ClutchFans Game Thread: Pelicans @ Rockets 10/5/2013 (PRESEASON)

exactly, well said. Its way too early to conclude anything.

The coaching staff has 7 more games to go, maybe just maybe, a little bit more tweaking as the season starts.

Till then it will be all messing with many many trials or mix and match few different type of plays.

Lets not get dishearten on why certain players get fewer minutes or why this and that. Lets give some slack to McHale and team.

Overall I was satisfied with today's game and starter's performances.
It would have been sweet if we had won. But I would rather loose now to sort things out rather than later. Cheers.

 

I didn't say Canaan played well, or that he's going to be a good player. I said I want to see more of him in the coming weeks. I want to see if he has any ability or not. Canaan only played 7 minutes, so I couldn't tell much from that. The Rockets must see something in Canaan, because they did sign him to a three year contract. Brooks had a bad game and I don't think it would take much for Canaan to beat him out. I see Canaan playing for the Vipers and being called up if there is an injury.

D-Mo didn't look very good to me. He fouled out in 24 minutes and couldn't stay in front of his man on defense. I'm not giving up on D-Mo or anyone else after only one preseason game, but our Power Forwards look a little lost on defense.

 

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/and-away-we-go

Observations from the Rockets' preseason opener against the Pelicans

 

better not. omer looks like an overgrown teenager. a beard would not suits him. :grin:

jeremy should grow one :grin:

 

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if Darryl is not looking for a starting caliber PF. Jones,Donuts,and Smith are nice backup 4s but not starting material yet as they have dome rough edges in their games. But if Jones can improve on his rotations on defense he can durprise and has the more pontential as a player.

 

Every player has some rough edges to their games.

 

I didn't get to watch the game last night, but I've been checking the boards and videos and haven't seen anything brought up about Lin's 4 turnovers. Were they just not bad turnovers so nobody is talking about them?

 

Missing Delfino. Last night's second units, made me realize just how much.

 

Two of them were just alley oop passes thrown too high

 

They weren't a big deal. Can't remember all details, (they are discussed in depth above, if you want to search for it), one was an Anthony Davis steal, one was a bad alley oop lob for Dwight.

 

Not that I saw.

 

Delfino has a bad foot. He wouldn't be playing even if he was still on the team.

 

Yeah, I know. Should have been clearer in my post. Not Delfino per se, but someone playing that role. As good as Beverley and TJones were last night, I don't see either of them being able to be the catalyzing agent for others, the person off the bench who makes others better, that Delfino was for the Rockets last year.

The second units just seemed disorganized. Hoping that Garcia can bring some of that energy. We'll have to see.

 

Wow, never been so psyched after a pre-season game. I really love this team, not just because of Howard and Harden but during time-outs and everything: everybody was involved! You saw Garcia, Camby & Harden cracking jokes, Harden and Greg Smith being all friendly, Howard explaining (apologizing ) for getting a technical to AB - who also talked to Asik a lot - Howard getting everybody in the huddle and put hands on their shoulders. I saw a lot of love from Howard to D-Mo and so on..

Also of course the game itself. I really forgot what it felt like to have a legit post player they can throw the ball to and let him go to work. It seriously feels like ages ago when we had that last, which was of course Yao Ming. Dwight looked very solid, I liked his FT form on his second shot when he looked really calm and relaxed. His body language and demeanor is so different from his time in LA, hope it stays that way. His passing surprised me, he really did well. Passing in general was pretty solid, especially Jeremy and D-Mo also had some nice touches.

Special mention have to go to our guys Casspi & Beverley. That attitude and fearlessness by Beverley on defense and going into the lane and hitting those floaters was great. He really looks like AB with those shots and Brooks really needs to step it up because he was the only one that looked really bad out there. Jones was okay, had some nice shots and fast break action but just like D-Mo made some mistakes and both need work. Then let's go to Casspi, that guy has a pretty shot and he can block shots as well! Loved his attitude and hustle. Also have to give credit to Brewer for 2 good plays, though he did not do much else.

 

Analyzing Rox's performance vs. the Pelicans.

I really liked what I saw from the first unit in last night's game. Lin really fit in well with Howard and Harden on the floor, which a lot of doubters thought it would never work. Harden reduced his role as the ball handler and showed great energy on the defensive end, which is a great step forward as one of the leaders on the team. Howard looked great and his post presence did wonders to the team on both ends of the floor. Lin did great in just about every category except his turnovers. Lin had total of 4 turnovers, but if you watched the game, 2 of them were results of alley-oops not caught by Howard. This has a lot to do with the yet to be developed chemistry between the two, so I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Both Lin and Beverley did great defensively, which led to Holiday's miserable night against the Rox. I feel so bad for Holiday when Bev picked his pocket over and and over again, it was embarrassing for Jrue when you are supposedly the best ball handler on your team. TJones was fantastic while DMo was dismal to watch. He looked great in training camp, but he was never able to translate his skills into actual games. With his size, he has great handle and shooting range, but unfortunately when it's game time, he just could not utilize his skills effectively to his advantage. Casspi was on a streak last night, but I doubt he would be this effective night in and night out judging from what I saw in the training camp scrimmage clips, when he just couldn't hit a shot.

As a Rox fan, it was a satisfying performance by the Rox last night. Looking at the roster now, it looks like Covington and Williams are going to get cut before the start of regular season. If everything goes well, I can definitely see Rox in the Western conf finals. Excited for this season, let's go Rockets!

 

Meant to include Casspi in my list of great second unit players from last night. He was awesome.

 

lol i can't wait for asik to come back and fill in and complete our championship contenting team!

 

Liked your post. : )

 

You guys seem to forget that the second unit isn't just missing Asik. Garcia was sitting out too.

Beverly
Garcia
Jones
Asik
Cassipi/Williams/Greg

Our 2nd unit will improve greatly once everyone is in.

 

They're rookies for crying out loud. The more important question for them imo is whether they show more ability than similar rookies or, say, Marchado or Jones, given past rookies that were either released or kept. I still think that Covington will be a DLeague stash using one of the last roster spots.