ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Thunder 10/3/2017 (Preseason Game 1)

Not sure if serious??? MVP- Mister Vacated Playoffs (immediately)

His teammates closest to a rebound would wait with hands up like they were being held at gun point so as to allow Westbrick to move in for rebound. He was a selfish stat padding fake MVP.

 

Despite it being a pre-season game, what I saw last night told me that when this team is in sync, hitting three's, and firing on all cylinders, we will simply blow out and bury any team on any given night.

Any team, any night.

Let the good times roll.

 

Some thoughts...

- Harden and Paul were seamless. It was the first game, and not once did they do the "your turn, my turn" type of thing we used to see with Westbrook and KD. Harden & Paul were seamless in how they flowed in the offense. Great sign.

- Paul being able to run the "2nd unit" with Harden on the bench is a ridiculous embarrassment of riches.

- The fact that in addition to CP's offensive scoring we ALSO get his defense? man.

- Tucker and Moute were as advertised. Did the dirty work that was needed. Hit some 3's. Played their roles. Tucker as a "small ball 5" could be very important moving forward as a option for the team. The versatility of those guys being able to play multiple positions is really nice.

- Moute is making the Vet Minimum.

- Having Tucker and Moute allow ARIZA to rest more. Ariza is a bellwether on this team. When he shoots well/plays great the team wins. Being able to REST Ariza makes a difference in his game. Moute/Tucker give the team options to do that.

- Gordon's role is more defined than ever. He is now the "full time shooter" with Harden and Paul being PG all the time. Gordon could be in for a huge year. We saw the "December Gordon" last night. Huge for this team.

- Thought the chemistry as a whole on this team looked good. Nothing odd stuck out.

- Capela was ok. Loved that dribble drive he had. Need more of that. Adams is a tough player for Capela to cover. This is a big year for Capela.

- Zhou Qi. I liked what I saw there. I love how he doesn't swipe down to block shots. He just gives ground and uses his length. Many young players just don't understand that. Young players foul and can't stay on the court. Zhou played well and he has a real shot at being a rotation player down the road with that unique length and 3pt shooting.

- Isaiah Taylor. I would like to see him play better. Rockets do have a need for a 4th guard. I don't want Downtown Bobby Brown to be that guy.

- Nanu? Does he have a place on this team? Where is he on the depth chart at C? Capela / Nene / Black / PJ Tucker / Qi / Nanu??

 

First of all so what if Westbrick played? Did you even watch the playoffs last year? Westbrick puts up the stats but he doesn't play winning basketball, if he was there he would have taken the shots from Melo who was feeling it the entire game. Why do you think Durant wanted out? Obv he had enough of Westbrick's ball hog habits. Rox had 20 pts lead before they relaxed, if Westbrick was there that would have been a 15 pt lead, big ****ing deal.

Secondly you act like its a crime the starters played more mins, wtf is it the Rox fault OKC's bench is ****? Point is, the Rockets whupped OKC by as much as 20 pts, and even when third stringers like Joe Chee and garbage mamba got PT they still won by a comfortable margin. None of ghr Rox starters played more than 30 mins you act like they played the entire game gimme a break.

This game Harden shot like crap, only
3-12 from 3s and 5-16 overall. He was also lazy AF on both sides of the ball and just seemed out of focus (hangover from too much partying?) yet the Rox controlled the entire game. In previous years when Harden is playing like crap the whole team shuts down and the Rox pretty much lose every time. Maybe to you thats not promising but to me having another superstar in Chris Paul means the Rox have another person who can be the heart of the offense when Harden isn't feeling it or gets contained.

 

Thought James had a dope quote in the post game interview.

Interview asked Harden if it was weird for CP3 to kind of get used to the fast play of the team like catching and shooting it with a lot of time left on the clock.

Harden said yeah a bit because CP was used to bringing the ball up & using the shot clock to run a play but that him & the guys encouraged CP to take a shot if he felt confident, that nobody was going to yell at him for it. They would go back play good D & get another good shot next time up the floor.

