12 replies to this topic

[Red94]

New post: Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Clippers on 2/13/2013

[Red94]

New post: Los Angeles Clippers 106, Houston Rockets 96 - First Quarters Are Important

[timetodienow1234567]

I thought Lin played decently. Not a great performance, but did you see Mchale RIP into Lin. I don't mind because he does make some mistakes that need to be corrected, but it seems like he doesn't rip into everybody equally. I mean, I've never seen him rip into Asik when he turns the ball over. I think Lin's continue to improve, but it'll be in spite of Mchale.

[ale11]

timetodienow: Please! Could you just once, any time, talk about someone else? You are always praising Lin or complaining when McHale benches him or says something to him. Maybe you are not a Rockets' fan, maybe you are just a fan of Lin, but if you are indeed a Rockets' fan, please, do me a favour and give some other opinion, it's getting a bit boring. I'm sorry, maybe it's just me and I'm being very rude, I apologize if that's the case, but maybe it's not just me.

We completely handed them the game in the first quarter, end of story. When our offense was stucked, everyone was looking for Harden to save them but he wasn't there. I couldn't believe the amount of times our players were forced to pick up the dribble, sometimes it didn't even require double teams. Like it was noted on the transmision: both teams can score, only one of them played defense in that first quarter....46 points is unacceptable, even for unexperienced teams.

It was the second game of a back-to-back and we were playing a team that's called to contend for the WC, in their court, so.....it was a completely "loseable" game, with or without Harden. But, there are ways and ways to lose, the final score doesn't tell the whole story.

[timetodienow1234567]

I thought Parsons did well. He did drive crazily a few times, but other than that decent game. And Asik caught a bounce pass which was amazing. We got to see some D-Mo. Beverley played some SG which he didn't suck at too bad. All in all, a decent game for the Rockets. You'd expect a loss against a top 3 team in the West that's completely healthy. I was just wondering why the coach was going crazy at Lin. This entire team struggled in that first quarter and CP3 was getting a few phantom calls. I enjoyed the game.

[thejohnnygold]

TTDN, Lin is the quarterback. Harden may be the star, but ultimately I think McHale wants Lin to "lead" this team. Leaders get different treatment from coaches. The coaches yell at them and Lin is supposed to yell at the other players. That's the deal. It is an honor and a sign of respect that the coach chooses to yell at Jeremy. You know what sucks? Getting ignored by the coach because he doesn't expect more out of you. Get it?

Regarding the game, totally agree ale11 that this game had LOSS written all over it. The manner we lost was pretty bad and ended up just making me laugh. I'd congratulate us for limiting them to 6 offensive rebounds, but that's only because there were no missed shots to corral on their end. We forced 19 turnovers....because they started playing like they were the Globetrotters vs. the Washington Generals. Sooooo, what was actually good?

D-MO! Offensively and physically he is as advertised and should have ended at least 6-8 from the floor by my count. Dude looked fast, agile, quick and coordinated....I am a little giddy. The play where he lost the ball, it bounced off of a clipper and he just kept rolling to the basket, grabbed the ball and finished. YES. Not every player can do that...maybe it was luck, but I saw something there.

Morris better watch out because D-Mo is closing the gap. Hopefully he sees that too and starts getting it together. Not much else to take from this game...except that the Clips looked really good and we, mostly, did not.

[timetodienow1234567]

I guess you can look at it like that. I just think that Pop is the GOAT at coaching and he tells at EVERYBODY so maybe I'm just not recognizing that different coaches can get it done in different ways.

[feelingsupersonic]

I hope no one is comparing Pop from the present to McHale. They are in completely different situations. McHale is just beginning to build this team whereas Pop has spent a decade with his core players. I would venture an educated guess that Pop's relationships with Manu, Parker and Duncan have evolved over years and were appropriate for what the team and player needed at the time. There is no way forum members on a message board to know who coaches are yelling at and who they do not pay attention to from watching select footage during broadcasts of games. If you think you have an idea of the inner workings of an NBA team you probably need to reassess your grip on reality. Seriously, we should all try to have good reasons for our opinions and not pick one moment we see during a game broadcast or one quote and run with that.

