Friday, December 28, 2012

Rockets @ Spurs Game #29 1st Half Game Thread

141 comments:

  1. Nice pre-game handshake by Lin and Fields. LOL Anyone else catch that?

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  2. Lin and Harden doesn't look like they are gonna get into the paint tonight, not with how Leonard, Duncan and Splitter are playing right now

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    1. Nope not enuf spacing looks like they're just gunna clog paint...some screens but drives getting nowhere...rox needs to hit mid range

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    2. Spurs are gonna kill the Rox if it becomes a Rox jumpshot vs Duncan in the post.

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  3. And the Spurs rotations around the perimeter are so good. Rockets still looking unimaginative when forced into half-court sets.

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  4. Actually Harden is not trying to drive. He really need to get the Rocket going by being aggressive. Than everyone will feed off of that.

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  5. Anybody got a link to a livestream?

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    1. Thanks a lot - appreciate it!

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    2. BTW, the link I posted above has no commercials, it's the raw feed, so you might be able to hear some candid, non-broadcasted comments. If anything, you don't have to watch commercials!

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  6. Ugh Lin initiated plays without much results. I bet they will come out of this timeout with all Harden plays.

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  7. Lin hits a three and then fakes Parker for a lay up, but Green responds with another three.

    Duncan blocks AGAIN.

    Then Leonard strips Lin. Lin has two TO in 7 mins or so.

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  8. Christ jeremy wake up ur getting punked

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  9. Jeremy please stop turning the ball over! Geez at this rate hes going to have 10 turnovers.

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  10. Dang, somebody guard Danny Green!

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  11. Wow, that fourth Green three... did you see how fast the ball moved?

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  12. Mchale is a moron of a coach sometimes

    u do not pull out LIN, regardless of the TO's he has 5 pts. Lin D fence is far superior to guard parker

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  13. Harden let green open so many times !

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  14. Wow crap d leaving green and duncan wide open for easy points this is looking bad

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  15. See this is when I go insane because of the dumbest sub by the coach. JLin just started to lit up, and he got yanked cuz of a TO. Parsons made 2 dumb plays and guess what He's still playing. This is f'ing bullshit.

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    1. They should have pulled harden his fkng shit d is costing them the game

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    2. McHale takes Lin/Asik out at the 5 min left on 1Q mark quite often...

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  16. The coach like to take out lin and asik early as always !

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  17. Lin will take the responsiblity for Harden's bad D. :-(

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  18. Coach just managing Lin and Harden time on the floor together. No worry, they will catch up soon.

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  19. parker going off when tony is in this always happens

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  20. HOU was getting back into the game... some good playmaking and shots by Harden.

    But HOU doesn't have any answer for Parker's forays in the paint and the SA lead stretches back to 10 with 33s left in the 1Q

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    1. Man Tiago stealing the ball from Smith under the basket.

      Tiago is really, really good.

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    2. I guess it wasn't counted as a steal?

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  21. Fking highschool ball fk pull harden out already

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  22. Spurs just shooting hot. It will cool down.

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  23. James Harden is an offensive star and scoring machine but he won't be a superstar if he refuses to play D. Unfortunately the whole team seems to be taken of his "leadership".

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    1. Letting Green go 4-5 from three is really quite absurd.

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    2. He is giving up more points than he is assisting or shooting or drawing he is no good vs smart teams like spurs they need lin with td

      Watching harden play makes me mad

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    3. Spurs can make anyone look bad if they have the mind to do it.

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  24. and that was a foul on Smith because? clearly Parker's shooting but no clear or obvious contact between him and Smith

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  25. Lin vs De Colo to start the quarter. Lin starts off really hot.

    He looks far improved having had rest on the bench. Much more focused.

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  26. Wow! Lin is so aggressive ! Damn! Nice!

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  27. Unfortunately Harden is not a great defender. He's a ball watcher instead of following his man. Instead of keeping in touch with his man by finger holding, backing up, quick glances etc and spending a lot of energy following his man around the half court, he let Green free, then desperately ran up to him to fruitlessly try and prevent the 4-5 threes in the first quarter. He needs to follow Lin's style which is to defend against his man like a terrier.

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  28. I can accept Parker going off but letting Danny Green go off on you erase everything you do everything on the offensive end. And giving up 40+ points in a quarter is totally unacceptable.

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  29. Ugh Asik is going to be foul trouble soon

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  30. Holy crap that Ginobili to Jackson pass was gorgeous!

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  31. Green out, Jackson and Manu might get hot. I have respect for Splitter but dang, is he a flopper or what?!?

