Before anyone brings up the "this could've gone in the game thread" just have you know that I refuse to have my post drowned out by trolled out knee jerks handing out beat to death nicknames (we still do that?) & CAP LOCKED OUT raging internet warriors. Anyway, -Harden was trash BUT he does tend to have one or two of these games every season. Glad he got it out of the way early. He also tends to bounce back after poor performances. In his two worst performances last season, he played very well the following games. 2012-11-19: Loss at UTAH; Harden had 6 points, FG%.167 Next Game: Win vs CHI; Harden had 28 points, 5 steals, FG% .571 2013-03-29: Loss at MEM; Harden had 7 points, FG% .333 Next Game: Win at SAC; Harden had 21 points, 9 assists, 7 boards, FG% .368 -I have no doubt at all that we're the better team, inherent lobs, poor refs, early foul trouble for the twin towers, and Hardens lack of scoring all cost us tonight however none of those are common traits. -Our bench is probably deepest in the league. -Lin has played exceptional; don’t give him slack for not being able to guard the best point guard in the league who always has a bunch of zebras on his back. -We play the Blazers tomorrow & the Lakers Thursday. We can very well be at 5-1 before the weekend. -Really impressed with Greg Smith tonight, his improvement in the offseason showed. His play will be pivotal this season when Omer & D12 get into foul trouble. -Casspi’s a double threat with his insane 3 point stroke & first step. -Why do we have 11 active players when we can have 13? Would’ve loved to see Canaan in garbage time. We’re 3-1, the Clippers are a great team at home, we’re still building team chemistry, we will improve & get healthier. I know it’s asking a lot from the GARM but let’s not overreact to this one. Go Rockets.
Positive thoughts? The game is over. We play again in less than 20 hours We get a rematch on Saturday It's the 4th game of the season.
Another thing: Outside of the first quarter when a mixture of poor officiating, insanely hot shooting, and awful defense put them up huge, we played them pretty even. Our outside shooting is usually much better, and obviously Harden is much better than this. I do think that Parsons needs to come out of the gates guarding Redick. Harden is ok in one on one D, but forcing him to chase a guy like that around screens is just gonna wear him out. I also think starting Casspi against them is probably the better way to go. The twin towers was just ineffective tonight.
We again dug a 20 point deficit in the first half that I don't know how good we could be. Ideally we should be hanging with the Clips. They are averaging 113 a game.
This game was painful to watch, no doubt, but when it was over I regained composure. Logically speaking this was considered a loss before the season. 3rd game of a 4-in-5 on the road against a contending team. Not a big deal. I'm pretty much biding my time until the trade deadline anyway, because that's when I think Morey will shore up our deficiencies.
also in our favor: Rebounds: 46-38 Fastbreak: 9-7 Points in the Paint: 62-50 but they outscored us by 19
To be honest, we weren't at full strength and still kept the game close despite what the boxscore was. I still think we can potentially be the better team as the season progresses. -Harden wasn't his usual self (seemed to lack intensity tonight) -Patrick out due to injury -Questionable officiating (kept Dwight on the bench) -Clippers catching fire like that It was definitely a tough loss but hopefully they bounce back for tomorrow's game. -Side note: G.Smith was ballin tonight. Hopefully he can get some playing time to help out Asik and DH. Go Rockets!
I think a positive was when Howard was posting up and the number of fouls Blake and DeAndre Jordan used up on trying to stop him. I think they ended up with 5 each? Maybe the rematch we can use Howard early to draw some quick fouls there. It would really help if we can take out their best PnR guy and their best inside defensive presense.
I'm already over it. I knew how the game would turn on based on how they got the stars in foul trouble off the bat. Their masters at destroying rhythm so I was mentally prepared for the L.
