Game Thread Jan 20, 2024 06:00PM MT: Jazz at Rockets

[Tanktastic]

Brother Clarkson had a wide open 14 jumper. That was the right play. Clarkson money on those

Dude. No he didn't. He ran into three defenders with a big contest (close to a block) from Tate. That's not wide open, that's not open at all. Which forced him to shoot much differently and out of rhythm - barely grazing the rim. And he took the shot with 3+ seconds on the clock.

That was absolutely the wrong play, as were almost all of Sexton's and JC's plays in the final 10 minutes.

Yeah, sure, you'll make some shots if you take 30 of them. Doesn't make them good shots.

I’m also not sure how smart it was to put Lauri on Sengun. Guarding those types is really physically taxing. Wonder if it contributed to his rough shooting. It’s hard to guard the opposing best player while carrying a huge offensive load.

Lauri didn't have a rough shooting night. He was 5/7 from 2 and one more made 3 and he's pretty much at his average. What Lauri had was a "not getting touches once Sexton and JC went full hero ball" night.

 

[HermanG]

It usually even doesn't matter who is guarding Lauri, or Sexton, if they get running start on their defender. It's almost every time a bucket or free throws. Missing these chances hurts

Also the biggest idiocy of that play is that there is a meatwall between Clarkson and the basket and he looks left for options, sees an open passing lane to our best player with tons of space around him and just opts not to pass.

 

[Step-Back Lauri]

Also the biggest idiocy of that play is that there is a meatwall between Clarkson and the basket and he looks left for options, sees an open passing lane to our best player with tons of space around him and just opts not to pass.

Wonder how these Knicks trade rumors affect... BC a week ago JC was doing everything right, as a result, nailed his first ever triple-double.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

OK, I have some feelings about this game. Actually, I have feelings about the recent stretch of 3-4 games. What we're seeing now really started to rear its ugly head in the Pacers game, after which Hardy said this:


View: https://x.com/Tjonesonthenba/status/1747116351091552293?s=20


I remember watching that very game and thinking, "I hope Hardy notices this **** and stops it before it's too late". Well, he noticed, as Tony pointed out. But he couldn't/wouldn't stop it. We've pretty much played bad basketball ever since, living and dying on dribble-heavy guard ISO's and forgetting about ball movement again. Going away from what was working.

As the Sexton lovefest gathered steam recently, I thought that there were two ways that thing was going to go. Either Collin proves once and for all that he's actually matured as a player, changes his game and finds a consistent ability to play within himself. That player would have a future on this team, and an important role at that.

The alternative was that he starts reading his own headlines and dusts off the blinders.

As much as I would have liked to see the first option come to fruition... we're going in the wrong direction. Sexton taking 27 shots is absolutely absurd in any contect. Absurd. This is him as he was back in Cleveland, thinking he's the first option just because he has some space, going 1 on 3 all the time. This is him reading his own headlines.

This is also Sexton killing his own trade market. The player we saw when we were stretching the win streak one game at a time was someone that really made the league sit up and take notice. This version, though... this version is a known quantity. Old news.

I have a hard time seeing Hardy pull back the reins on Collin. I kinda have the feeling he decided to let Sexton run wild and show us if his change/improvement as an NBA player was genuine or not. Right now it's not looking good, but Collin still has a chance to realize what he's doing. His future success both on this team and around the NBA could be hanging in the balance.

Random thoughts:

- Lauri's shoulder is not right. I didn't like his body language when he got bumped hard on the right side of his body. He was in pain. Overall, he looked a lot like a guy who's having to play while constantly paying attention what his arm/shoulder is doing and where the next hard contact is going to come from. I guess Lauri has been dealing with this for a while now so I don't expect him to miss time... but then again, I wouldn't be shocked if he did. We all know what that would probably mean for this season.

- Kessler's FT shooting bit us in the ***. Again. We all know teams are trying to foul him when he gets the ball under the rim. Kessler needs to anticipate it, hold on to the ball like his life depends on it and go up MAD. His soft attempts to kinda hop up and flick the ball at the basket in those fouling situations are infuriating.

- Nobody had a good game. I don't have to say anything about Clarkson and Sexton combining for an eye-watering 52 FGA's, the Sexton discussion above kinda covered it. And it looks like Clarkson's departure is imminent anyway.

- Sengun's ability to throw his body around while still retaining the ability to score with soft floaters and hooks is very, very Jokic-like. Can't teach that stuff. Dude is one of the most naturally gifted basketball players in the league IMO. Not a perfect body for what he's doing, but he's making it work. Unlike Kessler, who's wasting a legit, reasonably athletic 7 foot frame on offense.

