Yeah I don't think it's a great play against 50% shooters like Smith and Dwight. In fact, I think Dwight shoots about 53% so it's really not a good play. It's guaranteed points in the long run, with no chance of a turnover or empty possession on average. Plus it puts the fouling teams players in foul trouble. Go back and look at the box score of the last Rockets-Spurs game and look at all the guys with 4 and 5 fouls in a 1 point game that easily could've gone to OT. It will not work against the Rockets so I too welcome it.
With the vote so close, I think we can all agree on a beneficial Game 7, so rooting for Clips next game.
Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli, Green, Ginobli, and Kahwi Leonard scare the crap out of me. Im not even including Tony Parker and Duncan. This team is loaded for another championship run. Sadly they won't get past the Rockets.
As you saw today it matters. Championship team always plays 10% harder when it counts or smarter in that case.
A. I didn't think Aminu did a good job. Harden was well above his averages in the three games Aminu guarded him, and the Rockets went 2-1. B. Parker played like **** last game. Still I agree he will be scary, but between him and Paul? Yeah, I'm picking Parker. C. Not sure what you're saying here, but... Okay? D. God I hope so. Why do Spurs fans post here? Seems strange to me.
Harden dropped 28/8 on 65%TS. Parker is hurt and Joseph doesn't even play. Dwight gives Duncan more trouble than anyone. In fact, the biggest mismatch in the series is the Rockets bigs vs the Spurs bigs. Hacking makes for boring games, but it's not really an effective strategy.
Not only that, but there is a relatively high probability of an offensive rebound, which could turn into a 3- to 4-point possession. Plus, it almost guarantees that our defense will be set and ready on the next Spurs' play. Plus, we've gotten pretty close to an and-1 on some of those possessions. It's just an awful, awful strategy. I'm almost glad that Smith and Dwight are exactly as poor of FT shooters as they are since it baits coaches who are bad at math and/or critical thinking into hacking them.
I'm not sure what this has to do with my post, but... yeah, that would be a problem. Couldn't the same thing be said of any star on either team? I'm not sure what you're getting at.
Mismatch?! Duncan, Diaw and Splitter vs. Howard, Smith and Jones? If nothing else, I'd call that even. Don't think the Rockets will be going "lob city" like they did [at times] in this series. "Not an effective strategy" until the Rockets miss 10-12+ free throws. Hate the match up, that's all. Absolutely hate it.
Ok, having watched the final minutes of the Spurs-Clippers game just now, I'm changing my previous thoughts and now want to play the Spurs. (And not just because a Texas sweep would be awesome.) Dwight has been the dominant force in our series win over the Mavs. The Spurs have no answer for him. The Clippers are one of the few teams that can match him physically, and we can't have him neutralized. The Spurs' coaching, consistency, FT%, and 3PT% favor them, but as long as we can make our free throws, then we can pound the paint if our threes aren't falling. It's literally going to come down to free throws for the rest of the playoffs. We make them, and we can physically overpower the Spurs. We don't, and we can't beat anyone from here on out.
I'm saying....we have too many bigs that can't hit there free throws.... The Hack-A-XXXX strategy is going to be a huge problem for us... We have some time off until our first 2nd rd game....i wonder if somehow we can improve our FT's....it's what really scares me about the rockets...the free throws
Yeah, it can work once in a while when you get lucky (or the Rockets get unlucky), just like any other bad strategy. But it is objectively, mathematically an AWFUL strategy with shooters like Smith or Dwight.
We won't improve our FTs, and we don't need to. I mean it would be nice, but then Pop might not hack us as much, sooo... But yeah, if Dwight got hurt, and Dorsey had to play heavy minutes, then the strategy would become pretty effective/scary... Hopefully that won't happen.
