Asik/Parsons + bench reducing the lead down to 5, getting some nice stops, TD's trey started the run and a nice steal, too bad TD didn't slow down and get help with Parsons right behind him for the steal conversion.
Bench is bringing the energy. This is good, Lin/Harden both looks tired.
The Wolves are more discipline both offensively and defensively. The main problem is our defense is very weak or should I say blind on baseline side. Everybody's eyes are constantly looking at the ball instead of each other men and not help rotating defense enough.
The Wolves off the ball movement have been superb so far. You can see their set involved a lot of movement for their small and lot of screens from their bigs
Target Center is also quite packed today, obvious home court advantage .
The only way we can get back in this game is to clamp down our defense and get easy points out of fast break.
We also need A LOT more movement and screen just like the Wolves have been doing so far. The Wolves often have two screen sets at the same time like high double screen or rotating corner three screen. It really freed the small to move and penetrate and we're not doing a good job defending it
Why can't we do it like that? I think it is because McHale is not experienced enough as a head coach to design that kind of sets or play
I agree. Rox d was no good. They didnt stick to their man, didnt rotate or help quick enough. There was a moment when Lin even played d against two guys at once :( - no help.
On offense the guys stood on their positions - didnt set screens well enough. Well well - young team.
The wolves are not really doing well themselves. I mean both harden and Lin are obviously tired and not playing well and still its a manageable game. if Harden and Lin get a breather we might even win this.
drink some red bull to get some energy!!!!!lol...they need to keep up with the energy even though they just had a game last night...because more back to back games will come along..
Lin and Harden are both playing bad. Coincidentally they played the most minutes last night. Bulls Coach unable to deliver a win last night, so he might as well burn out the Rockets so they lose the next game.
McHale only has a eight man rotation. Morey needs to sort out depth or we are going to be in for a lot more games like this. Especially when more injuries accumulate.
And the bench has narrowed the lead to two!
(Could have been one but Smith blew a dunk. Missed one FT)
Disgusting! Lin is missing so many shots (open ones too!) Fatigue should not be an excuse. If you want him to be the next Nash, CP or Rondo. They never are fatigue in back to back situations!!
Dont panic like a little girl. Lin needs no excuses. If he misses shots -> he misses shots. Noone asked Kobe for an excuse for bricking shots the other day. Lin btw. doesnt need to be Nash. Lin will simply be Lin. Period.
we know that but his conditioning also play a great factor. Away games always sucks once his body is used to it he'll get better. Most team sucks at away game. And please stop bringing up Rondo, Nash and CP. These players are veterans which has probably plays more away games than the whole Rockets team combined.
luckily douglas didnt play a lot of minutes yesterday and so does smith. We actually have fresh legs not the best legs but fresh and can actually keep up with the wolves.
Why so passive aggressive? Even Tom Thibodeau could not lift a tired Bulls team on a back to back. No one is saying McHale is better than Thibs, right?
"New York Knicks starters Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton won't be suiting up Wednesday night for their road game against the Phoenix Suns because of injuries."
This is awfully suspicious news. I'm thinking they both got injured last night while doing some g*y things together for xmas.
The announcer claimed that tonight is one of the largest crowds in Wolves history. I'm assuming Jeremy has nothing to do with all the ticket sales......
Barea had a better performance, but Lin got the last laugh by shutting down Barea when it mattered most and hitting the clutch 3 that was overturned to a 2 10 minutes after the fact.
Lin and Harden!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bench did their thing today and they did good. Nice victory for the whole team. Lin didnt score much and struggled but finished strong! Thats what matters!
im giving this one on Mc hale. Both harden and lin are tired so he basically rest both long enough to give harden energy to attack in the fourth. Ofcourse it also helped that Klove sucked hard tonight.
That was UGLY! Probably the worst Rockets game I have seen or one of them. But they won so that's good. Now looking forward to friday's game. They need some rest tomorrow and come strong tomorrow.
I wouldn't call tonights game exciting... Exciting is when both teams are on fire and you don't know who is going to win. Tonight was more of who is less horrible. But again, as long as is a W doesn't matter. You could tell Rockets were tired. The bench did an awesome job in the third. Surprised by that move by McHale.
Ugly game but its a win. Rox showing some grit, McHale made the right call to pull both HardLin and put them back in 4Q all rested while Wolves were obviously tired.
It was the right decision to put Lin back in. Thats whats important for me as 100% Lin fan. Also - he was confident enought to make the shot that contributed to the win.
He can close games!
Yeah - he struggled but thats really no shame. Hes young and Wolves set nice screens - even some double screens for their players. All in all Rox started weak - bad d - bad help - bad rotations. One time JLin had to defend against two Wolves all by himself!
