Well, Rockets won a close one and it wasn't because of the refs. So we can win with CC on the court, and the guy played 35 minutes. The amount of caveats you put on (they have to be healthy with Iggy, we have to win without a favourable whistle) is why people just peg you as a hater. You're actually right that this is a very unfavourable matchup for Clint, he was still a net minus in the win after all, but the reason you became honestly a laughing stock was for double and tripling down on takes like Thon Maker would be better, or that Zhou Qi is a better defender. I much prefer our small ball lineup this series, when we go with 4 guards it's really hard for them to matchup defensively and hide Curry. In fact the 5 man lineup of Harden/Gordon/Rivers/CP with Clint at center is a net positive through 2 games, as it is with Tucker at center. We need Clint to be as close to a net neutral as possible in lineups when he's on the floor, hopefully that 4 guard combination plays more often going forward.
A four guard lineup isn’t the solution. Shumpert had an uncharacteristically good game. There’s no way he continues to play at that level. We won’t win 3 more games while giving up so many easy layups and dunks because the team is so small it can’t grab a rebound. We won’t 3 more games giving up so many second chance points. We squeaked out an overtime win and now MDA thinks this lineup can win 3 more. I don’t think so. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
The 4 guard lineup doesn't include Shump. It's James/CP/Gordon/Rivers and then either Tucker or Clint at center. That 4 guard lineup is actually giving up fewer offensive rebounds than our starters - it's been a couple of percentage points better in terms of opponent offensive rebound % (according to NBA stats). Also yes you can't expect Shumpert to go 3-5 from deep, but he can certainly continue to be an effective defender, he's been great at fighting through screens when we aren't switching. I've always hoped his shot would come good. He's a career 34% shooter in the regular season, but his playoffs average is 37%, it's not often you get role players who improve their 3pt% in the post season like that. He's never shot this poorly, if he can shoot his average the rest of the way, he'll be fine.
He's not getting exploited on defense. He's guarding curry thompson or iggy very well on the perimeter. It just leaves no rim protection.
I think it's -45 now? Just embarrassing that D'Antoni keeps playing this guy more than 30+ minutes. We are very lucky to not be down 0-3 because of this. If the coaches played Nene and the rest of the bench more, we'd be up 2-1 at a minimum.
CC was huge, especially in that 1st quarter when the game was getting away from the rockets. glad he stepped up. Going to need more of that as the rockets get back in the series. That block will be a series changing moment
Zhou Qi is a better defender against the Warriors than Capela is. Hate on. Capela is totally ineffective against them. . And I'm including the Iggy block... a feel good play for us homies. I do not have a bunch of caveats in what I've said. And I've been very clear and consistent about what I've said going back over a year to around January/ February of last year. These are the things I have said. 1. We will not win a 7- game series against a healthy Warriors team that starts the Hampton 5 with Capela playing top 6 rotational minutes. 2. This year's team Is not as good as last year's team. 3. We have to have two other guys with length in the primary rotation alongside Tucker that can: a. Switch defensively b. Catch and shoot the 3 c. defend the post effectively to have a chance to beat a healthy Warriors team with the Hampton 5 in their prime. As far as Saturday's game goes, it doesn't bode well for us that we did not blow them out. That was our opportunity. But we had no defensive answer. We simply do not have the right combination of length and skill to deal with the Durant/Green 4/5 combo. We eeked out an OT win with Curry and Thompson both laying eggs in the same game. That likely won't happen again. We do not have the defensive answer for them.
Why? Are you implying that Nene is capable of playing more minutes at his age, and D'antoni just has him glued to the bench because he can't see what you can see? I thought it was understood that Nene is playing as much as he is capable.
Shaq could play 9 MPG right now. You have got to be kidding me. Nene is a word class athlete, training all the damn time.
If he could play more, he would. He is a part time player. His body just cannot handle the rigor of NBA game for long stretches. He is a world class athlete compared to us couch potatoes posting on a basketball BBS. Compared to the NBA level physical demand, he is not anymore. Besides, he is also a liability in our switching defense. He is just too slow to be chasing guards on the perimeter. Capela is the only big man we have that can defend fast ball handlers. Speed and strength is always a trade off. Capela is quick. But he gets pushed around by stronger bigs on both sides.
Capela definitely needs to play better for us to turn this around. Nene is awesome, but he plays any more minutes, he won't be as effective as that hustle guy. Do y'all not remember when Steph Curry hit that 3 over Nene to put the game away earlier in this series?
Final series tally: +23 Nene +8 Iman Shumpert +8 PJ Tucker +5 Austin Rivers(5 games) +3 Chris Paul +2 Ken Faried(1 game) -8 Danuel House(2 games) -11 Gerald Green -13 James Harden -25 Eric Gordon -47 Clint Capela DNP: Chris Chiozza, Gary Clark, Trevon Duval, Vince Edwards, Michael Frazier, Isaiah Hartenstein
Ya, Clint's gotta get a lot better. But the issue with the way we play is that he is never asked to do anything more than rim runs and lobs. He basically hasn't had to develop any other sort of skillset. On top of all that is softness that just doesn't work in the playoffs Idk what he works on in the offseason but his footwork, passing, contested hooks in the paint, and overall "nastiness" need waaaayyyy more work.
