ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Timberwolves 1/19/2013

is there a clip of that comical harden turnover??

 

Beverley in 17 minutes: 0-4 from the field, 3 turnovers, 5 personal fouls, 1 technical foul

 

Holy lack of faith batman! Believe in these young players please?

The team is fine. We have great young talent but a ****ty coach. Morris is not really a PF, so I don't hold him responsible when all he plays is 4. Patterson and Aldrich are the only scraps in this roster at the moment. With

With Beverley's addition we even have a decent sub backcourt for when Lin and Harden are off or tired (Yes, TD could play the undersized SG).
Asik and Smith are great 5 players with different skill sets.
Morris and Delfino can sub in place of Parsons if need be.
PF is the only glaring weakness. We should give DMo and TJones more playing time. Patterson won't cut it the way he has been playing.

 

That was before he was hurt. Also if he was a rotation player on the Spurs he would still be there.

 

Lin isn't getting any "treatment".

For what it is worth I don't think McHale has lost the players.

 

one bright spot the trailblazers sucking as much as us and they are losing @ home , at least ours are on the road!

 

Didn't you say this current team should go to the Conference Finals with a different coach?

It isn't a lack of faith, it is a reality. The Rockets run and gun, but lack depth.. that makes back to backs hard.

We have the worst power forward rotation in the NBA, and possibly the worst front court.

Asik is a good player, but does not fit on a team with poor power forward offensive play.

Lin is a nice player, but cannot do it himself.

 

OT: but I live in Seattle and have league pass. Only recently have I been able to watch Portland play as Seattle was considered in Portland's media market after the Sonics left. I wonder why this has changed?

 

The Queens will move to Seattle soon:grin:

 

Jeff Adrien was a rebounding machine. I forgot what a good rebounding PF looks like....

 

I did and I stand behind my words. If you read my message carefully once again, you will notice that I am actually praising the whole ****ing team.

The run and gun offensive system is effective but not efficient. It should be there to tire the other teams out and perhaps prevent them from crashing the offensive boards too much (The latter will not that it will matter if you don't have anyone who can rebound). It should by no means be the ultimate offensive style on its own.

Aside from not recognizing simple plays that was effective during the game and not repeating them to exploit the other team's weaknesses, McHale is also questionable with his substitutions. He cannot read the game well and his time management is too rigid.

Now, if we talk about the players.

I think Morris could contribute more if he is allowed to play his real position (SF) every once in a while. I think we could keep him as a sub for Parsons if we are planning to let Delfino go.

Our front court is doing fantastic considering it is generally one C fighting against 2 guys most of the time. I think it is time for DMo or/and TJones to make an appearance.

As for Lin, I think he is losing his faith in the coaching staff which is a great sign. If he can rest a bit, I expect him to not listen to the instructions that much and take over a bit. That should give Harden some extra room to operate and increase his efficiency as well. Basically, Lin should stop buying into this system.

In the end, I still want the team to lose a few more games because I don't want McHale ruining this young team. His questionable choices cost us many games and it is now obvious that the team has been winning despite McHale.

 

Meant to say "Not that the latter will matter if you don't have anyone who can rebound".

Sorry for the clutter.

 

Stats tonight just plain horrible:
Our scoring leader 5-18FG, 0-7(3pt), 4TO
Our assist leader 2 assist, 3-12FG, 3TO
Our rebouding leader 5 reb, 3TO, 5 fouls in 16 mins
Our best all around player 2-10FG, 3TO, 7pt
Our new sensation 0-4FG, 5 fouls and a technical in 17 mins

Tired legs - terrible shooting slump for the whole team
Defense sucks - why switch when Rubio avg 22%fg? why can't we box out a 10 day contract guy?
Offense stagnant - no ball movement, everyone just standing around
I don't usually complaint about coaching but no clue on their 4th qtr subs

Coach and Morey probably don't think staggering Harden and Lin minutes is a long term solution, so they just let them play through their mistakes. I honestly believe Harden/Lin combo will all work out one day with more practice time, add more to their playbook, and playing with legit PnR bigs. But definitely not now!

