storyteller
Veteran
Going at a Mike D'antoni team with a traditional two big line-up all night is bringing a knife to a gunfight. Most classic centers are going to struggle with the gang of screens and swings at rapid pace that happen all night. If you REALLY want to exacerbate that problem, turn the ball over 19 times. This was a blow out against a team perfectly built to counter our best line-up. They'll give up big man points but answer with a three pointer that means they're +1 on the back and forth. That said, this gave our young guards opportunities to show what they can do defensively and while there were ups and downs...That Frank/Dotson backcourt looks like a defensive tandem worth exploring in more than just garbage time.
KP: Was dominant again early in the first but his jumper betrayed him and he continued to settle for it when he needed points. That said he did make some pretty passes when the defense shaded to him too much and in transitions. Defensively, chasing Ryan Anderson around screens all night just isn't something you want your best scorer doing. Not only was he giving up good looks to Anderson but that's a great way to drain the legs out of a guy that HAS to take jumpers based on the line-up out there. I've said this before, but when he's running cold with the jumper it's time to swing him to the five and go small for a while. Try to get him easier looks to get back on track. Better guard penetration would help him get open jumpers but we can't count on that right now. 19 points, on 7/18, 5 boards and 3 assists to 3 TO's. The boards are partially explained by being stuck on the perimeter a LOT on defense but should be better. The assists were nice though and that's a pretty solid stat-line when you consider this was a weak performance relative to the season he's having.
THJ: Timmy had himself a pretty good night and is getting the jumper right which is key long term. 9/18 total and 5/10 from three; monster shooting that can open things up more and more as his gravity increases. 7 rebounds and 4 assists to boot; rebounds for Timmy are big because he's great at pushing pace and getting easy transition looks off defensive boards. He did have 3 TO's and having him run frequent PnR's will probably lead to some higher TO games but it pays off. He made some nice passes and got to the rim for some of the sweetest finishes on the night. Defensively he notched 2 steals and he's really made an impression as a help defender. He's made smart switches, cheats the passing lane wisely and does a lot that helps his teammates out. I'm not as high on his man to man defense but it's not bad, just not standout good. That said, if he's pairing with Dotson and Lee on the wings plus Frank up top then team defense is gonna be exponentially more important for him anyway.
Lee: Didn't love his defense whenever he matched with Ariza or bigger SF's but it wasn't really glaring or anything. 7 pts, 5 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal to 1 TO in 24 mins. Those are good numbers from our glue guy and utility piece for the minutes. Overall pretty forgettable though and fairly devoid of those "calming" plays that he's made in some of our wins to stop momentum swings.
Kanter: Productive in 18 minutes, 6 for 6 for 12 points and 6 boards. Like every other big, he ran into some issues keeping up with the pace of the Rockets at times, once getting blatantly beat down court for an easy dunk by Capela. He had a really nice run up the court himself for a dunk on the other end though. His hustle is there early but maybe more frequent breaks will help it stay steady. Would that break his rhythm? Not sure, but his game is obvious and doesn't really require much rhythm since he's scoring mainly on post-ups and offensive boards so could be worth a try if we're sticking to him starting.
Jack: 4 and 2 in 20 minutes on 2 of 9 shooting. He has to shoot to keep defenses honest but 9 FGA's in 20 minutes is too much especially when he's awful shooting on the night. This is another "not the night for this guy to have heavy expectations" situation though.
Frank: 26 minutes out there, 1 for 7 from the field. The three ball is what needs to start falling to open things up. He was 0-4 and got some decent to really good looks there but couldn't drop them. He has a habit of picking up his dribble before a cutter finishes his move through the screen and when ball denial is there, Frank is left standing with no dribble and a TO waiting to happen. Off the dribble he's going away from contact which protects the ball but takes away opportunities to both drive and draw fouls. I really suspect that when he starts going into guys chests (the way Harden did to draw Frank's first foul call), things will fall into place like dominoes...but expect an uptick in TO's as well. Now that that's done; the good stuff. 8 assists and 5 steals are the obvious stand out statistics. His ability to create in transition and get others creating in transition is SERIOUS, dude rewards anyone willing to sprint off of a defensive board. That paid with Dotson and will show with Timmy too. His defense on Harden was impressive. This is one of the toughest match-ups in basketball and he stuck to dude really well with the help of quick hands and stretch armstrong reach. Harden got the best of him at times, but overall he made life harder for Harden than any defender we've had on dude for a very long time. I've touched on this before but the deflections aren't a rarity for him, he'll do that day in and day out as long as he's getting minutes. When the offensive tools sharpen up, look out because the IQ and physical tools are obnoxious and the passing is already strong. He's a positive sum player while his jumper isn't falling, he can't beat his man consistently yet and he's picking up his dribble...when those start to fall into place OMG.