Rox was also very bad setting screens for either Harden or Lin. Game was definitely set for Harden today (I noticed they sometimes set for Hardens game and then for Lins).
Damn - bench contributed big time what is good. bench was not so good during last games.
Yes!!!!! Happy to get a win even if it's an ugly one. I got stressed out I can't even comment in here or look at the TV! Congratulations on the 5th consecutive win! What's next???
Lol he just did not have his mojo tonight, but to be fair wolves played pretty tough D on Lin...I was a bit surprised at how hard Rubio defended Lin, he went all out and was out of breath quite a lot but he kept Lin in check.
Lin was harassed badly everytime he touched the ball, and wolves did great against his long passes and ripping them right out of the passing lane.
There were a couple of TOs that's just like wtf...Like when he recovered a rebound but lost control and went out of bounds...Or that hard foul that was a TO...They were out to get Lin.
To be fair, Jeremy definitely should have had more than 1 assist.
I'm not going to exaggerate and say 6 or 7. But definitely 3-4 (sooo many missed open 3s by his "shooters"). And he made several nice "hockey assists" in the first quarter.
Anyway, he's allowed a bad game after four brilliant ones. Better to get it out of the way NOW against a lesser team than later against OKC or SA.
When I was young, my dad and i would have 3 point shooting contests at the park, and he would always cheat by having his toes on the three point line to give him the slight edge thinking that I didnt notice.
I wonder if Jeremy has a habit of doing the same thing?
Harden...yes I'm a lin fan but I'm also a rockets fan and harden is a superstar....superstars lead their team to victory, this dude is clutch all season, lin needs to stay aggresive because this team won't be nothing until these two keep playing well together, harden picked up lins off night and carried the rox to a victory. We are going to make the playoffs, go rox!
I actually feel bad for Minny, they lost 2 close games in a row. Hm.. what the heck ! Rockets won! :) Hope this would give them some momentum going forward.
Guys, I have a few thoughts ... 1) the rockets cannot possibly outrun the opposing team every night. I think it would be very tiring for them and as evident today, it is not a good strategy when playing back to back games. 2) I still worry about the bench and I hope they can be consistent. 3)Even Jlin said himself that offense is not going to flow every night so it is important that they play hard nose defense.
@neph: I got to agree with you that learning to close out games would be extremely important for a playoff team . I do hope Lin really brings it for the next few games AND I really hope they win one for Harden in the okc game. It is a little frustrating because just when Lin performed real well and some people started to give him the benefit of the doubt he gives one of his worst performance. sigh.. hope he continues to improve and props to Harden and the bench!
Wow. What an exciting game! I'm happy they won a close game. Reminds me of Linsanity era games where they come from behind to steal one on the road. :) JLin was clutch as well in the 4th q, taking a charge and also a big bucket to tie the game. Good job, Jeremy!
Jeremy's stats aren't pretty today but I think they is very much expected and he is due to a bad night after several big games. But at least he did his job as a PG at the end, i.e. knowing when to defer to his main scorer instead of taking bad shots himself, unlike a certain current NY PG named Raymond Felton.
You can also see his impact on the whole team. When Lin's struggling, his whole team's offense just plain suffers.
Nice victory by the Rockets. Great use of the bench and then return of the starters. First brilliant coaching by McHale!!! Barea dislikes Lin I suspect. I remember at the height of Linsanity he hit Lin hard on a foul and was smiling and this game he elbows Lin hard in the face (coulda caused a small concussion).
Loving Harden's game now. Liking Lin's confidence. Shooting more, shot was just barely off today but nailed that 3 (or 2 as the ref says again).
Two other posters here said it better, so I'll just paraphrase them. Tonight wasn't about who played better, but about who failed to play worse. It was a horrific game, full of missed threes, bad shot selection, silly turnovers, blown plays, desperate isos, blown layups, and nonsensical defending. The referees were also schizophrenic. It was the prototypical Bad Game of legend, the kind where the only recognised superstar (Love) goes 3-14 and turns the ball over 5 times.
A pretty reliable gauge of whether Lin played badly, even without watching the match or box scores, is to count the number of times Nemo posts in a game thread. If it is over 20, it is fairly safe to say Lin was bad. Lin was bad for three quarters today. Some of you who didn't watch in real time might differ from my assessment, but just read the thread. It was depressing.
By the end of the 2Q I would have started drinking alcohol but I am rather allergic to drink and it is too early in the day in my country. In fact, it looked like Lin was playing drunk at times, his decisionmaking was clearly impaired. Harden was not much better in the first 3Qs - his defence, which had improved somewhat in the last two games, was uuuuuugly. His shots weren't falling and he wasn't getting his foul calls.