 

[HermanG]

OK, I have some feelings about this game. Actually, I have feelings about the recent stretch of 3-4 games. What we're seeing now really started to rear its ugly head in the Pacers game, after which Hardy said this:


View: https://x.com/Tjonesonthenba/status/1747116351091552293?s=20


I remember watching that very game and thinking, "I hope Hardy notices this **** and stops it before it's too late". Well, he noticed, as Tony pointed out. But he couldn't/wouldn't stop it. We've pretty much played bad basketball ever since, living and dying on dribble-heavy guard ISO's and forgetting about ball movement again. Going away from what was working.

As the Sexton lovefest gathered steam recently, I thought that there were two ways that thing was going to go. Either Collin proves once and for all that he's actually matured as a player, changes his game and finds a consistent ability to play within himself. That player would have a future on this team, and an important role at that.

The alternative was that he starts reading his own headlines and dusts off the blinders.

As much as I would have liked to see the first option come to fruition... we're going in the wrong direction. Sexton taking 27 shots is absolutely absurd in any contect. Absurd. This is him as he was back in Cleveland, thinking he's the first option just because he has some space, going 1 on 3 all the time. This is him reading his own headlines.

This is also Sexton killing his own trade market. The player we saw when we were stretching the win streak one game at a time was someone that really made the league sit up and take notice. This version, though... this version is a known quantity. Old news.

I have a hard time seeing Hardy pull back the reins on Collin. I kinda have the feeling he decided to let Sexton run wild and show us if his change/improvement as an NBA player was genuine or not. Right now it's not looking good, but Collin still has a chance to realize what he's doing. His future success both on this team and around the NBA could be hanging in the balance.

Random thoughts:

- Lauri's shoulder is not right. I didn't like his body language when he got bumped hard on the right side of his body. He was in pain. Overall, he looked a lot like a guy who's having to play while constantly paying attention what his arm/shoulder is doing and where the next hard contact is going to come from. I guess Lauri has been dealing with this for a while now so I don't expect him to miss time... but then again, I wouldn't be shocked if he did. We all know what that would probably mean for this season.

- Kessler's FT shooting bit us in the ***. Again. We all know teams are trying to foul him when he gets the ball under the rim. Kessler needs to anticipate it, hold on to the ball like his life depends on it and go up MAD. His soft attempts to kinda hop up and flick the ball at the basket in those fouling situations are infuriating.

- Nobody had a good game. I don't have to say anything about Clarkson and Sexton combining for an eye-watering 52 FGA's, the Sexton discussion above kinda covered it. And it looks like Clarkson's departure is imminent anyway.

- Sengun's ability to throw his body around while still retaining the ability to score with soft floaters and hooks is very, very Jokic-like. Can't teach that stuff. Dude is one of the most naturally gifted basketball players in the league IMO. Not a perfect body for what he's doing, but he's making it work. Unlike Kessler, who's wasting a legit, reasonably athletic 7 foot frame on offense.

I think you are overly harsh on Sexton. The biggest problem imo was playing both him and Clarkson down the stretch. Hardy might say "there was too much iso", but he was the one who sent out that lineup.

I know he is trying to coach those guys to play better, but you cannot expect the offense to flow if you insist on putting 2 dribble first SGs out there. That is on Hardy. Sexton and Clarkson are who they are.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

I think you are overly harsh on Sexton. The biggest problem imo was playing both him and Clarkson down the stretch. Hardy might say "there was too much iso", but he was the one who sent out that lineup.

He said that after the Pacers game and it hasn't improved since. It's not about any one game or play, it's the bigger picture. At some point we just started going back to ISO for no reason, which is what Hardy was commenting on there. I'm not that suprised by that turnaround – the NBA game is a game of routines, and guys in this league are very likely to try to slide back to their comfort zones.

I'm focusing on Sexton here because I don't believe Clarkson will be on this team much longer. I've been one of Collin's cheerleaders during the winning streak, but I've also seen too much NBA basketball over decades to believe in veteran players just suddenly changing their games for good. True change is often incremental, and as I said, guys have a strong tendency to fall back on what works – or what they believe works.

I keep hoping Collin understands that his big success during the win streak was brought on by buying in to the team concept, making better decisions with the ball. It wasn't about the coach "finally letting him cook".

you cannot expect the offense to flow if you insist on putting 2 dribble first SGs out there. That is on Hardy. Sexton and Clarkson are who they are.

This is true of course.

