ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Magic 10/25/2023

You realize we had Dillon on Paolo and Jabari on Franz, that’s why Franz came out on fire. The few possessions Jabari got switched onto Paolo is when Paolo scored, it was like there was no one we could hide Jabari on.

I didn’t bring up Sengun, that guy was the one who can’t take a criticism of his favorite player without trying to drag on the only player that showed up. This is not an isolated thing, jabari was horrible on defense all last year, and even when his offense looked better in preseason he was getting cooked by Zach collins. Defense is supposed to be his strength, so far it’s been the opposite.

 

KJ Martin went 0-4 in 14 minutes tonight for 0 points and a -17 PER. So there's that.

 

I don't remember last years team getting blown out by the magic....

 

Brooks and Bari swapped on Paolo and Franz a lot last night, Franz did start off hot, then they put Brooks on him. Franz cooled off but Cole Anthony cooked the whole team the entire night but again Paolo really didn't go off at all last night. He made three shots. Three. So if Jabari was guarding Paolo then he did a pretty good job...but no I don't believe that, because Cole Anthony got too much space to operate in the paint and thats on the bigs.

I think he takes criticism just fine, he has no issue saying Bari needs to play better, but if Bari has a good game on Friday I guarantee you certain posters won't post and will wait for his next bad game to say the same exact things

 

We got blown out by the Spurs who were much worse...

 

How the hell we lose to these scrubs? Bro houston got owned by corny azz Orlando? Yo this city is finished. We're done!!!

 

Did you intentionally misread or misinterpret his rather clear post?

He just told you -
-Bari started on Franz and got torched
-We switched Brooks on Franz to stop the bleeding which worked immediately
-Unfortunately, the consequence of that was Bari on Paolo which is when Paolo scored

I don't come here to defend or promote any singular player or narrative. I hardly post. But it was so freaking clear to me what happened last night....Bari's individual and wing defense put us in a big hole in the first quarter and he made no offensive contribution(s) to offset.

Also, I didn't catch Ime's comments but in this day and age in the NBA the floater is the shot you want to force in the PnR. You don't want to give up the big rolling/alley, a wide open jumper, or a third option getting an open 3 or back-door cut catching you in b/n rotations.

 

edited: double post

 

Again. Paolo scored 3x...so if your argument is that Paolo just dominated when you put Jabari on him its not true.

No one during this whole 100 page thread barely mentions Paolo.

Fact is, the starters actually figured things out in the 2nd half defensively, they were 1 point down then the bench unit came in led by Green and things IMMEDIATELY fell apart.

I said literally at this point in the thread "With this lineup Green has to play better." he didn't, the 1 point game dwindled so fast that people barely remembered it existed.

It is but for Cole it's a money shot and one he has no problem taking the whole game and beating you with.

I think if people rewatch the game (if you want to) you'll see that I'm right here. Franz was an issue until Brooks was put on him, Paolo barely did anything offensively, the 2nd half the starters played MUCH better defensively then the bench unit got so thoroughly outplayed that it put the game so out of reach that there was no reason to even bring back in the starters.

 

Paolo didn’t dominate because Brooks was on him. Jabari was on Franz, and got cooked. The second we put Brooks on Franz, Paolo gets an easy and 1 on Jabari. There was no where to hide Jabari. I only complain because defense is supposed to be Jabari’s strength. No one is expecting Sengun to guard Cole Anthony. If Jabari is this soft on defense then even if his shot comes around his upside is severely limited, defense was a key attribute in drafting him. We are not talking about him not dominating on defense and being average, he has never even been average on defense, it’s been atrocious since he’s been in the NBA where he hasn’t had Walker Kessler to hide behind and that’s unacceptable.

 

Getting an easy shot is not getting cooked and you know that. You know making 3 shots in a game is cooking no one. Because a great offensive player getting an and 1 does not mean someone is playing bad defense.

I'll just say it again, the Starters, including Jabari, including Sengun, played much better as the game went on. The 2nd unit got cooked and Amen and Green had almost half of the teams TOs combined.