The turnaround came when both Lin AND Harden were sitting. The two stars were clearly out of sorts. Back-to-backs aren't kind on people who play a high paced game predicated on getting to the basket. Getting knocked about in the paint less than 24 hours ago and all that running... it's not easy. But the bench mob came in, and started feeding Asik some passes that weren't searing laser beams of death. Delfino hit threes. TD played some good defence. They got close... but not close enough.
I was in despair. McHale had a flaw in previous games of leaving in the bench somewhat too long. The Wolves were adapting to the energy that the less exhausted back up players were bringing. First he brought in Harden. Then he brought in Lin. I can't remember when he brought in Parsons. Harden went into full-on clutch mode, scoring more points in the 4Q than in his first 3Q combined. Lin hit a clutch long-2, took a momentum killing charge (even if it were a flop the Wolves were flopping all day so f'k em) and somehow the Rox won.
Did the Rox deserve to win? Probably not. But neither did the Timberwolves. But that 4Q was as exciting as any for the Rockets this season. Go Rockets!
At one point, it was like 19-8 in fouls as the refs were clearly favouring the home team and Rox committed some lazy fouls. But then thy put their whistles away and the Rox came back.
Harden is Clutch! How many points did James score in the 4th? Kudos that Lin didn't quit, if this happened a few weeks ago, he would've stood in the corner and hung his head.
To anyone knocking on Jeremy for his stats... Talk to any real basketball guru and they will tell you the real stat that matters the most is the +/- and tonight Jeremy had a +/- of -1 which is superb
Tonight lin had 7 turnovers, that's quite a big number there, but I hope people can look beyond that and able to see some of the good things he did. And also do not drag on his turnover rate, because keep in mind he's being doing pretty good keep it low with his turnover rate in all last games. As some of the top pgs you guys mention like rondo also have a bad 7 turnover night like lin, so I guess Lin should also be fine with that then.
this game is stinking
ReplyDeleteSome of the ugliest basketball plays I've ever seen...but I do admire the hustle from the players, they are fighting hard to stay in the game.
ReplyDeleteFATIGUE FACTOR!!!
ReplyDeleteAsik/Parsons + bench reducing the lead down to 5, getting some nice stops, TD's trey started the run and a nice steal, too bad TD didn't slow down and get help with Parsons right behind him for the steal conversion.
ReplyDeleteBench is bringing the energy. This is good, Lin/Harden both looks tired.
Where's this Beverly...Hehe
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET'S GET READY TO RUM....zZZzzzzZZZZ
ReplyDeleteRefs are letting T-Wolves get away with all kind of physical contact. In that kind of game, who would drive into the layup?
ReplyDeleteThe Wolves are more discipline both offensively and defensively. The main problem is our defense is very weak or should I say blind on baseline side. Everybody's eyes are constantly looking at the ball instead of each other men and not help rotating defense enough.
ReplyDeleteThe Wolves off the ball movement have been superb so far. You can see their set involved a lot of movement for their small and lot of screens from their bigs
Target Center is also quite packed today, obvious home court advantage .
The only way we can get back in this game is to clamp down our defense and get easy points out of fast break.
We also need A LOT more movement and screen just like the Wolves have been doing so far. The Wolves often have two screen sets at the same time like high double screen or rotating corner three screen. It really freed the small to move and penetrate and we're not doing a good job defending it
Why can't we do it like that? I think it is because McHale is not experienced enough as a head coach to design that kind of sets or play
Maybe all the defensive lapse because of not just physical fatigue but also mental fatigue
DeleteI agree. Rox d was no good. They didnt stick to their man, didnt rotate or help quick enough. There was a moment when Lin even played d against two guys at once :( - no help.
DeleteOn offense the guys stood on their positions - didnt set screens well enough. Well well - young team.
The wolves are not really doing well themselves. I mean both harden and Lin are obviously tired and not playing well and still its a manageable game. if Harden and Lin get a breather we might even win this.
ReplyDeleteALMOST!!!
ReplyDeleteMan I wanted to see smith posterize Rubio...
drink some red bull to get some energy!!!!!lol...they need to keep up with the energy even though they just had a game last night...because more back to back games will come along..
ReplyDeleteLin and Harden are both playing bad. Coincidentally they played the most minutes last night. Bulls Coach unable to deliver a win last night, so he might as well burn out the Rockets so they lose the next game.
ReplyDeleteMcHale only has a eight man rotation. Morey needs to sort out depth or we are going to be in for a lot more games like this. Especially when more injuries accumulate.
