ClutchFans Game Thread: Pelicans @ Rockets 10/26/2019

I'm sorry, shooters shoot but Harden was taking horrible shots. Absolutely pathetic shots. No need to take EIGHTEEN 3 pt attempts.

 

Kind of surprised nobody is talking about the 38 mins Tucker has played in both games. We need a legit backup frontcourt player. This isn't sustainable.

 

Exactly

Al this dude talks about is “we just hoopin, that’s all it’s about. Just gotta straight hoop”

But then he’ll **** us in some games by just continually trying to get a foul which isn’t hoopin

 

Scary huh? I absolutely love PJ, but man, he's too old for that. The best part about him is his hustle, and you can't bleed every drop you can get out of him night after night. We need another PJ hustler with even more height, to switch out as needed, to give our opponents that fight every second of every game.

 

I agree with almost all that except for the part where you say Harden is not allowed to be off his game. I for one am very critical of James, but not because of being off. I am critical because he is our leader and isn't adapting to the circumstances in those situations. There are many ways to help your team on those bad shooting nights, and that is where he needs to mature. When the shooting goes sour, it becomes a whinefest for drawing fouls, and no hustling back on defense. That, and all the frustration fills his head and he gets sloppy and lazy with the ball.

I blame a lot of the lack of discipline there on the coach, for not nipping it in the butt when it starts affecting his decision making. Even the best and brightest students need the great teachers. Without them, their potential is limited That is where we are failing James as an organization.

 

Clark barely got a chance to prove himself, just like Covington, he might not be good enough, but i guess we'll never know since he won't even get a chance to play. Meanwhile McLemore (who has no upside and can't even shoot which is the only thing he should be able to do) for some reason gets minutes (even though it won't last longer i feel).

You guys saying Clark is not good etc, don't cry then if he turns out to be a serviceable player once we cut him like a scrub and he signs with the Warriors and we end up signing another old fart like Lance Thomas.

 

I’ve seen some flashes from him, but he overall plays way too timid. He also has no ball skills offensively, which I feel is something he should have by this point. Maybe it’s a lack of run like you say, but I just don’t see it from him.

How apt is the Covington comparison? I didn’t watch Covington before we let him go. Did he show more or less potential than Clark? I personally see little from Clark.

 

You're right, but guess what, you have to give young players a chance to develop, there're a ton of players who didn't shoot well in their first season/s and then became better if not pretty good, just look at Draymond, Patterson, JaMaychal...and i'm sure there're plenty of other examples. It's just that you know, you need to play them, if you bench them because they can't hit shots in a couple of preason games or after a couple of games early in the season, you just suck in developing players, and unfortunately i think the Rockets actually do suck in this.

 

What skills he's missing? Aside the fact that he has been in the league for one year, he's basically a 3&D just like PJ, he's not supposed to have some great post moves or the same handling of a guy like Aaron Gordon, but with the problems this team have, he's at least more of a need then McLemore who is a certified bust from years with zero upside.

The Covington comparison is more about the situation (although Covington himself is a 3&D guy), another interesting player that we cut after we didn't even give him a real chance, i'm not saying Clark will become as good as Covington, probably won't, but like with Covington we'll never know, another team will most likely find out for us, and will eventually suck if he turns out to be a serviceable player or straight up good.

And btw what you're saying first is what i mean, he showed some flashes last season, especially when we were forced to play him, then he probably hit the rookie wall or just missed most of his shots in a couple of games and got glued to the bench, this is where i really don't like Mike as a coach, guys like Bud, Pop play their young players all the time, they won't bench them forever because they can't make a good impact in few games, that's why they always turn apparent scrubs like Forbes, Connaughton into rotational players, meanwhile we end up cutting them to sign or trade for Bobby Brown, Shumpert, Joe Johnson, Garcia...

 

I agree that Clark should have given a chance because Thabo Sefolosha is all washed up. He's really really bad. 2 straight game ZERO points. I can't believe they're counting on him to be our primary back-up forward.

Clark has a lot of room to improve. But he will never have a chance to improve if we don't play him. At least I think Clark is actually a better shooter than Sefolosha.

And McLemore should be ahead of Rivers in the rotation, period. As good as his defense is, he's just not a reliable shooter. B-Mac is decent defensively and can consistently knock down shots. Something that we desperately need after Green's injury.

And Morey needs to sign Michael Beasley. He's our solution at PF position. It was a shame that he got traded for Tyler Ennis. Still pissed about the trade. He was about to have a breakout season that year and make the All-star. Now Morey needs to rectify his mistake!!!!

And I don't understand why the hell did MDA left Clint on the bench in crunch time for 2 straight games. Clint needs to be in the game. It hurt us not only defensively but also offensively because Russ and Harden didn't have a lob target and had to resort to Isolation. That was really terrible coach. Really Really terrible.

 

If we play against a trash team MDA needs to give more mins to his bench.... pj shouldnt have 38 mins at his age.

 

Ball skills, mostly. The ability to catch and shoot or catch and dribble and make a play. Hard to play a guy who isn't a threat anywhere on the floor.

Let's see though. I think at some point Mike will have to try him and Anderson to see how they fare compared to Sefolosha. This is definitely the time of year to be experimenting.

 

Fair enough, i'd just like to see if a young player we have can actually give us something, i understand when you see that a guy just doesn't have it, but at least on paper Clark is the type of player we actually need, that's why the situation kinda sucks, for me at least.

 

Your tune will change when he starts hitting his 3's again.

 

This is on the coach.

 

Clark comparison is hyperbolic because Covington was a beast in D League (All Rookie, All Star, All Star MVP, First Team D League) while Clark has not even 3rd best player on his G League team.

Covington is also 6'9 with 7'3 wingspan compared to 6'6 Clark with 6'10 wingspan.

Covington is also an elite switch defender (defends 1 thru 5) and very good rim protector while Clark has the motor but not enough lateral agility to defend guards and not enough strength or length to defend 5's or bigger 4's.

 

I loved Covington and voiced my displeasure loudly and often when he was traded. I was also very hopeful for Clark considering his defensive pedigree, but he needs to produce when on the floor and especially in G League.

That is on Clark, not the coaches.

 

No arguments there. More concerning to me are players who rockets have let go and they have gone on to be successful i.e d Carrol, whiteside, Covington

 

https://official.nba.com/l2m/L2MReport.html?gameId=0021900032

https://official.nba.com/last-two-minute-report/?gameNo=0021900032&eventNum=2268
Q4 00:15.5 Foul: Personal Josh Hart(Committing player) James Harden(Disadvantaged player) Incorrect Non-Call
Comment: Hart (NOP) moves into Harden (HOU) and makes leg-to-leg contact that affects his SQBR(Speed, Quickness, Balance, Rhythm).

http://official.nba.com/last-two-minute-report/?gameNo=0021900032&eventNum=2270
Q4 00:06.1 Foul: Away from Play James Harden(Committing player) JJ Redick(Disadvantaged player) Incorrect Non-Call
Comment: Harden (HOU) places two hands on Redick (NOP) as he moves around the perimeter during the inbound and the contact affects his FOM.