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@  slick shoes : (29 August 2016 - 11:42 AM) At some point they've got to start trading SOME of these picks for veteran players...
@  thejohnnygold : (26 August 2016 - 10:03 PM) Call me crazy, but I'd rather have Kendall Marshall than 2 2nd rounders.
@  slick shoes : (26 August 2016 - 08:30 PM) the 76's trade for another center? im assuming they were really after the two 2nd rounders...
@  thejohnnygold : (07 August 2016 - 07:16 PM) Nope, but there is some raw talent to work with there. He is years away...
@  majik19 : (06 August 2016 - 11:53 PM) well it doesn't look like Zhou Qi is NBA-ready
@  thejohnnygold : (25 July 2016 - 04:26 PM) I think I am going to like Bobby Brown...that is within the confines of our current strategy which is score, score, SCORE!
@  slick shoes : (22 July 2016 - 08:02 PM) The "super team" Knicks? lol
@  thejohnnygold : (22 July 2016 - 06:05 PM) On Josh Smith...my guess is the Knicks eventually sign him.
@  slick shoes : (21 July 2016 - 04:29 PM) The Jet has been released. Josh Smith will likely play for another team next season. Maybe he teams up with Dwight in ATL?
@  slick shoes : (21 July 2016 - 12:17 PM) Harden is now sending hitmen after Rockets legends' sons for badmouthing him on social media *facepalm*
@  slick shoes : (18 July 2016 - 02:22 PM) If you haven't seen the 30 for 30 "The Guru of Go", I recommend it before the upcoming season.
@  Shy Silver : (14 July 2016 - 07:20 PM) Yea I know, but there were reports both sides were willing to have a reunion before Chicago signed him. So at the time, Canaan was an option, and a better one than Pablo at that. We should've capitalized on that one, especially with how well he fits the system for obvious reasons + age on his side.
@  thejohnnygold : (14 July 2016 - 03:43 PM) Canaan signed with Chicago already
@  Shy Silver : (14 July 2016 - 03:24 PM) Don't love the Prigioni move. Thought for sure we had better options like bringing Canaan back or getting someone like Shane Larkin
@  DenverRocket : (14 July 2016 - 04:36 AM) Apparently signed Prigioni to a one-year contract (veteran minimum) with a team option for a second season.
@  slick shoes : (13 July 2016 - 08:38 PM) Chris Finch is out as an assistant. Bummer.
@  slick shoes : (11 July 2016 - 03:32 PM) Shame to lose Glove Jr. before the close of Summer League. Would have liked to see him get some court time.
@  Mario Peña : (09 July 2016 - 11:21 PM) I'm going to tentatively say I'm glad this is happening. I believe James is a top 5 player with all the tools to have a great year but this team needs an all star/glue guy/leader type and then maybe the magic can happen.
@  thejohnnygold : (09 July 2016 - 09:53 PM) If he plays defense I'll be fine
@  DenverRocket : (09 July 2016 - 07:51 PM) Bad news for the anti-Harden brigade, he's just signed a 4yr extension ($118m)

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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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                #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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