ReplyDeleteAnd the bench has narrowed the lead to two!
(Could have been one but Smith blew a dunk. Missed one FT)
can Morey pull a Spurs? Popovich is running two Spurs teams. he'll send team 1 home, team 2 steps up.
DeleteI think it's time for Mchale to unleash the Rockets' secret weapon.....
ReplyDeleteDonatas Motiejunas!
Disgusting! Lin is missing so many shots (open ones too!) Fatigue should not be an excuse. If you want him to be the next Nash, CP or Rondo. They never are fatigue in back to back situations!!
ReplyDeleteCalm down there cowboy no one is perfect all the time jeez.
DeleteI think fatigue is less of a factor if your game isn't predicated of getting to the basket all the time.
DeleteEven easier for Nash since he also doesn't play defence! Hah
Dont panic like a little girl. Lin needs no excuses. If he misses shots -> he misses shots. Noone asked Kobe for an excuse for bricking shots the other day. Lin btw. doesnt need to be Nash. Lin will simply be Lin. Period.
DeleteChillax, Nash, CP, and Rondo all miss shots too..... jeez
Deletewe know that but his conditioning also play a great factor. Away games always sucks once his body is used to it he'll get better. Most team sucks at away game. And please stop bringing up Rondo, Nash and CP. These players are veterans which has probably plays more away games than the whole Rockets team combined.
DeleteLin with the BIG 3!!
DeleteNow MIN are on the end of bullshit calls.
ReplyDeleteThe Refs giveth and the Refs taketh!
luckily douglas didnt play a lot of minutes yesterday and so does smith. We actually have fresh legs not the best legs but fresh and can actually keep up with the wolves.
ReplyDeletethe same Wolves who pulverized Thunder... but I think they're dismissing Rockets. maybe because they thought, "wth they're JUST Rockets"
ReplyDeleteSometimes...Why the heck did Delfino not shoot and try to drive then shoot sigh.
ReplyDeleteLets see if McHale can show some of his coaching genius that some of you claim he is. It's a 1 q game now.
ReplyDeleteWhy so passive aggressive? Even Tom Thibodeau could not lift a tired Bulls team on a back to back. No one is saying McHale is better than Thibs, right?
DeleteESPN is reporting:
ReplyDelete"New York Knicks starters Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton won't be suiting up Wednesday night for their road game against the Phoenix Suns because of injuries."
This is awfully suspicious news. I'm thinking they both got injured last night while doing some g*y things together for xmas.
Sensing a trend from these jokes of yours, Nemo...
DeleteLMAO WWE ACTION GET SOME PILE DRIVERS IN THERE TOO
ReplyDeleteKevin Love is challenging Lin to a turnover battle
ReplyDeleteLove's been ghastly
DeleteHasn't been scoring at all
DeleteMan we really need this win to catch up with Warriors and Grizzlies because are next schedule from now on will be H.E double hockey stick (LL)
ReplyDeleteI hope Lin can turn it up at the 4th
Correction : I hope coach give Lin chance to play at the 4th
DeleteNow if the shots would land for Rox bench this game is in the bag.
ReplyDeleteAs predicted, he's just going to ride with the group that cut the lead down. They look lost out there without Lin&Harden.
ReplyDeleteLOL who made any predictions?
DeleteHarden is in, this is going to be good...
ReplyDeleteWill lin bench for the entire 4 ? Maybe !
ReplyDeleteHeh would not have a problem if he is out rest of game. McHale played him as much as he could, but 2-8 and 6 TOs? Time to rest for Spurs/OKC.
DeleteHe just couldn't get into rhythm at all today.
Put Lin on for the hilarious pts/TO double-double.
DeleteBonus points if Rox still win.
He didn't even try to get into rythm, he was an outside jump shooter the entire 1st quarter. Didn't get to push the ball in transition at all.
DeleteDelfinosanity.
ReplyDeleteJLin looks done tonight.
ReplyDeleteAnyone seen a Lin on the floor?
DeleteLin and Love both sitting... Not a good night for players with L surnames.
Deletelin with sit through the 4th
ReplyDeletethat reverse layout into the bottom of the rim was a pain to see
DeleteHe doesn't have his hops or his quick first step tonight. He's not looking good tonight.
DeleteSo what - JJ just did the same thing. Hit the bottm of the rim. It happens :)
DeleteOK I'm ready for Lin v Rubio rematch again (pray hard for Lin)
ReplyDeleteWow rox just can't buy a basket
ReplyDeleteThe announcer claimed that tonight is one of the largest crowds in Wolves history. I'm assuming Jeremy has nothing to do with all the ticket sales......
