ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Lakers 4/18/2026 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 1)

Sengun averaged 20/9/6 as a reserve while Chet averaged as a main all star 17/8/1 lol

 

Shook, I’m gonna miss you when you disappear because you tune out everything Rockets/NBA/sports media related

 

It's just so frustrating.

Both Ime and Stone just suck.

They don't solve any problem.

 

The point is JJ knew how to maximize the roster while Udoka didnt. Just showed you concrete examples of this.

If Udoka was Lakers coach Kennard def wont get 36 mins cuz he sucks at defense.

 

Yes, keep it coming.

 

Chet is one of the best defending big men in the league and has a way better TS% and more efficient on offense and actually hit 3s.. Sengun's glaring weaknesses hurt the team. Poor defending big man who can only score inside and even then he'll brick most of his wide open bunnies if he woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day.

 

it's how a cope. i just turn off the tv.

 

I just know how much a bad coach can hold back a team. That's all. You're asking why players aren't playing well offensively under Ime, players usually don't. Celtics fans had all the same complaints under Ime. The exact same ones lol. Harder to play well in a disjointed offense.

Rosters can look poorly constructed when you have a coach that doesn't understand how to utilize players...and you see proof of that when Udoka would put out KD out there with 4 other guys who can't score and expect KD to carry it all or how he constantly has Alpi operating at the top of the floor. Just wide open examples of him not knowing where and how to move players.

I'll keep bringing up the example of how under Mark Jackson, Draymond Green was a three and D wing player struggling and on his way out of the league and Kerr saw that SAME player and saw a guy he could run plays through and as a small ball center. That's the power of coaching.

Maybe the roster is poorly constructed but I know one thing for sure. Ime wouldn't know what to do with a properly constructed roster any way.

EDIT: Also, bring Giannis here, keep Ime...all we would have done is given up all of our assets and still have an ugly offense and still lose to OKC, SAS, and whoever else passes us by.

 

If just efficiency matters why isnt Kennard annall star? He been leading the league in 3 pt %.

Production matters too you dont just ignore 3 pts 1 reb 5 ast.

Sengun has a bad offensive coach of course his efficiency would suffer. I dont get the Sengun bad defender at all an actual coach analyzed his D said it wasnt bad just bad coaching yet again.

 

Exactly. People just dont get how much a bad coach tanks the team.

This is esp true since our core is a bunch of 23 yr olds. Look at the Suns they got Jordan Ott and. went from lotto to play off team even if they lost KD for Jalen and Brooks. Meanwhile these two players couldnt beat GSW last year while they did this year.

 

I’m just honest with all my assessments. Many here say nothing when he performs poorly and give him a pass while heavily criticizing and even disrespecting other players including a hall of famer. JG did not get that benefit of the doubt after year 2. Neither did Jabari or Tari. All players should be critiqued equally. All players’ deficiencies should be highlighted.

Having said that I think Reed could still be a serviceable or good role player and I hope he continues to grow

 

Yea but then you hop right into the gas chamber by logging on here.

 

Can’t believe I paid money to go that game to watch whatever the hell that was. On me honestly

 

Once I found out that Durant wasn’t playing, I thought “Well, the Rockets task got that much harder but they can do it.” Then I watched them run their “offense” and I had to turn it off. They are literally no fun to watch when they have the ball. No cutting, no set plays, just iso ball and the guys they have out there are just not good enough. I mean Amen can go one on one with anyone but he still can’t make an outside shot. Reed Sheppard was ridiculously expected to make up for the loss of Durant and Sengun? I don’t know why he wasn’t more in the post - having him at the top of the key initiating the offense was beyond stupid. We can still win this series but it is not going to happen if Durant doesn’t play.

And look I have ZERO hope of the Rockets beating OKC in the second round, but for the love of GOD, do not lose to the Lakers missing 2 of their best players in the 1st round. I would prefer the Rockets didn’t even make the playoffs if their fate is to lose to 41 year old LeBron and a bunch of journeymen and role players.

 

If Jalen Green continues to play much better, especially at OKC...maybe some people should back off on wanting to blow the entire team up...but man I'm with all the anti-Ime guys. I just can't see this team getting better with him as coach and its going to continue to ruin the offensively development of the team.

I'll be fair, I think Ime is a good defensive coach. Actually Jalen gets picked on a lot in the Suns games I see but that wasn't really the case here, Jalen was pretty consistently a solid defender last season? Looks like he's slipped and obviously the team always has good defensive stats and players like Tari and Amen have been outright amazing at times (Tari less so this year) but offense is far more important than defense in this league and the defense is just not elite enough to overcome the garbage offense.

 

Yeah you are 100% right on that...but I've been consistent. I've been defending Jabari, JG, Amen, and Sengun for most of their time here. People were ready to give up on many of these players year 2. I remember arguing with people who said the Magic had a brighter future than the Rockets...yeah, about that....

I think many people just want that instant star like Luka, Cade, Wemby...we clearly missed the #1 pick in the wrong drafts, that's not the team's fault...but many star players take a good 3-5 years to really reach that star level. It is what it is. I do think it's a bit too late to expect Sengun and Bari to be elite players...I think Amen has shown growth from year to year...we'll see with Reed and where he is at next season.

I think many fans are just bitter we didn't get Cade or Wemby (no one is thirsting for Paolo anymore lol) and just take it out on our own players and that has mainly been Jalen and Jabari, they got a lot of hate those rebuilding years.

Team is still very talented. If they were in the east, they'd be threat for the ECF, they are better than a lot of those teams over there, just not better than the best teams in the West so its frustrating being stuck behind OKC and Denver and then frustrating watching the Spurs pass you up...

But if we had Wemby we'd also be a lot better too so...yeah.

 

They wont lose this series as Udoka will force KD to play and save his ass. Unless AR and Luka come back Rox should still win.

 

Charles Barkley:
"That's the way they play offense. They just play one-on-one basketball. It's better when it's Kevin Durant and Sengun, but they don't run plays, it's like everybody goes one-on-one. You look at that game, you're like what are they doing? They're just; whoever gets it, shoots it, but if you look at them through the entire regular season, we said, they don't have a point guard, but they didn't have Kevin Durant to cover up all their flaws, and, like, I have no idea what kind of offense they're running. Whoever gets it just jacks it up, anywhere, anytime. Everybody's got a green light"

He also said,

"There's no reason, what they were doing out there tonight, it was awful to watch offensively"

 

Yeah I agree they’re bitter and that turns to resentment and hate. We had bad luck in our drafts coming up short. And that might be the legacy for Stone and Udoka and these Rockets. Coming up just short of being a dominant team.

 

Any Rockets fans there? How was the vibe.