Side note: With his wingspan we're an offseason training regiment away from him dunking through somebody the way MJ did to win the legendary Looney Tunes vs Monstars game.
Dotson: 4/5 from the field for 9 points, 3 boards and an assist on top of really aggressive defense that was mainly positive but led to some bad fouls as well. He does everything at full speed. He cuts hard, gets through screens enthusiastically, jumps his highest for rebounds and gets out in transition rapidly...those will lead to positive results more often then not whether the jumper is falling or not. Here's something I wasn't expecting, he knocked down a couple of J's off the dribble like a seasoned vet. The transition game stood out, the jumpers off the dribble were even more exciting. I want him in the rotation.
Doug: 22 mins and there were moments where he had some nice switches and defensive rotations. But he was 2 of 7 for six points with no boards and 2 assists. He had some defensive moments where he rotated late or got caught in the muddle of multi-screen plays from Houston as well. I'd rate this his worst performance so far.
Lance: Not sure what he did for the Beas experiment to continue but he outplayed the dude in this one. 3 points and 7 boards with some solid defensive play. I always get on him for not showing up on the stat sheet so 7 boards is a must note even if some of it was garbage time love. 15 mpg is where I peg his positive impact and he had 14 last night which were more positive than negative.
Willy: Timid on offense, pressing on defense and lacking rhythm everywhere. He had poor chemistry with the rookies who both floated passers to him that he didn't get to or bobbled. Whereas Kanter saw the opportunity to attack as a big; Willy wasn't aggressive even though there was only ever one guy his size out there and most of the time none. Defensively, he got lost in the multitudes of screens more than anyone else from top to bottom. 4 TO's, two on travels...again not good. What really sucks is the confirmation bias here, he had a solid, productive preseason that suddenly became defined by one Hornacek quote about his screens. He's gotten spot treatment so far and has been solid every time out. This game where every big was in a tough spot, the youngest and least experienced big who is also getting inconsistent time out there struggled...bad game? Yes. Doesn't change a damned thing about him needing more minutes for us to know who he is and where he can develop.
KOQ: 12 mins 4 points, 2 boards and his minutes got clipped in the first off two quick fouls, then the second half off of a massive deficit leading to youth line-ups getting looks. His minutes were too low to make bold proclamations but he seemed ready to be his typical solid self. He's getting a bit TO prone though and that's something to keep an eye on as he's been a net positive everywhere else and it'd be easy to ignore that there are places to improve. This one was his most pedestrian outting so far but the minutes meant fewer opportunities to plant his flag.
Beasley: Lazy, sloppy game. Got 6 minutes early and didn't get much else.
Ramon Sessions: He played!? He played!!!!???? I got nothing, I expect him to be cut when Noah gets back so I mentally check out when he's out there.
Hornacek: I always say that I hate coaches letting the opposing line-up dictate their decisions, so I can't hate hard on going traditional here. It's been working. But I'll point it out on nights KP can't get his jumper off, switch KP to the five for a while and try to get him going. Our team only works when KP is scoring right now. Loved to see him give Frank and Dotson time together and how effective they were. I'd like to see him do that in real time more often (did it once in my recollection so far). I liked the quick hook on Beas for Lance. Not a glowing game for the guy but our personnel is kinda tailor made for Houston to pick on. I would love to see him go small ball a bit sooner when these games start to run away from us because small ball can blow up a lead faster than traditional crews.
Lastly: I find Harden's game annoyingly ugly outside of the jumper. Push offs, shoulder down into guys for whistles that he didn't remotely deserve unless they were offensive fouls. But if Frank wants to model after someone, the crafty way Harden draws fouls is made easier with good wingspan.