 

[GVC]

- Kessler's FT shooting bit us in the ***. Again. We all know teams are trying to foul him when he gets the ball under the rim. Kessler needs to anticipate it, hold on to the ball like his life depends on it and go up MAD. His soft attempts to kinda hop up and flick the ball at the basket in those fouling situations are infuriating.

That's an odd take, given that Kessler created 4 of those free throws on offensive rebounds, and the other two going up for a dunk where he was fouled hard by Sengun grabbing and pulling down on his shooting shoulder.

 

[Agent#00]

I dont know.... maybe this pic might give us some ideas......

View attachment 15835

Like maybe the defense on the left side is late af and the defender who is going to that side to guard Lauri is Aaron Holiday who is all of 6 foot tall.

That was a good shot. I bet 9/10 he makes that one. And I wouldn’t mind him taking the last shot too. Sexton otoh missed his last 5 and a TO. Kept on driving and stopping in middle with no clear goal in mind. His last possessions.

- bad pass to Kessler @2:40
-missed 3 @ 1:58
- blocked floater @ 0:31
-missed wide open 3 at the end of 4th
-missed floater 0:38 OT
-blocked floater 0:30 OT

Also 36.4 seconds Hardy called a timeout with rockets leading by 1 sexton drove all the way from mid court- blocked! I was like really? That’s the play ? He already missed his last 4 shots. The other 4 guys was just standing around.

 

[Agent#00]

Also im not blaming sexton hes our most efficient guard in fact he’s been crazy efficient and i wonder if it’s sustainable. If Lauri somehow develops his ball handling we wouldn’t rely too much on guard play. It will be easier to build around him

 

[HermanG]

That was a good shot. I bet 9/10 he makes that one. And I wouldn’t mind him taking the last shot too. Sexton otoh missed his last 5 and a TO. Kept on driving and stopping in middle with no clear goal in mind. His last possessions.

- bad pass to Kessler @2:40
-missed 3 @ 1:58
- blocked floater @ 0:31
-missed wide open 3 at the end of 4th
-missed floater 0:38 OT
-blocked floater 0:30 OT

Also 36.4 seconds Hardy called a timeout with rockets leading by 1 sexton drove all the way from mid court- blocked! I was like really? That’s the play ? He already missed his last 4 shots. The other 4 guys was just standing around.

Is there an open lane to that shot on that pic?

Houston messed up their coverage 1 second after that moment I posted which was the reason Clarkson found a lane.

When he made his read in transition, there were 2 better plays that he passed on before getting 100% lucky. If Tate doesnt get confused on who to cover that choice ends up producing a contested pull up or stepback 3.

 

[Peter_Mentor]

That was a good shot. I bet 9/10 he makes that one. And I wouldn’t mind him taking the last shot too. Sexton otoh missed his last 5 and a TO. Kept on driving and stopping in middle with no clear goal in mind. His last possessions.

- bad pass to Kessler @2:40
-missed 3 @ 1:58
- blocked floater @ 0:31
-missed wide open 3 at the end of 4th
-missed floater 0:38 OT
-blocked floater 0:30 OT

Also 36.4 seconds Hardy called a timeout with rockets leading by 1 sexton drove all the way from mid court- blocked! I was like really? That’s the play ? He already missed his last 4 shots. The other 4 guys was just standing around.

I had to re-watch the last 5 minutes of the 4th and OT.

Sexton had just scored 7 consecutive points but after that those last three minutes of the regulation were really bad decision making.

The first three minutes of OT were better.

- Pass to Kessler led to free throws
- Baseline inbound => to Lauri vs Whitmore mismatch, bucket
- Sideline inbound => Lauri's assist to Kessler's dunk
- Collin's wrap around pass to Kessler. Senguin blocked the shot. Good pass, better block.
- A couple of JC & Kessler pick&rolls, open threes by JC, one made and Kessler got the offensive rebound for the second.
So far so good. Not terrible ISO heavy offense. After that:

- Sexton & Walker p&r led to a terrible pass, Sexton luckily regained the ball, Will called the timeout
- Beautiful ATO-play, Tech's assist to Lauri's dunk.
- Offensive foul by Kessler
- Missed floater by Sexton. Not a bad shot.
- Blocked floater. Absolutely sick block by Amen. In hindsight, Collin could have passed to Lauri, but I wanna say it was terrific defense.

All in all, it wasn't such a bad OT from Collin or the team as a whole on the offensive end. We lost it at the other end.

Also, those baseline and sideline plays were perfectly executed.

 

[Ron Mexico]

Hate watching a game where Sexton and Clarkson shoot 52 (pretty much half of the teams total) shots on poor percentages.

