ClutchFans Game Thread: Blazers @ Rockets 4/30/2014 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 5)

His neurons transmit signals at the same speed as his mouth.

 

No he isn't

 

Definitely some strange tensions going on between Harden and his teammates. Someone said Howard called Harden out on his nightly parties and hero ball play. Instead of Harden playing harder, he plays like he doesn't care?

Its a good thing Harden & McHale was't in that huddle because Lin took over like he's done a few times this year. I think the players actually listen to Lin, Parsons, Bev and Howard more than Harden. Or Harden isnt the vocal leader type.

 

Agree with this.

Dwight refuses to play the PnR heavily and that's the cornerstone of the D'Antoni offense.

Instead of playing like Amare Dwight would rather try to be Hakeem.

 

He also got outscored by Matthews. Not to discredit his last 6 min, in which he was great.

But our superstar needs to fricking outplay the opposing team's role player...

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Harden addressing media. Credits Howard for carrying the team through parts of the game &amp; Lin for hitting big shots. <a href="http://t.co/CgI5KYaDWL">pic.twitter.com/CgI5KYaDWL</a></p>&mdash; Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/statuses/461728635754262528">May 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

I would like to place an early order for that one. Schedule it for game seven.

 

Trade Harden to Orando Magic for Afflalo & draft pics

 

D'Antoni is one of the best X's and O's coaches in the game.

McHale probably just draws squiggly lines on his clipboard during timeouts.

 

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The biggest flaw is there is not much team play, offense or defense. Harden usually is making half of the shots. If he is shut down, Rockets chance is very slim. Blazer did a nice job on him.

 

Who was guarding Matthews? Parsons or Harden? They both suck defensively.

 

Asik has never had good hands, and he never will. I'm OK with it though, because I knew what we were getting when we signed him. His teammates need to understand that you can't throw a bounce pass to Asik in traffic.

Asik and Dwight were terrific tonight.

 

This is absoutely true. Lin needs the ball in his hands to be effective. He needs to run some P/R to get him in a rhythm. But alot of times when Harden and Lin are both on the court, Lin becomes nothing but a pawn who hands the ball over at the first instance. The less he gets his hands on the ball, the less confident he is, and as the game goes on, he effectively takes himself out of the game.

What Lin did tonight showed us that he's capable of competing and contributing, even in the playoff; but for one reason or another, he cannot do it at a consistent clip. I think this comes back to coaching, who's responsible in maximizing our players' strength. I am just not sure if that's the case all year long.

 

Harden needs to step up if the Rockets want to have any chance of beating the Blazers in game 6.

 

Lin and his GOD. I'm getting annoyed at him saying this GOD stuff every interview + always giving credit to his teammates. It's really annoying.

 

Yes but not enough. Rockets won't go far with him performing below his average.

 

Troy outs out scores mo

 

You don't have to listen to it if you don't like.

 

This is what happens when you put all your eggs into one basket.

Instead of developing the Lin + Harden chemistry and turning them into a 2 headed monster of a backcourt, coaching staff just took the easy way out and benched Lin so James could be more ball dominant.

Say what you want about Jeremy he is more of a team player than James and gets everyone else involved, if anything he overhelps and overpasses instead of taking shots.