2016 Houston Rockets Pre-Season Thread - Preseason Finale vs Spurs

Rockets and Knicks tonight. No Noah. I'm very curious as to how the season unfolds, and the chemistry that develops.

Bev is also supposed to miss the next three games (knee)
 
Last edited:
View media item 2188299
Pretty fun game to watch. So much spacing and ball movement, it was refreshing :lol: as well as a high FT%. A surprising amount of defense played too, even if it was the Knicks. Really looking forward to seeing if this is what KJ McDaniels can be given more time. Also, it looks like Brewer is trying to stay in a Rockets uniform.
 
HOUSTON -- This is how the Houston Rockets' offense is supposed to look.

In the Rockets' second preseason game, James Harden drove to the paint, brought defenders toward him and kicked out passes to eager shooters. Ryan Anderson knocked down jumpers as defenders closed out too late. Harden also took defenders off the dribble to the basket to draw fouls. When he tired of doing that, he hit jumpers and kept the team moving.

The offense was a roaring success on Tuesday night in a 130-103 win over the New York Knicks at the Toyota Center. This was a bigger test than what the Rockets saw in the preseason opener against the Shanghai Sharks as they needed to implement their up-tempo offense against NBA competition.

It’s vital the Rockets see how the pick-and-rolls look and how the spacing develops in the half court. Now, the Knicks were in their first preseason game with a new point guard (Derrick Rose), center (Joakim Noah) and coach (Jeff Hornacek), but that wasn’t Houston's problem.

Sure, Noah missed the opener with a left hamstring injury and the Rockets didn’t have their own starting guard in Patrick Beverley because of left knee soreness. But Houston took a whopping 42 3-pointers thanks to good spacing and penetrations. In the history of the franchise, the Rockets have made 20-plus 3-pointers twice during the regular season. In just the second preseason game, Houston reached that mark.

“It’s way early but we can see we’ve got a lot of firepower,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “A lot of guys that can score. We just have to keep the mentality that yeah we can score and we’re going to score and we may do it in bunches, but we can’t take it for granted that we just got to score.”

The offense was fueled by Harden, who scored 28 points and had 11 assists. He was plus-28 on the box score. The recipient of several of those passes was Anderson, the newly signed stretch-4. Anderson scored 26 points, knocking down seven 3s while going 8-of-16 from the field.

The performance was stunning as the Rockets shot 53.7 percent from the floor -- which included scoring 41 points in the second quarter and 36 more in the third.

“Coach's offense is proven,” said Trevor Ariza, who added 10 points and seven rebounds. “He’s been doing this with every team he’s been to. For us, it’s more of continuing to grow on both ends of the court.”

The Rockets’ defense was much better in the second preseason contest, with players closing out on shooters, talking about where to be on the floor and getting rebounds. Houston outrebounded New York 51-34.

“It felt good, I think it started with our defense though,” Harden said. “Just for the first quarter we held them to 15 points, that’s why we were able to get off to a big lead. We’ve just got to be better. We got to be better for all four quarters. Stay in our defensive intensity and just be solid. We know we can score, but defensively we just got to be solid for four quarters and we will, it’s just a learning experience for us.”
 
Yeah...Harden is ready this season

120ppg offense season coming right up :lol: :pimp:

Ryan Andersons shooting :pimp:
 
Last edited:
Sam Dekker's work impresses Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni

Though second-year forward Sam Dekker has been in and out of the Rockets' rotation in the preseason, his strong showing in Beijing on Wednesday has apparently impressed Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni.

Dekker did not play at all in the first game against the New Orleans Pelicans, but he made 7 of 9 shots for 14 points to go with five rebounds in 18 minutes on Wednesday.
With the Rockets and restricted free agent Donatas Motiejunas still locked in a contract stalemate, there could be an opening at power forward for Dekker, who had also worked as a small forward backup for Trevor Ariza.

"I see him as a really good four," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He's come on. He's embraced it. He'll play where he needs to play. He wants to play. So if I ask him to play three, four it doesn't matter. Our threes and fours aren't that different in our system. But he gives us a lot of power, a lot of speed coming off the bench at the four that helps the team out."
 
View media item 2200281
The latter part of this game SMH. The Rockets spent most of the time playing back and forth, finally get a 3 point lead, bricks 1/2 FTs, then allows a score to push it to overtime. The main thing I enjoyed for the parts of the game I watched is that they let the young guys shine, and also, the centers got some very good play.

Also, today they waived Isiah Taylor, and Beverley is supposed to be out for 2 more weeks with a "right knee irritation". We'll see if this is legit, or this is some funny **** like with previous players' injuries.
 
Anyone got any news on Dmo? Even my "inside guy" (not much of an insider just my ticket rep, but he even hears things from time to time, hasn't heard ANYTHING. I think he would fit so well with this roster so long as he's healthy.
 
barrebaby said:
Anyone got any news on Dmo? Even my "inside guy" (not much of an insider just my ticket rep, but he even hears things from time to time, hasn't heard ANYTHING. I think he would fit so well with this roster so long as he's healthy.
Click to expand...

No updates at all other than agent talk. I've pretty much penciled DMo in another team's uniform til further notice
 
Peep Game said:
No updates at all other than agent talk. I've pretty much penciled DMo in another team's uniform til further notice
Click to expand...

The crazy thing is no other team seems interested either( he's no all star but sure isn't a scrub). With all the lucrative deals, and capspace especially for big men you would think he would have had some kind of an offer. I really hope not, but maybe his back is really that bad...
 
either Dmo's back is completely wrecked or he thinks hes worth a lot more money than what he has been offered 
 
Should've known this would be the result with stuff being all hush hush about his knee:

Houston Rockets starting shooting guard Patrick Beverley might have surgery on his left knee, according to a source.

Beverley has missed the past four preseason games with knee irritation.

Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters Tuesday that he is not counting on Beverley for the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 26.

Beverley will undergo further evaluations this week before a final determination is made.

D'Antoni had plans to start Beverley alongside James Harden in the backcourt this season.

With Beverley sidelined, D'Antoni has used K.J. McDaniels and Eric Gordon in the backcourt with Harden.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

NikeTalk was created as a way of giving back to both the sneaker enthusiast community and to the greater global community of which we are all a part.

NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom