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@  majik19 : (13 October 2015 - 09:09 PM) Apparently we claimed Arsalan Kazemi off waivers from the Hawks today... yet another undersized (6'7") power forward for Morey's cupboard.
@  Mario Peña : (10 October 2015 - 01:12 PM) If your part if the Red94 Fantasy Basketball League check the thread to vote for the date and time for the draft event. Thanks y'all!
@  jorgeaam : (07 October 2015 - 08:47 PM) Guys we need 1 more owner for the Red94 fantasy league, if interested please comment on the post in the fantasy basketball thread
@  slick shoes : (07 October 2015 - 06:50 PM) Kobe ranked one spot higher than Ariza? Is this based on legacy or...??
@  slick shoes : (07 October 2015 - 04:13 PM) It was hard to keep up with both the Astros and Rockets at the same time. Should be interesting on Thursday with the Texans and Astros on simultaneously.
@  Mario Peña : (07 October 2015 - 04:09 PM) It was fun to have the Rockets on last night! Right now I'm watching the Celtics versus Milan and Alessandro Gentile is impressive.
@  jorgeaam : (06 October 2015 - 07:47 PM) Well, thinking twice about it, I'd rather have him score less and have the team as a whole do better. Lawson should take a lot of his load off
@  jorgeaam : (06 October 2015 - 07:47 PM) Loving that, hope he hits 30 PPG this year
@  thejohnnygold : (06 October 2015 - 06:15 PM) Someone is feeling confident :) : LINK
@  jorgeaam : (06 October 2015 - 05:54 PM) 10 Teams done, will need 2 more
@  Mario Peña : (06 October 2015 - 02:35 PM) Alright guys, if anyone is interested in joining the Red94 fantasy basketball league we could use one more player to get us to 10 teams (or three to get us to 12 teams). Just check the thread in the Fantasy Basketball forum. Thanks!
@  thejohnnygold : (05 October 2015 - 06:23 PM) I use leaguepass here in Austin with no problems...
@  skip 2 my lou : (05 October 2015 - 03:14 PM) Hey fellas, I'm a rocket fan but I live in the heart of Dallas. Does anybody know if I buy NBA Leaguepass if it's too close to be subject to blackouts?
@  Losthief : (02 October 2015 - 02:24 AM) tks jg
@  thejohnnygold : (29 September 2015 - 05:16 AM) FYI, it was media day today. Interviews are up at NBA.com
@  slick shoes : (23 September 2015 - 06:37 PM) kind of late in the day but NBATV is broadcasting classis Rockets games all day today.
@  SadLakerFan : (16 September 2015 - 04:37 AM) Man, as a Laker fan, I'm learning how little you care about the off season when your team sucks. Anyway, a quick moment to remember Moses. Still remember watching the 81 team as a kid - losing record, NBA Finals. I would have cried w/joy if they could have beaten the Celtics.
@  jorgeaam : (15 September 2015 - 08:30 PM) http://bleacherrepor...ist-after-crash
@  jorgeaam : (15 September 2015 - 08:30 PM) So to celebrate his new contract, Montrezl Harrell saved someone's life on monday
@  thejohnnygold : (14 September 2015 - 04:36 PM) A good article from Blinebury talking about when Hakeem and Moses used to play in the park. LINK

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Houston Rockets 120, Minnesota Timberwolves 110: Bombs away


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#1 Red94

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    Posted 28 March 2015 - 09:08 AM

    New post: Houston Rockets 120, Minnesota Timberwolves 110: Bombs away
    By: Paul McGuire

    Well, the Houston Rockets are in the playoffs.

     

    Let us not forget how at the beginning of the season, Houston was a popular dark-horse pick…to miss the playoffs altogether, especially if either Harden or Howard got hurt. Yet here they are, just a half-game from the second seed in the Western Conference.

     

    But the Rockets have not reached their potential. There were glimpses of it tonight with Dwight, as Houston just reached another level while he was on the court. Houston did play well enough tonight that Kevin McHale sent out human victory cigar K.J. McDaniels with two minutes left. But I have no doubt that if Howard could play like normal, this game would have been over by the start of the fourth quarter.

     

    It was not just the defense, though that was good as always. Howard mentioned to Sports Illustrated about how he wanted to take a smaller role on the offensive end and “make the ultimate sacrifice.” That was on display tonight. Howard made 8 shots. All of them were dunks. None of them came from Howard’s attempts to post up. They were passes received from Harden, Josh Smith, and Pablo Prigioni and then thrown down with all of Howard’s force and athleticism.

     

    Practically every NBA website has written at some point about how Howard should stop trying to produce in the post and focus on playing defense and grabbing lobs. That was what happened tonight and it was great to watch.

     

    The result tonight was that for three quarters and much of the fourth, Houston used Howard to grab a big lead over the Timberwolves. Then Howard went out, Dorsey came in, and Minnesota’s offense would shrink the lead for the rest of the quarter. Andrew Wiggins in particular drew fouls like he was Harden tonight, finishing with 31 points after scoring 30 against Houston earlier this season.

     

    Oh, and the three-pointers were fun too. This injured Wolves team which only suited up eight players tonight do not have any perimeter defenders aside from Andrew Wiggins. So all of the Rockets starters went off and shot over 50 percent of their long-range shots. Even Josh Smith went 3-5 tonight.

     

    The bench on the other hand did struggle to shoot. Brewer is inconsistent and that just is how he is, but Prigioni is problematic. When Red94 discussed Prigioni in our post-trade deadline roundtable, Richard Li pointed out that while Prigioni was a career 41 percent shooter from three, it was distorted by how rarely he actually shot them.

     

    Now Prigioni is hitting just 18 percent as a Rocket, going 1-6 tonight. And if that was not bad enough, the Minnesota defenders were backing off Prigioni to cover the other players. You know Prigioni is in a slump when defenders pay more attention to Josh Smith’s three-pointers. Bill Worrell said that Prigioni is looking to adjust, and that is all Houston fans can hope for.

     

    And speaking of Smith. Smith was Root Sport’s Player of the Game as he fell one rebound shy of a triple-double. I do not care about triple doubles (a reason I am apoplectic about the idea of Russell Westbrook stealing the MVP trophy). They are a cute quirk of the box score and nothing more. And while Smith had 11 assists and had good effort on the glass and defensive end, I remain concerned about how he tries to thread the needle too often. 11 assists to 6 turnovers is not terrible from an assist to turnover standpoint, but it is not great and Houston needs to worry about how they will fix their turnover problem. While I understand how Houston needs multiple ball handlers especially without Beverley, it remains a problem.

     

    The Rockets are close to that second seed and a potential playoff trip against a vulnerable Mavericks squad. But they have two tough road games up next. The Wizards play defense, and the last time Houston won in Toronto, Rafer Alston was the starting point guard. Both the Grizzlies and the Rockets will face just three sub-.500 opponents over the rest of the season.


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    #2 NorEastern

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      Posted 28 March 2015 - 12:13 PM

      Howard looked great. Just a machine in the paint. Unfortunately the Spurs have put it all together finally. Getting to the #2 seed looks important to me. And has D-Mo ever missed a game before because of injury? The trio of D-Mo, Jones and Bev are out and Houston will not be competitive without a couple of them coming back.


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      #3 cointurtlemoose

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        Posted 28 March 2015 - 05:21 PM

        ^I can't recall any significant DMo injury. And the only thing I found was "back pain", so maybe a lack of a specific diagnosis is encouraging?

         

        Howard looks freaking good, and I too am curious to see if he'll keep playing this way, minimizing post ups, being springy off PNRs. Who's decision even is that, his or McHale's or both? I don't know these things.


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        #4 NorEastern

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          Posted 28 March 2015 - 06:08 PM

          ^I can't recall any significant DMo injury. And the only thing I found was "back pain", so maybe a lack of a specific diagnosis is encouraging?

           

          Howard looks freaking good, and I too am curious to see if he'll keep playing this way, minimizing post ups, being springy off PNRs. Who's decision even is that, his or McHale's or both? I don't know these things.

          I believe it was the players decision. From what I know Terry, Howard and Harden sat down and talked about it and Howard decided to play second fiddle to Harden.


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          #5 cointurtlemoose

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            Posted 28 March 2015 - 06:50 PM

            Wow, then that's encouraging I think!


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            #6 Losthief

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            Posted 28 March 2015 - 07:01 PM

            DMO's had pain issues with his lower back for a bit now from what I've read. I would just assume we are sitting him now cause we want him healthy for the playoffs. It actually probably explains why he has been up and down in the paint over the last two months compared to his consistency earlier in the year.

             

            Also paul, tks for the si link good read.


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            LoSTHieF

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            #7 thejohnnygold

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            Posted 28 March 2015 - 11:41 PM

            The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.  In this case, it's a straight up bias against Josh Smith.

             

            For someone who claims to view triple-doubles as nothing more than a box score novelty you seemed to enjoy it when James Harden notched his third one earlier this season (LINK).

