2 replies to this topic

[Red94]

New post: Houston Rockets 112, New Orleans Pelicans 111: Chaos Reigns
By: Forrest Walker

The Houston Rockets got away with a tight, confusing tilt against the New Orleans Pelicans, a team that's been better than their record indicates. Or maybe the Pelicans fell back to earth after playing incredibly. Or maybe both teams sabotaged themselves. Maybe Houston should have overpowered a team without Anthony Davis for the second half, or maybe the Pelicans should have overpowered a disappointing Rockets team on the second night of a road back to back and missing Dwight Howard and Donatas Motiejunas. There was only one constant in this bizarre game: chaos.

 

The good for Houston was that James Harden turned into a human flamethrower and the intensity was high. Harden played for a ludicrous 41 minutes on the second night of a back to back, but the Rockets needed every minute they could get. He scored 35 points on 20 shots, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, a steal, a block and only 2 turnovers. This is peak Harden. He even played some solid defense! Harden's the heart and soul of this Rockets team, and he seems to be coming out of whatever funk he was in for much of the season. The Rockets are going to need a whole lot more of this for the rest of the season.

 

The Rockets also started the game hot, getting out to a double-digit lead early, then relinquishing it and trailing by two at the half. Matters were complicated by an unlikely collision between Tyreke Evans' elbow and Anthony Davis' head which left Davis out for the duration of the game with a concussion. With Davis out for the start of his hopefully brief recovery period, the Rockets capitalized on their advantage by sprinting out to an 18-0 run over the first three and a half minutes of the second half.

 

Just when the game seemed over, however, James Harden sat and the Pelicans went on a team on both sides of the ball, crawling back to within a single point of the Rockets. Both teams followed up their incredible 35 vs 32 quarter by taking four minutes to score the third and fourth points of the quarter. Toney Douglas and Jrue Holiday turned it on with a vengeance, and the Rockets fought tooth and nail to end the fourth quarter 19-19, winning the game on four seconds of solid defense after an embarrassing shot clock violation on the previous possession.

 

There was no rhyme nor reason to the game, but sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered for Houston. Josh Smith and Marcus Thornton may have combined for a dismal 6-21 for a mere 17 points, but Trevor Ariza took up the slack by hitting every shot conceivable, ending with 31 points on 11-16 shooting, including a ludicrous 8-11 from three point range. Patrick Beverley went 2-7 from deep until he hit a the most crucial three of the game to put the Rockets ahead late. It was absolutely feast or famine for the Rockets all evening, in a microcosm of their bizarre season.

 

While this sort of performance will likely not be enough against the top teams in the league, the Rockets also won't be getting outrun on a back to back in most of those games. The scoring numbers indicate some laughable defense, and indeed that was present at times, but the other story was that the Pelicans simply ran right alongside the Rockets to create piles of possessions. This game was a mess in every possible way, but it was a mess the Rockets stuck with and came out on top of. I don't think we've learned much from this game, but sometimes it's enough just to get a win.

[Willk]

I am not sure what to think of this game. I thought this game was going to be over in the 3rd quarter, but the bench decided they had other plans. Ty Lawson did not look like a NBA player. Neither did TJones. Josh was bad on O and D, but the rockets came away with a win. Hopefully we will not hear anymore of this bench Harden talk because for the last 2 games, when he sits, it's been a lot more bad than good.

[thejohnnygold]

I am not sure what to think of this game. I thought this game was going to be over in the 3rd quarter, but the bench decided they had other plans. Ty Lawson did not look like a NBA player. Neither did TJones. Josh was bad on O and D, but the rockets came away with a win. Hopefully we will not hear anymore of this bench Harden talk because for the last 2 games, when he sits, it's been a lot more bad than good.

 

Willk, the bench Harden talk was never about that.  Harden needs the team as much as they need him.  I'm not sure he understood that earlier in the season (and I'm not sure he does now).  The idea of sitting him down was to make a point and to let the other guys play some actual basketball rather than standing on a basketball court watching Harden play.

 

In the month of November we were 7-9 (including 2 OT wins which could have easily made it 5-11).  During that span Harden racked up 31.1 points, 6.5 rebs, and 6.8 assists on 41.7% shooting with 5 turnovers/game all on a Usage Rate of 34.2 over 40 mpg.  Add in 2 steals and 1 block per game and he was a one man wrecking crew.  That fg% is deceptive because he averaged nearly 9 3pt. attempts/game.  He shot 32.4% on threes during that stretch.

 

We didn't lose from a lack of exploiting James Harden's talent.  For the season, Harden still sports a -1.2 +/-.  (Some of that is due to the early season blowouts.)  If Harden wants to win that MVP award he needs to figure out it's about more than box scores.

 

Did anyone watch the GS-SA game last night?  Switching from watching our beloved Rockets to the Warriors is eye-opening.  They win with defense.  They win with intensity, unceasing effort, speed, and hustle.  From that, they generate tons of transition offense which they execute quite well.  Yes, their motion offense is superb and it helps having Steph Curry who is simply on another level right now.  The guy could break Wilt's 100 point record any night if he chose to do so.

 

Yet, they also have 4 other guys shooting 40%+ on 3's.  Is that a talent disparity or is it something else?  I say both.  One crucial difference I see between us and both SA and GS is clock usage.  They get the ball up court quickly (unlike Harden who often has to "hustle" to beat the 8 second violation), and get their offense rolling with plenty of time on the clock.  This allows them time to recover from a busted play, reset, and still get a decent shot off.

 

On the other hand, Harden crosses half court at 16 seconds, then stops to survey the landscape...yup, just 4 guys standing and staring at James....down to 10 seconds....ok then, looks like another iso.  He dribbles down to 4 seconds and either puts up a tough shot or passes to his "outlet" three point shooter.  The problem is the defense can overplay the outlet knowing that there is no time and the guy has to jack a highly-contested 3.  It's little things like clock management that are killing us.  Those 4 extra seconds matter.  If James Harden is too tired to jog the ball up court then he needs to sit down.

 

Our lack of motion in the offense lets the defense be the aggressor.  Our predictability makes it even worse.

 

I realize I am a little all over the place right now.  Despite our 3 game streak, there is still so much about this team that needs work.  While our bench has been a mess, it was only two games ago that our bench brought us back against Dallas.  This team needs to come together.  This team needs to recognize that they are not giving the necessary effort consistently.  James is as much to blame as anyone and since it's "his" team he needs to accept that responsibility and then do something about it.

 

Which leads us full circle.  James wasn't doing anything remotely close to that which lead to me calling for the coach to sit him for a couple games to help him "see the light".  It's getting better, but we still have a ways to go.