Houston Rockets Thread - Preseason vs Spurs (Friday)

do work son said:
i hope yall watched the clippers blazers game tonight. down the stretch the only offense they ran was cp3 isos and pick and rolls. but yall told me...
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its ok to run iso and pick N roll down the stretch if that's working for you. and sometimes even when it's not.

it's not ok for PnR or iso to be your only plays throughout the entire course of a game over the entire course of a season. even when it's not working for you for stretches.
 
do work son said:
i hope yall watched the clippers blazers game tonight. down the stretch the only offense they ran was cp3 isos and pick and rolls. but yall told me...
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That's not completely true (redick got several plays ran for him down the stretch) but even if it was...your point is? Like Hustla said Nobody said we shouldn't run them...I've said we need to do more than just run pick and roll or if we are going to run it don't just run it the same way over and over. But since you watched the game ...I'll play...


  • Did you notice where those pick and rolls and iso's began...some at the top of the key...some on the side...diversity...our pick and rolls and isos are done at the top of the key and james usually isos from the elbow behind the 3pt line
  • Did you notice that on several trips down they ran plays to get Redick a shot...
  • Did you notice how the Blazers executed down the stretch...alley oop to Lillard..side pick and roll with Batum and Aldridge...diversity
  • The Blazers two best players weren't even on the ball with the game on the line. They ran sets and actions to get those guys high percentage shots at the rim. How often have you seen the Rockets do that...ever?

There is no way you watched the end of that Blazers/Clips game and think the Rockets execute their sets and actions as well as those two teams do. But again who am I...Mchale might get the Rockets to the finals. We've got enough talent to get there. IMO we rely too much on those individual talents to win games
 
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Actually glad that thing with Harden happened. At least guys will know come playoff time just cuz your at home doesnt mean calls are gonna go your way every game in the series.
 
agreed, but I'm starting to think this "put his arms out thing" isn't just to draw fouls as everybody tries to make it out to be. The further you separate ball from body, the harder it is for a defender to rip it. The defender doesnt have a "wall" (offender's chest/body) to help him. For all intents and purposes, it makes it a harder target to get a hold of. Vets get heralded for the little things like that, while JH is being penalized.

In the past I felt like JH was solely looking to get calls, but he's actually getting boys with basketball moves and attacking the rim at a high rate. Even that cross on LBJ. Regardless of whether that "hook" was on JH or LBJ, that's a foul before that's even to be considered. LBJ got crossed without moving his feet and it should have been a foul on the floor.

i think his past reputation is hurting him at this point. (or I could just be a homer)
 
PolosandDunks said:
Actually glad that thing with Harden happened. At least guys will know come playoff time just cuz your at home doesnt mean calls are gonna go your way every game in the series.
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agreed.. in the playoffs, Harden def aint getting 14-20 free throws.. 
 
bonafide hustla said:
agreed, but I'm starting to think this "put his arms out thing" isn't just to draw fouls as everybody tries to make it out to be. The further you separate ball from body, the harder it is for a defender to rip it. The defender doesnt have a "wall" (offender's chest/body) to help him. For all intents and purposes, it makes it a harder target to get a hold of. Vets get heralded for the little things like that, while JH is being penalized.

In the past I felt like JH was solely looking to get calls, but he's actually getting boys with basketball moves and attacking the rim at a high rate. Even that cross on LBJ. Regardless of whether that "hook" was on JH or LBJ, that's a foul before that's even to be considered. LBJ got crossed without moving his feet and it should have been a foul on the floor.

i think his past reputation is hurting him at this point. (or I could just be a homer)
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Yeah I def noticed that as well. Harden does get penalized for it and his past reputation aint helping also. When I saw him throw his hands up in the air and yell I was like don't tell me this dude flopped in the final seconds of the game :lol:. He really did get fouled though
 
I was more pissed that ZBo's reaction was that even he thought it was a foul :lol:

Heard earlier in the day that Bev and TJones are practically maybes for the game, Bev with flu-like symptons, and TJones with some back soreness. Haven't heard any updates since though, and with only 30-45 minutes before tipoff, they should be in the lineup. Also, Rockets just need to win this game, and don't leave any judgment calls to make about it. TJones and D-Mo, and maybe even Dorsey need to be big factors with Monroe and Drummond on the front line.
 
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gg fellas 
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Happy for the win, but man, giving up that big lead was bad :lol: You should never have to put your starters back in to finish. I kinda figured we'd have problems with Monroe/Drummond, but TJones more than made up for it, and even Dorsey was very active. #MVB basically willed the team to a win, so it's all good. Denver tomorrow, a little curious how they play since they just fired their coach and are pretty much in shambles.

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It would be great if the Rockets could legit keep their foot on the throats of these teams when they get big leads. I hate how that just let them back in and cause anxiety to Houston fans :lol: :smh: D-Mo 7 TJones flipped roles this time, as Jones didn't do a whole lot, but D-Mo make a good amount of clutch shots after an early slump. Seeing another game where terry does nothing while Canaan flourishes in Philly makes me :stoneface: same with Nick Johnson on the bench. Bev was invisible to me all the way until the 3 near the end. Harden continued to be the MVP, but man, this guy Brewer is the one who really set the tone. What a fantastic pickup :smokin 3 days of rest, needed for everyone

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stompa 
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per clutchfans

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/03/11/terrence-jones-houston-rockets-dwight-howard-james-harden
For all the bluster about the Rockets’ use of analytics, the team’s plan for contention was always to land multiple superstars. First, Houston compiled the assets necessary to pull off the James Harden trade. Then, the Rockets leveraged Harden’s breakout season into signing Dwight Howard. GM Daryl Morey’s plan had worked; he got his two stars.