             

            Corey Brewer gets a free pass for being "inconsistent".  Trevor Ariza gets a free pass for his 5 assist/4 turnover performance.  Josh Smith turns in a 1-rebound-short-triple-double performance and gets chided for his shooting (which is superior to Brewer's any way you slice it) and then the entire idea of the triple double loses all value when it is next to Josh Smith's name....wow.

             

            I suppose Olajuwon's quadruple-double is the most over-rated thing ever, huh?  No big deal, 18 points, 16 rebounds, 11 blocks, 10 assists....interestingly, he got snubbed (allegedly) earlier that same season when he posted 29 points, 18 rebounds, 9 assists, and 11 blocks.  Rockets officials reviewed the tape and found a 10th assists, but the NBA declined to change it.

             

            To me, box scores like that (and to a lesser degree triple-doubles) signify one thing: that player was dominating the game in multiple ways. 

             

            In addition to his near triple-double Smith lead the team in offensive rebounds, blocks, assists, and, yes, turnovers.  What a loser.

             

            I can't believe people aren't railing against Brewer and his 3 pt. shooting.  It's amazing what being likable will do for public opinion.  Don't take my word for it.  Look at the game logs: Brewer vs. Smith.

             

            It was a good game, a good win, and we have a good team.  That's all that matters  :)


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            #8 NorEastern

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              Posted 29 March 2015 - 12:52 AM

              Above all basketball is a team sport. If you have two superstars and everyone else is a crap player don't expect to sniff the finals.

               

              Due to cap considerations no team is going to have a great player at every position. Benches are going to be weaker than the starting unit. In addition absolutely no one is great every single night. The sign of a great team is if a super star has an off night someone else will step up and fill the void. If two of D-Mo, Jones, Brewer and Smith step up every night the Rockets will go far in the playoffs. But don't expect them all to play great games, just like no one can expect Harden and Howard to play great games every night.

               

              Basketball is a sport that is played in two phases. Offense and defense. The box score will give a fan a good idea who played well on the offensive side. Deciphering who played well on defense is problematic to say the least, because the modern NBA defenses are so very complicated. It is very difficult for me to decipher who is playing defense well, because I have to pay attention to one or two positions for the entire game. Maybe I am slow. I personally watch the center and power forward positions.

               

              All in all the Rockets look good for the playoffs. Now that Howard is back we can get a better idea how well prepared they are for the post season. Even if Bev is done for the season defensive adjustments can cover for his loss. Just get as many players healthy as possible. We will see.


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              #9 jorgeaam

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                Posted 29 March 2015 - 06:33 AM

                The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.  In this case, it's a straight up bias against Josh Smith.

                 

                For someone who claims to view triple-doubles as nothing more than a box score novelty you seemed to enjoy it when James Harden notched his third one earlier this season (LINK).

                 

                Corey Brewer gets a free pass for being "inconsistent".  Trevor Ariza gets a free pass for his 5 assist/4 turnover performance.  Josh Smith turns in a 1-rebound-short-triple-double performance and gets chided for his shooting (which is superior to Brewer's any way you slice it) and then the entire idea of the triple double loses all value when it is next to Josh Smith's name....wow.

                 

                I suppose Olajuwon's quadruple-double is the most over-rated thing ever, huh?  No big deal, 18 points, 16 rebounds, 11 blocks, 10 assists....interestingly, he got snubbed (allegedly) earlier that same season when he posted 29 points, 18 rebounds, 9 assists, and 11 blocks.  Rockets officials reviewed the tape and found a 10th assists, but the NBA declined to change it.

                 

                To me, box scores like that (and to a lesser degree triple-doubles) signify one thing: that player was dominating the game in multiple ways. 

                 

                In addition to his near triple-double Smith lead the team in offensive rebounds, blocks, assists, and, yes, turnovers.  What a loser.

                 

                I can't believe people aren't railing against Brewer and his 3 pt. shooting.  It's amazing what being likable will do for public opinion.  Don't take my word for it.  Look at the game logs: Brewer vs. Smith.

                 

                It was a good game, a good win, and we have a good team.  That's all that matters  :)

                 

                 

                Preach JG, preach. 

                 

                I totally agree with you. Specially as it seems only you and I realize how everybody seems to ignore the fact that Smith has shot above average from 3 since he joined the Rockets (And 50% from there last 15 days on 4 Attempts/G).   But he's going to get bashed if he has an off shooting night while everybody else gets a free pass.


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                Champion of the 2014-15 Red94 Fantasy Basketball League :D


                #10 Losthief

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                Posted 29 March 2015 - 07:17 PM

                Haters gonna Hate...but J-Smoove carried us in the 1st today


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                LoSTHieF

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