ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Pelicans 2/22/2024

Amen really showing improvement. He had me worried early in the season with his loose handle and uncreative finishing.

 

Yesterday, I tuned in with about 3 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. I was glad to finally watch a game after the horrible All-Star weekend.

I don't know what the hell this team was doing during the break. Everything looked bad. I was so disgusted, I shut it off just before halftime and started watching a movie.

There is no flow of offense and we're looking like weaklings out there allowing them to score on us.

 

Yep folks, our 2023-24 Houston Rockets in a nutshell.

 

I don’t understand why they don’t exaggerate the defense to his left hand and dive him to the middle of the lane. Most times they did that he fumbled the ball. If you look at how brooks was guarding him it was like conceding a left handed drive

 

Honestly, that was one of the biggest blunders in developing a young player. Raptors bulked him up way too much and all the mobility disappeared. While JV wasn't some freak of nature, he was quite mobile as a rookie and really in this era he'd be more effective with more mobility on the defensive side even if it meant he wasn't so physically imposing.

 

Posting because of the ladies in this clip.
I was not familiar with their game. I am now. I am now.

 

In summation:
FVV sucked
Jalen sucked
Jabari was meek
Brooks played horrible defense
Sengun got bullied the first quarter but came back to have an ok game.
Cam’s defense was atrocious and showed why he shouldn’t start yet.
Amen was amazing again and should start over Jalen.

Ime playing Jalen so much was indefensible. What happened to accountability?
Starting lineup for now should be FVV, Amen, Brooks, Jabari, Sengun.
When Cam demonstrates he can play team defense he should start instead of FVV, unless FVV will take the role of spot up shooter and stop dribbling around in circles.
Amen, Sengun, and Jabari is the clear core we should be building around.

 

This is where Steven Adams would come in and match strength and bullying to Jonas V. That ****ing ******* just gets his way in the paint while we're playing with Legos.

Our team is still very young, but playing like little kids in a daycare.

 

Clearly trying to get loose, no biggie.

 

People focused on Jalen but missing how bad Brooks, FVV, Bari at 4 and Udoka coaching are

 

Thats 3 fuucking starters.

This team cant shoot for shiit

 

Any team that’s got 4 of its starters in the top 10 of such a list isn’t going to win ****. And it certainly dispels the narrative that anyone other than Alpi should be taking the most shots. At this point, I’d rather Alpi take a bunch of 3s and long jumpers to get some reps in rather than watch everyone else throw bricks.

The board has come around to recognizing how wretched Jalen Green is, but there’s still a lot of posters who believe that Jabari Smith will ever become a legit offensive threat. It doesn’t matter that he has no explosiveness, no sense of moving off the ball, poor coordination (most apparent in his lack of dribbling and footwork), and a shot that’s streakier than John Starks’ was - somehow he’s going to put it all together as soon as he gains 30 lbs and moves to the SF position. Sorry but that’s not going to happen - we’ll be lucky if he ends up being a taller Bruce Bowen. I think Tari would have taken the starting job if it weren’t for the injury.

So basically, we’ve ended up with a bust and an offensively challenged defender/role player from our highest picks. That’s going to be a tall hurdle to overcome as we strive to become a playoff team.

 

The records reflect that though.

They do play harder at home and are more focused, their defense is better and they shoot better. Their home record reflects that because they win more at home.

On the road the focus and effort disappears. I'm not sure why that is, it's not that unusual, there's a reason teams fight all season for home court advantage, but the disappointing thing is its our best players that fail to show up on the road. That's something you can't have. Usually role players play better at home than on the road, that's just natural, you're just more prepared to play at home. You get to sleep in a familiar bed, do your usual routine, etc etc

I don't think Udoka is figured out because I don't think there is anything complex to his offensive gameplan in the first place. Guys just need to hit shots and execute better and make better decisions.

 

It is skewed because they had two 6 Game or 7 Game Home Streak where the Staff had ample time to practice......

Now not so much, while they still shoot and play better, they are likely not winning most of the games against top Playoff teams that are fully healthy.

• It is also how much worse Away teams are playing at Toyota Center......at the same time.
• It is what it is.
• We can conclude after the season how much better they really are (they were much better).
• Now it is just clawing for 1 more Win........every god darn time.

 

This is just wrong, the stat is saying nothing about Jabari's three point shot, which did improve. It's about FG% overall, a stat that most people ignore for better advanced shooting stats.

Bari shot 100% from three last night by the way. Bari's issue is he PASSES up too many shots. He had CJ on him one time and instead of just rising up over him and nailing a three...CJ....he passed it off to Jalen who then wrecklessly drove into the lane for a nothing possession. These are the shots Bari has to learn to take, he lets guards defend him far too much when he should literally just shoot right over them. So I'm not sure whose shot you are talking about, Bari hits his threes.

Saying Bari has no sense of moving off the ball is odd because he does that plenty. Jabari gives full effort every night, plays with 0 selfishness (should play with more), and is not one of the guys getting torn up defensively every single night and he's 20 years old.

As for Alpi i'm really tired of posters acting like he can do no wrong. Alpi also forces tons of bad shots and last night he was absolutely shredded JV, absolutely destroyed by him.

Like Alpi has not been good enough for months now.

It's fine, he's young just like other players on this team, but tired of the whole "Alpi is the only one..." nah, Alpi still has to improve. Sometimes Rockets offense suffers trying to force things through him and he'll take a tough shot that he was hitting at the start of the year that he's not hitting anymore.

Again this is fine, he's 21, I think he has a very bright future and he was a big reason for the hot start but he's not been helping this team much at all since the 2nd half of the season.

 

12u Aau teams take it more serious.

 

Their home record is still better outside of that stretch. Every team has a long home stretch during the season. They simply just play better at home.

I don't care about healthy, the Rockets haven't been fully healthy for a month (actually more than that). Teams rarely are. Like it's okay to admit the Rockets improved a little bit this season, enough to where they are at least a respectable home team.

 

It is the eye test, the Rockets of early November would have blown the Knicks out without 4 of their major contributors.

And not hoping for the referee to call a foul on Brunson at the last second of play.

Now arguing about playing this one bit better, is irrelevant to me.......the early Rockets played a much more fluid brand of basketball.

And that matters to a lot of fans.

 

Here is the thing...they played like trash on the road early in the season too.

So yes, it's very relevant. If they had a respectable road record they'd be sitting well in the standings right now. Truth is the team plays like complete garbage on the road, that's VERY relevant.

At home, they play respectably. Yes they have some bad home losses but on the road they can't beat anyone and actually play like a bottom 5 team. The record reflects this.