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

Please show me where I said Jeremy is a bad defender. Don't worry -- I'll wait.

What I said is that he -- AND THE REST OF THE ENTIRE TEAM -- could stand to put forth more effort defensively. The whole team. "Collectively."

If anything, I have routinely defended him against people who criticize him as a bad defender, and have repeatedly said I don't think he is. Our team defense is lacking overall. He is included in that, as is every other guy on the roster. Geez.

 

Jeremy should quit gambling, and just stick to his f****king man.

 

This forum has become a battle ground for people for or against Jeremy Lin.

That is not right as we as fans should like our players and have constructive discussions.

Anyway, I think the real issue with our team as of late has been the disappearance of TJones. He has not shown up for the last games and that is affecting the overall performance of the team. I think that event if Beverly or Harden would have played we would had lost as the PF position is being exploited by other teams.

 

Wow the Rockets lost without their best player (Harden), starting point guard and best perimeter defender (Beverly), best bench player (Asik) and back up center (Smith)?

Really I am shocked that a team missing 3 of their top 7 players lost.

The Rockets simply lack the depth to consistently win without Harden, Beverly and Asik.

 

I think the Rockets would have won, Parsons could have played more at the 4 and the Rockets got nothing offensively out of Garcia and nothing defensively out of Brooks.

 

I know. At least PPat could give us 15 pts consistently.

 

I don't know if it's a coach's decision since a lot of guys on our team seems to do that, but Lin needs to stop ball watching. He's almost as bad as Harden in that regard. Doesn't help that our team defense is pure crap.

 

First, the Rockets ARE developing Lin well. They do not need to change their entire philosophy for a single non-superstar player. Having said that Lin has worked hard and the improvement to his game is obvious.

Second, Lin makes 8 million a year, and he is earning it. He is getting 15 points a game in 29 minutes and shooting over 50% from the field, including an exceptional 57% from 2.

Defensively he isn't the worst, but he still isn't good or even average. Straight up he is solid, but he loses his man and makes poor decisions on switches. He needs to be smarter about it and fight harder on picks. He shouldn't be guarding players like Dirk, Aldridge, Love and Monroe more than 1-2 possessions a game, as it is, he switches so often he is left guarding them 5-6 times a game.

Lin is an important piece for the Rockets as either a player or as a trade piece. Regardless he is a good but not great player on a team that needs depth.

 

^ I agree. I think forcing Lin to learn to play off ball has done wonders for his development.

 

You tried to say Lin was standing idly on multiple possessions while his man blew by him to point he didn't give effort like Harden, but it turn out to be just 1 possession where mental lapse or lack of concentration can happen. That hardly seem fair to point out and make it seems like Lin didn't try on D.

 

This applies to the whole team as well. Not sure why the coaches go with this "switch everything" defensive scheme. Dirk also killed us last game thanks to that philosophy. Still waiting for in-game adjustments..

 

Well, he was. On two big possessions late in the 4th, Lin was overhelping/lost sight of his man and gave up two 3s to kill our momentum during our attempted comeback. While he may not deserve all the criticism he receives on D, there's no question he needs to improve defensively.

 

Stop ball watching will be a step to the right direction for Lin. I have no idea why he does that when Calderon is hot from behind the arc.

 

Umm, the last three the Mavs hit in the fourth quarter was at the 9:14 mark. Did you even watch the game?

 

Virtually every team in the NBA switches, over the last decade the rule changes have allowed it and encouraged it. The issue is not with Sampson, his defensive philosophy is sound when applied properly is effective. The problem is that the perimeter players especially, make poor decisions on when to switch. Parsons and Lin both put forth effort defensively but switch way too often. Parsons especially can switch as many as three times a possession. Lin is just poor at fighting around picks and deciding when to switch. Harden ball watches too often. Beverly is an elite one on one defender, but his strength is some what neutralized because of all the switches.