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThe Morris mid-range iso is one of the worst things ever. EVER.
ReplyDeleteLin is back in! Surprised I am...
ReplyDeleteLin is back in the 4th quarter ? For reals ? I thought the coach gave up on him.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they're learning.
DeleteLin is in!
ReplyDeleteI am both excited and scared!
Might be good time, he is WELL rested, and Wolves look tired. It might just be enough to win the game. Go LIN!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteaski needs to do some weight curls and get those biceps like pekovics's
ReplyDeleteMore like the winner of this game is the team who sucked less and not who played better.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty much a perfect summation of the game!
DeleteRumors are circulating that Jeremy Lin will be waived after tonight's game.
ReplyDeleteverryyy funny
Deletenemo, you are really high today!!!you post a lot!!!!!!!
Deletebut please stop making some silly jokes?
All believers in God, we can pray. (Atheists and agnostics are welcome to join to.)
ReplyDeleteOMG LIN STOP LOSING BAREA!!!
ReplyDeleteBarea is just so quick. Scores over 3 guys..
ReplyDeleteRox has the lead in the 4Q
ReplyDeleteLET'S GO M'F'ERS (copyright Nate Robinson)
Darn you Harden what the heck was that pass
ReplyDeleteWas Jeremy flopping or was he really hit ?
ReplyDeleteLooks like a flop lmao...Learn from Leflop, awesome...
DeleteNow, if only Lin can turn on G mode like LeBron...
Delete"I got this"
Yeah, that was a revenge flop -- Barea and Rubio have been flopping all night.
Deleteyeah, kind of reminded me of Novak's "possible flop" last night when it appeared that Artest elbowed him.
Delete"hey if JJ is flopping, why not me?" - Jeremy
DeleteSigh lol man get new shoes lin
ReplyDeleteSPOTTED: The rare Lin 3! :)
ReplyDeleteCLUTCH!
ReplyDeleteLIN SHOOTING 3! Thats confidence! Big bucket! And the foul? Awesome!
ReplyDeleteFinally a nice shot!
ReplyDeleteTie!!
ReplyDeleteHehe!
ReplyDeleteCold-blooded 3 after an awful night!
I am glad have McHale is letting Lin figure it out in the 4th quarter when it counts!
ReplyDeleteGood top Lin!!!
DeleteThey counted that 3 as 2 points.
ReplyDeletefoot-on-the-line
Deleteoh??what??FK!
DeleteLin makes the most ambitious 2 pointers in the league!
DeleteLin has a great basketball IQ except for his foot placement on long jumpshots.
DeleteWow that was holding how is that jump ball
ReplyDeleteWow, he refs are so anti- Rockets tonight.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteso this is how a game looks like when the other team is tired and the other teams star players just recently came out from injury.
ReplyDeletereaching in from behind to put one arm on the ball how is that jump ball. Then again, Lin needs to stop falling to the ground...
ReplyDeleteman...
ReplyDeleteThe announcers just subtlely put down Harden but saying "Harden isn't at the level of Melo or Lebron, BUT hes a workhorse".
ReplyDeleteTypical
dont we have any time out left or something?
ReplyDeleteok they called it.
DeleteMcHale please draw a smart play
ReplyDeleteLOL, horrible game...but exciting!
ReplyDeleteYep! Leading by 35 is nice but boring :)
Deletei guess the ending is what counts. lol
DeleteIts how you finish! PLEASE FINISH WELL ROX!
DeleteObvious loose ball foul on Shved, but they call a jump ball instead, you know how the officials love their White athletes.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I thought Lin fouled Shved before that with a reach-in.
DeleteI'm okay with refs rewarding hard nose play.
I can't watch the game, but watching it on yahoo game channel. Who is guarding Barrea? He's having a good game, which he shouldn't.
ReplyDeleteJLin...H follows the ball way too much, losing Barea on the cut.
Delete85 - 84 they need to stop this ball NOW
And what do you know Jlin steals the ball from Barrea LOL...
DeleteSo J.J. Barea has won the match up against Jlin tonight?
DeleteBarea had a better performance, but Lin got the last laugh by shutting down Barea when it mattered most and hitting the clutch 3 that was overturned to a 2 10 minutes after the fact.
DeleteNeed to win these tight games to prepare for playoff games.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting the feeling Kevin Love is plying with a hangover...
ReplyDeleteNICE D BY OUR MAN JEREMY!
ReplyDeleteThat'll do. Thank you Harden
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteHarden...Respect, clutch plays brotha...
WOW! WOW! WOW! Dont foul! Dont allow 3 and you win ROX!
