We've seen going small and switching everything on defense work ... But the NBA is all about match ups . Against GS , you almost have to play that way becuase you can't give their shooters any daylight and they don't have a post threat that can punish you . But , we need to play smarter . If we switch a small on Gasol into the post he's going to kill you ... Even if you double because he's a good passer . We need to employ that strategy with more scrutiny. Now as for playing small with Ryan at the 5 ... It's gotta stop . Outside of certain situations where you need to bomb away ... Capela and nene are just superior players . Hell I think they are part of this teams identity . Think about how great Nene was against OKC , how good Clint was against OKC . I there is some truth to what Barkley said the other night ... We are kinda emulating GS ... But that's not our identity . We haven't found our identity yet this year , but I think it should include our big men. At our best James has always made the pick and roll going down hill work ... Due to his own scoring prowess , our centers' finishing ability ..and the threat of shooters. When we put all shooters in it takes away both James' lob/ inside pass and our rim protection . There is no reason in a game vs the Memphis Grizzlies that our centers should get less than the full 48 . Mike needs to get better at recognizing the times for some of his "patented" strategies instead of just relying on them all the time . And even though it was not said in the thread title ... Mike , find someone you can trust to play for 10 minutes and play him . Stop with these 7-8 man rotations ... We only played 7 ( maybe 2 min of nene ) in the second half !? That's not how you keep players fresh and pushing the pace ... They are freaking conflicting strategies . How can guys be playing fast and aggressive the whole game if you never give them a blow ?
Yep... good points... we got all this depth during the offseason but we are barely using it to our full advantage.
Agreed wholeheartedly on all points. There is absolutely no reason Ariza should be playing 40 minutes in a game where he didn't even make one shot from the field. And If I see Nene on a pg even as close to as fast as Mike Conley more than once or twice a game out of necessity again, I'm going to have to .... continue watching and be sad that our defensive scheme is subpar.
Yup! Not sure who's strategy it is, it seems like McHale and JB left some notes behind about their switching strategy and MDA was like: "Alright guys, simple and clean, let's do it!" My biggest fear of going into this season was MDA's coaching and how stubborn he is about playing a short rotation and favours small ball regardless of the circumstances. I still believe Ryan needs to be replaced in the starting line-up. We are not shooting the three well anyway so might as well get more stops in the beginning of the game.
It really is dumb. But do you know what's dumber? During the game earlier, Gasol had Gordon guarding him in the post in the 4th quarter in the last couple of minutes, and Marc passed out to the perimeter! I couldn't believe it. He is such a smart player. It was easily the dumbest play I've seen him make.
This point of the season is all about D’Antoni messing around with the line-ups and doing his due diligence to see what works and what doesn’t. They’re still trying things out.
I think the benefits far outweigh the negatives in terms of switching. Even Anderson is forcing quicker players into long twos. If they make them so be it but in the long run it will keep the other team from scoring over 105 on most nights and that should be enough to win most games especially when you adjust it with the pace we will be playing at soon enough. Our pace was bad last year to start and by years end we were top 3. In not worried about our pace or shooting that will come once cp3 gets back and we get in better shape.
