How do we slow down/get a stop from these notorious Rocket killers. Appreciate reasonable ideas on how we stop those 4, since it is likely that we will face at least 2 of them. LMA, force him to the middle with help coming from his backside/blindside on the first dribble to the middle of the floor or double immediately after the first dribble and return to your man when he picks up the basketball. Close games late in 4th qtr, defend him with Dwight, again forcing him to the middle of the floor. CP3, stay in front and give him all the jump shots he wants, his penetration kills us. Close games late in 4th Qtr, defend him with Ariza or Brewer or if he gets hot. Curry, stay on his right hand and force him left into a double team? Just guessing here, almost unstoppable right now. Close games late in 4th qtr, defend him with Ariza or Brewer. Westbrook, play him 94ft with Pbev sideline to sideline and hope to frustrate him and give him jumpers inside of the 3 point line. Must stay in front of him with help as needed. Close games late in 4th qtr, defend him with Ariza or Brewer.
Some other fansite probably has the same thread about stopping harden and howard. its a wash. Playoffs are won by deep defensive teams or teams with 3 stars and vets on the cheap
Pretty sure other topics on other forums saying the same way how to stop Harden and Dwight lol. LMA - Double team, stay in passing lines CP3 - Always get a pick at the top of the keep. Have to shade him like they do Harden. Curry - Ehh.. a shooter. Don't know how you can stop someone from hiding behind a pick and hitting shots. Westbrook - Don't ever get him a line to the basket. Clug the paint, hopefully a defender can stay in front of him. But most times your not going to stop players from scoring, they are All-stars for a reason.
Forget stopping superstars How do we stop role players who go God mode against the Rockets? JJ Reddick, Robin Lopez, even Bogut turns it up LOL
You can slow down superstars. Maybe more importantly, you can keep them from destroying you. Case in point, LMA was 30 and 11 with good percentages against the Rockets, while he was 22 and 10 with poor percentages vs the Spurs. The Spurs didn't shut LMA down, but they made him play below average for him.
Paul -- I actually liked what the Rockets did with him yesterday -- guard him with a larger wing and then go under the pick/ switch (with the larger wing better able to handle the big who set the pick than a point guard would be). Aldridge -- Jesus, seems like whoever we put on that guy he just kills us anyway. So, I say we put Harden on him and then send an early double team. This will scramble the defense, but with the speed of having an extra wing on the floor, we can try to cause havoc and turnovers as they pass the ball around (something this team is good at). Plus, those turnovers would lead to fast breaks. This will only work with Howard at Center though, because otherwise we would get killed on the boards. Curry and Westbrook -- I don't know on these guys. I would just try to keep throwing different looks at them, using a rotation of Brewer, Ariza and Beverley. I would make sure to rotate these guys on and off of them fairly often in order to give them a lot of different looks and to make sure we always had a fresh guy on them who would have the energy to go all out.
Nobody can stop scoring PG's anymore. Capella has the tools to become an Aldridge stopper but that's years away if ever.
I think you have to make these guys tired by making them work on defense. For a guys like LMA we need to revisit the 4/5 pick n roll with either Smith or TJ and Howard. We should be able to get either an oop or a switch with LMA guarding Dwight. Hopefully Dwight can take advantage. I think the strategy we used going under screens on CP3 was great. Granted he is likely to make more of those mid range shots but those shots don't kill your momentum/morale as much as lobs to Blake/DJ. Throwing a long guy like Brewer or Ariza makes the most sense. For Steph, you obviously can't go under the screen. I think you have to trap him hard and force someone else to make a play. Obviously thats easier said than done and we haven't been competitive against GSW our last few games. For Westbrook I think you worry more about keeping him off the glass and stopping him in transition. He is streaky but those energy plays really get him going. We can live with him shooting 30 times to get his 30 points especially if that means other more efficient guys aren't getting their looks. What we can't have is him getting 8+ rebounds and getting his teammates and the crowd involved. I'd go under screens and guard him Brewer and Ariza and hope their length can help them contest the pull up jumper.
Curry and Westbrook -- I don't know on these guys. I would just try to keep throwing different looks at them, using a rotation of Brewer, Aldridge and Beverley. I would make sure to rotate these guys on and off of them fairly often in order to give them a lot of different looks and to make sure we always had a fresh guy on them who would have the energy to go all out. Are you sure about this? If we did have Aldridge I wouldn't put him on these guys, but who cares I'd love to have him. I think you mean Ariza.
Ha -- yeah, I meant Ariza. I guess I just had Aldridge on my mind. understandable considering how badly he likes to torch us. I just hope McHale is thinking about the issue half as much as I am.
This thread shows why very few people here are qualified to criticize NBA coaches. Where do these double teams come from - weakside corner, top of the key, double off the nail, double off the passer, trap off the P&R? What if they don't run a P&R for Curry? Do you double with another big on LMA? Do you double on the catch, on the dribble? Do you preemptively rotate and have the double get back to the corner? There is no single answer to these questions because it depends on personnel, what the other team runs, and what you practice. Schemes are so much more sophisticated than fans want to give anyone credit for. We played the mid P&R beautifully yesterday against the Clippers (which they have killed us and about every other team in the league with) and there are threads about how our coaches suck and don't know how to make adjustments, lol.
I'm more worried about Gasol, Jordan, Kanter, and Lopez. The DMo as a center experiment is not working.
Westbrook, we have nobody who can stop him. That has been proven. Best bet would be to try either Ariza or Brewer or McDaniels in order to stay tall as it seems it's almost impossible to keep him out of the paint. Paul, he's a passive scorer, so I'm ok with Beverly guarding. Aldridge. We need someone tall here too. Josh Smith did not help. Donatas may be the best bet or Dwight Howard and Let Donatas play Center. But then our rebounding is shaky. Just need to keep a hand in the face and hope for the best. Curry. I'd stay with Beverly. Key is to stay with him and I think Beverly can do that to a degree. Defense cannot wander.
we're the only team capable of stopping them? no one can stop them, thats the point of being a superstar. they can be contained though. we did that to paul yesterday, he shot under 40% and had 4 or 5 tos.
