ClutchFans Game Thread: Warriors @ Rockets 1/17/2015

This loss for me doesn't hurt as bad... James Harden kind of took a couple "Hits to the Chin" and couldn't recover. Looked really down on himself during the game, and theirs no way Rockets win with out him playing at least half way decent on both ends. I expect him to recover quick though against Indiana and Portland.

But for me the best part of this game (last couple also) was Dwights FTs. Whatever hes telling himself in his head these last few games to keep them calm cool and collected is working.. I hope and pray he can keep it up, if he does we may be able to do some serious damage in the playoffs.

 

Warriors are the better team. Not just better than us, but better than the rest of the West right now. They've had a couple of missteps -- but for the most part, they are great on both sides of the ball, are either 1 or 2 in the league in nearly every possible statistical category, consistently get balanced production, and have enviable depth. We were outclassed -- but this would still have been a winnable game, had we gotten our heads out of our asses.

I'm not gonna pile on the McHale criticisms, but I do want to go on record saying that I'm sick to death of the players & these "We didn't play hard enough," "We didn't come out with effort," "We didn't have any fire" post-game interviews. It's tired, and I'm over it. They'll come out one night totally fired up, then come out and play with their food the very next game. No consistency at all. And on those low-effort nights? Dumb, unforced turnovers. Lackadaisical defense. Blown layup after blown layup. Out-rebounded by an embarrassing margin. I mean, seriously -- there are the same issues over and over and over again, and all of them could be rectified via consistent effort and attention to detail. You never know which version of the Rockets will take the floor from one night to the next, which is insanely frustrating. It's nearly February, and I still don't know what to make of them.

And I'm sure it's been discussed ad nauseum, but GOD, do we need another playmaker. When we run into a Klay or a Jimmy Butler who can take Harden out of the game offensively, ish gets ugly really quickly. Even if there's a move made, though -- you can't trade for effort, which is one of our bigger needs lately IMO.

 

The GSW's strategy was to not let Harden beat them and make all the other Rockets make the plays. Klay and company took turns making sure Harden didnt go off tonite. It worked and they will continue to do so until McHale finds a way.

 

I'd rather the Rockets just own it and say they got beat instead of saying they didn't come out with effort. They didn't get up for the best team in the league who have already beaten them two times? I don't believe it. They got crushed and it wasn't because of lack of effort. GSW had the better game plan and the Rockets had no counter.

 

It would have been wonderful if the Rockets had got Hollins. Would have helped McHale I think.

 

It would have been wonderful if the Rockets had got Hollins. Would have helped McHale I think.

 

Stupid phone... ^

 

Excellent post, definitely agree with you. Unfortunately/fortunately I didn't get to watch this one, but I know exactly what you're saying about the effort and 2nd playmaker, we all have seen this in the bad games this year. I had DVR'd it but no point in watching this, assuming similar to NO game on effort part.

Houston is basically good when they want to be, and can turn it on, I'm just worried in playoffs it might be same old song. I know there's a lot more bball in reg season and things can change. But this was a bigger regular season game and I don't know what to make of the effort either.

 

You are spot on. I hate it when the coaches and players say that they lost due to lack of effort or that they didn't want it. It is honestly the most generic bullcrap you can sprout.

The supporters making the same excuses for the team are just as pathetic.

 

This game could have single handedly been a huge factor in considering Harden as the MVP over Curry.. and Harden had his worst showing of the season.

Maybe I'm overreacting. Let's hope the rockets prove me wrong on Wednesday.

 

the rockets would have to be a top 3 seed for it to happen. Today actually shifted the race, Curry is comfortable at #1 imo.

 

The rockets got punkd this game but we have them again this week. Hopefully a different outcome.

 

your going off head to head, doesn't work like that, Curry struggled against the Thunder, Harden destroyed the thunder, Curry did well against us in the second half

today's result has little to do with the MVP

 

Spurs and Thunder are better in my books, they have no answer for Durant or Westbrook and the Spurs thumped them

 

No Bogut and no Iggy. Warriors destroyed the Thunder the time before.

 

Curry is the clear MVP front-runner. This fact should not be obscured even on a Houston message board. Curry plays the most important position in the game and he is an electric player who people everywhere will pay to see.

 

Glad to hear it. This will be a good test.

 

Just like I predicted, nobody owned up to this loss and THAT'S what makes this loss even worse. We all know and honestly knew before the game that the Warriors are simply a better (coached) team. Curry was clear MVP and proved tonight why. There is then something seriously wrong with our team if you do not come out with fire, energy and determination. I remember Rockets teams of the 90s and Yao years who played great against top competition. We generally don't show up..

 

Wow. The 9-0 run by the Warriors at the end of the second quarter sealed it.

I turned the channel when it was 100-80.

 

No leadership on the court. No one who barks orders at his teammates to get after the guys they're defending.

I thought we started with good enough defense. We kept pace until the end of the 1st half when Harden had to sit down. But our offense couldn't overcome the absence of Harden. Then when everyone was missing, we also stopped playing defense in the 3rd. Even Bev and Ariza were giving up and-1s.

That's the mentality coaches complain about. Instead of our defense being consistent, it's affected by our frustrations on offense.