ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Knicks 1/17/2024

Yep thats the thing with opinions. Some people are always going to fight back against complaints about the team and some are going to voice criticism all the way to a championship. Just look at this year.

When the Rockets looked better as a team but there were obvious weak spots that people complained about because they could see how it was going to bite us in the ass at some point you had folks saying "we are winning and doing better than expected, what are you complaining about"

Now that theyve come down to earth and the record is starting to reflect the quality of play, when people complain you got folks saying "well this was expected and was always a developmental year... Dont rush the process"

Maybe we need arbitration to let us know when its ok to voice frustrations about the team.

 

The thing is that having different opinions on anything never stopped me from being friends or having a great time with people, in real life things usually don’t get as extreme as it does on the internet (unless it’s thanksgiving and we’re at the family table)

I think hearing all these different voices and opinions is incredibly valuable as a basketball fan, because a lot of times I absorb knowledge from people smarter than me and learn to love the game even more

 

I learned you can always walk out of the door even on some of your relatives, on the interwebz if you were beefin with people, it could ruin your other browsing through the web.....

 

as someone who was at the game here my few notes:

• The assistants have a lot of control for defensive adjustments
• Ime absolute laid into Sengun on multiple occasions
• Cam's jumper in warmups is a marvel. The swishes are perfect
• We are so stagnant of offense. We do one intro PnR then it's just ball watching people try to break down their defender on the dribble
• the Knicks are a solid team. No big mistakes from them other than Randle's moments of chaos
• Anytime Uncle Jeff on the floor it was a run for the other team
• Never sit in the 400s at MSG. Miserable seats. (we sat in the Chase Bridge and the view was fantastic)

 

OG, Hart, Hartenstein, Randle and Brunson all came alive....

 

This team has looked like crap for weeks now. The starters kept pace last night but our bench was horrendous. Also, no one can shoot. Jabari needs to shoot like 8 threes a game. This road trip they have just not shot well enough from distance to win. Green and Brooks missed like 10 open threes it felt like.

Everyone on our bench was trash. Early in the season Holiday was one of our better three point shooters, now Udoka has gone away from him in favor of Whitmore but Cam didn't have it last night. Also, Holiday has regressed seemingly. Tari is desperately needed.

Essentially, if this team wants to make the play in, the defense is gonna have to get back to early season form. They were pretty good in the first half last night but let go of the rope in the second.

 

Hart really ate us up. Perfect roleplayer who killed any sort of momentum or run we would produce.

Hate that we gave up on Harty. I always liked what he did for us in Houston but we were really obsessed with "5-out" for a while there the past couple years.

 

Ehhh...we frequent LA and its whatevs. NYC, Chicago and Houston are all cooler (let alone Tokyo, Mexico City and London). Finally got to try out Little Saigon and Bellaire beats it by a lot. LA used to be cool but now it's just kind of a parody of itself. Houston food is better too.

 

The problem of this team is the lack of elite shooters. If the team's highest percentage shooter is Brooks, you will stop there and think, Jalen Green is a bad shooter, Jabari is not a volume shooter, FVV is not a good shooter, Alperen has already started shooting, frankly, there is a big problem in the team's setup. , I look at the bench players, they are all defensive but bad shooters, except Cam Whitmore, it is a miracle to be successful in 2024 with this setup, it would be good if we were living in the 90s. This team needs 2 above-standard shooters, otherwise many more matches like this will be lost this season.

 

The team named after Dutch trousers beat us. What else is new?

 

This goes both ways. I've seen multiple times his teammates set him up for a wide open mid-range shot which he either passes up or hesitates/pump fakes/takes more difficult one-legged fadeaway and misses. To a lesser extent the same goes for 3-pointers. Alperen got exactly the number of shots he deserved last night, I don't think he got frozen out. Sometimes other guys need to assert themselves as threats to open things up for Alperen, who is not the unstoppable juggernaut some of you are making him out to be. I think he CAN be, but that depends on him developing a consistent shot that he has confidence in.

 

More like congratulations to Hartenstein for getting to nail Kourney (or whatever her name is)

Gah Damn she is hot!!

 

I really wish Ime would "lay into" Jalen. There's a joke in there somewhere.

 

I am not surprised.

 

They don't get it. The time it takes to get Sengun into position to receive a pass in the post or low block, its slowing down the pace of the game.

Players like Jalen, Tari, Cam, Thompson, etc. want to get out and run. Im not saying Sengun is hurting Jalen but we weren't saying the same things about Jalen last yr, that we are saying this yr. He looks like a total different player. And I think its largely due to the new pace that the Rockets are playing.

 

I've made some criticisms of Sengun, but on the other hand this is also simply not true. They are not "not running" because of Sengun. For one, Sengun is often out on the break. Second, they are very much a team rebounding group (everyone gets involved) which limits the fast breaks. Third. Jalen has multiple times had fast break opportunities with mixed results; he misses his fair share of them. I'm not sure how taking a shot earlier in the shot clock helps Jalen. if someone wants to do the homework on this, maybe they can see if the majority of his shots are with the shot clock winding down but that has not been my impression.

 

Not how it works...you can't get less shots. Both teams get the same number of shots. Playing slow does not mean you get less shots than the other team if they play fast.

 

Yep 100% agree.

I was thinking after his attempt yesterday - lately when he pump fakes that mid to long range shop - it almost always has ended up eventually being a bad shot attempt off the one foot fading away. It typically only happens once a game though so I can live with that even though it frustrate me each time.

Not being frozen out though we can agree to disagree. When he goes for minutes on end possession after possession after possession only being used to run ragged around the perimeter setting a dozen picks - often times for Jalen just to prove in year 3 of the NBA he still doesn't know what a screen is or how to use one correctly - gross.

Of course he's not the unstoppable juggernaut some of us this he's capable of. How can he be when the opposing team knows how easy it is to stop him? Pack the paint. Because they know for an absolute fact no one is going to make a shot on the perimeter. Not too hard to see just how ridiculous Sengun's game would open up with a) someone who knows how to cut - ala KJM - no surprise there's highlight reels galore when he had a teammate who could do this, and b) get someone who can hit a shot from the outside.

Don't think Jokic could be quite as good if Denver couldn't hit shots or had 4 other players on the court in constant motion.

 

Let me ask you this. Was his play this poor last yr or the yr before?

I just don't think this style of play fits him. And not just him but other players on the team as well. Im not privileged to the stats but I guarantee you that the Rockets are one of the slower teams in the league and that they take the most 2's in the league.....1980's style basketball!

I think this style of play is a direct result of FVV and Alpi. and its not winning basketball in 2024.