[feelingsupersonic]

So to actually stay on topic I have to say I did not watch the game but I did listen to most of the second half on Rockets radio broadcast. Sounded like Motiejunas was ready to play on a positive note. Unfortunately the defense couldn't slow down the Clippers and turnovers were again a problem. Pretty relieved we have Harden, we could have been stuck with last nights line up and Kevin Martin.

[Sir Thursday]

I guess you can look at it like that. I just think that Pop is the GOAT at coaching and he tells at EVERYBODY so maybe I'm just not recognizing that different coaches can get it done in different ways.

Actually, it's well known that Popovich gave special attention to Tony Parker when he was a young player.

Here's a snippet of an interview with Parker:

SLAM: Can you explain what your relationship with Pop is like?
TP: Oh, it’s a great relationship. Arriving at 19 in San Antonio, and he always pushed me as hard as he can do make the best player I can [be]. It’s been like a father-son relationship. It’s been great. I’ve never had a relationship like that with a coach, where he finally lets you do your thing and gives you enough freedom to let you do your thing. For me, he’s one of the greatest coaches in NBA history.
SLAM: He’s known to be pretty tough. When you first got to San Antonio, at age 19…
TP: Oh, you can ask anybody, any of my teammates, [they’ll tell you] I was the one that got it the most. Sometimes in film sessions it was like The Tony Parker Show. He was so hard on me.
SLAM: Why?
TP: Because he wanted me to be good right away. I was 19, so he had to accelerate [my game]. He was really hard on me. Now he’s laid back. Now he only screams at our young guys. Sometimes I joke with him, like, You’re going soft! [Laughs]
SLAM: When he went so intensely on you back then, were you terrified of him?
TP: No, because he knew how to push my buttons. The people who scream at me—I react even more, I don’t fold. I think Pop knew that and that’s why he rode me, because he knew that I was gonna react, and that I was tough.

And here's one with Popovich:

When Parker came to San Antonio as a 19-year-old from Paris, the lengthy and often painful process of earning his hard-nosed coach's trust began immediately. As Popovich reminisced in a colorful and candid pregame media session on Wednesday, Parker's path to being taken 28th in the 2001 draft included the day he was shown the Spurs' door.
"I was a [jerk] in the beginning," Popovich admitted. "The first time we worked him out, we didn't want him. We sent him away. We just said we weren't interested. I just thought he was unfocused. I just thought he was too cool. I thought he was soft.
"He wanted a second chance, so we brought in some free agents -- frankly, with the idea to beat him up, and we did a workout. The whole workout was on the post. We never put him out on the floor. We did post defense and post offense, and he impressed the hell out of me. He was focused, tough. That was my first indication that he could be coached -- he can learn, he understands, he can take criticism, he's willing to improve and listen. So we drafted him."
But tough love was brutal in those early years.

"'I'm going to just jump on top of you,'" Popovich said he told Parker when he made him a starter early in his rookie season. "'I'm going to get you for every single mistake. We don't have time for you to ease into this.' So he went right in the frying pan."'

Not saying the situation is in any way comparable with McHale/Lin, but it's definitely one example of a top coach being hard on his Point Guard.

ST

[feelingsupersonic]

I have seen the interview with Tony talking about Pop when it aired. I actually have that recorded.

[thejohnnygold]

I'm taking my cue from every feel-good-sports-movie

[thejohnnygold]

Regarding the game, I think this was a case of the cliche'd "speed of the game" problem. The rockets just couldn't keep up defensively and on offense were just a little bit out of control trying to match their opponent's speed. It's something I am used to seeing in college games more so than the NBA. In fact, I almost always get to see it twice a year when UT plays Kansas. The good news, this is a problem fixed by experience. In time, they won't rush those three pointers, they won't force those passes, and they will convert those lay-ups. I think this must be why watching Paul Pierce play always makes me think he is moving so slow and I wonder how he is still able to do what he does...dude is just sooooo calm and collected. It's kind of amazing.