ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Warriors 5/19/2015 (Western Conference Finals, Game 1)

we cut him for Lin, right

smh

 

The most annoying play was that turnover by smith. Wide open under the basket and he misplays the ball unbelievable. If we make that we wouldn't have to foul curry on that last play. We make a stop and we are setup for a Harden game winning 3.

 

Whose the guy in the background behind Livingston?

 

yao?

 

The rockets let this one get away, now it's going to be tougher.

Two advantages the Rockets have, Howard to put Bogut in foul trouble, and Thompson self destruction.

The Rockets did put Bogut in foul trouble, but unfortunately, couldn't take advantage of it because Howard got his knee injured.

Thompson, what can you say? This is one of the most overrate players in today's NBA. This guy is a great shooter, a decent defender, there is no argument there. But man, can you find anyone in the history of NBA with that kind of shooting skill, but play that dumb? The guy is one of the dumbest players I have ever seen, if not THE dumbest. He not just turned the ball over himself, but caused his teammates a lot TOs with his dumb plays.

With Howard's injury, now Thompson is the Rockets' biggest hope.

 

Looks like Delfino.

 

Delfino

 

?

 

Codman how you feeling about the series?

 

We are a better team. We just need a healthy Dwight.

#believe

 

They need to quit throwing the at the feet of people above 6'8"

 

Can't believe Smith is so clumsy.

 

Morey w/ the backhanded compliment x_x

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats 2 Ws on game1 win-their top 5 guys play 2gether so well-have been incredible in 800+minutes 2gether in reg season&amp;150+playoff min</p>&mdash; Daryl Morey (@dmorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/dmorey/status/600902092513943552">May 20, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Great effort and energy, should have won, but some awful mistakes by Josh Smith, horrible play by Howard with the early fumbling, Harden trying to look for fouls in the 1st half, Terry being a big mouth who cannot back it up, TJ soft as tissue, Brewer not playing solid defense and general no boxing out and early threes with no rebounding underneath.

Positives:
- Finally Harden played without looking for the foul and he made it look easy with all those step backs and lay-ups and worked hard as ever on the boards and defense.
- Capela, just amazing play
- Ariza was a monster again and the MVP along with Harden
- Prigioni during that stretch in the 1st half
- Josh Smith early
- Defense, energy and intensity of the whole team

Concerns:
- Dwight Howard's play against their bigs and will he be able to play through frustration / injury?
- Boxing out and transition defense, the only reason they got some baskets to go was not boxing out properly even in transition and just not getting back early in the game
- TOs, how many of those jump into the air no look passes out to 3pt land when you're underneath the basket are we going to see?
- Terry and Josh Smith. The former cannot even hit an open three any more, what's up with that? He has a big mouth who has not backed up in 2/3 of the last 4 games and it's all open shots. Josh Smith looked nervous and did not do all that well against Greene. That will be key and I hope he looks much better the next game.
- Rotations. Prigs played well, Terry sucked and after one three thinks he can just mock Curry who made him and us pay dearly. Should've brought him back or go big without a PG. Does McHale stay loyal to Terry or bench him when he needs to?

We could've been up 1-0 and I didn't even expect us to be up by that many points but we did it so, applaud our guys for our effort.

 

you almost can never find a morey tweet w/o some #s and stats. lol.

sour grapes, this one.

but i feel our luck will eventually turn - for the better...

 

Dwight will be the main factor. I'm fearful.

Kevin is being outcoached by a rookie, and that's also a concern.

The fact that he has allowed every playoff opponent to go on massive 20-something runs in multiple games, without a timeout or change, is not a great sign.

We are just as talented as GS, and I don't think those shots are going to fall forever. Our defense was decent.

Again though, we need Dwight. Josh can help, but Capella is a rookie who is too raw and cannot dominate, nor does he have any sort of go-to move.

I'm talking to a few people right now to hear about D12. I'll keep everyone posted if I hear anything.

Right now, it's not looking good.

I get that feeling because of the silence I'm getting from my friends. Players often know how bad things are before an exam.

I'm hoping Dwight will play through a bruise or something if he can. This is a once-in-a career opportunity for many of our guys.

If Dwight comes back, I think we have this baby in 6 or 7.

If Kevin learns to stop switching in the corners and having our guys chase Curry, we'll be okay.

I just wish Sampson was on the bench helping out. We can zone the corners to stop all the three balls. We allowed Curry to go off when we really could have played him better.

Ariza was unbelievable. Definitely our MVP with James.

Josh Smith made the worst turnovers in crunch time, and TJ played like a rook.

Josh will come back strong, and James will also put up better numbers than CUrry. He had a complete game, whereas Curry put up more points.

Praying for Dwight and that JVG/RA/Rudy T/Doc/Pop come into Kevin's dreams and teach him about mismatches, timeouts, stopping momentum and keeping up with the hot hand.

Like, why in the hell did we give the ball to Josh when James was on fire? That was a coaching error.

I'm exhausted from this game. It was ours until some bad turnovers, ref calls, but mainly, KEVIN'S error in the 2nd quarter. You NEVER let runs happen like that without switching things up. Ever. It's unforgivable, especially in the WCF.

This isn't the regular season. I hope kev takes some responsibility, but times have shown that he blames our players for everything.

Essentially, we have a rookie coach, in terms of playoff drive. This is his first big dance in the post season.

The last couple of years have been homecoming. This is prom and he's losing the dance because of a lack of analysis.

Is it a character flaw? I don't know, but it's hard to watch. I know Morey would call a time out if our team was pummeled in the 2nd within minutes. I'm still speechless.

Again, if Dwight is alright, we're going to take this to 7 games. If he's done, I'm not sure, but we're in trouble and Capella/Dorsey can't take the heat. Josh and TJ are going to have to put up D12 numbers the rest of the way.

Dwight was going to be the most important player in this series, simply because no one on GS can hold him. Now, James has to put up amazing games just to keep us close.

Lots of respect to Ariza tonight. His defense was superb, along with his fight and offensive game.

Peace.

Cod

 

Somehow, someway this team will steal Game 2 if it's a championship caliber team. I actually feel pretty good about it. Something tells me we're coming home 1-1 and Dwight will be 100% in time to make the difference in the series.

 

Did anyone else think there was an obscene amount of moving screens by the warriors, but I cant remember a single call?

 

They've been doing it all season. I think Bogut got called for one tonight.

 

Confidence = shattered

Let's hope it's not as bad as it seems, but I'm with you. It seems like the Dwight injury is real. The fact that he couldn't even play through it pretty much tells you all you need to know. It ain't just a bruise.