 

Dwight Howard- A
-During a game like this, he was one of the few that brought the intensity on both offense and defense. You could tell that he was trying to get everybody else going when was throwing it down extra hard on the alley oop passes. Points, rebounds, heart, Dwight did just about all he could do.

Terrence Jones- D+
Honestly, one of the biggest disappointments over the last couple of games has been his regression. It is no surprise that when he was playing like the stretch 4 that we needed, we were winning games and winning them in the right manner with comfortable leads. I really hope he gets his act together and stop with his bad habit of over dribbling and turning into the defender, it is an easy and predictable turnover waiting to happen.

Francisco Garcia- D-
Cisco went from having a monstrous game in Detroit to completely disappearing today. That CAN'T happen. One thing about his game that irked me the most was that he folded during that 15-0 run that Dallas made. Sure, Dallas got off on a hurry, but he ignored Dwight on a couple of possesions and played into Dallas's hands.

Jeremy Lin- C
The game started off with a lot of excitment over Lin's play. He flushed it on a drive and showed a lot of energy. What happened next was extremely puzzling. He had a good offensive game with some turnovers (he needs to cut down on btw) from jumping carelessly in the air. He seems to do it a lot and as an individual that was raised playing basketball it is just a fundamental mistake. You have your cutters and spot up shooters eyed out before you drive in so you know where everybody is. You can't expect to get bailed out, even though it is true, he gets hit alot when he drives in. The biggest criticism of all though, is that he could not stick with his man during the game. It played right into Dallas's hands and helped get their 3 pt stroke going. I gave him a C because he had a good offensive game and just came back from an injury. If he hadn't made those defensive mistakes, he probably would get an A.

Chandler Parsons- A-
Chandler has been amazing for this team. Its truly incredible how much of a versatile player he is turning into. The chemistry he and Dwight have is also really good, he seems to be the one player that understands when to feed Dwight the ball and went to make his cuts. He would get an A but his defense was of suspect a couple of times last night as well. It wasn't too bad and he did shut Monta down when he was guarding him so you can't really ask much more of Parsons.

Brooks- B+/A-
I have been pretty angry about Brooks's last couple of games. He seems to be driving in a lot more than shooting his 3 when he is the best 3pt shooter on the team. The team really needs that to get going so they can play that inside out game. He showed he could do it last night, but was still hesitant about doing it in the 3rd Q. What I really liked was the intensity he brought late in the game during his 3pt barrage. Unlike the usual attitude of the team rolling over, he refused to give in.

Casspi- C-
Casspi has really regressed and makes some boneheaded plays sometimes. Not sure how much I can criticize him for what is expected of him given that he is a backup and makes very little but he really needs to do something about his tunnel vision. When he has the ball, he almost never looks to make that extra pass.

Brewer- [Incomplete]
I can't really put a finger on why Ron is even on the team. I hope he proves me otherwise.

 

Its obvious McHale's instructions were to switch. Mavs have been running that play for Dirk for the last decade and won a chip. If switching wasnt working, its on McHale to make adjustments.

Its also the weird inside switching strategy of McHale that i dont like. I noticed in a few games when we go small and parsons plays the 4 on someone like LMA, when LMA posts up and they see the entry pass coming they switch Dwight from the weakside. Dumb Dumb Dumb.

We have very poor coaching and definitely cant compete on the highest level without improvements in in game strategy and adjustments.

 

You could have saved yourself a lot of typing by just saying you think the bench is garbage.

 

Even us Lin fans think he should just stick to his man. I've seen so many times he tries to help on defense, which result in his man getting wide open shot. He does that a lot so it could be that the couch wants him to or it is his decision to play like that.

 

there is one problem though.
If you are a teacher grading students' papers, you have to be consistent.
Parsons & Lin give you about the same production (Parsons 21 pts / 15 shots, 4 TOs; Lin, 20 pts / 10 shots, 5 TOs. Yet you give one A, one C.