Yeap, coach nick breaks it down once again. Depressing to watch but perhaps, miraculously, they'll start playing the way the Rockets can and we can get back into the series. We'll find out tomorrow.
So true. As I slammed mchale many times before: you never hold haren accountable on defensive assignment in the reg games, you get the same habitual lazy, half-assed D from him in the playoff. For fans , No D, no superstar respect. For his teammates, they surely will not look up to him as true leader. Don't we all hate playing with guys with zero D effort in school ?
Lol at using data that includes one player only having 3 possessions against LMA. Asik as a PF on offense hurts us which makes his plus/minus of -8 look pretty logical despite doing a nice job on Aldridge in Game 2. To guard a star, you either need a superb defender or a superb scorer that forces him to play defense. We have neither at PF. I'm perplexed why Dmo would not get an opportunity considering the contributions he's made in the season and his ability to stretch the floor.
I don't see anything wrong with the data. He just listed out the possessions in Game 2. I think Asik needs to be on Aldridge more and its only a matter of time before he starts missing those tough shots. Dmo does not have any ability to stretch the floor. However I would have liked to see Aldridge defend him in the post, does tiring him out.
What he said about McHale letting Harden go on defence all season was very poignant. "If he's been allowed to get away with this all season how do you expect him to change now. Its a huge problem for the Rockets."
Statistically true, but if you actually watch the game you will see that Dwight has not been closing out on Aldridge effectively in both games because he wants to guard the rim. This is giving Aldridge easy looks. And you can also see how easy it is for Aldridge to just shoot over Jones, who by the way has been almost as bad at closing out as Dwight. On the flip side, you can see if you watch Asik that he contests every shot and bodies up. Sure, he's getting some (mostly bullsh**) fouls called against him for it, but it's definitely better defensive play whatever the statistics say. It only adds to the case that the statistics, even in a SSS, support the statement that Asik has played LMA better than any other defender on this team. McHale should have started Dwight + Asik from the beginning of the series and put Asik on LMA at the very beginning of the game. LMA is getting into rhythm because he's getting such easy looks. Normally his midrange jumper is an inefficient shot, but it's been money because of how badly we're defending it and how we're letting him get into the zone early on.
Yep. Almost all the shots LMa took where people complained he was wide open, Dwight was on the floor. He gives up too quick when he sees LMa about to shoot, only caring about the offensive boards (which doesn't happen because the shot went in).
He was on point with the lack of defensive awareness of Harden. It's not just lack of effort (which is awful by itself), it's also the fact that he hasn't been coached to even notice what is going on. The Ray Allen three in the game in Miami was identical play where he was in dreamland, with no clue what was going on.