 

[Agent#00]

Is there an open lane to that shot on that pic?

Houston messed up their coverage 1 second after that moment I posted which was the reason Clarkson found a lane.

When he made his read in transition, there were 2 better plays that he passed on before getting 100% lucky. If Tate doesnt get confused on who to cover that choice ends up producing a contested pull up or stepback 3.

If you play your screenshot a little more you can see holiday closing in on Lauri and sengun already at the paint. Clarkson saw a chance to get closer he went for it.

Second pic you can see he’s defender is too late he’s already airborne. That’s his shot he even said it he makes that everyday just short armed it. Lauri and KO is open here for 3 though but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad shot. He had time to pull up its not a forced shot.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

We can debate single plays until the end of time, but sometimes it's the bigger picture that matters. Clarkson and Sexton combining for 52 FGA's is not winning basketball.

I understand that we just had a huge stretch of wins and these guys have some goodwill to waste, but the leash has to be a lot shorter in the next game.

 

[HermanG]

If you play your screenshot a little more you can see holiday closing in on Lauri and sengun already at the paint. Clarkson saw a chance to get closer he went for it.

Second pic you can see he’s defender is too late he’s already airborne. That’s his shot he even said it he makes that everyday just short armed it. Lauri and KO is open here for 3 though but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad shot. He had time to pull up its not a forced shot.

How does something that happens later excuse a decission he made earlier?

Lauri who is our best player and an very good transition scorer was uncovered and put his hands out and asked for the ball, and Clarkson opted to keep it.

EDIT:
After watching that few more times there is one factor that sort of redeems Clarkson. Lauri is kinda sliding towards the opposite sideline so the distance that pass has to cover is longer than it looks on that pic. So in that sense its not as "gimmie" as I thought when I saw it live.

 

[Elizah Huge]

If we were to trade Laurie JC and Sexton we'd be thrilled to 4 years from now have Houstons present makeup.
OKC is two years ahead of Houston who is 3 or 4 years ahead of us.
Each suffered great pain to be where they are. Seems like we'll shortcut the process.

Maybe the pain is better, but then there's Detroit as a fly in the ointment.

In what universe is Houston 3-4 years ahead of us?

 

[HermanG]

In what universe is Houston 3-4 years ahead of us?

I agree. They went into the rebuild 3 years before we did, but I would argue that if both teams pushed all their chips in right now we would make a better run.

Not saying either should do it yet though.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I dont know.... maybe this pic might give us some ideas......

View attachment 15835

Like maybe the defense on the left side is late af and the defender who is going to that side to guard Lauri is Aaron Holiday who is all of 6 foot tall.

There are some plays they miss… but we don’t have a lot of guys that are going to dribble and create. So playing those two they are going to shoot a lot off the dribble and drive. There were a few times it felt like the forced passes where they should have shot the ball. Lauri also needs to be aggressive when he has mismatches and post those guys up.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Dude. No he didn't. He ran into three defenders with a big contest (close to a block) from Tate. That's not wide open, that's not open at all. Which forced him to shoot much differently and out of rhythm - barely grazing the rim. And he took the shot with 3+ seconds on the clock.

That was absolutely the wrong play, as were almost all of Sexton's and JC's plays in the final 10 minutes.

Yeah, sure, you'll make some shots if you take 30 of them. Doesn't make them good shots.


Lauri didn't have a rough shooting night. He was 5/7 from 2 and one more made 3 and he's pretty much at his average. What Lauri had was a "not getting touches once Sexton and JC went full hero ball" night.

It was as good of a look as you can hope to get in that situation.

Rough shooting night is relative. He had some looks from three that he normally knocks down. It’s just hard to have the energy to guard a guy like Sengun and score 30.

 

[HermanG]

There are some plays they miss… but we don’t have a lot of guys that are going to dribble and create. So playing those two they are going to shoot a lot off the dribble and drive. There were a few times it felt like the forced passes where they should have shot the ball. Lauri also needs to be aggressive when he has mismatches and post those guys up.

The only reason I harp on that specific play is the fact that we are down by 1 with 5 seconds to go, and Jordan has a clear lane to pass to our best player who is asking the ball and also in a more advantageous situation. Its not a moment to think, its just a matter of respect.

The fact that he stumbled on a good look 2 seconds later doesnt really excuse him for not making that pass. The correct result for holding on to the ball should have been a contested pull up 3, but Houston makes a mistake and Tate turns his hips the wrong way (to guard Tech, when there was another player behind him covering Tech already).