1. Test that gimpy hammy a lot.....stagger screens with terry and harden will get paul on harden,you go iso from there and let harden choose best option .. ball pressure has to be intense but smart , don't make hiim comfortable no matter what they are doing 2.We saw the effect hack a jordan had on the clippers....They sat him down for the final 4 minutes before the two minute clock, if they had lost the game doc would've been killed because of how easy the spurs were rebounding....KEEP hacking him, i don't care if they hack back ,we def have better free throw shooters then them + if they start hack their depth comes into question which favors us 3. Put harden on barnes all day long.....we don't want harden running the whole time on defense behind redick, because he will and should be our offensive focal point throughout each game 4.Play physical with Blake,give him the outside shot, but if he takes it in i want him either blocked or on the ground, he can't take the pounding over another 7 game series, he is a very emotional player, and you want him to be heated ...Tjones iam looking at you, no more getting manhandled in the playoffs please 5. They have 1 scorer of the bench , only one ...You better not let jamal crawford beat you...that simple
1. Terry on CP3, let's see how injured he is 2. Ariza on Reddick, kill his confidence early 3. Harden on the manequin named Barnes 4. Tjones, give Blake all the jumpers he wants by the 4th Qtr he will not hit them 5. No post ups for D12 against DeAndre, we only score 28% of the time so no need to tire D12 out banging against Jordan 6. JSmoove and Brewer must dominate the clippers bench
tonights refs: Mike Callahan Bill Spooner Derrick Stafford alternative: James Williams Callahan officiated game 3 of the Rockets/Mavs series and Derrick Stafford game 4 -- make whatever you want of that
Put Trevor on CP. Paul can still put up a solid game, with a bad hammy against Terry. You want CP to have to decide, if he wants to risk injuring himself or not. that's only going to happen, if he has to push things. Against Terry, he can coast and still be effective.
There are 2 keys to us beating the Clippers and every other team: 1. Rebounding - have to win the rebounding battle. At the very least have to be within 1-2% of opponent on the boards. 2a. James Harden getting to the free throw or 2b. Rockets have to shoot a ton of 3's and hit them at a 35+% rate or higher.
I don't think this should be a conscious effort. The conscious effort should be to get the Clippers scrambling. Defending someone like Harden one on one is tough, but frankly, I'd rather Harden go after a healthy JJ one on on than a somewhat injured Paul. CP3 is a solid defender. Want to hurt CP3s hammy more? Keep the Clippers scrambling. That means ball movement where it makes sense and individual attacking where it makes sense. Hack a Jordan did NOT work for the Spurs. The closest it came to working was game 7 since the Clippers did take Jordan out, but then when he was in or out, the game was close throughout. In fact, one could argue the hack-a strategy lost the Spurs the series, seeing as it seemed like the Spurs bench was going to do a second quarter build a lead thing it can often do in Game 6, but Pop's hack-a just got Marco and co. out of a rythm it seemed like they were getting into. Duncan also picked up a 3rd foul, because even he, one of the most cerebral and smart super-players in NBA history, got confused or something and picked up a foul he shouldn't have. The Clippers ended the quarter on an 11-4 run, got back into the game and won. In Game 2, hack-a definitely didn't help. the spurs were up by 10 in the fourth, only to lose that lead. they won in overtime, but easily could have lost if Blake didn't turn the ball over in the last minute. The lack of talk regarding Pop's mishandling of the hack-a strategy is interesting. People don't like to talk bad about Pop for long. the good CLEARLY and HUGELY outweighs the bad. But he made poor decisions in Game 6 of the Finals 2 years ago that, in some ways, lost that trophy (eg, keeping Duncan out of the final possession) and hack-a definitely didn't work. Agree here. Ariza on CP3 Terry on JJ Harden on Barnes But they need to feel it out. When JJ gets hot, the Clips are pretty good, too. JJ was so instrumental in that 4th quarter of game 7 for them, hitting those (I think 3?) threes. I don't think being super physical impacts Blake as much as it used to. That said, you obviously want him taking jumpers, not driving the lane. This will be a big matchup. If Blake has a repeat of his first series, the Clippers will be a tough out. He was really good ... except down the stretch of most of the games... then was good in game 7 fourth. I feel like Josh Smith is the big wild card here. Josh Smith CAN be the perfect Blake defender... if he is on his game. Agreed... It's amazing the Clippers were able to win that last series considering Crawford was off, and has been relatively off for a while. Of course, every Rockets fan knows Crawford is about to be "on" again... he freaking scorches us every time!!!
great post Jayz....Absolutely spot on Didnt think of using Paul injury in that way, but your on to something. Scrambling on D is something i don't think they can effectively do with 4 and a half players. Close outs will be off, It could add a ton of confusion to what they are doing. Reallly like this plan. About the hack-ajordan, it might not have worked score wise, but mo that doesn't mean it didnt work. For one Jordan was shooting 50%, he is really bad. And most importantly it made Doc think, and forced his hand a couple of times. If Jordan isn't in the game while dwight is we would kill them on the boards. And another point is i don't think they have the same luxury we do of hacking , because of their depth. As funny as that sounds its true, if james keeps driving and dwight keeps pounding they will def be in big foul trouble if they decide to hack us, just a thought
dont make sloppy passes (take care of the ball) AND make wise decisions when shooting (dont jack 3s - 2 seconds into the clock..im lookin at you ariza)
Turnovers aren't the key to us winning and losing. We're a high turnover team. That's not going to change. We only had 2 more turnovers than they did. Rebounding is the #1 determinant of us winning or losing. Rebounding either drives our success or causes our failure. Rebounding is your energy barometer.
Smh...We're a high turnover team, so that's that? We're not playing 50 games against worse teams anymore. Going forward, these teams make you pay for turnovers. Gotta clean,it up, all around.
Matt Barnes 8-11 FG, 3-6 3 pters, 20 pts. enough said Go back to some grit n grind and play some FREAKING DEFENSE if your offense isnt clicking Harden had almost as many turnovers as shot attempts. Thats like a Joey Dorsey stat line. Harden IS our mismatch against the Clippers. I hate to say that Harden is being RELIED upon to go for 30 every game, but if he's gonna be facilitator going for double digit assists, as least be SHARP with the ball instead of flinging it right into easy Clipper transition points
Our turnovers decrease when we rebound effectively and run the break. When we lose the boards and get stuck in half court our turnovers increase.