I think something like that gives CP comfort+confidence & honestly a Chris Paul with those two things is a cheat code, he looks like he owns the floor.

 

Our super small ball 5 is going to be effective

CP3
Gordon
Harden
Ariza
Moute or

CP3
Gordon
Harden
Tucker
Ariza

 

Both Luc and PJ had 7 rebounds each in 26 mins off the bench

 

Who is better at guarding Bigs? Tucker or mootay?

 

Tucker = Girth
Moote = Length

Depends on what you need really.

 

I want something that will knock the **** out of the sides but doesn't becessarily have to hit the bottom

 

Paul would rather the naysayers find another argument because calling him and Harden “ball-dominant” isn’t going to cut it.

“I hate to say this, but somebody who says that, they obviously don’t watch enough,” Paul told The Vertical before helping the Rockets beat the new-look Oklahoma City Thunder 104-97 in his preseason debut Tuesday at BOK Center. “Somebody will say, ‘ball-dominant,’ but at the end of the day, you’re called on to do what your team needs you to do. If you’re a 3-point shooter, and the coach puts you in to shoot 3-pointers, are you going to say, ‘He’s just a 3-point shooter?’ The thing is, having the ability to have a guy who can create off the dribble and stuff like that is nice. And great.”

...

As for the possibility of one day playing with Anthony before their careers are over, Paul was hesitant to say anything that could be twisted into some click-baiting sound bite. “I don’t ever know what is going to happen in the future,” Paul told The Vertical. “After the season, I’m a free agent. It is what it is. Melo is happy where he is and that makes me happy. He has his team. I have my team and that’s that.”

Playing with Harden was only part of what attracted Paul to the Rockets. He’s close friends with Ariza, his former teammate in New Orleans, and guard Bobby Brown. He’s also excited to be back with Mike D’Antoni, with whom he’s familiar from USA Basketball. But Paul also knows what people will wonder about all season. And he can’t wait for them to find another word, besides “ball-dominant” to describe his game. Paul is eager to show that he can play off the ball, thrilled that he’ll get the chance to spot up in the corner and relieved to not have to rely on ball screens to score.

“I say it, and it sounds crazy. I don’t know if you’re a journalist or whatnot, but if you write, you know what words are usually going to go where, right? Because you know that stuff like the back of your hand,” Paul said. “You know that if you say, ‘I’m going to the store,’ you know ‘store’ is going to go after ‘the.’ Basketball, there’s only so many different things you can do. If we draw up a play, Clint Capela, at some point, where is he going to end up at? Seriously?”

The rim.

“Right. So, it’s not that hard,” Paul continued. “For me, because I’ve been playing this game since I was 4 or 5, so I study it. Yeah.”​

 

Road game.

 

Here's a quote from last night with Paul actually referring to players getting yelled at.

"It felt natural," Paul said. "We played a lot this summer. I think that helped a lot, talking about communicating, stuff like that. I got to fill the wing a couple times. It's cool. It's good. It's great. You do what you have to do on the given team you're on. I'm enjoying this.

"It's too much fun, man. I've always said: I can get somebody an open shot. Guys are better shooters when they know coach won't yell at them. They come off firing."​

 

We rained three bombs all night. So beautiful. The chemistry was on point.

Man I wished Melo was a Rocket.

 

CP3 at 30ft out "Coach, you are seriously saying it's OK for me to shoot from here?!?"
Entire Rockets team "YES!!!"

 

Can you imagine the line up when Big Dick Nene comes back? Holy ****, we should really tear up teams in the pick and roll. Paul wasn't even trying to shoot midrange jumpers last night. That bench unit is going to be so good as long as we remain injury free. Mbah Moute proved last night that Mike D will need to play him. Hopefully we see a 9 man rotation all season and reduce Ariza's and Harden's work load.