ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Pacers 3/4/2025

Feel like you just make stuff up. Domantas Sabonis was terrible from mid range. Dude literally shot 25%. You can look it up. Pretty sure you never watched Domantas Sabonis play a game in his first 3 seasons. Nothing says he was a good shooter. This year is more of an anomaly. Sengun in his fourth year is shooting better than Sabonis did in his 7th year from mid range..... and for you to be watching him play this year and say he hasn't improved from midrange is just blind hating.Even Jokic in his 4th year was only a 40% midrange and 30% three point shooter....

https://www.nba.com/player/1627734/domantas-sabonis

https://www.nba.com/player/1630578/alperen-sengun

 

It is obvious there is no alternative of FVV. Without him our offense sucks and it weakens our defence. It seems two big line up also worked this game.We are +9 during Reed,Amen,Tari,Alperen,Adams lineup.

 

I must call it out - what a miserable load management! We set down most of our main rotation guys (except Jalen and Bari) in the match against the Thunder, just to have them back and get another L against the Pacers.
Not only that, Ime also dried out Whitmore and Reed tonight, despite their good performances yesterday. I think that we needed every available player to be on the court against the Thunder. We could beat them. Then we could sit down main guys against the Pacers and still possibly get the W - when you change the line up drastically, it’s hard for the opponents to prepare. This is why full rotated Thunder barely won last night. If they struggled our surprising line up, the Pacers must’ve to.
Again, poor load management. At this point we don’t have the privilege to do so. We have to take every game seriously.

 

Let’s hope Ime will use this information wisely and won’t try to force it where it’s not necessarily the right match up for using bigger line up.
Also, it’s hard to rely on Adams and Eason due to their absence in 1/2 B2B games..

 

Biggest issues:

Defense:
- Perimeter defense, guys just get into the paint with ease against us.
- Doubling off of 3pt shooters and ganging up on someone when it’s not needed, just because we want to get the ball.
- Dumb fouls, mainly Brooks and Tari, but also others. Over aggressive, battles with stars that light us up anyway or get hot because we try to start something, jumping at 3pt shooters etc.

Offense:
- Ball-handling duties and plays run - it’s just whoever wants to take a shot at initiating the offense, go ahead, aside from some Sengun action.
- Turnovers and lazy passes - both have become a serious issue lately, with the one-handed passes and dribbling off of our own feet, again showing this against the Pacers.
- Lack of ball handling - see above
- Lay-ups, for a relatively big team, we are very small around the basket. Sengun, Jabari, Tari, even Amen somehow manage to blow lay-ups because they don’t go up with force, start too low, coming at the basket from a bad angle or just lay it up underhanded. This is also Brooks and Green, though both getting better at it.

 

How about starting Sheppard and Whitmore for a few games just to shake things up? Sounds crazy, but this team needs a wake up call because as a "team", it's not playing well.

 

Sengun put up numbers but pretty much killed us in the 4th quarter with those back to back turnovers. And then he frustratingly bricked some point blank shots afterwards. His body language was horrible all game. He was outplayed by Turner. And Jalen was obviously outplayed by Haliburton. He was awful all game. He seriously needs to stop passing the ball with one hand when driving. Always results in live ball turnovers and easy scores for the other team. Both these guys have been bricking their free throws in the last month and the rest of the team has followed their lead. It's obvious Sengun doesn't focus at the line unless he misses the first one. You can see it on his face and body language. Can't use fatigue as an excuse since it's been issue all season. Dissappointed in the whole team overall..

 

Our players look lame and limp. Need a few changes to spark the living room.

 

Yeah, lots of miscommunications (or just dumb rotations) on defense resulted in wide open shots.

 

JESUS - REBOUNDING is not a sustainable offensive strategy.

DD

 

Rebounding is sustainable. It is very repeatable.

Sure, it can be limited on the upper end as shooting is more important.

 

That lineup impressed me, DD. I'd like to see us use it more often if Adams is available (and I wish he was available more often).

 

Jalen is a cancer and only plays for himself.

 

It has been sustainable all season for the Rockets.

 

Sengun turnovers were unconscionable but he did not lead team in turnovers in this game or even in 4th.

 

Rebounding is sustainable. Relying on offensive rebounding to win games is not. It's like relying on makeup exams to get good grades in school.

 

I'd say it is more like homework. You do all your homework, and you don't quite have to do as well on the tests to get the same final grade versus doing only some of the homework.

The Rockets were a Top 10 Offense prior to FVV getting hurt, and better than a couple offenses that had a TS% of at least 59%. Since FVV got hurt, the Rockets have fallen to the 15th best offense overall while being the 23rd best offense since he initially got hurt. FVV was not some monster rebounder. The Rockets offense falling apart has to do with him helping get easier shots and with preventing some turnovers.

 

Maybe both analogies make sense. The thing is, if you are a top student, you do all your homework AND kill it on the tests.

Good offensive rebounding is definitely a positive, and I'm glad we have that. Offensive rebounding helps bad shooting teams more than good shooting teams. But it is very difficult to be a good offensive team with bad shooting.

 

lol a true plus minus only fan. This is what happens when ignorant people only do surface “analysis” or judgements.