CFTXAG10 said:

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House balling out for RGV

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He finished the game as the leader in Min, Pts, Reb, Assists, Stls.

He has put on a few lbs and looks like a stretch 4.

If Ryno gets injured for any significant time I think they could give House a shot.

Speaking of Ryno, I wonder if he is available tonight after leaving with the back problems on Sunday.

Rockets don't play defense is a myth.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/all-of-a-sudden-the-rockets-are-dominant-on-defense-too/

We have played less games to this point than most teams, but we will make up for it. We have 7 back to backs in Feb and Mar.

Dan Scott said:

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Rockets don't play defense is a myth.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/all-of-a-sudden-the-rockets-are-dominant-on-defense-too/

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Good read. It's amazing how many good defenders we have now. Ariza, Paul, Mbah Moute, Tucker, Capela, Nene are all above average.

Which is the majority of the rotation.

That's a well-written article that brings up a few good points that probably don't really surprise any of us, the transition defense and turnovers need to be cleaned up.

The only issue I have with it is this statement:

Quote:

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And even though the Rockets have had no issues getting stops in half-court situations, there are indications that they've been the beneficiaries of good fortune at times. Only three teams (Cleveland, Orlando and New York) are surrendering higher-quality shots than Houston, according to data from Second Spectrum.

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They don't post the data that they based this on and I can't find any data that has that combination of teams ranked near each other or a "quality shots" metric. I have heard that there is a metric for it, called quantified shooting quality from Second Spectrum, but I don't believe it is publicly available or if it is I cannot find it. It is supposed to take into account shot location, shot type (ie catch and shoot, drive, etc), and closest defender distance to determine the quality of the shot.

HotardAg07 said:

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Good for him. I really liked Danuel at A&M and would have loved to see him in a Rockets uniform long term but this is a much better situation for him.

He may even get to play with how young the Suns are.

This game with Utah was predictably ugly early but Rockets got rolling in the late second continuing in the third in a MAAAAAAJOR way. This team is scary. Ryno absolutely on fire, hitting shots from 6 feet behind the 3 point line drawing no iron multiple times

And Hardens 4-pointers

Road Ryno is a real thing and it's a thing of beauty when it's all going.

Another CP3 game, another bludgeoning. This time a road game against a playoff team. Good night, guys

This team is filthy

Another day, another W

Rollin

Screw the jizz

Love seeing the Jazz get pounded in the 2nd half.

We're 28% through the regular season pacing for 68-14. This team may be more than good.

You have to go back to October 30th for the last time the Rockets had a final score withing 10 points of the opponent. That was a loss to the 76ers.

No we got blown out at home against Toronto two weeks ago I believe. That was our last game without Paul.

That loss was a 16 point blowout though. I'm saying the Rockets haven't won or lost a game by 10 points or less since 10/30.

What the F is going on with the Thunder. They lost to Brooklyn last night. In some ways, I'm terrified we'll match up with them first round of the playoffs, but they still don't even have a playoff seed!

Seems like a smart bet they'll eventually figure it out, but Jesus they lose to some miserable teams.

(Work is very slow right now, so let's dive into the Thunder)

The main problem with the Thunder is that they are inefficient on offense right now. According the Cleaning the Glass, they are 21st in offensive efficiency. However, they are 25th in eFG%, so I expect that number to improve over the course of the year. Looking at individual stats, there is an argument that their eFG% is exactly where it should be however (this season's number from CtG, career numbers from Basketball Reference):

• Westbrook's eFG% this season is 45.3% and for his career is 46.2%
• PG13: 50.4% this season, 50.2% for his career
• Melo: 47.6% this season, 48.2% for his career

So it isn't like their shooting is some crazy outlier and when volume and inefficiencies meet, that spells trouble. However, if they manage to get it figured out on the offensive end, look out because their defense is really good right now. They're second in the league only to Boston in defensive efficiency and are forcing the highest percentage of turnovers in the league.

To put it a little more plainly, let's look at their record when giving up more or less than 100 points:

• Opponent scores 100+ points: 2-9
• Opponent scores less than 100 points: 9-4

Now their offense:

• Thunder scores 100+ points: 9-5
• Thunder scores less than 100 points: 2-8

They seem more like team with no chemistry and no fit. Kind of like us back in 2015-16 when we fired mchale.

When I watch them, seems like their issue is mostly still Russ and to a lesser extent Melo. They're too content to settle for ISOs which result in bad shots - a lot of contested midrange shots and what not. When they move the ball well and run Donovan's offense they look great, but it seems like they devolve into Russ hero ball more often than not. However, Russ isn't playing with a scrap heap this year -- he needs to do a better job. Russ is also terrible off the ball. He just stands around out of the play, no cutting or setting screens or anything. I think he's just proving to everyone that his hunting triple doubles last year was to some extent at OKC's detriment. The players that OKC traded away are all looking better than they did at any point playing with Russ -- and that's a huge indictment to Russ, because everyone that joined OKC is looking like a lesser version of themselves. Not just PG and Melo but also Patrick Patterson.

Russ is taking less shot this year (19.9 vs 24 last year) but he is actually shooting a worse %. Count me as not shocked that Russ doesn't mix great with Carmelo.

I haven't seen the Thunder play much this season but I have to imagine it is a whole lot of back to the basket fall aways for Carmelo and a whole lot of jacked up 3s and long midrange for Russ.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/11/27/16702738/nba-russell-westbrook-oklahoma-city-thunder-problem

That's the best diagnosis I've seen. People want to blame melo because they just don't like Melo. But, Melo isn't the biggest problem. It's russ.

http://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Bouncer-sentenced-to-35-years-for-beating-Moses-12415728.php?utm_campaign=twitter-mobile&utm_source=CMS%20Sharing%20Button&utm_medium=social

Don't you dare call out the mvp and me triple double.

Mr.Bond said:

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http://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Bouncer-sentenced-to-35-years-for-beating-Moses-12415728.php?utm_campaign=twitter-mobile&utm_source=CMS%20Sharing%20Button&utm_medium=social

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I know this was a serious crime but 35 years seems crazy. There are crimes where actual deaths occur that don't get anywhere near that.