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  32. Lin: 2 TO in 6:23 -> "Wake up" & "getting punked"
    Smith: 2 TO in 5:xx -> "Tiago is really good"

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    1. LOL those things were said by three separate people. Are you really comparing that?

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    2. Nope. Just pointing out the irony. Im OK with you complementing Tiago on the block but I dont understand Lin fans who turn on Lin when hes not playing 100% perfect. With fans like that - who needs an enemy...

      If these guys were making these comments in a sports bar (or even clutchfans) people would throw stuff at them.

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    3. @ willy, I see I see. It's Lin. If you are Lin you got special VIP treatment... Well well

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    4. LOL I do agree those were dumb comments anyway. Especially about Parker... Parker scoring on you isn't punking on you, it's just a natural state of affairs!

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    5. You see - whenever Lins steals the ball I just think "nicely done". When someone steals it from Lin I think "nice" as well - just the way you compliment Tiago on a nice block. I dont think "wake up Lin" or "damn that guy smith". I can understand when people get frustrated when the team doesnt play well - but after 5 minutes? Come on...

      I come here to share my joy of watching Lin play with people who feel the same - just like people do when they go to a sportsbar. I think thats what most people do when they come here during a game (or on clutchfans).

      We dont have to be overly critical. As fan - you dont have to be objective at all times :) Theres plenty of time to be objective when the game is over.

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    6. Chill dude. Everyone comments differently. Doesn't mean we're hating.

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  33. Lin is playing great right now. The Lin-TD backcourt cuts the lead to 3 against the Spurs bench.

    But Parker/Green are now back in.

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  34. Yeah, Rockets finally getting some D in there, led by Lin!

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  35. See there we go linball > hardenball

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  36. Asik need to be out this game ! Omfg !

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  37. And Asik gets his 3rd foul. Sits for foul trouble. Not good.

    Duncan with yet another block but Lin takes a GREAT charge to stop Timmy from scoring in transition!

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  38. 3rd PF for Asik. People might be getting their wish of more Smith playtime.

    Offensive charge on Duncan, yes!! Go Lin!

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  39. Lin gets a close encounter with Parker's armpit lol

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  40. They simply gotta stop passing to Asik. I think Spurs deliberately let him free in the paint, then either block Asik's shot or just take the ball off him (if Asik catches the ball).

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    1. He doesn't have enuff athleticm to take the pass and go up with it. He brings ball down while loading up his knees and then gets stripped. Same on the stuff, have to go hard and try to dunk it on Duncan not a soft layin.

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  41. Lin is pretty much being a one man force against the Spurs right now, almost like the first game, but still not quite enough.

    Spurs posterizing people in the Rox paint now.

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    1. Duncan is going to get an obscene amount of points if Cole Aldrich gets any significant amount of playing time...

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  42. LIN ON FIRE.

    I HATE these Spurs announcers, though. Every single call against the Spurs is "OMG HOW IS THAT A FOUL?!!!" Even when the video clearly shows Lin getting scraped hard across the face by Parker and run over by Duncan.

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    1. OMG...how is that not a foul? The other one should yell this back to make it more fun. Usually they have two announcers right? Ha..

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    2. are these guys Spurs commentators or ESPN commentators?

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  43. wow very fast game. entertaining.....

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  44. If not for Harden's bad D, the Rockets would be leading now. In this game, I rather have TD with Lin than Harden.

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    1. Harden is hitting his shoot. This is a shooting contest. Give him some credit.

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    2. Let's not go crazy here. That and-one shows you how good Harden is.

      Jeremy can't do it himself against the Spurs. No one player can.

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    3. Yes, Harden's so talented offensively. But please, he doesn't even have to be a lockdown defender, but at least put his hands up!

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    4. You're right, terrible D. At least he's hitting 3s, getting his and1s, and getting people in foul trouble though.

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    5. seems like parker is poised again for a triple double.

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  45. This game is incredible! Pure offence.

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  46. Rox is somehow sucking the Spurs into playing their messy high pace game.

    Lin and Parsons doing a good job keeping the Spurs from feeding Dunc in the post for a couple of possessions. Really sweet three from Ginobili though.

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    1. Yeah, at some point it will be a matter of whose legs last the longest. I would bet on the younger team at this pace of play!

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    2. Wiffle , you do realise these two are the highest scoring teams in the NBA.

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    3. Hence the adjective "messy" haha

      Not that it absolves me of my terrible opinion in this case... SA is actually about as TO prone as HOU according to turnover rate... I didn't realise that!

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  47. Wow! Both team are very fast and score a lots !

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  48. Give the ball to Lin and let him make the PLAY!!! Stop with this ISO none sense!

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    1. I thought the coach had learn enough from last 4 games including the previous one with the spurs of how to proper play Lin and Max.his skills...

