<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 18px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 16px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: #0000FF;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 16px;    text-decoration: none;}ul {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 16px;}ol {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px;    font-size: 16px;    border-left: 2px solid black;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 12px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;    background-color: #EFEFEF;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ROCKERS.jpg"></figure><h1>How Luc Mbah a Moute can help the Rockets in NBA restart after Thabo Sefolosha’s dropout</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2020-07-01T18:16:16-07:00">July 1st, 6:16pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2020-07-01T18:16:16-07:00">July 1st, 6:16pm</time><address><a>Marty Fenn</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Houston Rockets were quick to reshuffle their roster on Wednesday.</p><p>Veteran swingman Thabo Sefolosha <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1278442081795674113">announced</a> he was opting out of the NBA restart in Orlando. The Rockets—now allowed a replacement player—<a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1278466533220667393">signed</a> Luc Mbah a Moute shortly thereafter.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Houston Rockets F Thabo Sefolosha is opting-out of Orlando restart, sources tell ESPN.</p><p>— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1278442081795674113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2020</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Houston Rockets are planning to sign forward Luc Mbah a Moute, sources tell <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/TheAthleticNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAthleticNBA</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Stadium?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stadium</a>.</p><p>— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1278466533220667393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2020</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Sefolosha made 41 appearances for the Rockets during the regular season, and he <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sefolth01.html">averaged</a> just over two points and two rebounds per game. However, the Swiss native gave the Rockets a strong defensive presence on the wing, averaging 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per 36 minutes.</p><p>The question now becomes: what will Mbah a Moute bring to the table?</p><h2><b>Ideal for small ball?</b></h2><p>At first glance, Mbah a Moute looks like a perfect fit for Houston’s small-ball system.</p><p>The 33-year-old became more comfortable expanding his range to the perimeter in the latter stages of his career, including his last stint with the Rockets.</p><p>Mbah a Moute appeared in 61 games for Houston during the 2017-18 season, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mbahalu01.html">shooting</a> over 36 percent from beyond the arc on 2.8 attempts per game. His familiarity with James Harden and coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-news-mike-dantoni-not-willing-to-risk-it-all-for-8-wins/">Mike D’Antoni’s system</a> also gives him an advantage because he knows how the offense operates.</p><p>Sure, the addition of Russell Westbrook has made for a unique change, but Houston’s offense is still predicated on spacing. Mbah a Moute can play an undersized four-man who can operate in pick-and-pop and hunt for threes on the perimeter.</p><p>While Mbah a Moute is not the most prolific rebounder (something Sefolosha did well in limited minutes), he can still provide something on the glass and serve as another body.</p><h2><b>Defensive playmaker</b></h2><p>Mbah a Moute is not quite the same kind of defensive stalwart as Sefolosha, nor is he as physical.</p><p>However, he can still make plays in the passing lanes. Mbah a Moute averaged 1.2 steals in his last stint with the Rockets. He also posted his second-best defensive box plus-minus margin (+1.4) over the course of a full season.</p><p>Granted, the aforementioned Rockets team was far stingier defensively. That squad had Chris Paul harassing opposing point guards and Clint Capela manning the paint. Both players are gone, with the Rockets now relying on their quickness and ability to switch.</p><p>That said, Mbah a Moute can step in and give Houston some playmaking on the defensive end of the floor, even if in short bursts.</p><h2><b>Depth</b></h2><p>This is hardly a splashy move. None of the players signed over the course of this week are going to put their respective teams over the top, per se.</p><p>But finding a “replacement player” naturally hints at signing someone who offers a similar skill set. The Rockets will hope Mbah a Moute can give them even more shooting while at least approaching Sefolosha’s levels of activity and productivity on the defensive end of the floor.</p><figure class="op-tracker"><iframe><script>  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)  })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');  ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', 'auto');  ga('set', 'campaignSource', 'Facebook');  ga('set', 'campaignMedium', 'Instant Article');  ga('set', 'title', ia_document.title);  ga('send', 'pageview');</script><script type="text/javascript">      window._taboola = window._taboola || [];      _taboola.push({          article: 'auto',          ref_url: 'http://instantarticles.fb.com'      });      !function (e, f, u, i) {          if (!document.getElementById(i)) {              e.async = 1;              e.src = u;              e.id = i;              f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f);          }      }(document.createElement('script'),          document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0],          'https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/clutchpoints-clutchpoints/trk.js',          'tb_loader_script');      if (window.performance) {          if (typeof window.performance.mark == 'function') {            window.performance.mark('tbl_ic');          }        }</script></iframe></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Luc Mbah a Moute can help the Rockets in NBA restart after Thabo Sefolosha’s dropout

