ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Grizzlies 10/12/2018 (Preseason)

At least 'The Hart' can knock down FT's. Pretty good touch for a big guy.
Clint should take notes

 

Harden looks ready for the regular season. CP3 is in prime form. I'm glad EG is looking good out there. Melo will be fine offensively.

 

Can’t believe I’m saying this, but Angel Rodriguez does a passable Chris Paul impression. Enough that he can come in for Paul and the other guys can basically stay in their roles. That’s valuable. Welcome, CP18.

Looks like our major problem this year will be on-ball defense. CP, PJ, and Capela have good footwork. That’s it. Gordon is fine. Harden has gotten better. Ennis covers ground off the ball, but on the ball, he’s nothing special. Clark actually looks better than Ennis. Melo isn’t much more nimble than Anderson. Hartenstein is a palooka, easily iso’d and hosed.

When Melo is on the court, skilled teams will make us switch till they iso him. Ditto Hartenstein. If neither is available, they’ll go at Harden. Could be a setback season defensively. But Melo, Ennis, and Clark show signs that they can make up for some of that with better offensive efficiency than Anderson, Ariza, and Luc.

 

Great points. How do you think MCW will fare on defense?

 

Hartenstein can play.

 

full game replay

 

Gordon is so key to what we do, I don’t even understand he’d be in any trade discussions. His range is so valuable.

 

Also decent ball handler and part time distributor. Good switch defender.

 

Cause we can get an allstar in return?

 

So? Gordon is as close to an all star as you can get and elite at shooting from deep. Also cutting and defense, familiar with the system, selfless and willingness to do whatever. If you think Butler is going to accept anything less than his fair share of ball handling duties and touches + be as much of a non-distraction that Gordon is then give me the number to your dealer because you getting some strong hallucinogens.

 

Good question. He seemed OK last time we played, but I wasn't focusing on his D. Will take a look next time. I recommend watching our guys on defensive possessions. Your eye doesn't naturally focus on that, but it's often enlightening if you try it. Pick one of the new guys: Melo, Ennis, Clark, Hartenstein, etc.

One thing that has surged to the top of my mind as a result of watching our defenders: I'm now super relieved that we resigned Capela. When you watch other bigs defend, and then you watch Clint, you see how much better his balance and footwork are. It's a tremendous luxury to have a big who can switch and guard like that.

 

I really don't understand how when there are 29 other NBA teams and only 5 preseason games (and one of those was against the Shanghai Sharks) we end up playing the Grizzlies twice out of the five games. I'd have really liked to see them up against a different competitor. Preferably one that isn't terrible.

 

This post right here. The 2nd unit with CP/Gordon/Melo is going to cause havoc for many teams. Particularly in the regular season.

 

If Rodriguez could talk Capela out of his number he'd have a bad ass nickname - AR-15

 

I was pleasantly surprised by him as well. Played with energy, confidence, and decisiveness, and did not look overwhelmed. I know nothing about his potential limitations (is he a shooting liability?) but he seemed to check the boxes as a base level "take care of the ball and initiate the offense" kind of guy. Could use someone like that when we're up 20 in the 4th, which I expect to happen often.

 

This team is so deep.

They are going to shat all over teams.

With so many options you can really ride hot hands and not rely on Harden/Paul so much.

Hoping this team really becomes CP3's team as the year goes on.

Chris is going to be better this year after adapting to the style.

 

Just remember, we have Zhou Qi on the bench (when healthy) to make Capela expendable

 

Warmly welcome the much younger Pablo Prigioni.

I agree, he looked like he could run a PNR and knew what he was doing. Unlike Tim Quarterman and the other detritus.

The Vipers are in good hands with Angel.

 

Wasn't this part of our strategy against Golden State? To take them out of their normal offense and make them iso us? Melo will be the hard one to hide, but I think he might be able to up his effort when he is iso'd, making it not worth the effort for teams to abandon their normal offense. It will be interesting to see how it develops over the year.

 

His versatility on offense and his underrated defense is very valuable.
I hope he can remain fit.