ClutchFans Game Thread: Warriors @ Rockets 3/28/2017

it reminded me a lot of the 4th game last year in playoffs

 

I am just happy about where we are right now. One or two seasons being a favorite to win the title. If we get there Harden probably has 3 to 4 years to stay at this level. Look this Harden year 1 being a PG. As excellent as he plays, there is still so much for us to improve on. The game is going to come to him, like controlling the tempo, avoiding trap etc.

 

really bad shooting game, if we just made a bit more of our 3's and they were wide open too, then we could have won the game. Not to mention Harden is injured. Good to see, the Rockets at least competing.

 

Dallas Stein gleefully retweeted that shade tweet from Bay Area Spears.

 

What is really amazing about this game, is that even though the Rockets missed a TON of 3ptrs, if they just do better at LAYUPS, the BUNNIES they missed at the basket, they win. To many missed layups. Frustrating.

 

That bro ou Williams is so hot and cold man. He was killing it against the thunder and went 5-14 last night

 

James is shooting well at the rim and inside the arc btw, his 3pt shot is broken against the Warriors though, like, really awful.

http://www.basketball-reference.com...i?player_id=hardeja01&year_id=2017&opp_id=GSW

 

Relax because golden state plays san antonio tonight. So if they get blown out by the spurs, they are not in the same league as SA?? Just one regular season game.

 

Tough loss, but the Rockets played hard. They had some tough luck misses and turnovers that could have made it a closer game had they gone the other way. I was encouraged that they made it a game despite the terrible shooting. The Warriors have a way of making you look bad if you are a bit off, and the Rockets did not get completely embarrassed.

 

Yeah, the calls went both ways so blaming the refs is pointless (but not unexpected). It boiled down to the team which played the better defense and that would be the Warriors. The Warriors have the edge in experience with these tight games while the Rockets do not and therein lies the difference between the two teams. For example, that long three by Curry at the end was an absolute killer while their defensive strategy to run them off the 3-point line had the Rockets off balance the entire game. They got a taste of the playoffs last night and I hope that D'Antoni was paying attention.

 

So would you have preferred the Rockets to have gotten less than 39 free throws (made 35... compared to 12-16 for GSW)? What do you think the outcome of the game would have been if that happened?

 

That's a positive spin for sure.
But we have to take it at face value. They owned us defensively, took away our 3pt shot
It's not that we were just having a bad day and missing wide open 3's all game.
They camped on the arc and TOOK AWAY the 3 and forced us inside. We had no real answer
In spite of Curry being in foul trouble, or Durant missing, they kept us down and at an arms' length and chalked up the W
Surely ugly to watch us flailing helplessly like a fish on the dock

 

All these people blaming the refs is laughable... Look at the free throw difference before you even think about posting that. We lost this game solely on the fact that we couldn't execute down the stretch. Whether it was Harden's wrist or poor shooting, the referees were awful but did not gift the warriors the game. If anything they gifted us a close game that we couldn't execute to win. With decent refs this couldve easily been a 20 point blowout. That's just facts right there, no use in arguing.

 

Just watched the game.

The Rockets have been awesome this year. They have flat out destroyed expectations and played above their talent with intelligence, heart and persistence. I've said it over and over again, this season has been nothing but positive. And James Harden is the MVP. That is without question, he has been the best player on the planet this season, don't you forget it. He has a better record than Lebron James and Russell Westbrook and has put up better individual numbers as well. Kawhi has won more and been excellent individually, but he is not as important to his team as Harden.

This loss was unacceptable. A terrible performance, filled with mistakes, and a terrible omen of these guys' preparedness for the playoffs. If both teams were healthy and we lost a close one to them, I can tolerate that. But they are missing Durant. Nevermind that Curry was in foul trouble, Green had to sit for a long stretch, Mcadoo (who is giving them backup minutes) had to leave. We were not playing the #1 seed Warriors, we were playing a lesser team who we could be facing in the playoffs. Everything we have built with this team is based on us doing more than the sum of the parts, and I will concede that a team of our talent-level cannot afford to play without a starter. We started the season like we were a whisker away from spiraling into 8th seed and that was missing. Any day of the week, any Rocket fan will take a series where Anderson and Durant sit.

Our physical effort was excellent. Don't have much to say about that.

Our confidence was atrocious. Gordon, Dekker, Williams were either scared or couldn't take the heat. I can understand Dekker as a rookie being that way. Don't be fooled by Gordon/Williams jacking up shots. That's not poise. You could see the hesitation in every shot, the mental preparation of failing. We cannot afford for those 3 guys to play with hesitation especially when Anderson is out.

Our defense was a joke. Playing Ariza at the 4, we should be quicker and more mobile on defense. We were NOT. We got beaten by quickness and by strength. Against Kerr's Warriors, you are never guarding the person you want to guard. This line up should have been better at dealing with that. We should have been able to hound their perimeter players into relying on Pachulia and Green more. Aside from the 2nd quarter, they got whatever shot they wanted. That's not enough. We need that defense for 2-3 quarters to beat a great TEAM.

