ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Spurs 11/30/2013

You must of missed the part where he led the team to the playoffs last season carrying them on his back for many games.

 

Watching the highlights once again, I have to say the biggest play of the match was Howard's offensive board that led to Harden's 3 with 57 seconds left.

I think Asik is a good center, but there's no World in which he starts and Howard goes to the bench.

 

NSIAP

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/cwSyO8ScwiY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

It is legitimate because if you go on the road, on a back to back against a Spurs team that is undefeated at home and win even without one of your 5 best players, that is a very good win. It isn't luck or the Spurs under estimating the Rockets... It is a real quality win that doesn't need to be qualified at all.

Does it mean the Rockets are better than the Spurs? No, but it bodes well for the Rockets at a minimum competing with the Spurs if they meet in the playoffs and it is a real confidence booster and indicative of how well the Rockets appear to be developing.

My post had NOTHING to do with Jeremy Lin other than pointing out the Rockets won even though a key piece was missing.

 

Great win! I re-watched the game and here are my thoughts on the defensive end:

Harden: played a great D for most of the game. There were some minor mishaps but main due to lack of focus and lost sight of his man.
Grade B

Bev: Can't knock on Bev when he was going up against one of the best. No one can stop the little energized French bunny 1-on-1. Lucky that French bunny ran out of juice down the stretch or the game might have a different outcome.
Grade C+

Parsons: He was the weakest starter on defense. Lots of ball-watching and getting stuck on picks or just slow on his feet. Belineli was having way too many open looks. Parsons is overworked on both ends and minute reduction should be the best remedy.
Grade C-

Dwight: One of the reasons why Rockets were so awful defending PnR's was because Dwight never hedge. Way too many perimeter defenders were stuck on picks and fell behind coming out of picks. Asik usually hedges hard on PnR's and gives just enough time for defenders to recover on picks. If you don't hedge on Tony Parker, he will have a field day in the paint. This is the only part of Dwight's game that needs to improve--hedge on PnR's!
Grade B-

Jones: Good job! He started slow because Pop used Diaw as their focal point of their attack. As game progressed Jone became better. On the final few minutes, he made some crucial switches on Parker. Because of his length, it stopped TP on his track and made him pass the ball instead penetrating further into the lane.
Grade A-

We were lucky that Spurs missed so many open corner 3's. Their offense designs more corner 3's than any other teams. Next time we might not be so lucky. The key to beat Spurs is to stop TP. This should also be our focus next time.

 

Dwight should never hedge pnrs, especially not with Duncan, he'll just slip in for 2. Dwight's recovery ability to challenge Parker's shot is a lot better than allowing Duncan to slip through and trying to stop that.

 

Jesus. I log onto ESPN this AM expecting a dime article or something highlighting the win and get nothing. If the Lakers had beaten the Spurs last night in similar fashion there would have been 5 side articles about it and 3 videos.

That was a big playoff style win for this team and likely put the league on notice. **** you biased ass ESPN.

 

The problem with +/- is that people don't use them correctly. I actually love +/- in the box score of a game I didn't watch live. Because it helps sums up what happened in the game.

For example, suppose all starters have a +5 and Harden has a +1. Then you see that overall the Rockets starters were outscoring their opponents, but during the time Harden played with the bench, it wasn't as good. You can sort of scan through everyone's +/- to get an idea of how the team performed with certain lineups. This is particularly useful in a small sample, since subsitutions are generally very rigid.

So basically +/- is kind of a game-flow stat. And there are particular things you can infer. For example, if I see Greg Smith going 3/4 for 8 points in 10 minutes, and a -10, then it becomes obvious that the team was a layup drill during that time. Same if I see a +10 next to Asik and +2~3 next to all other starters. Again I can make an educated guess that our defense just dropped when Asik wasn't in the game.

But it is true that if you are trying to use 1-game +/- stat to compare players, then you're just using it wrong.

 

Lol. So misinformed.

 

he put up 31-7-6 with only 3 turnovers (1 a dreadful no call that even Sean Elliott called an obvious foul, Sean freaking Elliott) and basically carried the team through the 4th.

 

Yea that's what I was thinking. Your not a championship contender without harden. Come on guys

 

I knew you wouldn't be able to resist responding to someone saying he had a great game lol. Sorry, but he did.

 

Harden was solid in the 4th to help the team win, but the Rockets needs to address that 20+ point lead meltdown. The blame is not on Bev or that Parker can't be stopped (Parker took 27 shots so he better make some shots), and Bev did what he could - team defense comes first...I mean Lin put up 38 points on this exact team last year.

 

Heh heh McHale seemed like he wanted to duck he was so close to that thing. McFail? McFantastic!

 

Harden is a big part, may be the biggest piece, but only a piece of the puzzle. And like all puzzles, you just have to find the pieces (whether big or small) to make it complete (meaning Houston can be a contender even without Harden). This just means they will have to find another same tier player like Harden. I hope Rockets leave this squad fully intact this year to see how things go.

 

Harden will be the reason why we will sit above the Spurs. When there is a lull in the offense, Harden is the answer. I don't think we beat the Spurs with Harden not playing. I do not mind losing to Mavs (lost a double digit lead), or the Lakers because those are games that won't win series. Beating the Spurs is at their best is an important road to becoming a dynasty.

 

What are you talking about?

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HWEzN2omk_0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

NOV 30TH NBA TOP 10 PLAYS

Can anyone tell me how we didn't get ONE play on here? Remember that crazy series of passes that ended up as a Howard alley-oop? Terrance Jones dunking while being undercut and fouled? James' off-balance game-tying 3-ptr? Beverly's tip-in amongst the trees after Harden's miss that gave us the lead? Even Parsons' dunk to seal the deal could contend, but nope...

Not one Rockets play while dealing SA their first home loss. But they get 2... a nifty Parker layup, and an old-man alley-oop to Duncan.

Kind've pisses me off.

 

Lets be realistic here. We all knew the spurs were going to make a comeback even being down 20 points, the test was if we could SUSTAIN THAT COMEBACK. We did just that and pulled through. Spurs just don't get blown out like that on their own court.