ClutchFans Game Thread: Warriors @ Rockets 5/10/2019 (Playoffs Round 2, Game 6)

I like the way Marc Jackson is looking at him like please don’t whip my ass

 

I’m still heartbroken

 

lol

What part of "There is absolutely an O in ISO" do you not get?

 

I'll be very surprised if the Rox dont land a star this offseason

 

I hope they do.

 

Yea actually believe them this time they are gonna go all out. Might end up with Jimmy buckets and AD if thats possible lol

 

Wish we could get away from all the ISO and get some good screens and ball movement going.
Tired of watching them dribble out the shot clock for contested 3s

 

I'd like to see it, but how? Capela/Gordon are pretty much your only realistic trade pieces for matching salary. We also don't have many draft picks to move. Who could you acquire with the above that would give you more than Gordon did this year?

 

I don't see how we do either. We'll only be able to get someone seen as washed or not a good fit in their current environment and have to hope the change of scenery here works.

 

Harden need to take notes from kawhi dude is unreal

 

cc: @HoustonRockets @CP3 @Jharden13 @ClintCapela

 

Who is going to want to play alongside Harden? Who is going to feel like they have a shot at winning a championship with Harden next to them? What kind of "star" is going to want to play second fiddle to mister ISO/ball hog/turnover machine while he tries to draw fouls? Especially now that Harden's shot is tailing off? Harden who always fades in the most anti-clutch way in the important games? Everyone knows what Harden's priority is, and it isnt team-oriented.

I mean, if they trade harden and package up something to get a more team-oriented star, like a KD or someone, then maybe. But with Harden still on the team? I cant see any "star" even remotely finding that appealing, to be honest. not now.

 

What a dumbass take, really. Harden is going to win the player's vote for MVP because he's respected around the league.

 

that in no way means guys are lining up to play with someone.

the vast majority of guys in the league respect each other. doesn't mean they all want to be on the same team

 

All things Harden doesn't have, Kawhi has.

That aggressiveness and ambition in clutch time are so impressive.

Harden just dribble, pass and stand watching his teammates bricking...

 

Yeah. Kawhi really handled his business like a consummate professional last year.

People seem fixated on only the last game or worse the last shot in evaluating what their team has.

Remember what came before "Clutch City?".

Choke City. That series was incredibly frustrating until the Rockets pulled it out. Fans were screaming for the team's heads.

We need to take a step back and realize how good we have been.

 

I remember when I used to believe like this

 

Told myself to wait 48 hours before posting anything so it wouldn't be as emotional but here goes my thoughts on the game/season

• Gordon could not have picked a worse game to have one of his worst games of the playoffs. One of the things the Rockets MUST address in the offseason is Gordon. He is expected to be the Rockets third option but he is very inconsistent. Gordon somehow raises the Rockets' ceiling and lowers their floor at the same time. Gordon is the type of guy who averages 15 points scoring 10 one night, 30 the next and 5 the following night. The Rockets have no idea what kind of Gordon will come to play. For majority of the playoffs it was the good Gordon but the last few games it was the not-so-good one.
• Rockets need a true shooter on the team. The rockets aren't a good 3 point shooting team but they shoot in volume. They need a guy who is a career 38% + shooter who would be a threat whenever left wide open. If they had a dead eye shooter, just one I think would open this offense up so much more and differently.
• Capela - I dont know what to say the dude talked a big game and was the smallest guy on the court. I am not a big fan of these "he is young and can develop" when there are younger guys out there performing better than him. Capela has been in multiple playoff games already and multiple versus GS. This was not an issue of his skill or ability not being good enough but Capela not playing hard and big. THAT is an issue to me. He completely was shook on the mental game side of things, players can get better at that if it was their first playoffs but this is NOT his first rodeo. And to come out like that after saying he wants the Warriors (not to mention the other talk he has said all season long) is absolutely unacceptable. He was easily the biggest disappointment by far in the playoffs.
• Chris Paul - I am kind of confused tbh. He looked like CP3 in game 6 - where was this the rest of the games? I dont mean that he hit some shots but he looked more aggressive and played with more urgency. He did not play like that at all the first 5 game of this series. It was bewildering. If not for Capela he would be the biggest disappointment. I get his lost step but he still got to places and just didnt take a shot and be aggressive.
• Harden and Tucker get nothing from me they played well. Same with Austin Rivers
• So after thinking about it for a while I think its time the Rockets moved on from MDA or maybe make him an assistant coach like he was in Philly. Its been 3 years now and the Rockets have exited under very similar circumstances. Granted that two of those exits against the Warriors and the refs etc and all that I get it. But MDA has been really stubborn about just playing basically 6-7 guys and will not break from that mold. It killed the Rockets in the Spurs series when Nene went down, it killed the Rockets last year when Paul got hurt and it killed the Rockets this year. Morey has tried to add depth to the bench and some of those acquisitions have not worked out at all which is on Morey of course. This season though we had guys on the bench that could have been the difference for a couple of minutes here and there. Gary Clark was the reason why the team got rid of Melo (among other reasons - Coach Jeff B) and he barely played the last 3-4 months of the season. House was brought back specifically for the sake of the playoff race (You can argue the whole he should have been paid and Rockets in luxury tax - again different story). After playing 20 minutes in game 1 house plays 5 minutes total games 2-6. For reference Gerald Green played 36 minutes total in that same span of games. If want to say trust then how is it that Green who made mistake after mistake still saw so many more minutes? Also not giving guys like Clark any minutes at all unless its complete garbage time or being forced to is not the answer either. Look I am not saying Clark, House or Faried was the answer to beating the Warriors. But you got to fire every single bullet you have and MDA doesn't. For example Kerr played almost his entire bench the first half of game 6. Sure you can say he was forced to some guys because of KD's injury but he played multiple guys who didnt play at all. And credit to them they performed and carried the Warriors in the first half. It allowed Curry and Klay to be alot more fresh at the end of the game to close it out. The Warriors dictated the matchups and mismatches and the Rockets did NOTHING to counter it. Heck even Doc Rivers made adjustments starting JaMychel Green over Zubac after it was clear the Warriors were playing Zubac off the floor. I feel even if Morey fills the rosters with near all-stars 2-12 that MDA would still just play 7 guys next season in the playoffs.
• As if I needed to add to the rant above the Rockets were absolutely out coached this entire series, cannot emphasize that enough.
• I hope Rivers is back next season and I hope House is too but I do not think House will come back to this team next season.

 

What else do we need to learn we need something who can:

A. Make adjustments
B. Evaluate what they know, but willing to experiment.
C. Challenge Harden to play team ball. And please, give me a break with the numbers, Im a huge Harden Fan, I know exactly how many assists he has averaged and can imagine how many he could potentillay deliver, but, bottomline, this is not an economic model, it is a basketball game and we need to look for variations on our style. If anything, it just mackes the GSW challenge of defending us bigger. We did not even iniatiated our offense with a diferrent angle, we lasted 6 games starting our pick and roll top of the key.
D. Someone who can gets a 2 man game out of any combination of our stars. Capela - Harden was lost during the season and we dont get any Paul-Harden, no Paul-Capela.

Painful loss guys, painful season, I let my guard down after game 4, I started to believe and now so heart broken that I dont even really know if I will do this again. For people in an office Job, there is so little free time you cant use it all on such a painful activity