On offense, we figured one thing out. We knew they took the 3 away and we attacked them inside and that worked. However, the players and the ball must move QUICKER and MORE FREQUENTLY. The 3 was available when the defense collapsed, but we were so slow to move the ball and they are defensively elite with or without Durant so they will recover. It's no secret our lack of frontcourt passing is a painful weakness, but we can do a better job. We have done a better job in the past at moving it. Yes we only hit 5 3pters at 16% and that probably won't happen again. You know what else won't happen again? A 39-16 edge in FT attempts. To have only 20 assists with Harden giving it up so often is not going to cut it against the Warriors defense.

Turnovers hurt us in the first and 4th quarters. They came in concentrated bunches, we did well to protect the ball most of the game. I have no issue with 14 TO's except we weren't even passing it that much. Our TO's came from forcing drives and that's fine. Those drives could have been easier if the ball and players moved around sharply.

Finally, James Harden. This was a poor performance from him. Maybe it's his wrist, but if you're going to talk **** about people who rest, then you don't get to use the excuse when it affects you. And he doesn't use the excuse, so I won't either. His ability to draw fouls is excellent, but he should have a follow-through plan always - have the pass or shot clear in your mind, even when seeking a foul. He should never complain during a transition on a turnover. He must play better defense than this against elite teams. He must learn that Green is watching from the corner of his eye to steal the ball from him on every drive. This was a below average game from him on an important night. He brought enough effort, he figured out how to attack them relentlessly inside. The next step is bringing out the drive-n-stepback J to make the defender respect all the aspects of his game and generating more give-and-go's to be able to attack from motion rather than when stationary.

The Warriors are like the Spurs now. They play the way they play regardless of the talent on the floor. Against teams who are that good, we have to reach for a higher gear. This game made me feel like we have used up the higher gear. I have no doubt we will demolish our first round opponent and don't fear anyone in round 2. I can see the positives of being kicked in the balls on your homecourt by a weakened Warriors team vs celebrating a victory at home over a tired/injured Warriors team.

This has dampened my optimism. As far as I'm concerned, they owe me something for this loss. Coaches, players and analytics staff need to figure out why we didn't win this game.

 

Mathloom when did Harden complained about rest after his injury. Yes he had a poor game but he did not come up with any excuses.

 

Rockets 1-0 vs Warriors with Anderson.

0-2 without Anderson.

His gravity matters ya'll. Honestly just rest Harden vs them a couple days from now (rest Gordon and Bev too and just let Lou run the team). Why give them more game film? The only real game they have on you is that first game where you beat them in their building when both teams were at full strength.

This Ryan Anderson criticism is crazy, he's the best spot up three point shooter we've had since the Bobby Sura days.

 

The Rockets need Anderson back but they also need the December version of Eric Gordon back too.

I still don't think we've seen the best basketball from the Rockets yet this year. Maybe we have a few guys playing through injuries, maybe it's just the fatigue setting in or time getting adjusted to a new team/system for some of our newer players.

If the Rockets can somehow get back to playing with the energy and determination they had earlier in the year they can beat any team out there. Beating Golden State on friday would do wonders for the teams confidence moving forward. I think the smart move would be to rest our starters against Portland and concede that one, then try and pound the Warriors the next night in a revenge game. If we finish 2-2 against the Warriors this year while winning two at Oracle then it means anything can happen if we play them in a 7 game series.

 

exceedingly fair. Harden deserves the MVP this year. He's one of the truly elite offensive players in the league. However, to put it simply, his mental shortcomings were on full display during this game. The good news is, those things are correctable. The streaky shooting, and defense though, I'm not so sure.

He didn't loose the game though. This team has been playing the same **** defense all year, and they better hope to shoot consistently for 4 games, even against OKC.

 

Read it again.

 

Harden doesn't have mental shortcomings imo. If anything, Harden's entire career is based on mental superiority. He is not a gifted shooter, or particularly fast/quick, nor does he jump high. Harden is one of the best players in the world because he is just smarter than most players in the NBA. On average he makes incredible decisions with the ball, he outsmarts his defender, he reads plays very well. If he is not an ACE mentally then I'm not sure what's making him the best player in the world.

I don't think he lost this game single handedly, but this loss is on him to think about, analyze, and rebound from. 5 of 20 is not ok. 5 of 10 is fine. He found the hole in the Warriors defense, but he did not attack it enough. He did not get this team out of its early funk. He did not close it out. You have to understand what I'm asking of Harden here is something you can only ask of 4-5 players. An elite set of standards, only applicable in this type of game. All season the things people have been complaining about and saying MDA should have a word with Harden. For me, this is the game, this is the one. And the word MDA needs to have with Harden is: "Ok, so after watching that, it's clear I need to get you in better position to attack, and the team has to tighten its execution before the playoffs."

Let's see how it goes.