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

Thoughts

- I long suspected that this year was going to be the toughest to swallow for Rockets fans. We will not be good and don't have that guaranteed high draft pick to offset the pain. The disasterous Westbrook trade still haunts us half a decade later.
- If we are trying to win, there is no reason for Thompson and Cam to be playing at all. Young players don't play winning basketball period. You can sometimes get away with it with bigs, but guards, no chance.
- I do think we are better than we showed tonight. One of Jabari or Jalen should have a good night, but tonight it just didn't happen.
- We were slaughtered on the boards. Shame we didn't get Lopez, we desperately need a traditional center.
- It is only one game, and things will improve, but certainly not a promising start.

 

His skeletal frame just isn’t made for that - he’s not Harden or Anthony Edwards.

 

It has been one game too.

Some of these takes are really bad, worse than week 1 NFL takes.

You can make literally any narrative with a one game sample size. Including "Corey Brewer is the greatest player of all time."

So yeah, Scoot won't be this bad, Victor will likely be ROTY, and Brooks might not ever be a leading scorer for this team ever again.

Some of it is valid. Jalen Green's wild inconsistency is a pattern. Some nights he looks like a potential top SG and then the next he's the worst player on the court. Bari's shot not being there. These are things I think are enough of a pattern to worry.

But some of these takes about Ime and Amen for instance are just pure overreaction. Yeah the rotations are not going to be optimal, yeah the team is going to look a little off and lacking chemistry, its a coach with a new team. Yeah Amen looks bad, its his first NBA game and he was always a project player.

 

It doesn't help on his basketball IQ.

 

I can take losing, but what we dished up today was rubbish. Didn't use Sengun enough on offence. We were very good when he was on the court. We need a flatout scorer off the bench. Udoka's rotations were all over the place.

 

To me it always sounds like he’s trying to act cool. Same ol’ too cool for school bs and so he changes his voice inflection and leans hard on juvenile social cues.

Maybe that gets cleaned up with maturity?

 

He will get better on the mental and physical parts of the game under Ime.

That’s my hunch

 

I swear only fans still care about this if it even happened.

People want this tough minded team and that means players holding each other accountable. This is something players do A LOT.

Even more, this is all hearsay based on a tweet lol.

I swear all of the greats would openly criticize their own teammates in the middle of a game. Some of the greatest players would even fight with them lol.

I'd bet anything if you asked Sengun about this he'd literally be confused as to what you are talking about as he likely forgot about it the next day. He's not this soft.

 

Nah, thats loser mentality

 

I think the next few weeks are going to be rough, but they will know what the core is by the end of the year and will get better. I can live with that.

 

Lopez would have been a nice pick up
Sengun is not tall enough

 

I can take losing, but what we dished up today was rubbish. Didn't use Sengun enough on offence. We were very good when he was on the court. We need a flatout scorer off the bench. Udoka's rotations were all over the place.

 

That’s all fine and dandy when it’s a vet or a star does this and when it’s based on a real problem.

But when it’s a rookie who was almost always the worst guy on the floor, I guarantee you it stuck in Sengun’s craw and rightfully so.

I’ve heard Tari call out Sengun at least once for defensive mistakes without being a punk ass b**** about it the way Jabari did.

As we are already starting to see, Sengun’s struggles were as much due to the putrid perimeter D (thanks to KPJ and Green) and total lack of weak side help (thanks to Jabari) as they were his own deficiencies. He looks way better on D this year while Jabari looks like the same clueless baby giraffe on the court.

Maybe Jabari isn’t toxic but just too stupid to recognize his own contributions to the poor defense. Honestly, I’m not sure which scenario is worse.

 

Pure BS from this person....wild speculation.... largely based on conjecture and innuendo. Sengun would be confused because hell HE doesn't even know what he's talking about. I like Alpy...he looked good against a really big team with a size advantage tonight.

Let's see if Alpy,Jalen,Brooks , FVV others are held to the same measuring standard as he is holding Bari to. Consistent night in and night out performance. Yes....Bari's shot is not consistent but, I think there is a reason why he starts. Let's see what Ime thinks. He's not a role player though, Jalen's not a bust and finished as is the case with Thompson (my goodness first game). Irrational thought and behavior here.

 

Starting lineup dribble grade: FVV A, Green B+, Brooks B, Jabari B-, Alpy B...... Let's pass more....

 

At 20 years old, he's far more mature than you .....getting on a forum and calling the young man ridiculous names. Man, you can make a point without sinking to that level. I got a flash for you though....Sengun's shortcomings (and he absolutely has them)don't fall on Bari's shoulders. The reason he is not a defensive jaggernaut is not because of Bari. Anyone paying attention can see that. Let's sit back and see who helps us the most...hopefully, unlike your opinion of the relationship, they work together for the betterment of the team.

 

I wouldn't have gone after the dad or cousin , but the boxing out critique is fair. The reb differential tonight is that of fantasy novels.

Elite rebounding (a la Barkley or Adams) is a skill, but boxing out and sealing your man is more effort and requires basic situational awareness. The good news is that's more easily correctable than mastering a harder skill category like 3pt shooting.

Bari reminds me a bit of early Tatum in that mentally he plays like a 3, on ball defense and fitness jump shots, but if he's on the court as a 4, (because of his height), there's expectation of responsibility like boxing out and rebounds along with whomever the 5 is.

Also, while last year we had good rebounds numbers, the publicity was on excellent OFF REB. Lot of that was also personnel: Tari who played all 82 last year, isn't here.

Tonight it was more about boxing out and DEF REB. (Which everyone should be on the hook for). Including the HOU guards when Magic's long 3's clanks and the bounce is long.

 

It's gonna take more than one offseason and a handful of games to undo some of the bad habits this team built over the past 2 years and almost all of it was on display tonight. We have a long season ahead. The excitement should still be there for this team, but everyone got hit with an early reality check today.

 

Jabari has never been a positive defender in the nba and tonight he was putrid on that end, getting cooked by whoever he was guarding between Wagner and Paolo. Let’s first get that fixed before worrying about other player’s defense since that was supposed to be a strength for Jabari which has not translated whatsoever.