ReplyDeleteGO HARDEN
ReplyDeleteThe guy is damn good. Jeremy isn't there yet...but he will be in a season or two.
now off to steal one game vs Harden's "ex" Thunder..
DeleteHarden is a beast but great defense by Lin after getting beat all night by JJ.
ReplyDeleteGreat D by Lin, won't show up in the stat sheet but will show up in film study.
DeleteHarden is a closer, but Adelman is dumb. Should've put Kirilenko on Harden.
If Wolves win by 1-2 points its a moral loss for them. If they loose its a buttkick loss :)
DeleteYup. That's why he's in there. He can always defend and hustle.
DeleteLin and Harden!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bench did their thing today and they did good. Nice victory for the whole team. Lin didnt score much and struggled but finished strong! Thats what matters!
Deleteim giving this one on Mc hale. Both harden and lin are tired so he basically rest both long enough to give harden energy to attack in the fourth. Ofcourse it also helped that Klove sucked hard tonight.
Delete11 sec Rox ahead by 3.
ReplyDeleteSTOP THOSE 3S!!! FULL COURT PRESS!!! STOP THEM!!!
ARGH SO CLOSE.
Harden is clutch.
ReplyDeleteWolves are gonna go for a three.
Butt is clenched.
Dang JHarden took over the game.
ReplyDeleteHOLY CRAP OMG ROX WIN
ReplyDelete"Bad sign" my ass :) Sorry dude. I had to bring it :)
DeleteHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhAHAHAHAHHAHA
ReplyDeleteMUAHahahahahahahhahahaha!
There's no one watching with me so I am gonna virtual high-five you guys
DeleteHIGH FIVE
5!
DeleteHigh five!
Deletehigh 5
Deletehigh 5 with fist bump
Deletelol..felt like we are all riding on a roller coaster with ups and downs. high five to you guys lol.
DeleteYEAH GO ROCKETS!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG OMG OMG CLUTCH LIN D AND HARDEN O.
FKING BADDEST CLUTCH BACKCOURT OR WHAT?@?
HI FIVE
DeleteHI FIVE!!!
DeleteLin took a dive on the final seconds. Hope he's OK. Saw a slight limp while getting up...
ReplyDeleteThis is like that win LAST season against Minny...where Jeremy had a Harden-like game to pull out an ugly win after a big game the night before.
ReplyDeleteWhere Rubio stumbled and fell? Yeah!
DeleteThat was UGLY! Probably the worst Rockets game I have seen or one of them. But they won so that's good. Now looking forward to friday's game. They need some rest tomorrow and come strong tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWhen your blood presure rises - when you dont know who wins till the end - when your team still makes it -> thats a good game dude! Exciting as hell!
DeleteRox 5 straight W.
DeleteI wouldn't call tonights game exciting... Exciting is when both teams are on fire and you don't know who is going to win. Tonight was more of who is less horrible. But again, as long as is a W doesn't matter. You could tell Rockets were tired. The bench did an awesome job in the third. Surprised by that move by McHale.
Deletebad game good win
ReplyDeleteLin 2, Rubio 0
ReplyDeleteI like Rubio. he's a good kid, but sorry he played against MY Jeremy tonight...
DeleteAh they pulled it off. That 3pt made by JLin erased all his bads for tonight.
ReplyDeleteYeah - except that it was an ambitious 2 :)
DeleteHey every point counted!
DeleteEven a 2 that should have been a 3 muahahahaha...
Ugly game but its a win. Rox showing some grit, McHale made the right call to pull both HardLin and put them back in 4Q all rested while Wolves were obviously tired.
Back to back win, wow, go Rockets go Lin!
It was the right decision to put Lin back in. Thats whats important for me as 100% Lin fan. Also - he was confident enought to make the shot that contributed to the win.
DeleteHe can close games!
Yeah - he struggled but thats really no shame. Hes young and Wolves set nice screens - even some double screens for their players. All in all Rox started weak - bad d - bad help - bad rotations. One time JLin had to defend against two Wolves all by himself!
Rox was also very bad setting screens for either Harden or Lin. Game was definitely set for Harden today (I noticed they sometimes set for Hardens game and then for Lins).
Damn - bench contributed big time what is good. bench was not so good during last games.
Jeremy is going to set a record for 22ft two-pointers.
DeleteHe has one every other game. At least.
But hey, I'd rather him MAKE a long two than MISS a proper 3!
Haha we're jumping doing shoulder bumps in the living room...So fking awesome...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
ReplyDeleteYes!!!!! Happy to get a win even if it's an ugly one. I got stressed out I can't even comment in here or look at the TV! Congratulations on the
ReplyDelete5th consecutive win! What's next???