KP: Was dominant again early in the first but his jumper betrayed him and he continued to settle for it when he needed points. That said he did make some pretty passes when the defense shaded to him too much and in transitions. Defensively, chasing Ryan Anderson around screens all night just isn't something you want your best scorer doing. Not only was he giving up good looks to Anderson but that's a great way to drain the legs out of a guy that HAS to take jumpers based on the line-up out there. I've said this before, but when he's running cold with the jumper it's time to swing him to the five and go small for a while. Try to get him easier looks to get back on track. Better guard penetration would help him get open jumpers but we can't count on that right now. 19 points, on 7/18, 5 boards and 3 assists to 3 TO's. The boards are partially explained by being stuck on the perimeter a LOT on defense but should be better. The assists were nice though and that's a pretty solid stat-line when you consider this was a weak performance relative to the season he's having.
THJ: Timmy had himself a pretty good night and is getting the jumper right which is key long term. 9/18 total and 5/10 from three; monster shooting that can open things up more and more as his gravity increases. 7 rebounds and 4 assists to boot; rebounds for Timmy are big because he's great at pushing pace and getting easy transition looks off defensive boards. He did have 3 TO's and having him run frequent PnR's will probably lead to some higher TO games but it pays off. He made some nice passes and got to the rim for some of the sweetest finishes on the night. Defensively he notched 2 steals and he's really made an impression as a help defender. He's made smart switches, cheats the passing lane wisely and does a lot that helps his teammates out. I'm not as high on his man to man defense but it's not bad, just not standout good. That said, if he's pairing with Dotson and Lee on the wings plus Frank up top then team defense is gonna be exponentially more important for him anyway.
Lee: Didn't love his defense whenever he matched with Ariza or bigger SF's but it wasn't really glaring or anything. 7 pts, 5 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal to 1 TO in 24 mins. Those are good numbers from our glue guy and utility piece for the minutes. Overall pretty forgettable though and fairly devoid of those "calming" plays that he's made in some of our wins to stop momentum swings.
Kanter: Productive in 18 minutes, 6 for 6 for 12 points and 6 boards. Like every other big, he ran into some issues keeping up with the pace of the Rockets at times, once getting blatantly beat down court for an easy dunk by Capela. He had a really nice run up the court himself for a dunk on the other end though. His hustle is there early but maybe more frequent breaks will help it stay steady. Would that break his rhythm? Not sure, but his game is obvious and doesn't really require much rhythm since he's scoring mainly on post-ups and offensive boards so could be worth a try if we're sticking to him starting.
Jack: 4 and 2 in 20 minutes on 2 of 9 shooting. He has to shoot to keep defenses honest but 9 FGA's in 20 minutes is too much especially when he's awful shooting on the night. This is another "not the night for this guy to have heavy expectations" situation though.
Frank: 26 minutes out there, 1 for 7 from the field. The three ball is what needs to start falling to open things up. He was 0-4 and got some decent to really good looks there but couldn't drop them. He has a habit of picking up his dribble before a cutter finishes his move through the screen and when ball denial is there, Frank is left standing with no dribble and a TO waiting to happen. Off the dribble he's going away from contact which protects the ball but takes away opportunities to both drive and draw fouls. I really suspect that when he starts going into guys chests (the way Harden did to draw Frank's first foul call), things will fall into place like dominoes...but expect an uptick in TO's as well. Now that that's done; the good stuff. 8 assists and 5 steals are the obvious stand out statistics. His ability to create in transition and get others creating in transition is SERIOUS, dude rewards anyone willing to sprint off of a defensive board. That paid with Dotson and will show with Timmy too. His defense on Harden was impressive. This is one of the toughest match-ups in basketball and he stuck to dude really well with the help of quick hands and stretch armstrong reach. Harden got the best of him at times, but overall he made life harder for Harden than any defender we've had on dude for a very long time. I've touched on this before but the deflections aren't a rarity for him, he'll do that day in and day out as long as he's getting minutes. When the offensive tools sharpen up, look out because the IQ and physical tools are obnoxious and the passing is already strong. He's a positive sum player while his jumper isn't falling, he can't beat his man consistently yet and he's picking up his dribble...when those start to fall into place OMG.
