I've been scratching my head on how we can win this series given how utterly dominated we've been in so many aspects. And my thinking was we need to find a way to dominate the boards and the inside. But the problem has been that Harden's inside attack has been shut down. That monster Jordan is killing us and neutralizing Harden. I think our only chance is not to fear Jordan and instead double down and attack the rim (and him) relentlessly. If we can't hack a Jordan because of his foul shooting is high enough to make it ineffective right now, then get him in foul trouble. Take Jordan out of the game and all of a sudden Harden can drive to the hoop and do his thing. Howard has no one who can jump over him or push him out. Big Baby can't sustain play for a long stretch. We should spend the first quarter tomorrow relentless attacking Jordan by forcing him to rotate to a guy attacking the basket. He'll get blocks for sure, but hopefully we can get a few fouls on him and get him out of the game.
I agree that strategic priority number 1 needs to be to get Jordan out of the game. Attacking him to try to get him in foul trouble should probably bw the first tactic to accomplish that. If that doesn't work, I'd like to see us try a crazy small lineup, something like Pablo-Jet-Harden-Brewer-Ariza to pull him out of the paint while just going Hack-a-Jordan on the other end.
U making Jordan sound like Mutomobo Just move the ball quickly and actually force Jordan to move so when you drive , you either take the layup or lob it to dwight. Problem is Harden just holds the ball too long and straight line drives are the easiest to stop. Just look how the Rockets played in the 3rd in Game 2. Moved the ball and got open cuts to the basket
Offense is not the problem... Do u know what gets eliminated when our D is so ****, our transition O , and when we are not getting TOs a lot of our offensive production disappears because we excel at the break, its the best thing about this offense, and its invisible this series because our D has been so bad. Send a message thats your actually watching these games and SIT terry and maybe Jones....Brewer Ariza and harden have to start together its that simple, but its doubtful since we have a coach with the basketball mind of a mouse
Agree with your post. I remember in the second game when Jordan go out with foul trouble in the first half , they showed on TV that we are + 18 . They need to get him in foul trouble so that we can attack inside more or hack him so that they cannot run their offense. They have their run in game one and three that ended up being a blow out when they move the ball around. When the team on a roll like that during the stretch of the game , you need to hack Jordan in order to disrupt their flow and stop the run if they decide to keep him in or if they take him out then you have the chance to attack and get back in the game. Hopefully the Rockets learn something from those losses .
Dude we are getting crushed on both ends. And Jordan is the lynch pin: The guy is a +36 last game. He's the one killing us. On both ends he's causing problems. You got to get him out of the game. And please don't tell me I'm not watching the game. Who the heck are you???
i was talking about Mchale actually watching the game bro relax....dont know why everyone on here is so defensive, aim here to talk basketball not take jabs at you.....i agreed about Jordans impact which is y i wanted to play SA , but we can take him out of the game with hackajordan its not that hard, but our coach has no tricks up his sleeve, he's clueless when the 1st quarter starts till the bitter end of our team quitting halfway through the 4th.... even then he still plays the starters LOL god help us
You can't hack-a-Jordan with Howard or Smith on the floor. If you Hack-A-Jordan, they will do the hack the other way around. Then you have Jordan who is shooting a higher percentage than Smith basically exchanging free throws. It won't work. McHale was right to see this and give up on Hack-A-Jordan. We lose a free throw contest of Jordan vs. Dwight or Jordan vs. Smith. Those guys have to be able to make more free throws than Jordan. The only way you could do hack-a-jordan is have a line-up where Jones plays center and brewer at PF. Talk about small ball.
This is simply not true.....Howard shoot FTs at a better clip than Jordan, we have 4 years of data to show this Smith on the other hand is a diff question but its y i suggested he starts the game and bring Tjones off the bench... let him have one assignment and thats guard BG, he's good when he only has one assignment his brain gonna accept I would take a howard vs jordan FT contest all day instead of watching them just torch us with grade B players....and for you to say Mchale was right to avoid hack-a-jordan....oh boy
One game at a time. Starts with a must-win in game 4 on the road and instantly we get home court advantage back.
Starting Smith is intriguing, but he has to calm down a bit. He's trying to do much when he's in there. McHale has basically benched him the last two games in the second half. Might be able to change up Harden's rest period in the first half. He sits out the first 5-6 minutes and the Clips immediately Hack Smith and Howard when he comes back. Harden basically can't get a rhythm in the 2nd quarter because of this. Maybe give him the last 3-4 minutes of the 1st quarter and 1-2 of the 2nd and allow him to get into rhythm in the 2nd. Do the same in the second half. He'd get more usage than what he has been and would force the Clips to match.
I think you have to keep attacking Jordan and force him to make sound defensive moves. He goes for the block often and its easy to get him in the air. We need more than just Harden willing to jump into guys for fouls, and it seems like feeding Dwight and Jones on Jordan and forcing Jordan to consistently make defensive plays would get him into foul trouble. I actually dont think this is the main problem. Frankly, we really need our 'other' guys to step up. We cant live with Ariza missing wide open shot after wide open shot. Corey Brewer has to figure out how to contribute if he's not on a fast break. Josh Smith has got to hit open jumpers. Howard HAS to be able to shoot 60% from the FT strip and cant afford to keep going 0-2 at FT line trips. If I'm McHale I might even turn to Capela early in the 2nd/3rd. Reason being that if the Clippers are not in the penalty, I doubt they go hackathon vs. Capela and if they do, we sub him out when they get to the bonus. When he's in, it gives Dwight some rest and he provides a change of pace big man. I really think if Austin/Paul keep having their way you turn to Johnson and hope he has a better chance of staying in front of them. Nothing against Brewer/Terry/Prigs, but none of them have the body shape or athletic ability to defend Paul/Austin, and I think Johnson does. Time for McHale to start recognizing where our players have weaknesses and adjusting accordingly as opposed to hoping things magically change.
Exactly, find a way to get the W tomorrow but it requires something that has been missing for while on the team DEFENSE! I hope it is not too late.
First thing they can do is start Brewer so he can chase around Redick. If CP3 is still banged up, shouldn't our strategy be to sag off of him and let him try to score 50 on us? Cover up their shooters so they don't get involved in the game. Give Johnson some playing time to also chase around Redick. On offense, shooting a bunch of threes is fine since it's our offense. However, the moment the shot is attempted, everyone besides Dwight needs to HURRY THE HELL BACK on defense since Clippers are using the long rebounds to start transition baskets.
It really depends on our pf's once again. Dwight is being forced to guard both Griffin and De Andre but mostly Griffin. Josh Smith or Terrence Jones needs to pick up their game. We can't survive playing two pick n roll monsters with only one legit big man. I love Josh and Tjones but either they get it or don't. Dwight needs help and the series will be over if he doesn't get it. We either slide Ariza to pf and make him play horry's role and start kpap or brewer or one of our pf's need to step up. We need to let Dwight just take care of Jordan because right now he can't take care of both.
Start Smith. Put Nick Johnson in for spurts to be an athletic pest. Hope, we have a good night beyond the arc.
Not a bad idea. Agree with the last paragraph wholeheartedly. Brewer Harden Ariza Smith Howard May kill our "depth" (which hasn't been a positive factor), but if we make good substitutions (it does and has happened) it can be mitigated.
