ClutchFans Game Thread: Blazers @ Rockets 11/3/2012

who says we played like crap? I cant remember enjoying a game so much...they played with such an enthusiasm, wit, bravery and team spirit which could be envied by any team...

 

Relative to the norm, I think that most of the players played subpar except for Aldrich and Morris.

 

it's subjective...it depends on what you consider to be parameters of quality...to me this is how basketball players or a team should play.... i do not oblige them to win or to achieve a certain percentage or numbers, but I expect of them to play unselfishly(and sometimes selfishly hehe I know this is a paradox but so be it) and leave their hearts on the floor....

 

I hear ya but the stats do not lie. I'm going to chalk it up mostly to fatique and a small rotation. In any case, looking for better things ahead when we get this stuff straightened out.

 

Lin had no choice. LaMarcus was steadily killing us, so Lin had to help defend the guy. That was probably part of the game plan.

As I wrote earlier, the double duty was wearing Lin out. Near the end of regulation and in overtime, he was like the Dutch boy running desperately back and forth trying to plug some major leaks in the dike. He was probably near collapse by the end of OT, which was why Lillard was open enough to bury his 3s. And that was a major reason why we lost.

 

tough loss, rockets looked a little tired, but no real excuse there.. would have liked to see them execute better late.. lin made a bad decision with that lob late in the game, and asik missed too many easy shots, needs to dunk the ball..

and Patterson.. please stop taking threes, move it in a bit young fella...

otherwise a game I thought the rockets had but could not put away....

 

I agree, clamp down defensively and play more disciplined on the offense late in games.. I think harden took some forced shots, and he has been pretty good getting great looks.. just need to work on late game execution, and the bigs have to convert close to the hoop...

 

No the form is the same. It's most likely that he paid attention to other weaknesses in his game like strengthening his left had and I'm sure the rehab took up a lot of time... and some of it is legs. Harden also was strong-arming his J last night because he had no legs either. When you shoot a jump shot the legs are responsible for the timing and rhythm of the shot.

 

Happy they played hard. When you get to ot you played hard. Ran out of gas in ot and that was expected in 2nd of b to b.

No one expected 82 and 0.

Really, if they were 3 and 0. This place would have exploded and that would not be good.

Now they have few practices to work in new players.

 

I think we can point to a handful of plays if we want. It could be Harden's of regulation attempted drive, Lin's leaving Lillard, Lin trying an alley oop in traffic at the worst time, Harden calling on Lin to give him the ball for an iso when Lin had hit a couple of big shouts before etc. etc.

But in the end I think too many minutes by our starting back court, and Portland doing an excellent job at defending the paint and keeping guys from scoring close to the basket is what won them the game.

The whole Trail Blazer team had a defensive philosophy to keep our guys from scoring in the paint close to the basket. Their effort in that area made the difference.

Yes, there are mistakes that we can work on in practice the next couple of days, but the individual little mistakes aren't really what cost us the game or worth dwelling on too much. Because they aren't what's going to happen consistently.

 

This, in the 2nd half of the game it was pretty obvious that Harden's fatigue was affecting his jumper, and it was up to McHale to tell him to cut down on the jumpers.

 

Mchale definitely has the Van Gundy syndrome when it comes to grinding all his best players down to a nub.

Sometimes I wonder about the sanity of some of these supposedly professional coaches. This is the NBA man. Everybody is good here. And if you're a great ballplayer but you are worn out.......you're gonna get beat by the other team.........even if they aren't as good as you. This is the NBA! So, why would you keep guys on the floor that are so obviously gassed??? You know they're gonna lose anyways. Get some young, fresh legs in there. Doesn't matter how bad they play.......cuz.......you're gonna lose with your best players when they're holding their shorts and can't even get over halfcourt to set up the offense after they've been destroyed on defense. Totally ridiculous thought process. If guys are gassed, get them out, sit them down, and let somebody else play.

Lin and Harden and Asik were running like they were running in a swimming pool filled with peanut butter and that was in the FIRST HALF!! So, a blind man could've seen this coming.

Once again, this is the NBA for crying out loud! Everybody can play. So, if you are going to run out worn out players and think they give you the best chance to win..........that's stupidity.

 

I blame this one on the coach. Yeah they missed an insane amount of layups and one more make would have won this game, but I attribute much of that to fatigue. 3 games in 4 nights...you NEED to better utilize your bench players. Period. Inexcusable decision making by a professional coach...

 

I guess I'll wait a few days until I start my Keven McHale fan club.

 

Nice read, great points well made. Huge props to you.

 

THIS !! Really hate when ppl second guess from the stand or a couch somehow thinking they know best. No one could predict Lillard would suddenly make those treys. If Lin did not help and LMA got his shot off, everyone would be saying that Lin was bad on defensive rotation and not a good off ball defender, etc. You just can not win with those negative, hate spewing LOH'S. Though Damian is a stud. I like his game and hope he wins the ROY this year.

 

Uh, Asik is TERRRRRIBLE at setting screens still. None of our big men knows how to set screen yet. It's going to take some time to learn. Give them at least one year.

 

omg

Clutch fans are blind .
This is bad coaching at the end .
James harden flopped.

Harden want to.be the main.man. Tooo much iso play for james. No team work harden is the next melo iso . If you fan did not see the problem when jame have the ball.u r completely blind. U have to play team basketball .

 

omg

Something is wrong with jeremy. He is different than last year. He pass.the.ball too much . If he was trying not to be selfish, its not working. Cuz he is not getting it back from harden. bad team basketball.

 

I'm still raging!