But now the Rockets are down a star. Howard hasn’t played in six weeks due to a knee injury, and there’s no clear timetable for his return. Yet Houston (43-20) still holds the No. 3 seed in the brutally competitive Western Conference, even without Howard, who was voted the NBA’s second-best center as recently as last season. So what happened?

Right as Howard left the Rockets’ lineup, Terrence Jones returned. After a back injury sidelined him for almost the entire first half of the season, the third-year forward out of Kentucky came back on Jan. 28. Since that point, Houston has gone 11-5 with Jones in the lineup, with wins over the Mavericks, Bulls, Raptors, Clippers and Cavaliers in a nationally televised showdown.

While Harden’s MVP-caliber play has been the biggest factor in Houston’s perseverance without Howard, Jones hasn't trailed far behind. In that 16-game stretch, he’s averaged 12.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. In fact, since playing his way back into game shape, Jones has been even better, averaging 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds over his last 10 contests, which the Rockets went 7-3 in.

Houston’s calling card this season has been its surprisingly stingy defense, and the Rockets are currently tied for No. 3 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, allowing 99.7 points per 100 possessions. It would have been fair to expect the Rockets to fall off on that end of the floor after Howard—three-time Defensive Player of the Year—went out with his injury. But Jones has filled in quite nicely as a rim protector in Howard’s absence. The Rockets’ defensive efficiency actually drops to 97.1 when Jones is on the floor, a figure that would lead the league.

Individually, Jones has become a terror on defense. Per NBA.com’s player tracking data, opponents are shooting 8.2% worse overall when Jones is guarding them. Get closer to the basket, and the impact becomes even more dramatic. On shots he defends within six feet of the hoop, Jones causes opponents to shoot 13.4% worse. And his rim protection numbers rank among the game’s elite. If Jones had played enough games to qualify, his 2 blocks per contest would rank sixth in the NBA, ahead of swat merchants like Tim Duncan, Andre Drummond and Roy Hibbert.

​Jones’ shot blocking (albeit in a small sample size) even compares favorably to Howard. This year, Jones has a block rate of 5.5%, meaning he rejects approximately that percentage of opponents' shots while he’s on the floor. Before he got hurt, Howard’s block percentage on the year was just 3.4%. In fact, Howard hasn’t reached that 5.5% mark since way back in the 2009-10 season, when he was leading the Magic to a second consecutive Eastern Conference finals appearance. Just for fun, here’s a brief list of players who have blocked a lower percentage of opponent shots than Jones this year: Duncan, Tyson Chandler, DeAndre Jordan and Marc Gasol.

Jones’ emergence as a rim protector is remarkable given that when he entered the NBA, he didn’t have a defined position. In a scouting report prior to the 2012 draft, Draft Express noted that the 6’9” Jones was “undersized for the power forward position” and that he “could surely spend some time at the small forward position in the NBA.” Fast forward three years, and Jones is capably defending Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol in the same game.

​Jones’ evolution as a defensive big, coupled with the fact that he’s at least somewhat of a threat from three-point range—he’s shooting 31.8% from deep on 1.1 attempts per game—gives the Rockets some funky lineup flexibility. For instance, last week against the Grizzlies, Jones checked back into the game with 4:20 left to play. That gave the Rockets an amorphous Patrick Beverley-Harden-Corey Brewer-Trevor Ariza-Jones lineup, with Jones at the five. That lineup featured one “traditional” frontcourt player—who had been thought to be undersized—to defend the league’s most imposing frontcourt. Over the next four minutes, the Rockets blitzed the Grizzlies, erasing a 10-point deficit to tie the game at 100. Houston ended up losing on a sublime Gasol game-winner (with Jones defending), but that lineup's effectiveness shouldn't be lost in the defeat.

In 2015, smart teams prize lineup flexibility; see the Warriors destroying the league with their army of switchable swingmen or the Grizzlies’ acquisition of Jeff Green, who can be a stretch four in spurts. Jones gives the Rockets the NBA’s rarest archetype: a big who can protect the rim, guard opposing behemoths and pose a threat from the perimeter offensively.

Houston obviously is hoping Howard will be healthy for the playoffs. It’s hard to imagine the Rockets as a true contender without him. But to say the team has simply survived without the eight-time All-Star is an understatement. Jones has Houston playing excellent ball, and he’s quickly becoming one of its most important players.
 
:lol: :lol: For real. This game is very important for tiebreaker purposes. Right now we'd be facing the Spurs. i actually wouldn't mind that based purely on talent, but often times, clutch moments will come down to coaching, and ummm....yea.

I'm hoping by the time the final standings come around, we're facing Dallas, whether it's at the 2, 3, or 4 seed. 6-8 are definitely gonna shuffle around though.
 
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