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 18px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 16px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: #0000FF;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 16px;    text-decoration: none;}ul {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 16px;}ol {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px;    font-size: 16px;    border-left: 2px solid black;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 12px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;    background-color: #EFEFEF;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Thabo-Sefolosha-speaks-out-on-George-Floyd_s-murder-after-his-own-experience-with-police-brutality-in-2015.jpg"></figure><h1>Rockets’ Thabo Sefolosha speaks out on George Floyd’s killing after his own experience with police brutality in 2015</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2020-05-31T11:17:01-07:00">May 31st, 11:17am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2020-06-02T16:38:10-07:00">June 2nd, 4:38pm</time><address><a>Marty Fenn</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Houston Rockets swingman Thabo Sefolosha spoke to the Associated Press in the wake of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-video-stephen-jackson-makes-passionate-speech-george-floyd-press-conference/">George Floyd’s death on Monday</a> in Minneapolis.</p><p>Sefolosha said he was “horrified” by the video which showed a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck, with Floyd complaining about the inability to breathe. The incident has also brought back some scary personal memories.</p><p>Sefolosha was attacked by a group of New York Police Department officers outside of a nightclub in April of 2015, suffering a broken leg as a result.</p><p>While the four police officers involved in the incident were fired, Sefolosha reiterated the feeling that police departments around the country need reforming (via <a href="https://apnews.com/fd6d2878a872ab495f5c0e6f0c3b5781">Tim Reynolds of the AP</a>):</p><p> </p><figure class="op-tracker"><iframe><script>  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)  })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');  ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', 'auto');  ga('set', 'campaignSource', 'Facebook');  ga('set', 'campaignMedium', 'Instant Article');  ga('set', 'title', ia_document.title);  ga('send', 'pageview');</script><iframe>    <script type="text/javascript">        window._taboola = window._taboola || [];        _taboola.push({            article: 'auto',            ref_url: 'http://instantarticles.fb.com'        });        !function (e, f, u, i) {            if (!document.getElementById(i)) {                e.async = 1;                e.src = u;                e.id = i;                f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f);            }        }(document.createElement('script'),            document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0],            'https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/clutchpoints-clutchpoints/trk.js',            'tb_loader_script');        if (window.performance) {          if (typeof window.performance.mark == 'function') {            window.performance.mark('tbl_ic');          }        }    </script>    </iframe></iframe></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rockets’ Thabo Sefolosha speaks out on George Floyd’s killing after his own experience with police brutality in 2015

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 18px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 16px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: #0000FF;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 16px;    text-decoration: none;}ul {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 16px;}ol {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px;    font-size: 16px;    border-left: 2px solid black;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 12px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;    background-color: #EFEFEF;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure data-feedback="fb:likes"><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/thumbtemp22-3.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni says Thabo Sefolosha may play some center this season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2019-10-27T16:48:04-07:00">October 27th, 4:48pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2019-10-27T16:48:22-07:00">October 27th, 4:48pm</time><address><a>Joseph Nocco</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/adnw_request?placement=1709097162682630_1935907953334882&amp;adtype=banner300x250" width="300" height="250"></iframe></figure></header><p>Head coach Mike D’Antoni’s <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sports/nba/houston-rockets">Houston Rockets</a> are even more stacked than usual. The Western Conference franchise added former <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sports/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder">Oklahoma City Thunder</a> point guard <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sports/nba/players/Russell-Westbrook/b3770983">Russell Westbrook</a> to the fold. However, it is no secret that outside of big man <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sports/nba/players/Clint-Capela/bd1809cf">Clint Capela</a> and a few other players, the Rockets are guard-heavy at the moment, which means a versatile role could be incoming for veteran swingman <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/tag/thabo-sefolosha/">Thabo Sefolosha.</a></p><p>The aforementioned D’Antoni recently said Sefolosha could even see some time at the center position this season.</p><blockquote>“Why not? I think it’s basketball,” <a href="https://twitter.com/SalmanAliNBA/status/1188524180750393344">Sefolosha told reporters over the weekend, via ClutchPoints’ own Salman Ali</a>. “I love being on the court. I love playing my minutes in whatever position it is. I’m willing to do the work. Playing the five would be a new thing for me. The game is changing. Positions get more and more blurry. I’m just excited about the opportunity.”</blockquote><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe class="no-margin"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mike D'Antoni said he may use Thabo Sefolosha at center at some point this season.</p><p>— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SalmanAliNBA/status/1188522778657472512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2019</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></iframe></figure><p>To add some context to this ongoing situation, Sefolosha typically plays at either the shooting guard or small forward positions as he stands at 6’7″ tall.</p><p>Known more as a “three and D” guy, according to the current trends in the NBA, Sefolosha has always been able to score as needed while his defensive prowess has kept his floating around the league for quite sometime now.</p><p>However, it remains to be seen as to how he ultimately stacks up defensively against players that stand a few inches taller than he does. Mike D’Antoni will explore this tension point.</p><figure class="op-tracker"><iframe><script>  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)  })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');  ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', 'auto');  ga('set', 'campaignSource', 'Facebook');  ga('set', 'campaignMedium', 'Instant Article');  ga('set', 'title', ia_document.title);  ga('send', 'pageview');</script><iframe>    <script type="text/javascript">        window._taboola = window._taboola || [];        _taboola.push({            article: 'auto',            ref_url: 'http://instantarticles.fb.com'        });        !function (e, f, u, i) {            if (!document.getElementById(i)) {                e.async = 1;                e.src = u;                e.id = i;                f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f);            }        }(document.createElement('script'),            document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0],            'https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/clutchpoints-clutchpoints/trk.js',            'tb_loader_script');        if (window.performance) {          if (typeof window.performance.mark == 'function') {            window.performance.mark('tbl_ic');          }        }    </script>    </iframe></iframe></figure></article>    </body></html>

2019-20 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
2.2	2.3	0.6	0.3	0.6

2019-20 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
2.2	2.3	0.6	0.3	0.6

Thabo
Sefolosha

How Luc Mbah a Moute can help the Rockets in NBA restart after Thabo Sefolosha’s dropout

Rockets’ Thabo Sefolosha speaks out on George Floyd’s killing after his own experience with police brutality in 2015...

Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni says Thabo Sefolosha may play some center this season...