I agree how everyone shoves aside the positives of 2Pat - Patterson plays very very good team defense, and is very disciplined on that end. He lacks the tenacity and ball tracking to be an elite rebounder, and is going to be at a size disadvantage against the elite bigs (Dirk, LMA, Griffin), and doesn't really have the elite offensive arsenal to make those players pay at the other side of the floor that a PF like Melo or Love could. His shooting could have been a complement to Howard on the offensive end, but on the defensive end in a series like this one, I dont see Patterson really upgrading the defensive end against a LMA/Lopez or Griffin/DJ or Gasol/Randolph type of matchup any more than Jones does, and I think Jones actually has the ability to make those matchups work more in his favor on the offensive end by attacking the basket like a guard, running the floor on the break, etc. Id love to have 2Pat back for this playoff run because of the things he brings, but on the defensive end with this particular matchup, I dont see the match-ups being any less of a matchup problem.
They might not but they do have their own weaknesses. Our perimeters defense was a cause for us losing that game. We couldn't keep Lillard for getting to the rim, Matthews was going to work on Harden in the feaking post and Batum hit some clutch shots when they needed him too. You cannot always follow the stat line because it doesn't tell the entire truth. Mchale coaching is another reason why we lost this game. Dude can not draw up a creative play that would result into a bucket. Harden I guess was wore out because he was settling for jumpers instead of attacking the rim in crunch time. The Blazers didn't even have LMA or Lopez in the freaking game. And finally Howard missing all those freethrows in which would have sealed the victory. Why McHale didn't take him out is crazy, this is not the regular season. Should have put Asik back in the game then brought Howard back in after the 2 minute mark.
Against a scorer like LMA, you keep him out of the paint as much as possible and let him shoot that 17-20 footer with a hand contest that he has to shoot over. You let him score 50 as long as he is shooting all 17-20 footers. Once again, in case you missed it, LaMarcus was 5 for 14 outside the paint last night. Inside the paint, LaMarcus was 12 for 17. So we can talk about mixing up the looks we gave him. We did mix it up. We played Jones on him. And we played Garcia on him. And we played Parsons on him. And we played Harden on him. And against all those guys he dropped his a... and took them into the low blocks and killed them. And the answer is not to double him either. The answer is to put Asik on him mano on mano and let Asik deal with him. Asik will force him to shoot a much higher percentage of his shots from long range and those will be contested jumpers where Lamarcus has to arc the shot over Asik's long arm. While doing this, LaMarcus' points in the paint are minimized and his efficiency is minimized. We don't mind LaMarcus scoring 40. We want him to have to do it on a high volume of low-percentage shots while we trade all the perimeter players.
Asik couldn't stop him either. Did you even watch the game holic? You act like it is easy to keep LMA out the paint. You didn't see Asik getting into foul trouble trying to contain LMA? You can ignore me all you want pimp lol im still going to tell you are wrong when you are wrong.
I agree with this somewhat. About the stat line - the stat line in this game makes it look like Jones got torched when really it was Asik, Howard, Harden, Parsons, and Jones that got torched when they were on LMA, and Jones actually didn't do bad with his duties in those match-ups when they played him off of LMA. Lopez had just 3 offensive rebounds this game when I was worried he'd have 5 to 10 if Jones was guarding Lopez & Howard/Asik were on LMA. Last night was sort of a perfect storm against the Rockets - -Hack a Howard actually worked -McHale got out-coached -Harden had a bad shooting night -foul trouble/bad reffing -Portland shooters went off -defense look ill prepared for a playoff game I've conceded a long time ago that the young PF rotation this year would be a weakness, but its a weakness that pales in comparison to everything else that CAN ACTUALLY BE FIXED. McHale can make better coaching decisions, Lin & Harden can get better at the defensive end, the team can close out shooters better, and pay more attention to their assignments, Howard can work on his free throws. What couldn't happen, and what never was going to happen was Kevin Love or Carmelo Anthony were not walking through the doors of the Toyota Center in Rockets red, and even then.... Does anyone believe Kevin Love or Melo were going to slow down LMA on the defensive end anyways??.... Kevin Love who is about as bad on the defensive end as James Harden is. Scoring points wasn't ever going to be the problem for the Rockets. Its getting stops at the end of the day that matters, and the #1 offenders at that end have nothing to do with whose manning the post.
There are plenty if ways to stop lma... Adjustments will be made. That's how you win a series.. It is about adjustment. Not just plugging in one player.