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    2. @lydia that's why I'm not YET sold on McHale's coaching.

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    3. I hate it when the ball gets sticky in harden's hands... he's a great player i get it, but where's the TEAM BASKETBALL???

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  49. Well deserved rest for Jeremy. He was getting a little gassed.

    Great minutes after a sloppy start!! They can pull this out.

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    1. Lin, Harden and Douglas...that's shaping up to be a great 3-man guard rotation.

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    2. but harden needs to play D.

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    3. Its funny - why is it that so many great players suck on d?

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    4. probably because they're concerned more with scoring

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  50. Houston need to play better team ball

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  51. Replies
    1. He was daydreaming when he got that pass. Good thing he was able to convert!

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  52. First half thoughts

    - Lin had a rather dismal first quarter, with two bad TOs. I wouldn't attribute those TOs too much significance though. A combination of Green's hot hand (facilitated partly by Harden's defensive failings but also the Spurs ability to find the open man with rapid fire passes) and the ability of the Spurs big men to stop any and all penetration gave SA a large 1Q lead.

    - Lin sat for about half the first quarter, along with Asik. It could just as well been a normal rotation as well as a response to what was going on the court. It turned out to be a decent substitution. Harden did some good playmaking in Lin's absence. When Lin came back in the 2Q, he was focused and on fire - a big difference from previous games where he often came back cold. Did McHale say something to him? Or is it just a case of Lin's physical and mental state reaching optimal standards? I don't know. But he scorched De Colo and got into the paint in the absence of Duncan, set up a couple of threes, and when Duncan came back, took a brilliant charge against Mr Fundamental himself. Lin and Toney Douglas looked to be in perfect sync. When Parker and Green came back in, so did Harden, and the momentum continued.

    - Not having Parsons dribbling the ball a heck of a lot in 2Q really helped get the Rox offence get going. If I have one complaint against McHale, it is this: You have Harden and Lin on the fall - why is Parsons EVER taking more than three dribbles on the court.

    All in all, a very entertaining match, with some stretches of brilliant play from both sides. It is a real delight as a fan to get to watch Lin and Parker do their stuff.

    I have to go out with my wife but I would rather watch the second half. Sigh.

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    1. Carry ur iPad and go out with ur wife to a place with wifi then u can watch second half.

      No. Kidding. Should not do that!

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    2. No wifi in the movie theatre probably! haha

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    3. Theres usually a tv in the lobby. Tell your wife you ate something bad...

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  53. Harden is a good scorer, but his style of play will cause him to tank out at the end of the game. Mchale needs to rest him. He or Jeremy should be on the court at all times. I actually like Jeremy playing slightly less minutes. Jeremy will be badly needed in the 4th quarter.

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  54. Funny how parker fouled Lin in front of the referee and he didn't even make the call... WTF IS GOING ON???!!!

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    1. yeah, he got smacked in the face. Nice aggressive move by Lin.

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    2. Yeh, the other ref made that call through 9 players

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    3. His eyesight is not good...he may be need to order a better glasses..

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    4. Refs' calls are killing them. Parsons should've gotten that foul, even the announcers agree on this one.

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  55. LOL, Parker thought he could take Lin one-on-one.

    STRIP. BREAKAWAY DUNK.

    Tony: you're damn good, but you need screens. You ain't taking Lin on your own.

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    1. Tim Duncan is AMAZING.

      He might be the second most valuable player (per minute) after Lebron.

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  56. during the timeout, mchale doesn't even acknowledge Lin but talks to his 'son" Parsons. smh.

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  57. Asik is so frustrating to watch. He can,t guard Duncan off the roll. Tim has soon many open looks. After Asik's 3rd foul, he's finally yanked for Smith. Been waiting to see Smith play with Lin. But, Smith is replaced with Aldridge immediately.

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  58. DEFEND THOSE LONG RANGE SHOTS. THEY GOT TOO MANY GOOD SCORERS.
    THEY MOVE BALLS FAST, BUT BLOCK THEIR FACES. COME ON, ROCKETS ARE YOUNG. THEY CAN DO IT.

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  59. Man, do they even know how to reward the guy who stole the ball and trail after? JLin was there but Parsons and Harden just ignored him. Prior play, Parsons showed how terrible of a passer he can be.

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  60. Why the hell would you pass the ball to Harden in that angle...bad pass....then ref calls a bs foul on Lin...

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  61. Obvious Jlin was going out...it's almost the same time during 3rd quarter Jlin sits.

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  62. thats why i would not take Lin out, Parker will go off on Tony D

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  63. Did JLin hurt his wrist, he had been holding it couple of times in the game?

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