ClutchFans Game Thread: Sixers @ Rockets 12/19/2012

Aldrich got turned into a third stringer by Smith :grin:

 

Gasol is only getting worse. I think Lin is going to get better. Terrible trade

 

Dude, tonight he wasn't playing PG in 4th quarter, and even as de-facto PG next to Harden, he's still really playing SG with Harden playmaking.

Check TD's assists, TO and A-T ratio. Not PG.

The list you have up there, the only constant is these 'PGs' played next to MJ and Kobe. Any SG can play PG if they had MJ/Kobe next to them.

 

Doug is a very poor mans version Jamal Crawford with the ability to create his shot off the dribble like Crawford can. THERE BOTH IDEALY SG's who an pinch hit for one or 2 minutes at PG.

 

If this team can find a big guy that can do effective pick and roll and the ability to drive and dunk...it'll make the team even more dangerous. For now, Osik is not that man. Someone like Dwight Howard will change the team from Playoffs contender to Championship.

I like Greg Smith but he's still developing.

 

whoa no man.

Jamal Crawford is an elite 1 on 1 threat.


toney is not

 

Hmm, no. Unless he has the 38yr old Jason Kidd guarding him. Douglas can dribble, but he's a spot up 3pt shooter who if he gets a step on his defender (ball being swung around and defender closing out on him) can get inside for a lay-up.

Yo don't want him to create offense by himself off the dribble.

Just check out his 2pt FG % (excluding 3pt shots). My guess is it is around 35%.

 

Wow, a DOF. :grin:

 

I meant he dosent have the ability that JC has to create a shot off the dribble. He is a very good when hot a catch and shoot player. Also Crawford does his damage as a 2 guard with Bledsoe or Paul running the show. He can pinch hit at the 1, but when he plays the 2 spot is when goes to work.

Crawford is a very good passer, but he is an aggressive combo guard.

 

Key Moment of the Game

The key moment of the game was TEAM DEFENSE and it happened with 5:56 left in the 3rd quarter after Harden had a costly TO causing a 3-point play on the other end cutting the lead to 72-71.
All night long they had let 76ers coming back over and over again with porous defense.

76ers just made 12-4 run after trailing by 8 points (60-68) due to a combination of defensive lapses (Morris lost his man twice, Asik once) plus offensive hiccups (Harden and Lin went one-on-one missing 19ft and 15ft jumper without extra passes)

After a timeout, they showed much better defense (tighter defense, 1 Parsons steal) to make 9-4 run stretching the lead to 81-75 accompanied by Lin's PnR with Asik and Parsons plus 1 Harden's penetration resulting in 2 FT (which were not great decision going 1-against-4 but poor 76ers can't stop him tonight).

With 3 min left, Douglas/Smith/Delfino came in to sub for Lin/Asik/Parsons. Then Greg Smith show led to another 8-4 run to close the 3rd quarter with a comfortable 89-79 lead. The defense was also superb with TD drawing offensive foul, Harden with 1 block on Nick Young esp. after he lost Nick so many times on defense.
Note: not all things were great. Harden went iso to the basket too often (lost the ball going 1-against-4) but he learned quickly in the next possession with spectacular between-the-leg-pass to Greg Smith for the easy dunk.

Closing Thoughts
Overall, the offense was more balanced with 60% Harden iso leading to an unbelievable 18 FT attempts (who could blame him with 76ers being so bad?) and Lin taking 40% (when both were on the floor) to run PnR with Asik and Parsons. Defense was a bit better when needed some stops.

I still don't see Lin and Harden playing together off each other, more like sharing the offensive loads to give the other rest. But am glad to see Lin has more confidence to penetrate or run his PnR so the offense is more balanced. Harden still played loose D with Nick Young but perhaps he saved his stamina for his offense.

I'm loving the small lineup with Harden/Lin/Douglas that worked for the 2nd game straight to pull away in the 4th quarter. I'd like to see them paired with Asik and Greg Smith at the same time.

They still have lots to improve but 25 games into the season, who would have thought they improved this quickly? Kudos to the young players and the coaches for sticking together unselfishly.

 

Wow Tony Allen held Monta Ellis into 1/14 and 4 points. What a defender.

Harden better beware. He struggled a bit against Memphis last time too.