Starting unit had it a 1 point game, got taken out, and things got out of control.

ALSO, if they put Bari on Paolo then that's not the coach trying to hide him at all.

 

I stated facts. If I wrote 2+2 = 4, I'm not arguing anything. I'm stating facts. If you construe it to be subjective or argumentative perhaps that shows a bit about where your own headspace is on this matter?

You made the case for not singling out Bari or any player while defending Bari under the cloak of "Team." Doesn't that seem wildly hypocritical considering what you just authored above re: Green? I'm starting to get a vibe here. And I'm blaming my own nativity for even engaging at this point but I digress...

Said another way, Franz was an issue until we took Bari off him. I'm assuming that's now fair game after you singled out Green, n'est pas?

Anyways, I'm not going to reply again. I think you may be a bit biased here and it's just not worth my time. GG's.

 

Was really looking for a pick me up post-Astros, even if not a win at least some excitement. Sigh...sports depression continues.

 

Houston went 1-1 against ORL last year with win margins of 6&7 points for each team. First 30 point loss for HOU came in game 53 last season FWIW.

 

Go look at how similar Adam Morrison and Jabari’s stats look first year. Get use to it! Jabari is a scrub.

 

You bolding things don't make them facts.

You're saying Jabari was put on Paolo. Paolo made 3 shots. If you consider this 'torching' then maybe you don't know NBA ball? If you say someone scored on someone else only 3x a whole game ain't no way you're saying the guy was torched, cooked, whatever word you want to use.

I didn't single out Green though, I said the 2nd unit was bad. The starters in the 2nd half got us back in the game. This includes Jabari.

Paolo and Franz were problems during the first half, not the 2nd, Cole Anthony continued to be a problem because he was going up against the 2nd unit.

Why would I have a bias against Green lol? Dude has literally been my profile for over a year. I literally just defended Green in another thread. Yall get so twisted up in yall narratives for certain players and I prove time and time again IDGAF who is the franchise player as long as we get one.

I'm sorry, quite frankly the argument makes no sense. Franz got hot on Jabari and so they then put Jabari on PAOLO BANCHERO of all people to hide him and then Paolo went on to make a whopping 3 shots and Jabari got torched?

Ok. Just don't think that's a strong argument for "Bari played bad defensively." I was actually giving you guys a better argument that it was on the bigs to close out the space Cole Anthony was getting in the paint but you want to stick to this imagination that Paolo torched anyone last night.

Ok. I never get the "I'm not going to reply again." folk. I won't be waiting around for it or anything honestly.

 

After sleeping on it, I think the main reason for last night's over-reaction to 1 game was because of the 30pt blowout loss to the Magic.

I think Amen will bounce back, he looked very nervous last night and probably why he kept losing the ball. If he doesn't bounce back?... Well, at least he can practice in the the G-league. It's hard for me to put any blame on Amen because it's literally his first game and he's a rookie.

Landale was not a good signing, what we needed was either a lob threat or a Kevon Looney type backup center. It's concerning because Stone has repeatedly given out (or tried to) horrible contracts, it doesn't seem like he knows how to build a proper team.

As for Green and Jabari, even if they bounce back next game, I have my doubts about these 2 being our "franchise" guy. Giving either of them a max rookie extension would be a terrible mistake that will shackle us for this decade.

 

You are not getting it. Franz was Jabari’s primary assignment, he got cooked. On the few possessions Jabari got switched on to Paolo, he got cooked. It was only 3 baskets because Paolo was not his primary assignment and Brooks did a damn good job. Yes we were trying to hide Jabari but you can’t put him on the guards or center or he will get blown by it posted up. So eventually we hid him on the bench at the end of the 2nd quarter for Tate. If you don’t want to listen to us about this maybe Frank can explain it better.

 

yo for real dawg, we don’t even have a hockey team and I gotta piggy back on the Dallas stars, this suckssssss