!

 

I wasn't here to watch the game, only stats - how did we lose, main reasons? brief summary appreciated :3 was it lin because he was rusty or couldn't guard Dirk?

 

they played dirty to win. and the Refs allowed this stuff to happen to Lin all the time. it's a bit strange that other players like CP gets the respect of the refs. but Lin is a defensive magnet that draws all sorts of flies. he takes brutal hits too. I got to admit, he's tough

 

I hate hate hate hate hate hate losing to the mavs. I live in DFW and mavs fans are among the most smug you'll find. I know we're extremely short handed but you can't reason with mavs fans. Greg Smith and Asik would have helped in a big way for some situational TT tonight. Get well soon everyone. Gotta love how Dwight really forces teams to commit to the double team. He's waiting for the help to leave before he'll even start his dribble. He seems more patient but also more decisive on the block. His pass outs haven't been terrible either. Even when Harden gets back we absolutely have to continue to feed Dwight in the post when he's getting single coverage.

 

Yeah. I'm not saying Jones can mature into one, but you look at the NBA as a whole and you are going to need a solid defender at that position cause you are dealing with LA, Love, Griffin, Duran, George, James......No doubt Asik would have been tremendous this matchup.

 

Dragic is having one hell of a year along with the Morris brothers. THe Suns are for real. I still Like Lin's athleticism over Dragic. But he really improved this year, Dragic that is.