OMG bench was huge closing the gap with their energy and McHale did great resting HardLin to close out the 4th.
ReplyDeleteUgly ugly game, but great win, go Rox!
wow.... and the Rockets came out from 3Qs of crap and won it in the end!
ReplyDeleteRockets making their own streak, breaking other teams' streaks!
ReplyDeleteDidn't get to see the game, but looks like it was an ugly win by the Rox.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to Jlin? 7 TOs? 1 AST? What happened????
Basically... he sucked for three quarters straight, lol.
DeleteHe had a fine 4Q though!
LOL...were the TO's based on passes, dribbling, or what?
DeleteOnly 1 assist, was it because his teammates weren't converting?
Lol he just did not have his mojo tonight, but to be fair wolves played pretty tough D on Lin...I was a bit surprised at how hard Rubio defended Lin, he went all out and was out of breath quite a lot but he kept Lin in check.
DeleteLin was harassed badly everytime he touched the ball, and wolves did great against his long passes and ripping them right out of the passing lane.
There were a couple of TOs that's just like wtf...Like when he recovered a rebound but lost control and went out of bounds...Or that hard foul that was a TO...They were out to get Lin.
And oh yeah, bullet passes to Asik, he still can't catch those, so instant TOs, I think two were like that.
DeleteThere was 2 TOs that were to Asik, one on a foul, one he lost out of bounds, and some that were picked off.
Haha that out-of-bounds TO has a chance of making Shaqtin' a Fool. I must say I was laughing when I saw it.
DeleteTo be fair, Jeremy definitely should have had more than 1 assist.
DeleteI'm not going to exaggerate and say 6 or 7. But definitely 3-4 (sooo many missed open 3s by his "shooters"). And he made several nice "hockey assists" in the first quarter.
Anyway, he's allowed a bad game after four brilliant ones. Better to get it out of the way NOW against a lesser team than later against OKC or SA.
When I was young, my dad and i would have 3 point shooting contests at the park, and he would always cheat by having his toes on the three point line to give him the slight edge thinking that I didnt notice.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Jeremy has a habit of doing the same thing?
Against who, kevjumba? Lol :D
DeleteHarden...yes I'm a lin fan but I'm also a rockets fan and harden is a superstar....superstars lead their team to victory, this dude is clutch all season, lin needs to stay aggresive because this team won't be nothing until these two keep playing well together, harden picked up lins off night and carried the rox to a victory. We are going to make the playoffs, go rox!
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Deletewow...mchale is showing some love here for jeremy and put him back in 4th...I think we should all give a high five to him and start to believe in him.
ReplyDeleteI love Lin's big LONG TWO and the clutch D at the end!
DeleteI actually feel bad for Minny, they lost 2 close games in a row. Hm.. what the heck ! Rockets won! :) Hope this would give them some momentum going forward.
ReplyDeleteGuys, I have a few thoughts ...
1) the rockets cannot possibly outrun the opposing team every night. I think it would be very tiring for them and as evident today, it is not a good strategy when playing back to back games.
2) I still worry about the bench and I hope they can be consistent.
3)Even Jlin said himself that offense is not going to flow every night so it is important that they play hard nose defense.
They are fighting with Min for that 6th spot so this WIN is crucial.
DeleteForget about good stats and a blowout.
This situations are good for experience because come playoff time the atmosphere will be similar to this. Every possession counts.
I expect the next three games to be like this rather than a blowout.
@neph: I got to agree with you that learning to close out games would be extremely important for a playoff team . I do hope Lin really brings it for the next few games AND I really hope they win one for Harden in the okc game. It is a little frustrating because just when Lin performed real well and some people started to give him the benefit of the doubt he gives one of his worst performance. sigh.. hope he continues to improve and props to Harden and the bench!
DeleteSure seemed like playoff environment except it was an ugly game on both sides...Rox did HORRIBLE 3Q but Wolves did the same in 4Q.
DeleteAgreed great experience. And wow was that place packed or what?! Sellout crowd?
3rd largest crowd in Target Center history.
DeleteCredit also goes to the bench who cut the 14 point deficit.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. It was good to see that the bench can still bring it. They didnt do so well during last games.
Deleteyea....bench did a great job tonight!
DeleteWow. What an exciting game!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy they won a close game. Reminds me of Linsanity era games where they come from behind to steal one on the road. :)
JLin was clutch as well in the 4th q, taking a charge and also a big bucket to tie the game. Good job, Jeremy!
nice one rockets!!! glad that jlin redeemed himself
ReplyDeleteJeremy's stats aren't pretty today but I think they is very much expected and he is due to a bad night after several big games. But at least he did his job as a PG at the end, i.e. knowing when to defer to his main scorer instead of taking bad shots himself, unlike a certain current NY PG named Raymond Felton.
