Jump to content


Toggle shoutbox Shoutbox Open the Shoutbox in a popup

@  slick shoes : (27 October 2016 - 05:38 AM) looked like the Rockets from last season in the 4th. brought in all those shooters for nothing. glad this is only game 1 out of 82. long way to go.
@  majik19 : (27 October 2016 - 05:14 AM) defense is terrible, defensive rebounding is terrible, and the offense wasn't good enough to overcome it. Some nights it will be, some nights it won't. Shots stopped falling in the 4th.
@  Jatman20 : (24 October 2016 - 09:54 PM) Rumor has it the new CBA deal will not have an amnesty clause
@  Jatman20 : (24 October 2016 - 09:27 PM) Lol....I watched each game except Spurs game since they Roxx kept everyone home.
@  thejohnnygold : (20 October 2016 - 12:59 AM) You watching this first quarter, Jatman? It's raining 3's!
@  slick shoes : (14 October 2016 - 08:45 PM) Latest on DMo - "D’Antoni discovered he likes playing last year’s first-round pick Sam Dekker at power forward, leading to the Rockets moving further away from unsigned restricted free agent power forward Donatas Motiejunas."
@  Mario Peña : (11 October 2016 - 01:41 PM) FANTASY BASKETBALL NOTICE: The league is now full. Thanks to everyone who joined good luck and be on the look out for an invitation email from Blake.
@  thejohnnygold : (06 October 2016 - 10:35 PM) FANTASY BASKETBALL NOTICE: anyone who wants to join the Red94 League please visit the Fantasy Basketball section and let us know ASAP. Thanks!
@  slick shoes : (05 October 2016 - 12:22 PM) Just nice to see some semblance of an offensive scheme. Also seems like the players are actually having fun again.
@  Jatman20 : (05 October 2016 - 01:58 AM) Looks like Brewer has worked on his 3-point shooting. Giving credit where credit is due.
@  bboley24 : (02 October 2016 - 03:48 AM) What can I say? Don't need no stiiiiiinking stats.
@  DenverRocket : (26 September 2016 - 06:29 PM) Looks like bboley was correct all the way back on May 26th: http://www.espn.com/...houston-rockets
@  slick shoes : (26 September 2016 - 06:03 PM) Remember when everyone was elated that Chris Bosh was on the verge of signing without Houston? Dodged a bullet on that one.
@  thejohnnygold : (23 September 2016 - 03:02 PM) @Slick Shoes - I don't think so....I may have had him bundled in a trade scenario or two back when Phoenix had ALL the PG's.
@  slick shoes : (22 September 2016 - 08:53 PM) I'm liking the trade with Beasley for Tyler Ennis. JG, weren't you advocating drafting him a year or two ago?
@  thejohnnygold : (17 September 2016 - 03:38 PM) I think they will eventually settle on a good deal, but it will likely have early team options to protect against his chronic injury problems.
@  slick shoes : (16 September 2016 - 02:47 PM) If no one else is making any offers, why would we exceed the minimum? Is it that he/his agent think his value is higher than the market dictates?
@  thejohnnygold : (16 September 2016 - 01:08 PM) Yup. The last sentence of that article says it all. "All deals get done in the 11th hour".
@  DenverRocket : (15 September 2016 - 06:16 PM) The latest on D-Mo http://www.espn.com/...rockets-lagging
@  slick shoes : (29 August 2016 - 11:42 AM) At some point they've got to start trading SOME of these picks for veteran players...

Photo

Oklahoma City Thunder 111, Houston Rockets 107: A good old fashioned loss


  • Please log in to reply
6 replies to this topic

#1 Red94

Red94

    Senior Member

  • Administrators
  • 1,529 posts

    Posted 23 March 2016 - 03:36 AM

    New post: Oklahoma City Thunder 111, Houston Rockets 107: A good old fashioned loss
    By: Forrest Walker

    They say the close losses hurt the most. Games you could have, should have won sting the most going into the locker room, when you have to look at your teammates, look at the standings, look at that one mistake you shouldn't have made on tape. That's the sort of loss the Houston Rockets felt tonight, losing a tight game to a very good Oklahoma City Thunder team. The bad news is that this one will stay with them. The good news is that this one will stay with them. This was a brutal, close loss, and we should all be thankful for it. If they're going to lose, this is the way to do it.

     

    The fact that the Utah Jazz have a chance to usurp the Rockets' playoff spot doesn't help. The fact that this loss puts the Rockets that much farther behind the raw, less talented Trail Blazers and the aging, injury-riddled Dallas Mavericks doesn't help either. That doesn't even consider the fact that the Grizzlies don't have an NBA team and are still staying out of Houston's reach. Those are all problems with the season, parts of the cave system the Rockets dug themselves into early in the season. Today, they played like an NBA team, a real one even. Today hurts in a better way that silly losses do Denver or Brooklyn. It's still pain, but at least you got out of bed to feel it.

     

    The Thunder needed yet another triple double from Westbrook to pull this one out, and even then it was dicey. The Rockets actually defended most of the time, despite how the score looks. The Thunder, for all their wins, for all their talent, are beatable. In a seven game series, this makes the Rockets feel like they have a shot against them, whether that's realistic or not. They may have to actually win some games at some point, but their schedule does actually include teams lower than 3 seed eventually, trust me. This game was a real NBA game, and it should make them feel like real NBA players again.

