Hornets vs rockets 7pm est

[316Hornets]

Why didn't Cliff call a timeout and take him out? C'mon man.

[countryboi]

The bench was the issue tonight and kinda has been all season. When ever kemba and to a less extent Dwight leave the floor we can't score or rebound.


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[bravor]

Well. Good night. Sorry for Kemba and starters, they did what they could.

[316Hornets]

I'm worried this team is going to struggle against teams like Houston all season. We just don't have the firepower to answer back when an offensive juggernaut goes up against our good defense. Hacking Dwight is a pretty obvious choice for a team that can drill 3s like Houston..

[Rich4114]

We seemed to hang in there all night but missing the guys we are missing against a team like Houston hurts. You beat a team like Houston defensively and slowing things down to limit their possessions. It looks like we did that at times but couldn’t sustain it. We matchup poorly against them especially with the second unit. Zeller would’ve been great to have for this one and same with Batum.

[ohara]

We hung with them all game. Remember, we are without Cody and without Nick. We are playing strong for being shorthanded. And this will help us late in the season when we have a much deeper bench. Tough loss, but a really good effort against a really good team.

[yosemiteben]

That was not fun to watch after the first quarter.

Making my wife watch did not help, so much for that.

We desperately need Nic back.

I had a moment where I considered what we would do if Kemba got hurt, it was very unpleasant.

[Joest2003]

Outscored by 25 in the second and fourth quarter combined. Bench killed us tonight going 7-30. Props to the starters. Cliff left backups in way too long in the second quarter.

[arthy704]

Not bad considering we don't have Cody and batum. Just gotta close out on shooters and be more aware of screens coming in within the perimeter so they they don't get beat by the 3 in huge gaps. My gosh were Houston shooting lights out like it's nothing.

[Benjamin Linus]

I wasn't able to catch the game last night, but it's hard not to miss Houston's 22/57 from three statline. D'Antoni even said after the game that they should have taken more, plus “they really backed away and they are a very good defensive team. That’s what was left open tonight.”

Are we still going under screens / collapsing the paint while giving up open threes? That made sense in the Big Al era and when the league was less three-point shooting heavy. Teams even attempted the most three pointers against us last season and made them at a good percentage. I figured with having Dwight down low and finally adjusting to where the league has gone we'd do a better job defending the perimeter... or maybe we are they just hit tough shots tonight... I don't know

[Benjamin Linus]

But then again, it's hard to be too down on our defense. It's really the offense that blows. Here's some early stats comparing the dropoff from last season

Last season: 14th offensive efficiency, 8th assist ratio, 1st turnover ratio, 17th TS%
This season: 23rd offensive efficiency, 29th assist ratio, 12th turnover ratio, 22nd TS%

and last year's team was pretty mediocre. Not having Batum and a backup PG really hurts... and not sure yet if Dwight is helping or hurting our offense. But man, we've got to do something to generate better offense.

[Rich4114]

But then again, it's hard to be too down on our defense. It's really the offense that blows. Here's some early stats comparing the dropoff from last season

Last season: 14th offensive efficiency, 8th assist ratio, 1st turnover ratio, 17th TS%
This season: 23rd offensive efficiency, 29th assist ratio, 12th turnover ratio, 22nd TS%

and last year's team was pretty mediocre. Not having Batum and a backup PG really hurts... and not sure yet if Dwight is helping or hurting our offense. But man, we've got to do something to generate better offense.

Who do we have besides Kemba that is a good and consistent shooter? Monk will get there but right now, nothing. At least Frank is looking like he’s going to be a better shooter this year but the rest of our team can’t shoot. Will Batum coming back and MKG playing more help? Well they’re not good shooters either. They help with distribution and defense. Cody will help the most by way of screens and higher % looks for everyone else but this team needs shooters to play offense in this system. The team as currently configured might have too many non shooters.

[amcoolio]

Annoying that the Rockets seemed to take this game personal and played out of their minds, including hitting some ridiculous 3 pointers despite two hands in their face and being super aggressive on D. Whats up with that.

[Snidely FC]

Friday night's win at Charlotte was Houston in technicolor. The Rockets set a record for the fewest 2-pointers attempted in a game, with 28. It was also only the third time in NBA history a team attempted 57 3-pointers or more. The other two occasions? The 2016-17 Houston Rockets.