LOL. Asik was put on LMA minutes into the game, and Asik immediately got scored on and picked up 3 ticky tack fouls in the first quarter which killed the Rockets big man rotation. Yeah, what he's saying philosophically is true. Asik is an elite defender.... thats great. But that doesn't mean that elite offensive talent wont still beat Asik one-on-one anyways, and Asik will make LMA work any more than Jones would on the other end.
Thank you playboy, holic is on one today. Putting different defenders on him one on one isn't switching your tactics. I do agreed that you give him the 12 - 17 footer all he can eat.
Paraphrasing. Barkley told Shaq that elite defense can not stop an elite offensive player. Your best bet is to make that elite offensive player work and that's on both sides of the court. Jones tried to make LMA work on the defensive side. But LMA confidence against us is too high. Lol someone already eluded to this quick and hard double teams. Make someone else beat you.
Youre Wrong LMA can't put the ball on the floor and beat you like other PF's, therefore Asik can guard him and guard him well. Did you watch the game? You must have missed the 3 fouls they called on him for standing still while setting a pick, literally standing still.
Big timer you are right on the money with your assessments. We have to throw different looks at LMA. The one that I think will help out the most is the hard quick double team, force LMA to get rid of the ball. The same with Lillard McHale should told his guys in crunch time to hard quick double and force him to pick up his dribble and pass the ball.
Dude I watched the entire game, like Dobro stated LMA went him once he came into the game and scored with ease. Asik picked up 3 quick fouls period. And what are you talking about, didn't he not put the ball on the floor and got to the rim, didn't he not hit a lot of jumpers ( a few being lucky, didn't he not get a lot of put back layups and didn't he not back his man down and shot over the top of them. He was freaking SIZZLING HOT, nobody was stopping him last night.
defensively jones sucked (which isnt new against LMA) but he played well otherwise and probably played the best he has all season against portland. problem is that Jones is just too small to contest LMA who is taller than him and has such a high release point making his shots even harder to block. Jones has the quickness to stay with Aldridge but doesnt have the lower body strength (the way Hayes did) to be able to stop him from backing in and cause a bit of discomfort for Aldridge This is in no way Jones' fault at all but if he is able to reproduce what he did on the scoreboard and on the glass for the rest of the series I'll be really happy. Hopefully Howard and Asik wont be in foul trouble to guard LMA more
LMA creamed his pants every time T-Jones checked-in. Are you kidding me? T-Jones on LMA should not happen, just like Parsons on Lillard. I swear, this team is like defense by committee!!! What's next... Dwight says "I'll guard LMA" Harden says "I'll guard Lillard" McHale says "Oh OK" So DAMN CLUELESS!!!
Asik got one foul while defending Aldridge, one. Not 3....... one. The only player on this roster that can effectively defend LaMarcus Aldridge is Omer Asik.
And how many of those teams match Harden at shooting guard? It's give and take. Our stars have to be better than their stars no matter what and that is the bottom line. Jones needs to outplay Lopez and he did. Let me fix this statement for you: If we lose this series it will be because Harden and Howard got outplayed by Aldridge and Lillard. You are welcome.
Every one of those teams has defenders that are going to give Harden hell. Harden is going to get his but his #'s are going to get watered down from the regular season. That is what we have to do to LaMarcus or we go home.
I disagree. At the Harden talent level those guys stop themselves. There is no Harden stopper. Elite offense beats elite defense in the NBA. Every time.
I have no idea which game htownballer was watching. He sounds like a stoner and probably got high on 4/20. Asik only picked up 1 foul guarding aldridge. The refs took him out of the game by calling those bogus moving screens they called to get yao out of the game. They dont allow us to set screens, and they will put our bigs in foul trouble if they do. Remember, aldridge scored two mid range jumpers on asik AFTER he got it rolling against t jones. Once aldridge got dialed in he had it rolling. You can not let him get easy baskets and makes early. Dare him to shoot (just not off the pick and pop when he is in rhythm and setting is feet/moving to the basket). I dont think aldridge makes those if asik or howard start off guarding him and once those misses are in the back of his head he will not demand the ball so much. The last thing you do is let a player like aldridge build his confidence early. It going to be a long night if you do. Dwight/asik need to stand their ground and get a hand up when he commits to shooting. Stay on the ground and close out. That simple.
Jumping a few times after he gets the shot up will also make him play hesitant because he wont know how his man is guarding him. Aldridge is good at reading his man.
