ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Magic 12/23/2015

Yeah this was like going home with an immunity idol

 

sad pen15clubber

 

one ft

 

All of that is negated if the other player is trying to run through the screener btw.

 

None of that occurred because the defender pushed the man who made a legal set screen:

Directly from the NBA Rule book

B. Personal Foul

Section I--Types
a. A player shall not hold, push, charge into, impede the progress of an opponent by extending a hand, forearm, leg or knee or by bending the body into a position that is not normal. Contact that results in the rerouting of an opponent is a foul which must be called immediately. ​

Oladipo first pushed through Howard, then held Harden.

Didn't see that, but technically, sure. I'd say Vucevic didn't really care, as Thornton doesn't really stop him from going where he wanted.

So, given that...

I'm fine with the no call, as that play wasn't working, even if Howard's pick worked, because Thornton's pick on Vucevic was non-existent. Harden would have to hit like a Lilliard 3 over Vucevic's out-stretched arms.

 

What's the actual Rockets record now?

 

Good call... extra contact was allowed on both sides

Rockets should've played better so the outcome wasn't decided on 1 or 2 possessions.

Not enough urgency. Thank God the West is weaker than usual this season. Top 4 seed still possible.

 

The Rockets have had the easiest schedule so far in the NBA. It's going to crank up from here on out.

 

like fournier's arms around thornton, it's no a call because it's not impeding movement

 

We better be ready and can we please just not play Brewer & Ty anymore??

 

Unbelievable...I feel like punching Santa when he comes.

Yes it was a foul on the last possession, but we shouldn't have been in that situation. After Fornier hit that tough shot ( should've had defenders Jones or Capela in...but) we had a chance to take the lead...In theory it was a good play, but Skiles would've told his guys to watch for the lob...that's why Tobias Harris was there & ready for Howard.

In hindsight Harden should've taken that shot, & after going 0/7 Ariza should've called a time out when he recovered the ball, before jacking up that contested 3 to end up 0/8 from distance.

It sucks to lose, but if we gave that same type of effort in the second or third quarters we'd all be Happy going into the Christmas break...instead we blow a winnable game, again & have to endure a coach who's rotational substitutions are mind boggling to say the least...

It was nice of him (Bickerstaff) to show passion at the end of the game, but he has to be on fire for the entire game, not just the final seconds of a close game. I genuinely like the guy, but he doesn't seem like the coach who is going to get us there...

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Holidays, God bless & stay safe.

 

Who cares if it was a foul or not. They should never have been in that situation in the first place. Harden needs to just play ball and hustle more to get off his man. Cut out all the "looking for a foul" antics.

 

Unfortunately we did not start playing defense until the fourth quarter.
In closing out the game Orlando kept attacking the rim while the Rockets shot a lot of threes, the odds favored the Magic.
Pity we did not go to the Harden post up more often down the stretch.
In hindsight we should have had a bigger guy guarding Fournier.

 

Orlando with Vucevic really has a good scheme for attacking small-ball lineups. They use Vicevic to draw the opposing 5 outside and then they go to town with the drives and backcuts. I really liked their scheme. And I've always felt Skiles was a basketball genius, even back to his playing days.

Orlando effectively exposed our small-ball lineup. We're simply not good enough defensively to get stops and generate turnovers with our small-ball lineup so we can run.

Orlando also exposed our double-big lineup because they have not one but two guys at their power spots that can shoot out on the floor in Vucevic and Frye. And really they have 4 bigs that can shoot out on the floor because the backup bigs, Jason Smith and Andrew Nicholson, can both shoot it too. So they essentially can play 5 out, which leaves us sucking it defensively since we have defensive issues to begin with. Not to mention, it's very difficult for us to control the defensive glass when Howard is 18 feet away defending Vucevic when Orlando shot the ball.


What would I have done?

1. Played off Vucevic. You have to give up something. And Dwight is the teeth of our defense. I'd have played off Vucevic and used a guard or wing to attack him from the backside when he had the ball high. Payton isn't going to shoot the 3 very much. Frye, Harris, and Fournier are their main 3-ball shooters. I would've played off Vucevic and let him throw up long-2's with a guard attacking him back side. Let Dwight lay in the paint and clear the glass.

2. I would've had Ariza on Fournier from the get-go and Harden on Harris. Fournier is another one of those guys that runs all over the place and drags his defender all over the court, goes back door, etc. Just not a good matchup for Harden. Harden should've been on Harris and Ariza on Fournier from the start. With Bev and Ariza switching on Fourner and Payton.

3. Kept pounding the ball inside to Dwight and Capela with the perimeter guys only taking wide open 3-ball shots with their feet set. Everything else I'd have ran inside to Dwight and Capela and made Orlando defend us at the rim. We simply did not go inside enough last night.

 

We are the absolute worst at designing an in-bounds play. Absolute worst and the whole league knows it. Predictable AF. All the other team knows they have to do is understand that we got nothing and they all do. We're like 0 and 53 on inbound plays over the last 3 years.

 

Yea my bad, the one where we were down 1.

 

There was one inbounds play against Washington two years ago which McHale ran, it resulted in Harden performing a euro step for the game winner. Outside of that I think you are right lol.

 

Correct non-call: Oladipo (ORL) and Harden (HOU) briefly engage and separate during the inbounds play

L2M report

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NBA did as Bickerstaff asked. It looked at the tape and determined no foul on Oladipo in final seconds. Play on pass to Howard not reviewed.</p>&mdash; Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/680142772553269248">December 24, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Of the 20 calls, no calls, video reviews, 18 deemed correct. Two that were incorrect should have been fouls on the Rockets (Howard, Harden.)</p>&mdash; Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/680143430505254912">December 24, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

No foul on Oladipo? Really?!

Its crap that this that really makes me question the integrity of the NBA... or at the very least the competency.

 

Went back to re-read the pregame posts in this thread. Only one person called it a "trap game" and immediately got shot down that we have to be better than the opponent for it to be called a trap game.

so sad. This should have been called a trap game!