Side note: With his wingspan we're an offseason training regiment away from him dunking through somebody the way MJ did to win the legendary Looney Tunes vs Monstars game.
Dotson: 4/5 from the field for 9 points, 3 boards and an assist on top of really aggressive defense that was mainly positive but led to some bad fouls as well. He does everything at full speed. He cuts hard, gets through screens enthusiastically, jumps his highest for rebounds and gets out in transition rapidly...those will lead to positive results more often then not whether the jumper is falling or not. Here's something I wasn't expecting, he knocked down a couple of J's off the dribble like a seasoned vet. The transition game stood out, the jumpers off the dribble were even more exciting. I want him in the rotation.
Doug: 22 mins and there were moments where he had some nice switches and defensive rotations. But he was 2 of 7 for six points with no boards and 2 assists. He had some defensive moments where he rotated late or got caught in the muddle of multi-screen plays from Houston as well. I'd rate this his worst performance so far.
Lance: Not sure what he did for the Beas experiment to continue but he outplayed the dude in this one. 3 points and 7 boards with some solid defensive play. I always get on him for not showing up on the stat sheet so 7 boards is a must note even if some of it was garbage time love. 15 mpg is where I peg his positive impact and he had 14 last night which were more positive than negative.
Willy: Timid on offense, pressing on defense and lacking rhythm everywhere. He had poor chemistry with the rookies who both floated passers to him that he didn't get to or bobbled. Whereas Kanter saw the opportunity to attack as a big; Willy wasn't aggressive even though there was only ever one guy his size out there and most of the time none. Defensively, he got lost in the multitudes of screens more than anyone else from top to bottom. 4 TO's, two on travels...again not good. What really sucks is the confirmation bias here, he had a solid, productive preseason that suddenly became defined by one Hornacek quote about his screens. He's gotten spot treatment so far and has been solid every time out. This game where every big was in a tough spot, the youngest and least experienced big who is also getting inconsistent time out there struggled...bad game? Yes. Doesn't change a damned thing about him needing more minutes for us to know who he is and where he can develop.
KOQ: 12 mins 4 points, 2 boards and his minutes got clipped in the first off two quick fouls, then the second half off of a massive deficit leading to youth line-ups getting looks. His minutes were too low to make bold proclamations but he seemed ready to be his typical solid self. He's getting a bit TO prone though and that's something to keep an eye on as he's been a net positive everywhere else and it'd be easy to ignore that there are places to improve. This one was his most pedestrian outting so far but the minutes meant fewer opportunities to plant his flag.
Beasley: Lazy, sloppy game. Got 6 minutes early and didn't get much else.
Ramon Sessions: He played!? He played!!!!???? I got nothing, I expect him to be cut when Noah gets back so I mentally check out when he's out there.
Hornacek: I always say that I hate coaches letting the opposing line-up dictate their decisions, so I can't hate hard on going traditional here. It's been working. But I'll point it out on nights KP can't get his jumper off, switch KP to the five for a while and try to get him going. Our team only works when KP is scoring right now. Loved to see him give Frank and Dotson time together and how effective they were. I'd like to see him do that in real time more often (did it once in my recollection so far). I liked the quick hook on Beas for Lance. Not a glowing game for the guy but our personnel is kinda tailor made for Houston to pick on. I would love to see him go small ball a bit sooner when these games start to run away from us because small ball can blow up a lead faster than traditional crews.
Lastly: I find Harden's game annoyingly ugly outside of the jumper. Push offs, shoulder down into guys for whistles that he didn't remotely deserve unless they were offensive fouls. But if Frank wants to model after someone, the crafty way Harden draws fouls is made easier with good wingspan.
. I won't lie, I don't give a fukk about the draft, off-season, or anything right now, I'm just basking in the glory of the moment
I wanna see KP drop 40 next game. I wanna see Frank get 5 steals and strip Harden a couple of times, Kanter get 20 and 20, I wanna O'Quinn and Willy bully Capela I don't give a fukk KP for MVVVVPPPPPP
