ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Clippers 11/22/2019

Agreed. Healthy Gordon and House would make teams pay for the hard double teams have sent at Harden. Pretty thin on reliable shooters with then out.

 

Did I say how much I loved seeing those Uni’s last night??

 

I don’t know if we’re contenders and we certainly have question marks but we’ve had some quality wins mixed in with the cup cakes. This despite a rash of injuries. At this point there is as much room for optimism as the other way.

 

Yup. We are a top seven heavy team right now. We managed to almost win this game starting Ben mac -- a 195 pound shooting guard -- at small forward, one of the most important positions on any defense, and we clearly were the better team, if not for the refs being paid off...

We gained a lot of good experience these last two games that should ready us for the playoffs...I'd rather be exposed now than not be ready later.

Props to Ben mac. I've been ******** on him all week so it's good to see him at least hit his shots. He may be called upon in the playoffs.

I also liked what I saw from Chris Clemons in limited time guarding Lou will. Even though he picked up a couple fouls, he can stay in front of him better and I hope to see coach give him more minutes from now on to prepare him for our next meeting with them.

Clippers don't scare me at all...they are overrated and shoulda blown us out yesterday by twenty if their D was that good...harden still scored 37 when being constantly doubled? They got no rim protector.

We need to get home court against them because the game is rigged and every home game for them will be like it was in the fourth quarter....foul. Foul. Foul.

 

Up 6 with a minute to go. I’m still not over it.

 

Who gives a crap. Rockets looked good and played well. Going into the game, I expected a loss and simply hoped that it would be a good game. I came away quite encouraged by the effort.

 

Lol clown

 

An analyst on NBA Radio said the same this morning.

He posed the question, "when have we ever said D'antoni made an adjustment to win a game?"

He said MDA's system keeps you in games, but in a close game you must coach to get a win.

He said he thought Mike wanted too long to call timeout and didn't have a good inbounds play at the end.

I think Mike is a good not great coach. In the playoffs he regresses because he faces better coaches. Rockets already have players that aren't particularly clutch. We need all the help we can get.

 

I’m surprised their are so many people who think coaches even matter in the NBA. If you get great players you are gonna win. I mean Steve Kerr missed so much time and Luke Walton won 22 straight games and then went to coach a Lakers team with no stars and was trash. System this system that but it’s all about the players. Steve Kerr this year with missing Durant and Iggy showed you everything you need to know about coaching. They got blown out in almost every game.

A good coach maximizes production with a middling roster, but once you have stars there is really no play other than give him the ball. You think Ty Lue was a good coach? People love Phil Jackson but cmon I want to see him coach a team without Shaq, Kobe, Jordan, Pippen. He would be just as bad. There is a reason he took the Knicks GM job instead of coaching them.

 

Dantoni gives the system. Harden is the guy who makes in game adjustments. But the last play was awfully designed 5 out at the top of the key. That’s just awful spacing

 

It’s typical Harden he never goes hard for the ball for a last shot. He would rather be a decoy. Honestly it’s why it sucked that Westbrook fouled out because he woulda got a shot off.

 

Sounds a lot like another hometown team we know with a coach who gets out coached in crunch time....

 

Harden went hard for it. It was an awful call for dantoni to play 5 out at the top of the key. That’s awful spacing

 

When the Rockets lose games *at the margins* you can blame Tilman for not spending *at the margins.*

Turns out *at the margins* matter.

This trend will continue. And Tilman should continue to be blamed.

 

Until the rockets prove they can beat these doubles and trap looks, this is the blueprint for the foreseeable future. If harden doesn’t go into god mode like he did during the streak that carried them, this is what the rockets will see from the better teams in the league. Y’all can say what y’all want about Cp3 but these are the defensive looks that typically wouldn’t work for the most part. Hou has owned Denver to this point but with this team they were able to try something different this year. Clippers followed suit. I’m not expecting much difference playing the better teams in the league who are smarter

 

Next up, Don Luka.

 

I'll take this team over most in the NBA. I've had a lot of fun watching our team this year. I love the faster pace. So much negativity spoils the fun. Key players out is huge, and with a healthy House and EGO we have a lot to look forward to.

I'm glad we aren't a team with only 3 or 4 wins for the season. It could be so much worse. Who knows, maybe Santa will bring us another forward who isn't afraid to shoot and looks good doing it. Go Rockets!

 

Unreal choke job by the Rockets. Now that was impressive. What a waste of a pretty decent game from the squad in many respects.

Rockets need to learn how to do the little things (box out, hustling back, etc.) which cost them tonight. Until they fix that and their horrid late game execution, they will not be contenders.