ClutchFans Game Thread: Blazers @ Rockets 4/20/2014 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 1)

Bad loss, but Rockets can will still win in 5 or 6. Put Asik on Aldridge more and make more 3's.

 

Did McHale think that Asik already fouled out? Cannot believe he didn't get back on the court after Dwight fouled out. Wasn't the hole point of having Dwight/Asik was to have 48 (in this case, 53) minutes of rim protection?

 

A lot more pressure for a younger team to now close out the Rockets...

Remember now...Harden and Howard have extensive playoff experience. They've been through more than this... They have both been through wars.

It's hard to beat a desperate team. Forget about game 3, game 2 is all that matters. If the Rockets get that it will be all on Portland to win two games.

 

Harden needs a double high pick, from Tjones and Howard at the same time, and Harden decides what way to go. Every time its a single pick, portland counters it.

 

Rockets weren't focused TOO COCKY. Harden was teabagging Parsons during warmups...

plus Rockets suck on TNT...

 

Leads to a lot of hanging in the air or stuck with a bunch of defenders and no where to pass. As Lin gets criticized, I think it is pretty obvious this is a system or coach issue. Harden is more talented in running the iso but the playoffs are not like the regular season.

 

Agreed. Lin was amazing in overtime. Need to see more Lin/Harden PNR in the game.

 

Then why not get a HEAD COACH in here who knows how to get his team to play defense? That way if God forbid another irresistible job offer comes along for one of our assistants in the future, the entire thing won't fall apart after they accept.

 

going to have to agree on this, we really need bevs energy to hype upt he crowd too. im a lin fan, but we need bev as part of the rotation to energy and hustle and mad hype....

 

yep McHale has no idea what is going on. Once I saw Jones on Lillard I KNEW Lillard was going to drive right by him easily.

 

Harden was absolutely terrible in this game, I am just glad that the idea of Harden being a good post defender was absolutely crushed by an average player in W.Mathews, but I can´t even blame players.
When you have a coach, that timeout after timeout comes up with ISO plays after ISO plays, that to me means you are clueless and you need to get fired immediately. Your job as a coach is to put players in the best positions to be successful, ISO ball is not it.
But even worst is how you have Asik, D12 and Bev on your team, and your defense is still a joke...... GTFO

 

Yes. It is a HUGE deal. We just went from being favored to win the series, to 50/50 at best... Portland is probably favored actually.

 

As much as I like Harden its safe to say "selfishness"

 

One of the worst games I've seen from Harden efficiency wise.

27 points on 28 shots, that's usually unheard of from him. He once scored 27 points on 19 less attempts last season.

 

I don't get the Lin comments. If you've been hating on Lin for this long, you would've had to be impressed with his game today. He played great.


If anything, we got out coached, out played by the Blazers, and Harden had an off night shooting 8-28.

Lets be real people.

 

Did you not see how ****tily the rockets played with him out in the regular season?

 

Grades for tonight

Dwight - C. Mostly good, not great. Hit some clutch FTs but missed many during Hack-a-Dwight. Had terrible first half versus Lopez prompting the bashing from Shaq. Rules have changed, you can't just back someone down now because they'll just flop.

Harden - D. Terrible start with his shooting but had some assists. Hard to make up for the defensive lapses and awful shooting from long range.

Parsons - C+. Great start with layups and 3s. Then just fell off.

Lin - B. Decent shooting night with a good start then went cold before he got hot again late game. Limited turnovers with some clutch field goals and free throws.

Bev - B. Solid D on Lillard, or about as good as anyone can do. Even in the last few minutes before fouling out. 1 out 2 defensive plays is about as good as anyone on Rox can do.

TJones - B-. Great overall offensively, but just can't defend LMA without fouling. He's the new Greg Smith.

Asik - C. Did what he could. Twin towers didn't work so well. LMA shot well even with Asik defending. Not much offensive contribution.

Cisco - C. Limited impact and was missing from 3.

McHale - D. Only adjustment I saw was twin towers which didn't work. Late game had few plays. Team needs to have something to fall back on. When Harden drove on that last play and stopped and had no where to go, the team needs to step up.

Refs - F. Inconsistent calls. First tech on Bev was BS. Not calling tech on LMA was BS. Howard fouling out was also BS. To sick right now to revisit all the bad calls or missed calls.

 

McHale doesn't know defense. McHale doesn't know offense. I don't know what the hell McHale does except step out of the way and let Morey control the team's philosophy.

 

quick question: WHERE THE HECK WERE OUR FANS?!

There were plenty of empty seats and it was noticeable. Believe me, I'd be at the games if I could but I live in Southern California.