ClutchFans Game Thread: Lakers @ Rockets 3/16/2026

Would harden help this team. Well I mean before he broke his hand I mean

never seen James struggle with these double teams likw Durant is. And sometimes harden would have 3 guys on him especially during the Westbrook year Im 2020

 

What’s ironic is that Harden may be the only available trade asset for KD that might be available that’s not an albatross contract.

 

This is why we have Sengun, somebody that can make the right decisions with the ball. Get better soon Alpi, that back got hurt trying to carry Udoka's nonexistent offense !

 

And you can die on the hill of excuses. He'll always be inefficient and inconsistent

 

Ime has no idea how to coach an offense. It's embarrassing to watch. It was nice that he fixed the Sil@ss culture of no accountability, but he makes JVG look like an offensive genius.

 

Harden would be better for isolations in how the Rockets played last night. Granted, almost any PG would help.

 

Mine was watching the Rockets lose against the Jazz. Since then, I've learned to not get too high or low, because at the end of the day I'm pretty blessed in my personal life and multimillionaire bball players don't care like fans do.

 

Is there a worse wing duo in the league right now than Tari and DFS? I can’t think of any

 

Harden is argubly 2nd, but he will always have the (lack of) clutch/postseason.

 

Naw man... Harden crumbles when he gets double teamed too. not as bad as KD, but Harden getting double teamed in the playoffs gives me PTSD.

 

Ime underestimated the importance of Brooks... by far.

FVV, bench resident. The offense wasn't perfect, but he covered much of Ime's flaws.

Free Agent 3&D guy enters.... then shoots 27.5% 3PT.

KD scores, but no leadership... at all.

Add that together.

 

Losing to the Jazz was definitely rough. I really hated Malone and Hornacek.

 

He might be the best passer on the team but he constantly misses the kick-out passes for an open 3. He wants to throw the fancy tight window passes in the lane instead of taking the easy pass.

 

KD, what you need is more physicality!

Spoiler

 

It's hard to say whether it's the player or the coach. Most likely a combination of both. Yeah, when teams trap Harden at midcourt, the team didn't know what to do. I never really believed MDA was an offensive genius. He just knew who he trusted to generate the offense. When teams figured that out in the playoffs, he had no other recourse. But I also heard MDA hinted that it was the way Harden wanted to play. So what do it know?

 

delete

 

Snake would be great on those Harden teams.

“Just get him off the ball and make him NOT the point guard.”
“Put him on the elbow.”

Great, put him on the elbow, put him in his spot, gets to his spot, doesn’t move, throws his one arm up, after getting the ball over halfcourt, spend another 7 seconds trying to get him the ball, which is 50/50 turnover/actually getting it to him.

He’s the coach’s crutch and frankly the other players’ too.

Need a bucket? Give it to KD.
Cross halfcourt, give it to KD.
Sidelines/baseline out of bounds? Give it to KD.

So tempting from the outside. Oh man, automatic bucket! 25/5/5! 50/40/90! Still doing it at 32/33/34/35/36/37! Annnnnnd it hasn’t worked anywhere except Golden State.

Is there one more (final?) sucker out there for his final 2/3 years? Minnesota? Miami?


Anyways, start with the coach.

60s/90s basketball ain’t gonna work in 2027. Again, they built a team around missing shots. Your season collapses because you lost your backup center? Because you have no one to rebound your misses?

And his answer to everything is “more physicality”, “more toughness”, “more rebounding”.
Great, and when teams can play/beat you at your own game, you got nothing.

You like Ime’s random lineups?
Think Ime makes good in-game adjustments?
Think Ime calls good timeouts? (Go ahead, laugh. We’ve all seen it. Teams go on 18-4 runs, nothing.)
Think the Rockets get easy shots? Or do they have to work hard for everything?
Think he’s a good “development” coach? Brings/gets the best out?

Is he really a “culture setter”? Or did the culture walk out the door to Phoenix? (Or sitting in street clothes?)
Is he really a “defensive genius”? Or his roster filled with all defensive guys? (Not as in All-Defensive team but defensive-first guys)

Spoiler

You like when Mazzulla and Kerr beat his ass with the Maine Celtics and Santa Cruz Warriors?

Gotta get past “muh 52 wins” and “muh 2nd seed”.

Spoiler

 

Remember how tari was considered untouchable in a trade for a point guard

 

Udoka...thank you for getting this team out of the gutter through discipline and defensive accountability, but please go rebuild the Wizards or something..

Anybody up for Terry Stotts? I always liked him.