ClutchFans Game Thread: Nuggets @ Rockets 3/23/2025

That was a frustrating game for sure!

We suck at FT line

 

ime trying to find his playoff roster.

 

This game was a microcosm of what the playoffs will be, other teams will all play hard which takes away our advantage, and they are all more gifted at scoring the ball.

We need some consistent scoring to get to where we want to be.

Jalen ain't it
Alpi ain't it...

DD

 

I think it's a product of a young team who exhausts a lot of defensive and hustle energy. Rockets expend a lot more energy on those fronts that the vast majority of teams. Young players are less injury prone but their conditioning isn't at the level of vets who are used to 35+ minutes a night.

It's one of those things I expect to get better next season from one additional season of getting used to Ime's expectations on defense.

 

No one takes your "analysis" seriously.

 

this right here. It is very frustrating. play the players that got you there. amen is like 12 years old, he will be fine coming off the bench in his natural position.

 

it is a rockets curse. there will never be a 10 or 9 man rotation in this franchise.

 

Pro Tip: don't miss 12 FTs and lose by 5

 

I doubt it under Ime. Amen is the ultimate mold of a player Ime loves. Elite level defensive instincts married with elite level high motor. That is exactly the type of player Ime loves. Amen is by far Ime's favorite player.

Not saying it's not deserved because what coach doesn't love those traits but especially Ime. He's not going to bench Amen. I just don't see it.

 

Even Tim Breaux knows

 

We actually didn't play many minutes with Amen + Sengun on and all the other 4's off last year. Just a couple hundred minutes, and we shot unsustainably well from three so it's not meaningful.

This year the lineups with Amen / Dillon at the 4 suck because the defensive rebounding is awful in those minutes (5th percentile DRB% when we are otherwise best in the league), opponents are shooting 75% at the rim in those minutes, and we're missing shots from every distance except the rim.

So basically exactly what you'd expect.

 

What a sorry game making Murray look like kobe out there. Intensity was off and awareness was off. Just a step slow today.

 

Fvv championship experience sureeeeee came in handy today. Im sooooooo in awe of him scoring 7 pts in a game against a Nuggets missing jokic

 

Amen is my favorite player also. But I would be totally ok with him coming off the bench for now until we figure this out. He was doing just fine off the bench also. But I trust Ime at the end of the day, I won't complain about him too much since he did get us to the 4th overall best record in the league.

 

Yea, Ime is great but he's stubborn, he waits until someone cooks Brooks (drops 30+), n then decides to put Amen on that guy. It happened too many times this season, I get that he doesn't want Amen to get in foul trouble but we lost at least 5 games because of it. Just like tonight, Jamal dropped 15 in the 3rd quarter, they went up by 13 n then we had to play catch-up.

 

Art the end of the day, yeah.

Last tear Amen snuck up on teams, not anymore. They know his powers and limitations.

They face guard him in the dunker spot and leave him wide open at the arc.

This lineup isn't good enough to be the main lineup imo.

Fred should be able to shoot but can't
Green is decent enough but still dared to shoot
Dillon is surprisingly our best floor spacer
Amen gets the draymond treatment
Sengun can only pump fake

2 non spacers who you sag off
3 guys who arent serious threats

Im starting to think Jabari should start and we get the terror twins back.

Jabari helps the starters and teams cant game plan as much against amen when hes coming off the bench.

He can still get 30mpg

 

He needs to add that trae young floater to his arsenal. There was a lot of opportunities in the middle of the floor but Jalen ended up shooting leaning mid range jump shots

 

Again mid range is the worst shot in bball for a reason. If he never shot mid range and went hard at the rim for finish or a foul it would've been much better.

You can't just tell somebody to add a mid range if they don't have it they don't have it, its like forcing Shaq to learn how to shoot 3s.

 

He needs the midrange for when he comes off the screen and the big completely sags off into the paint. Driving into the big man and getting blocked isn't going to work. SGA, Kwahi, Luka, lots of nba superstars have the midrange game to counter zone defense.

 

Petty and stupid as usual with no deep analysis and irrelevant information. Jokic has nothing to do with the performances of the Rockets players especially Fred.