ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Hornets 3/7/2020

That was what the problem was...the only 2 players that would take the 3 pt shots were RoCo or Carrol. When they were not on the floor, the rest of the players keep passing their shots until it came back to Harden with less than 3-4 seconds left...he would try a last second three or lay up before the time ran out. The team has no confidence in their 3pt shooting....it is in their heads they are going to miss.

 

"It's just one game"

lol, it's the same people every year that keep the delusion alive

 

Yes the Rockets were playing against two teams tonight. Some of those calls were doozies. smh

 

Did I say Clint was the reason? Agreed Harden was struggling long before but it’s obvious having that option at the rim really helped him out. Now he has to finish his layups/floaters with three guys crashing in on him bc they don’t have to guard the lob option.

 

Didn’t say to run the pick and roll but I can see how it came off that way, that’s my fault. I meant more of a center than provide harden more options with him rolling to the rim or catching lobs.

 

this losing streak came out of nowhere. knicks and hornets.

 

James may have hit a bit of a wall but thats it on that front. Green bringing up the ball thru the hornets off. They should have kept doing it opposed to playing predictable basketball. James needs to be giving that ball up or make his move when teams are playing zone

 

for harden it's not a with vs without capela split. it's a 2019 vs 2020 split for this season.

 

Chill out, it's only regular season

 

They virtually think they can keep sweeping problems under the rug........with certain roster moves.

The season depending on Russ in the paint and Covington on Defense, and Green off the bench.

Last year with the signings of Rivers, Faried, re-signing House.

 

James Harden has not been an elite basketball player in 2020

 

missed the game but looking at the box score... why the **** is harden playing 45 min?

 

For the Quadruple double.

 

House and Tucker are almost always single digit scoring! We need players who can defend and score not just one skill players.

 

I come to resent so much this rest Russell concept. It makes no sense. If anything Harden is the one that you should rest. The net effect of those nights are aggravating Harden’s minutes and conditions. How many times do we have to play this guy 40+ minutes in a near loss or a humiliating loss like tonight? Dumb strategy to begin with. Play both, play hard, blow the other team out, and then you get your rest how about that?

 

You're whining about someone criticizing Harden's defense, when everybody knows Harden's effort on defense is ATROCIOUS, That's ironic given how much you've harped on Melo's defense. Harden is trash on D

 

Wow that was a shitty effort. Never led from start to finish and allowed a bad basketball team to shoot 53 percent against you. Harden with 10 turnovers, basically nothing from Tucker or House, just a complete throwaway game. Great teams don’t do this. They just don’t rollover like that. I still think they can be dangerous in the playoffs, but they could just as easily be a disappointment. You just never know with this group.

 

At a certain point, it's just excuses. Harden has had fairly talented teammates before. We don't even have to talk about the Warriors series (which were definitely winnable, especially last year when Curry and Klay showed up in 4th quarters and Harden didn't). Let's talk about that Spurs series when Kawhi was out. Let's see what justification we have for this year's loss against another great team. You know who makes the difference in the Playoffs? The stars who show up to play in those pivotal 4th quarters. No pouting...

 

so many more questions than answers...

 

This is why we should have brought in a 6ft 10/11 good defensive center who can shoot a little. We could have had a lineup as Westbrook as the PG, Harden as the SG, Tucker at SF, Covington as the PF.... and then obviously a big man who can defend and who shoot a little. It's way more of a better balance. We can then limit minutes for players like Tucker. We wouldn't have to give House like 30 minutes every night, which is hurting us most nights.

The other teams have finally figured out how to beat us. Clog the paint and it takes away Westbrook and Harden's lane. They're also switching on everything because they know we won't pass it in the paint because we have no big man to bully their guard for easy points in the paint They can also take the chance of letting us shoot the 3pt shots, because we literally don't have many good shooters for the most part. It's a risk reward thing, which will probably work out for them... unless Harden finds his 3pt game again. But having a big man who can shoot adds way more balance to the team. The other team can't bully us in the paint and can't outrebound us most nights.... which would help on the defensive end. It would also help with shot contests in the paint when you have 2 guys blocking the shot like Covington. By going small ball, our defense literally has to be perfect most nights for us to win. Which means it takes way more energy and focus for it to work. It's why no team plays straight up small ball..... because it won't work for a full 48 minutes against the top teams.

Small ball has been fun and interesting. But I feel it's time to give a miss. And I understand we will probably still win games with it. But we're now seeing the horrible side towards small ball.... especially with a supporting cast that isn't very good.