12/23 Game Thread: Houston (15-14) @ Orlando (16-12) 7PM

[Ducklett]

AG00 with a nuts stat line for 12 minutes played :O

[shadrock]

Fantastic win and a great Christmas present.

2 quick questions:

1. When did the NBA develop the ability to freeze time? I didn't realise you could foul someone and / or tip a ball and it take literally 0.00000 seconds to do either. A fascinating development.

2. Who the hell does JB Bickerstaff think he is? How any Rockets coach can legitimately complain about refereeing in this league is beyond me. James Harden gets more flopping foul calls / gift free throws than any other player.

1 random statement:

So our old pal Dwight Howard wants to play in the league till he's 40. Superstars on other teams who take the game seriously cry. Future baby mommas rub their hands with glee.

That's what Bickerstaff was complaining about. To call a foul there would be so ticky tack, not to mention Vucevic is getting blatantly held by Thornton to try and free up the play also.

Sorry but all i see is Hardens arms around Vic's mid section and Vic doing sweet fk all to him. Harden is a crafty (cheat) player and flails like a b^&ch any time hes touched so they cant cry when the refs turn a blind eye to this kinda ****...

[paperboymafia]

Houston became my least favourite team in the league in 3 hours last night. It's been said in the thread but they are the softest team I've seen in a long time. I also find them boring as anything to watch.

I am also not a fan of Harden. Yeah, he gives you production but he gets in ways that are 1. Cynical 2. Not sportsmanlike 3. Free throws 4. ISO ball.

Yawn. Only reason he gets 4-6 assists on average is because he has the ball *SO* much.

[jgosche]

Tiny reality check. Don't click this. Just enjoy the warm glow of the win!

Spoiler:

We aren't going anywhere this season if we keep giving up 50% from the field.

To be fair, over the last two games some of the shots Harden and Melo were hitting are rediculous. It's hard to hold your opponent to a low score when they have a player who can sink well-defended shot after well-defended shot.

[Knightro]

Nothing sweeter than defeating a team with Dwight Howard on it.

Call me bitter all you want, but I just don't think it's ever going to get old.

[Bergmaniac]

So nice to beat Houston of all teams. Harden is the most whiny little bitch in the league. And the rest of the team isn't much better. Nice to see Evan get some confidence back and hitting the game winner.

[UCFJayBird]

Fantastic win and a great Christmas present.

2 quick questions:

1. When did the NBA develop the ability to freeze time? I didn't realise you could foul someone and / or tip a ball and it take literally 0.00000 seconds to do either. A fascinating development.

2. Who the hell does JB Bickerstaff think he is? How any Rockets coach can legitimately complain about refereeing in this league is beyond me. James Harden gets more flopping foul calls / gift free throws than any other player.

1 random statement:

So our old pal Dwight Howard wants to play in the league till he's 40. Superstars on other teams who take the game seriously cry. Future baby mommas rub their hands with glee.

That's what Bickerstaff was complaining about. To call a foul there would be so ticky tack, not to mention Vucevic is getting blatantly held by Thornton to try and free up the play also.

Sorry but all i see is Hardens arms around Vic's mid section and Vic doing sweet fk all to him. Harden is a crafty (cheat) player and flails like a b^&ch any time hes touched so they cant cry when the refs turn a blind eye to this kinda ****...

C'mon, be fair. Vic does have his right arm wrapped around Harden and is clearly holding on to him, but it's also clear that Harden is deliberately trying to push off from Vic, so I don't blame Vic for holding on to him, and I think that's why the refs let it slide, because they saw both Harden and Vic pushing each other, not just one way or the other (they would never call it on Harden alone).

The refs have a number of options in that instance.

1. Call a double foul before ball is inbounded. No point in that.
2. Call a foul on Victor for holding on to Harden, again before the ball is inbounded. They won't do that because the result is two shots and the ball, which would be an insane call.
3. Call the foul on Victor for holding on to Harden, but while the ball is being inbounded. This is what I think they called when Tobias was fouled. I believe in this instance it's not two shots and the ball, it's just two shots. Refs aren't going to call that as no time expires and Rockets would basically get two shots, no real shot at winning the game. They're also not going to call this because if the Rockets make that 3-pointer after the fact Houston would lose their minds.
4. Call an offensive foul on Harden for pushing off. No way they're calling that, it ends the game for the Rockets and Vic is clearly holding him as well. It'd be a huge controversy.
5. No call, let the ball get inbounded and see what happens.

Should say they also could've called a 5 second violation, pretty sure they went over it.

I think if Harden wasn't trying to push off he might've gotten the two shots and the ball call, but even that would be a pretty bold call by the refs.

I think no call is the right call, but i'm sure a Rockets fan would argue that "players push off all the time in these instances, the holding should have been called". But then they'd also complain if they were only given two shots and not the ball (like with Tobias) because then the Magic could run more time off the clock with an inbound play (assuming they could get the ball in and actually run a bit of clock, lol).

edit: and i'll throw in another call they could've made, a moving screen by Howard off the ball. He's moving all over the place to try and block Oladipo.

[tooler]

If you read the Houston thread, someone brought up the good point that Harden was kind of killing his own screen there by using his left arm on Vic. It was just dumb execution by them. The play took too long anyway as you can see by the 5 second violation.

[rcklsscognition]

Just finished the game. Gordon is pure anarchy on the floor and for whatever reason it is very effective against Houston. I have no doubt it is true that Skiles values is skills highly and that's why he's playing as much as he is despite his incredible ability to completely obliterate just about every set we run. This dichotomy was on full display tonight in all its glory and it was great.

Mario passed up way to many shots trying to be a PG and Oladipo was the opposite. Must have missed a wide open Mario a half dozen times. He seemed to have a very positive effect on the game other than that and was needed to keep us focused on defense.

Tobias and Vuc were very productive tonight and our solid go-tos yet again. Tobias is quietly having a very nice season on both ends of the floor, he is really maturing into a well-rounded player.

[SOUL]

NBA reviewed the calls and J.B. Bitcherstaff was wrong, they said Oladipo and Harden briefly both had contact with each other, and that there were 2 no calls during the game which both should've been fouls on Houston.

TAKE DAT

[rcklsscognition]

Another thing about this game. They shot 17 free throws total. That was our goal for Harden the 1st time we faced them. We held Dwight to 12 points and only two FTAs? Harden to just 6 from the charity stripe? Each day I am more and more impressed with our coaching staff and how well they prepare our team for each game.

[OrlandO]

Another thing about this game. They shot 17 free throws total. That was our goal for Harden the 1st time we faced them. We held Dwight to 12 points and only two FTAs? Harden to just 6 from the charity stripe? Each day I am more and more impressed with our coaching staff and how well they prepare our team for each game.

People complaining about Vuc not getting to the line... meanwhile in the last four games the opposing starting centers have shot a total of 2 free throws.

[drsd]

Nothing sweeter than defeating a team with Dwight Howard on it.

Nothing? I can think of one small thing.