I wish the Rockets and Morey can pick up an elite wing defensive stopper in the mold of a Tony Allen/Sefolosha for the bench in the future to round out this as a legit playoffs contender. I think this is a glaring missing need in this current squad besides the obvious All Star frontcourt post presence. And no Douglas is too small and not good enough although the coaching staff right now seems to like to use him like one.

 

Correction: I see Harden set at least 1 screen and gave the ball for Lin to create in the 1st half. I'd like to see Harden be more involved in the PnR.

 

I think Parsons might, after an off-season or two, become an elite defender; it's just that this year he fell off because he's been encouraged to step it up offensively.

I mean, Kobe complimented Parsons on his defense, when Parsons was a rookie. For one, Kobe complimenting someone, on their defense on Kobe, who was a rookie. This doesn't happen.

It took Kobe until a little more than a year ago before he was willing to compliment Battier.

 

Great post, totally agree. The Rockets currently have two great scoring options and playmakers, and aside from opportune times after rebounds or certain situations for another Rocket to handle the ball, Lin should be running the offense with Harden as the #1 scoring option.

Lin is the point guard, he should be dominating the ball and setting up the offense most of the time, if Harden's got a good look, pass it to him first. If not, drive and see what the opposing D gives you. Or PnR to set up Harden intentionally, or any other player for that matter.

I'd be happy with Lin running the offense most of the time and putting up 15+ pts and 7+ assists while Harden puts up 28+ pts and whatever assists, as long as they were both playing smart basketball. Using the philosophy of Harden as primary scorer and Lin as primary playmaker and secondary scoring option has the benefit of Harden being fresher throughout the game and minimizing the redundancy of some their similar skills.

We know Lin or Harden can both go off for 30+ points and dominate a game, but Harden is the more consistent scorer, and that's what his role should be on the team, just as Lin's should be the aggressive facilitator who has the option of going off. It's a potential luxury we should be savoring.

 

You need to watch all TD's games this season not just this game to know TD is not a true PG. He is playing well mainly because he shoots 3s well just recently. The reason that coaching stuff put him to close out the game is because he can shoot and spread floor better than Lin (due to Lin's shooting woes ) and 'seems' played better defense, not because he can play good PG. For those 4th qtr Lin was sat, TD was with Harden all most all the time and Harden was the one to make plays, not TD.

Go check TD's 3 pointers for this season to know the difference. At the beginning of the season, his shots were not falling. He is basically useless because he couldn't make plays for the team either. The offense was stagnant when he was alone there as a PG. He is useless to the point that McHale (right before his absence) didn't play him at all for that Grizzlies road game. Then Sampson took over as the HC and he seemed like TD's defense very much that he played him long mins and TD probably felt the trust form the coach and so his confidence followed. From then on, his 3s started to fall and he has been played more and more, but mainly with Harden and now even with both Harden Lin on the floor. You think when Harden and Lin were on the floor at the same time, coaches also put TD there because they need him play PG? Think again.

D'Antoni was not blind, he tried TD for quite a long time. Mike Breen and Walter Frazer were not blind when they were watching and commenting TD playing PG. TD as a PG never worked. To make things worse, he couldn't shoot 3s at that time due to his should surgery, therefore, he was out of the rotation for second half of the season in NY.

As long as TD can shoot 3s, he will get good mins. Because in this system where Harden and Lin are both good play-maker, we need shooters to spread the floor and hit spot-up shots. TD can also sometimes penetrate and get layups too. So he is very much a decent undersized SG. It doesn't hurt the he can bring the ball up court very fast and play in-your-face waving arms on- man defense, which our coaches like very much. :grin:

 

If the season ended today, the Rockets would be in the Playoffs as the 8th seed. Unbelievable for the youngest team in the league.

And considering the turnover from last year to this, one would hope they're still building chemistry and learning to play together and that we've yet to seem their best basketball. This team may really make the playoffs.

If we manage something with this team, the youngest team in the league, that we did not manage with our team loaded of solid vets last year, I'll be beyond thrilled.

 

McHale stutters so much during his post-game interview. Weird.

 

Chandler Parsons is the black Shane Battier

 

It's his birthday. I'm guessing he got emotional thinking he got to celebrate it without his daughter. The win is nice but it's gotta be a hard day for him.

 

Yeah and Greg Smith talks super fast. So fast it seems like hes going to stumble on his own words.