Now, it's more important to get the team confidence back. They should seriously consider trying Harden to pair with Beverley and Lin to pair with Douglas more. It will be a lot efficient on both ends and Asik will not have to cover everyone's a-- and get into early foul trouble. (Our two best stretches tonight were when Harden/Beverley on the floor in the 1st and Lin/Douglas in the 3rd&4th). Unfortunately, no answers at the PF, 2Pat and Morris can't even box out their guys in the past few games. Worth trying DMo since we got nothing to loose.

 

FWIW, all the recent B2B road games and 4-in-5-nights seems to have left the team rather drained. Tonight was the worst that they have played. Just no energy. EMPTY. Can't make shots, can't finish drives, a step slow to loose balls.

Maybe it's time to go the full Popovich and just Sit a few regulars out one day and give DMo, Beverley, Douglas, Jones, Anderson, etc. a run, whatever happens. Hell, let's give Royce a call and see how he feels about getting 40 minutes in a game. Minny's recent DLeague/Euro call-ups seems to have more fuel in the tank tonight.

 

No he can score just fine. He just needs to start taking more shots. Did you see when Harden wasnt playing, and Lin put up 38 vs Spurs? He is already being the role of a facilitator, but that's what's killing him. He can't play off the ball, he's a PG. He needs to dictate the offense and play aggressively because he's one of the few PGs in the league who is excellent at penetration and acceleration. To do that, he needs proper screens. We need new PF/ center like Chandler

 

McHale and D'Antoni have a similar problem, they are trying to fit the players into their system instead playing the player's strength.

And I have to repeat this: DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE. Rockets have 0 defense.

 

We all know MDA's offense. I am still trying to figure out what McHale's offense is.

 

It wasn't just that they had the back to backs, it's how their minutes were managed on the back to backs.

I decided to take a look at the 7 games losing streak a little more closely for some specific examples of how our Harden, Parsons and Lin were being systematically run into the ground.

Back to Back... Boston followed by 76ers

Boston - Down 14 with 3:06 to go. Parsons and Harden left in to 1:15. Lin left in to end of game. Harden 40 min. Lin 36 min. Parsons 32 min.

76ers - Loss. Harden 45 min. Parsons 40 min. Lin 38 min.

Back to Back... Clippers followed by Dallas

Clippers - Down 18 with 9:41 to go, and down 20 with 7:50 to go. Harden and Lin left in until 1:45. Harden 35 min. Lin 35 min. Parsons 33 min.
Dallas - Loss. Parsons 40 min. Harden 37 min. Lin 31 min.

Back to Back... Indiana followed by Minnesota

Indiana - Down 14 with 3:09 to go. Harden, Lin and Parsons left in until 0:58. Harden 41 min. Parsons 41 min. Lin 31 min.
Minnesota - Loss. Harden 39 min. Lin 34 min. Parsons 33 min.

McHale could have shaved 4-5 mins on average from each of our 3 starters JUST by sitting them earlier when the game was out of reach. Seriously, keeping them in when down by 20 against the Clippers? With a game the next day, the 2nd half of a 4 in 5 to play, and another back to back to come?

It defies common sense...

 

Frankly I don't know what to say?

Harden looks like garbage, he must be dead tired.
Parsons looks like garbage, he also must be dead tired.
Lin looks like garbage, he looks tired but honestly he played the least minutes yesterday of the three, so he has less of a fatigue excuse. Probably just another one of his typical, super low, "garbage" games.

PF position doesn't even exist and Omer..Why do we even have him?

 

While star players go 38 minutes a night, those kind of minutes in this style of play is a new thing for this roster. These guys have to improve their conditioning and seem to have hit a wall. They are young and should improve.

I'd just like to see McHale mix in some energy guys, some fresh legs, in with Harden and Lin freshen things up.

Also, these guys have to get better at half court execution. If teams are gonna abandon the offensive boards to get back on d, then the team needs to execute to get the open shot.