ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Blazers 4/25/2014 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 3)

If McHale's gonna coach like a dumb A$$ and Harden ain't gonna bother showing up, we might as well lose the next 2 games... I don't wanna watch this sh** unless they get their *****ing heads in the game.

 

All I know is that we need to WIN

 

You will see him.

Portland will just be up 25 with 2 mins left so he won't be going against Aldridge unfortunately.

 

Too much negativity in this thread. People need to keep hope alive.

 

ALso what are the road statistics for Harden?DOes he play well on the road?

 

A must win tonight Ladies and Gentlemen. Better yet these next two games are must wins.

 

That is not the formula we need to employ. Double him from time to time instead of letting him go one on one every possession. Dmo is not going to stop a sizzling hot LaMarcus either Miss Lady. Asik suppose to be the LMA stopper and how has that play out so far.

I am starting to think we need to go Twin Towers and put D12 on him and from time to time run a hard double at him.

 

I hope I'm wrong, but the belief that DMo will be our defensive savior sounds like one of the more bizarre things I've seen in my 9 years on CF.

 

I actually disagree with all of your points lol... which is OK.

1. I was in favor of doubling LMA after last game, but not anymore. I think Haberstroh/Lowe are right. Portland is designed to benefit from a double-team. Lillard, Batum and Matthews all knock down 3s at a higher clip than most of the purported shooters on our squad. And our perimeter defense is a hot ass mess -- no way we rotate efficiently enough to stop them from getting wiiiiiide open looks if/when LMA is doubled. I just don't trust our defense enough to try it consistently.

2. I think Asik did a pretty good job of playing LMA straight up. I'd have to go dig up the stats, but they've been posted here several times and his shooting percentage w/ Asik on him was way worse than w/ TJ or Dwight. We lament our inability to stop him, but you have to give credit to LMA. He is in video game mode right now and swished a lot of very tough jumpers that were perfectly defended by Asik. I say stick with the plan and hope he starts to regress to the mean, like he did in Q4 last game. We just couldn't capitalize when he started to miss consistently, but I have faith our offense won't grind to a halt like it did down the stretch again.

3. I don't think DMo will stop LMA, but he does have 6 fouls available to foul him so he feels it and slow him down. A little physical play never hurt anybody, IMO.

Just my opinion(s).

 

If you guys believe in prayer and spiritual stuffs...by that I mean that if more and more people pray for a team to win, that team will tend to do well or if someone get ill and you pray for them, they tend to recover. I do think that's what happened to the Rockets in the last two game. There are a lot of Dwight Howard haters (see Lakers fans) out there lol. I have people at work watching the game just to see Dwight Howard failed. I have someone betting against the Rockets.

 

I respect your opinion as well as theirs but we have to make some changes instead of letting LMA singlehandedly beat us. Yes Portland live and die by the three just like us. But what if that shot is not falling for them. My thing is if we can quickly hard double LMA the other players need to understand we have to get back on the shooters. As soon as he pass the ball hurry up and get back.

Oh yeah I give LMA all the credit in the world. Dude is playing out his mind Miss Lady. I knew he was going to get his but no in this manner. Hopefully (fingers crossed) he cools off tonight and Harden shows up to the party.

 

KlutchQT we have been physical with LMA and dude was still knocking down some unbelievable shots falling to the ground. And Dmo is jello soft Miss Lady LOL.

 

The OKC media is roasting Scottie Brooks like CF is roasting McHale. The same things are being said: no offensive system, poor adjustments, etc. Really kind of ironic.


http://newsok.com/nuggets-from-my-notebook-from-game-3-at-memphis/article/4520239?nextArticle=1

 

He just needs to channel his inner Bill Laimbeer. It probably won't happen, but I would love to see somebody put LMA on his ass a couple of times.

 

We should start Lin and count on DMo to defend a player averaging over 40 pts a game? Time to cross the streams.

​

 

I hope the rockets take a couple of playoff fouls on LMA...show some kind of heart. Team is soft, gotta change that.

 

Start Dmo. Bring Jones off the bench. Run a couple post up plays for Dmo and make Aldridge work defensively. Make him come out and guard him on the 3 point line but DMo would meet to be hitting his outside shots.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>New starting lineup for the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Rockets&amp;src=hash">#Rockets</a> tonight? 'We'll have some change-ups,' McHale says, via <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen">@Jonathan_Feigen</a>. <a href="http://t.co/0uhSH1bn6R">http://t.co/0uhSH1bn6R</a></p>&mdash; Nick Mathews (@Nick_Mathews) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nick_Mathews/statuses/459782408448274432">April 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Dwight Howard taking corner threes and saying &quot;that's ratchet&quot; after he releases at Rockets shootaround</p>&mdash; Mike Richman (@mikegrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikegrich/statuses/459773251976036352">April 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Kevin McHale likes Dwight's success in the post, but walking it up &amp; posting &quot;takes away from how we're built and how we've played all yr.&quot;</p>&mdash; Mike Richman (@mikegrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikegrich/statuses/459780717065412608">April 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>James Harden said the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Rockets&amp;src=hash">#Rockets</a> might have been &quot;too relaxed&quot; at home. Thinks playing in a hostile environment could help Rox focus</p>&mdash; Mike Richman (@mikegrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikegrich/statuses/459781255832551424">April 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>James Harden on if he'll change the way he attacks in Gm 3: &quot;No, no. I just got to be more precise and have more thrust in my game.&quot;</p>&mdash; Mike Richman (@mikegrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikegrich/statuses/459784809255297024">April 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>&quot;I've been shooting the ball terribly &amp; we had an opportunity to win both games. It's about the small things not the homerun plays&quot; - Harden</p>&mdash; Mike Richman (@mikegrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikegrich/statuses/459785514631954432">April 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Correct me if I am wrong. Here are the starting times for games 1 through 4.

Game 1 - Sunday, 8:30pm Houston local time
Game 2 - Wednesday, 8:30pm Houston local time
Game 3 - Friday, 7:30pm Portland local time
Game 4 - Sunday, 6:30pm Portland local time

I'm surprised that the local starting times for games in Houston are 1 to 2 hours later than those in Portland. You may argue it doesn't make too much difference.

In games 1 and 2, it seemed to me that there were much less cheers near the end than in the beginning of the games. Especially in game 1 where they went to overtime, there were more empty seats in the lower bowl than I would have liked. My guess is that some people left because it was near midnight. In game 2, the crowd was near dead even though it was a close game.

Game 3 in Portland is on a Friday night, so you bet nobody will leave early. And the starting time of 6:30pm for game 4 is two hours earlier than the Sunday game in Houston.. Yeah... despite the results, I think their crowds will definitely beat ours in terms of providing home court support...

 

I wonder what the change will be? Twin Towers starting? DMo starting? Lin?