ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Grizzlies 1/14/2020

right at the midpoint of the season and there's still the lack of a solidified lineup with the lack of depth.

 

Ja told Harden in the game, "Tell that MF about me!"


Kid is balling right now. Let him have his 15 minutes.

We will see you in the playoffs. Wait, no we won't!

 

This Kid is a beast. Heck of a future in front of him. No fear, no hesitation, he embraces pressure moments. I cant find a negative in his game. Easy rookie of the year.

 

Source?

Against good teams we try a little harder on defense, but these performances against sub-.500 teams are a joke.

 

the rockets defensive rating from Dec 1 til last night has been #15th in the league at 109.6. no surprise it hasn't been good

https://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&Season=2019-20&SeasonType=Regular Season&DateFrom=12/01/2019&DateTo=01/15/2020

 

Thanks, yea we are 15th right now overall too. Very mediocre.

During the 8 game win streak we had earlier this year the defense was actually pretty good. It was but a brief glimpse of what this team could be on that end. Then they slid back down to mediocrity.

 

Memphis moved on from Conley/Gasol and in the draft got JJJ, Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke as a nucleus. Dillon Brooks in the 2nd round. Rented Josh Jackson's salary to steal Melton. Rented Iggy's salary for a 1st.

 

And then Tilman will blame MDA. And MDA will be partly to blame but Tilman will also share blame for not green lighting the roster moves. But Tilman will put ALL of the blame on MDA.

 

Don't forget JV who is solid as well

 

The grizzlies got lucky a couple of times. There are many teams out there that rebuild for years and never get good.
The grizzlies were lucky to have a losing season in one of the greatest drafts in history: 2018. It allowed the grizzlies to draft a monster in Jaren Jackson Jr.
The grizzlies then got a spoil of riches when they were trying to convey the pick only to wind up with the number 2 pick in the draft in a 2 player draft, and even luckier that the player that fell to the grizzlies was a perfect fit for this team and what they already had.
Don't get me wrong, trading up to get clarke was a boss move, and getting dillon in the second round was unreal, but thr grizzlies got lucky plain and simple.

 

Thanks for checking in, @Codman! Missed you around these parts. I know Harden likes to keep a stiff upper lip, but he needs to get more demonstrative with Tilman. This is utterly ridiculous!

 

Sorry guys, I agree with all that stuff you are saying. But James can not take a free pass for his on court performance. We are all in agreement he is one if not, the best scorer in the game. And I love this guy, love him, won't bore you with my family story, but he symbolizes many things for me. I will support him until my last breath.

That also means I want him to win a championship. And if no changes are coming, and this is the roster we have, then we'll need to fin ways to empower and grow our role players. For less talented players, systems and plays are necessary. And again, not talking about huge changes. But we need them to produce.

Difficult difficult season.

 

so we have dantoni as bball coach. Obrien as football coach, and the only good coach the city had was just sacrificed for others sins? Fertitta is a hack. Cal McNair is a hack and Jim Crane fires the best coach in the city to appease his friends in LA and NY.

what did htown do to deserve this?

 

You can say this about any team in the league.

"Losing to the ________ does not predict at all who the _______ will lose to"

The point is...you're seeing consistent 4th quarter failings and consistent losses to subpar teams. The Bucks don't do that. The Lakers don't do that. The Clippers don't do that. The list goes on. We're like 40 games in. Barring unexpected and significant change, the Rockets are who they are. High ceiling, low floor, low consistency, and poor coaching. That is not the mark of a contender. Any other team in the league, we'd be saying that for as well.

And maybe that changes! But how many times are we going to say "it's only one game" or "it just wasn't our night"? @J.R.

 

The Clippers do though?

The consistently drop these games as much as the Rockets do. Not in the same fashion...usually, they are down big and come back in the 4th...but they do and just like the Rockets they have a lot of players going in and out of the roster because of injuries which is probably the same reason why they are dropping these games.

Clippers lost to the Grizzlies just this month. They've lost to the Thunder. Lost to the Bulls. Spurs. Pelicans. Suns...

So yeah...the Clippers are doing the exact same thing as the Rockets are. The only consistent teams are the Bucks and Lakers, their record reflects that, but the Bucks and Lakers even when matched up with other contenders aren't blowing them away. The league is wide open this year.

 

The rockets are just old. Lebron couldnt do nothing last year either, because hes old.
Grizzlies fans know all about players getting old.
This rockets team is similar to the Barkley, clyde, hakeem version. Hakeem was still good, but old.

 

I don't personally group the Clippers quite in that Lakers/Bucks tier, mainly because they lack a rim protector. But I still see them as a clear cut above the Rockets due to have a better set of stars and a much better defense. We know Kawhi is a playoff stud. PG...remains to be seen. We'll see.

We'll see what happens. Rockets need A) House to return and B) One more piece. We'll see what Nene can bring in. But I just look at our coaching and how we play int he 4th quarter of close games, and I'm sorry...but it is not consistent winning basketball. That is the biggest issue I see for this team.

 

Your post inspired me to check some things and boy were you right with the 4th quarter complaint.

Net rating
1st : +3.5 (8th in league)
2nd : +7.4 (4th in league)
3rd : +11.0 (4th in league)
4th : -2.8 (23rd in league)
Total : + 4.7 (7th overall)

I’d have to guess that part of the drop in the 4th is because we are getting big leads and then slacking off a bit and I don’t think that is just a Houston specific problem, but it’s pretty clear that this season generally everything is going pretty great until the 4th.

 

Lol, I guess we can get one of you guys to coach. So you can give Hartenstein 30 minutes a game so we can win a championship. Or...those "secret off ball Harden plays" that we can use to change up the offense. Since Dantoni doesnt know anything about NBA offenses apparently. Or maybe he can get Maclemore/House to be good defeneders.