ReplyDeleteYou can also see his impact on the whole team. When Lin's struggling, his whole team's offense just plain suffers.
Nice victory by the Rockets. Great use of the bench and then return of the starters. First brilliant coaching by McHale!!! Barea dislikes Lin I suspect. I remember at the height of Linsanity he hit Lin hard on a foul and was smiling and this game he elbows Lin hard in the face (coulda caused a small concussion).
ReplyDeleteLoving Harden's game now. Liking Lin's confidence. Shooting more, shot was just barely off today but nailed that 3 (or 2 as the ref says again).
7 T/O Yikes. Lin must have been tired. But he showed up when it mattered. Steal in the end.
ReplyDeleteRockets had no reason to win this game ... but they did. Man, Lin back in the 4th must have given him lots of learning experience. Harden is the MAN.
ReplyDeleteThey won. Isnt that reason enough for winning? Lin doesnt need to learn anything. Team was set for 3 pt shooting and Hardenball.
DeleteEND OF GAME THOUGHTS
ReplyDeleteTwo other posters here said it better, so I'll just paraphrase them. Tonight wasn't about who played better, but about who failed to play worse. It was a horrific game, full of missed threes, bad shot selection, silly turnovers, blown plays, desperate isos, blown layups, and nonsensical defending. The referees were also schizophrenic. It was the prototypical Bad Game of legend, the kind where the only recognised superstar (Love) goes 3-14 and turns the ball over 5 times.
A pretty reliable gauge of whether Lin played badly, even without watching the match or box scores, is to count the number of times Nemo posts in a game thread. If it is over 20, it is fairly safe to say Lin was bad. Lin was bad for three quarters today. Some of you who didn't watch in real time might differ from my assessment, but just read the thread. It was depressing.
By the end of the 2Q I would have started drinking alcohol but I am rather allergic to drink and it is too early in the day in my country. In fact, it looked like Lin was playing drunk at times, his decisionmaking was clearly impaired. Harden was not much better in the first 3Qs - his defence, which had improved somewhat in the last two games, was uuuuuugly. His shots weren't falling and he wasn't getting his foul calls.
The turnaround came when both Lin AND Harden were sitting. The two stars were clearly out of sorts. Back-to-backs aren't kind on people who play a high paced game predicated on getting to the basket. Getting knocked about in the paint less than 24 hours ago and all that running... it's not easy. But the bench mob came in, and started feeding Asik some passes that weren't searing laser beams of death. Delfino hit threes. TD played some good defence. They got close... but not close enough.
I was in despair. McHale had a flaw in previous games of leaving in the bench somewhat too long. The Wolves were adapting to the energy that the less exhausted back up players were bringing. First he brought in Harden. Then he brought in Lin. I can't remember when he brought in Parsons. Harden went into full-on clutch mode, scoring more points in the 4Q than in his first 3Q combined. Lin hit a clutch long-2, took a momentum killing charge (even if it were a flop the Wolves were flopping all day so f'k em) and somehow the Rox won.
Did the Rox deserve to win? Probably not. But neither did the Timberwolves. But that 4Q was as exciting as any for the Rockets this season. Go Rockets!
I'm glad I caught the game!
HIGH FIVE
Barea had 4 turnovers which isnt far from 7.
ReplyDeleteAt one point, it was like 19-8 in fouls as the refs were clearly favouring the home team and Rox committed some lazy fouls. But then thy put their whistles away and the Rox came back.
ReplyDeleteHarden is Clutch! How many points did James score in the 4th? Kudos that Lin didn't quit, if this happened a few weeks ago, he would've stood in the corner and hung his head.
ReplyDeleteTo anyone knocking on Jeremy for his stats... Talk to any real basketball guru and they will tell you the real stat that matters the most is the +/- and tonight Jeremy had a +/- of -1 which is superb
ReplyDeleteYou are a freakin hilarious troll sometimes Nemo. :)
Deletecan't wait for Sat vs OKC. Winning that game will be great.
ReplyDeleteTonight lin had 7 turnovers, that's quite a big number there, but I hope people can look beyond that and able to see some of the good things he did. And also do not drag on his turnover rate, because keep in mind he's being doing pretty good keep it low with his turnover rate in all last games. As some of the top pgs you guys mention like rondo also have a bad 7 turnover night like lin, so I guess Lin should also be fine with that then.
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