ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 12/23/2013

Lin is hated due to spillover from his annoying fans.

 

The whole defense, especially perimeter defense was obviously big issue last night. It has been this way this season, and it seems to be worse than last year.

Not saying it was good last season, but our pace was much faster, and the damage wasn't as obvious as it seems now. We have proven that we could score without key guys, even multiple ones. I am not so worried about offense, although we could do a much better job with half-court set plays, lacking of discipline in defense has always been biggest concern for me, well, ever since current coaching staff took over.

Too many high school level of mistakes - eyes on ball only, chasing after ball, instead of trusting teammates and getting good coverage as a whole team etc. Ever since his Knicks days, Lin does that every now and then, very noticeable last night as well. Obviously he wanted to help, but as professional NBA player, he should have known better. It's not just Lin, our whole team doesn't have any discipline, and the coaching staff isn't doing anything about it. Imagine JVG sees this game after game, he will certainly faint

We can't just rely on Howard's rim protection or athleticism from individual players, we need to stay with some workable defensive schema. Switching on everything is not going to cut it, and we didn't even do that consistently.

Until we improve drastically in defense, as a team, I don't see us making real noise in the league. The season is still young, and there is more than enough time, but the coaching staff need to address that - more than "free lancing, let's work harder, guys" lip service.

 

Once again, we lost to the Mavericks. Why?

We were out coached..simple as that. We could've beaten this team without our some of our players.

Carliskr's adjustments ran circles around McHale.

Asik healthy would've made things easier. Asik at C, Dwight on Dirk. Much like we should guard Aldridge, but hey Omer is b****ing & McHale simply has problems making ingame adjustments.

 

Still could've beaten this team.

McHale simply didn't adjust properly.

 

I couldn't watch the second half, but this looks like a good description of what went wrong. Thanks.

 

our designated defense coordinator sampson says that defense is just a matter of hard work, apparently devoid of any sort of system, structure, or technique...

..somehow, i think this coaching staff will not be addressing or improving anything this season :X

 

My quick takeaways after watching the games:

1. Dwight looked a lot better in the post. In the beginning of the year, he looked like a turnover waiting to happening in the post with no idea what to do. He seems confident now. Still, how does Dwight have no blocks?

2. Lin looked like a sleepy zombie out there with a couple awful turnovers. If you look at CP3 or Nash, they look alert and in charge. Lin had that look during his Linsanity days but now he looks tentative. Some of that is rust but it would help if McHale told him he was in charge. Right now, he passes at the top of the key instead of looking to create/PNR/whatever.

3. Casspi needs to camp out at the three point line and not move. Instead, he tries to handle the ball too much. He's a blackhole.

4. Garcia -- pretty useless.

5. Why were Garcia and Lin guarding Nowitzki one-on-one in the 4th quarter? I would have put in DMO and told him to not fall for any of Dirk's pump fakes.

6. Overall, more than any individual turnovers or mistakes, there's a lack of direction and unity on the team (offense and defense). Some of it is due to people not gelling because of constant injuries but IMO, Dwight needs to be the defensive anchor and set the tone that there will be no easy baskets. On offense, I would prefer that McHale instruct Lin to be the driver who has the ball in his hands 80% of the time instead of the current version where everyone, from Parson to Casspi, gets to play PG.

 

This board is hostile territory. Too much anger. Too much b****ing.

 

Predictable thread is predictable.

 

BTW: Lin was on Calderon and Calderon hit is averages tonight. Not much more. His 15 points were 2.3 points his average and his assits were .4 above his average. This is a meaninless deviation, random fluctuation from his mean. Must conclude that Lin did a decent defensive job equal to what most PG's in the league did againt Calderon. Calderon is having his best year of his career. Look at his stats on ESPN.

 

Lin is not in charge. He's not the focal point of this offense. He's not a PG for this team, this season.

 

The offense was OK last night. We went cold in the third quarter, but we shot 54% for the game and scored 104 points without Harden.

Dallas beat us by shooting better at the free throw line, shooting better from three point range, and by having fewer turnovers.

Dirk was really good last night and we really didn't have anyone to stop him. People that think D-Mo could play defense on Dirk are just wrong. D-Mo can't guard anyone, that's why he doesn't play.

I like to think that with Asik and Harden maybe we win this game. But really Dallas just played really well and made their shots and didn't turn the ball over.

 

This team disappoints in way too many games to even be kindly considered a contender.

 

Absolutely true.

 

And Calderon blew right by him a few times, while Lin stood idly by -- much the same way Harden does a lot of the time on defense. The team overall still needs to step it up on defensive effort. Collectively.

 

Yikes. I figured Phoenix would pass us in the standings after another game or two, but I didn't realize it already happened.

 

I agree, then why people blame him? I think some of his turnovers are because he was trying to create, but, the team doesn't play that way. All his scoring was from him cutting and attacking, ISO. I think that all he could control, not his fault. People should ask coaches, what they have on their mind.

 

Sure if you called Lin being picked, standing idly by, then I guess he was.

 

No need to be so defensive. He is far from the only one who gives inconsistent effort on D, as I noted.

 

The Mavericks may actually be a better team when they have all their healthy players available. I wouldn't be surprised to see them above us in the standings when the season is over. It's not a "feel good" assertion on my part because I hate the Mavs. But, the fact is the Rockets spent all this money to get these star players...and they don't seem that much better or maybe not even any better than the Mavs with Dirk and his supporting cast. My bottom line is some of these role players the Rockets have are just not good fits for this team. Dwight is definitely not the problem as he is everything we could have hoped for so far. It seems the Rockets have a lot of offense-oriented players who are pretty bad defenders. And, that is just not going to get you anywhere in the end.