     

    Before we move on, let's go over the hilarity of the +/- section of that box score. The best rating for Houston was a tie between Beverley, Harden and Capela, all of whom notched +1. The worst was Jason Terry with a -7 despite his 2-3 three pointers and 3-6 overall. He simply happened to be around during some truly powerful stretches by Russell Westbrook. The Thunder, meanwhile, had an even stranger chart. Andre Roberson had a game-worst -14 despite shooting 2-3 and notching a rebound, an assist, a steal and a block. Maybe his 5 fouls did him in. Meanwhile, Randy Foye was a game-best +12. He scored 0 points on 0-5 shooting, picked up an assist and 2 steals and fouled twice. Westbrook, for his part, ended up with a -5. I guess that 7-18 shooting really offset the 13 rebounds and 15 assists. +/- is weird.

     

    The two teams actually had very similar stats. Nobody had a marked advantage in rebounds, steals, or turnovers. The Rockets actually won the block game 7-3 and shot 25.1% from deep compared to OKC's 22.9%. The only place where the Rockets fell apart was in fouls and free throws. Not counting the two late-game fouls and 4 free throws which were intentional, the Rockets lodged 8 more fouls than Oklahoma City and shot 8 fewer free throws. That's not even that huge of a discrepancy, but it was enough to swing a very close game the Thunder's way.

     

    In terms of individual performance, James Harden was easily the star, despite his 7-17 shooting. His 24 points, 7 rebounds, 16 assists and 4 steals were right in line with Westbrook's own numbers. Dwight Howard, almost matched up with the Thunder's second star, Kevin Durant. Durant went 8-19 to score 23 points to go with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Howard only needed 8 shots to notch 16 points to go with 13 boards and 2 assists.  The top of the talent pile was actually very evenly matched. The big difference was in bench scoring, in which Dion Waiters' 17 (sure) led the Thunder bench to 40 points vs Beasley's 11 only helped the Rockets bench get to 27. Corey Brewer's 1-6 shooting was a large part of that, and the bench's perennial inability to shoot continues to damn the Rockets. What once was a premier bench has become a pit of despair this season, and a shortened playoff rotation (should they make the playoffs) can only help the team.

     

    This was an eminently winnable game, and the Rockets must absolutely be kicking themselves for not winning it. They should kick themselves. Maybe at some point, it'll lead to something. To their credit, the team has looked a lot better in recent months, and have at times even looked like the very credible team from last season. A strong last push isn't out of the question. More importantly, however, they have to regain their dignity. In losing in such a painful, heartbreaking fashion, perhaps they've won back a little bit of self-respect.


    • 0

    #2 majik19

    majik19

      Junior Member

    • Members
    • PipPipPip
    • 479 posts

      Posted 23 March 2016 - 01:53 PM

      No mention of the silly turnovers? To me that was the difference in this game. 15 turnovers isn't a ton (especially for this team), but most of them were just dumb. It's one thing when Westbrook, Durant, or Ibaka swipes a ball. It's another when you try (repeatedly) to throw a ball between a defender's legs. Or on the pivotal play of the game, you try to lob a ball to Howard from nearly half court (which may work in some situations, with a good throw... but the Thunder are notoriously long and athletic, so not so good a play against them). 


      • 1

      #3 slick shoes

      slick shoes

        Naysayer Extraordinaire

      • Members
      • PipPipPipPip
      • 604 posts
      • LocationHouston, TX

      Posted 23 March 2016 - 02:58 PM

      No mention of the silly turnovers? To me that was the difference in this game. 15 turnovers isn't a ton (especially for this team), but most of them were just dumb. It's one thing when Westbrook, Durant, or Ibaka swipes a ball. It's another when you try (repeatedly) to throw a ball between a defender's legs. Or on the pivotal play of the game, you try to lob a ball to Howard from nearly half court (which may work in some situations, with a good throw... but the Thunder are notoriously long and athletic, so not so good a play against them). 

       

      He probably would've caught the pass if he had his stick 'em.


      • 0
      when you win two games in a row that's called a winning streak.

      trickin' six digits on kicks and still holdin'.

      #4 majik19

      majik19

        Junior Member

      • Members
      • PipPipPip
      • 479 posts

        Posted 23 March 2016 - 04:58 PM

        He probably would've caught the pass if he had his stick 'em.

        This makes me laugh and sad at the same time. 


        • 0

        #5 Bigtkirk

        Bigtkirk

          Rookie

        • Members
        • PipPip
        • 99 posts

          Posted 23 March 2016 - 07:16 PM

          What continues to confound me about the Rockets is why the coaching staff, particularly in a close game such as this, plays Brewer over 20 minutes? He again was extremely unproductive.

           

          Distributing Brewer's minutes elsewhere could have been the difference between a win and a loss. I continue to believe that this type of player management is an indication that the Rockets have not been well-coached for a long time.


          • 1

          #6 dennisbz24

          dennisbz24

            Newbie

          • Members
          • Pip
          • 6 posts

            Posted 23 March 2016 - 09:56 PM

            While watching this game, I was reminded just how many shots Dwight Howard defends.  He doesn't get credit for blocks, but he changes lots of opponents shots and creates misses. The Rockets perimeter defense is so porous, Dwight is constantly having to provide help defense.  It's a wonder he's able to get as many defensive rebounds as he does since the help defense he's providing frequently pulls him out of rebounding position.If the Rockets screw around and lose him in free agency, they'll be a lottery team in 2017.


            • 0

            #7 Stephen

            Stephen

              Junior Member

            • Members
            • PipPipPip
            • 353 posts

              Posted 24 March 2016 - 12:29 AM

              Re Brewer,

              Who else is gonna play? Because half the roster is PF/Cs and there's 3 PGs,Harden,Ariza,Brewer and McDaniels are the only SG/SFs available. We can argue whether McDaniels should get Brewer's minutes,but we aren't in practices and it's hard to rip an inexperienced coach for going with a vet when every game counts.


              • 0




              0 user(s) are reading this topic

              0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users