ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Clippers 11/7/2015

It was great to see the good old James Harden back. When he is at his best, we always have a chance to win against anyone.

 

The greatest takeout from this game for me is that we finally might have the Clips' number. From 2012-2014, our record against LA was 1-9. Finally started to turn last year in the playoffs, and hoping this game puts us over the top. I no longer grimace when I see it's time to play the Clippers.

 

Doc River is a genius, had they not started the hack war, they would have won. They should have updated their scout report, Capela showed his improved free throws in pre season games.

 

This team has too much potential omg.... playing without Dmo, Jones/ Beverly too

 

COOL STORY BRO!

I met Chuck Hayes this morning at IAH. I was going one way on the conveyor walkway and he was going the opposite direction on the adjacent conveyor.

I said "Chuckwagon Chuck Hayes." And he said "Alright" and then he hit my fist-bump as we crossed on the conveyors. Hell yeah.

Huge fan of the Chuckwagon. I hope he becomes a big man coach for us one day.

 

People keep saying the hack didn't work for them, but it took the ball out of hardens hand and we went cold. We got very lucky with that goaltend but a win is a win.

Not sure if the team needs to go have some team dinners or hang out but we need better chemistry. Thornton and Dwight seem to have some chemistry after that game I think. They played well together

 

We were already going cold, we'd scored 3 points in the 2 minutes leading up to hacka, and 2 of those were a more likely to miss iso thornton, and then we didn't score for 3 more minutes only for the Clippers to hack Dwight and cost them 4 more points. We scored 7 points only, entirely from 4 hacks in a 4 minute stretch where we never looked like scoring otherwise. Even if you could argue the Capela hack was justified, the Dwight one was completely boneheaded.

 

Wow did not expect we could pull it off and yes Chris Paul missed the game, but that takes absolutely ZERO away from this win. ZERO! For all those who think he's more important to them than D-Mo, TJ & Beverley are just trying to give the Clippers an excuse.

Anyway, back to the win. I liked a lot and will give the team a break given it was a back-to-back against a good team, but there was a lot of bad in this one as well. The main problem and one that is clearly holding us back: a system on offense. Look at how Harden gets his points. Blake may go iso from time to time but they get way more assists. We still rely too much on Harden. There's not a lot of things going well because of what the coaches have done. Harden is just that good.

Howard as well. What a game for a guy that is still not 100%. Thornton keeps shooting and for all those who think he's just a shooter, think again. He makes great decisions when he passes the ball and would be even better if we became a passing team. He throws great passes to our centers. His shot is money and he gets steals and rebounds as well. He works hard all around. If McHale benches him again once our PFs are back, he is clearly the most incompetent coach of the NBA. Right now, it's not Ty, but Thornton who is our best creator behind Harden.

Capela was great again. Brewer had some tough shots go in and out, but defensively he just stinks right now. Ty was too passive, but he'll be fine. Ariza had a tough night but he works hard so I don't mind it one bit. Terry was clearly misused today. He should've been in against Pablo every single time. Overall, our FT shooting saved our asses. If we had our average night, we would've looked at that and realized we cannot win games like this without a good percentage. I liked our hustle in the 2nd half, we had some great defensive possessions in a row and that is what brought us back along with Harden and Thornton's shooting.

Some bogus calls, but overall the referees gave us some and took some. Howard got lucky though and he needs to be smarter. Some dumb fouls again that I really do not want to see any more.

Last point, I still believe that the Clippers bench is way too overrated and not even top 5 in the league. It's pretty bad actually and still holding them back.

 

It's hard for this team to get into a rhythm when is just iso ball. Thats how the tone was set early in the first 20 minutes. Can't blame the role players when the shots aren't falling since they never know if they're going to touch the ball. Good game but we always play down to our competition

 

Having Ariza, Thorton & Lawson on the wings is giving Harden a lot more space to operate when he breaks down his defender to get to the second level. From there he has options and the more early layups he gets it seems the better his 3 ball later in the game.

Not sure we can roll Ariza out at the 4 all season but I sure like the smaller lineup so long as it's Dwight patrolling the middle.

 

Does Batkins still do bit torrents on the games?

 

Whatchu talkin' bout, Bullard?

 

The Clippers will always be a tough matchup with Paul, Griffin, and Jordan, but the Rockets have no reason to fear them anymore(assuming they ever did). Harden's definitely overcome his issues with Clippers. And even when he doesn't have it going lately(Game 6), the rest of the team finds a way.

 

Little Chef was cooking last night!

 

Finally Harden is doing something good. But these 5+ to are every game.

 

Don't forget that Lawson is still gelling with the Rockets. When he finally gets all the chemistry figured out, it should give the Rockets a big boost.

 

Paul did miss the game, but let's not overlook that not only were the Rockets missing 3 players, they were also on a B2B. And BTW, the Clippers sans Paul did happen to kick the Rockets' asses in Game 1 back in May. So this was an impressive win.

Thornton's been terrific. If there's one blessing in disguise that came out of those first two disastrous losses(along with T-Jones' latest injury), it's McHale suddenly remembering he had that dude available to him on the bench. It reminds me of McHale being forced to use D-Mo a lot more last year when T-Jones and Dwight got hurt and being rewarded with one of the most improved players in the NBA. And yes, if he benches Thornton in favor of Brewer once T-Jones and D-Mo are back, he's a bonafide idiot who should never coach in this league again.

As for the Clippers bench, I agree. I thought coming into the year, there were major question marks with that group. Was Pierce too old(even if he is still clutch)? Was Smith gonna be the player from the Pistons or the Rockets? Was Stephenson gonna be the player from the Pacers or the Hornets? Was Austin Rivers' play in the 2nd round a fluke(or bad D by Terry)? Granted, they are 4-2, so it's not like there's anything for them to panic over. But if they're essentially the same Clippers team as a year ago, I don't know if that's good enough to win it all.

 

POIDH



pics or it didn't happen

 

Harrell is not ready and i'm glad McHale is bringing him along slowly....

Hayes is old and too slow for Griffin.. His time has come and gone..

What they have now is working, no matter how ugly it looks.

T_Man