Then why are Harden's +/- so drastically different than Westbrook's if they have the same teammates and play in the same rotations?
Green, Carrol and Sefalosha....dude, are you serious? Cmon man. PJ is part our 5- man lineup that has the highest net rating. Carrol(should play more but is not as good defensively as PJ) and neither is Green and neither is Tabo(whos shot is terrible). Bmac cant defend man, you see the games, he looks terrible out there defensively.
That's exactly what I noticed. That was a smart strategy considering James isn't our best 3 pt shooter anyway. They didn't double team James and focused on Russ. It made enough of a difference.
It's a good strategy but I still like our chances if James is going to no longer be double teamed. Let's not forget this guy was averaging almost 40 a game over the first couple of months of the season. No one can break a defense like James. If he hit more of those stepbacks I guarantee they would have changed it up. Also I'm tired of people talking about how others are going to be able to game plan against us in the playoffs like we dont also get to do the same to them.
McLemore's ability to catch and shoot from anywhere on the court at a high percentage makes him incredibly valuable. So valuable that it more than makes up for his bad defense, as the net rating shows. His net rating is higher than Tucker's. Covington is the best center on the roster since unlike Tucker, he can actually rebound and block shots. So why the hell isn't he our starting small ball 5? Tucker should come off the bench as a glue guy who makes corner threes from time to time. That was always supposed to be his role here. Covington and House is our perfect nanoball stretch 5 and stretch 4. Add McLemore to that with Harden and Westbrook and that is truly a scary offensive team.
I agree, but our best adjustment would simply be to let our better 3 pt shooters take more of James' shots. I'd rather see House, Covington, McLemore, and Tucker take a few more. They have better averages from the arc this year. Tucker can't simply play defense. He needs to take more shots period.
I honestly prefer having our winning streak snapped now than later in the playoffs. It cools everyone down, buys us some time to improve this microball system esp on defensive end. 2nd chance pts is one big contributing factor to the L today.
Because it hard to determine who has more effect when both are on the floor. The Offensive rating numbers with both, Harden only, and Russ only favor Both and Harden only.
That first half defense was as embarrassing as it gets. A freaking rookie was killling us and the amount of wide open threes we gave them was horrific. It is like this team plays down to its competitors level. We’ve lost to some bad teams like the kings, warriors, Memphis and now perhaps the worst loss of all.
Honestly, this game to me falls on Dantoni. Yes, you have a philosophy, but it was very apparent that the whole team was cold for most of the night. Even having 1 big in there for a few minutes in the 3rd quarter probably wins the game. It is nearly impossible to win 4 playoff series by imposing your style of basketball every single game. There will be some games you just cannot. The coach has to be able to recognize those games and put in the correct unsung hero that energies the team and fills the void. Otherwise, you risk giving away games, which you cannot do in the playoffs. I also worry that Morey/Dantoni did not factor that this style limits Harden and Russ's ability to rest for a bit on defense. With small ball, they have to be locked on defense the whole time they are on the court, or get roasted. For good stretches of this game, they both seemed to have a tad less energy/lift/legs to take contact and/or elevate at the rim.
Yea in a smaller amount of minutes, thats why he keeps seeing the floor. If he were to play more minutes, that net rating would tank for sure. There is a reason we have him for the minimum. I didnt see you in the last thread when Tucker got 6 offensive rebounds on the Celtics. Tucker continually put the lock and key on Tatum/Brown. Tucker consistently guards the other team's best players. And in big games, he will hit those threes. There is a reason Dantoni plays him so many minutes and that is because he is the heart and sole of our defense. There is reason he's part of our best lineup(by net rating) and Maclemore is not. House is not the defensive player Tucker is at all, and Tucker is a better corner 3 point shooter. Tucker has proven it over and over again in the playoffs as well, I dont know what else i can say.
our bench got crushed. Gordon's drop off and on again/off again season is really hurting us. he has fallen away the past year or so
lol he does, just some people won't rate him until he is all NBA defensive team 9 times. He has some key defensive plays today
I feel like this take is a bit outdated...Harden does play defense, and has been playing good defense over the last month. I mean just last game he played above-average defense in both the post and the perimeter. The narrative that Harden plays no defense was misleading in the first place. Occasionally his effort levels waver but he's been locked-in much more as of the past few seasons and he's not a liability on that end whatsoever.
P J Tucker was huge against Boston.....he was nowhere to be seen today 4 starters score 20+ points and the other guy laid an egg
Agreed. EGo is supposed to be that 3rd scoring threat but he has not looked himself all season sans that crazy 50 burger in Utah. And Rockets still need 1 or 2 long athletic 3-D disruptors. Bruno needs game time so we can determine whether he is the future or the present. Would still sign Tyler Johnson (EGo insurance), Jonah Bolden (6'9 7'3 wingspan) and Justin Anderson to add 2 young energy lengthy above the rim players who can shoot 3ball. And if Thabo is going to be glued to bench may as well bring in 3ball specialist Ryan Broekhoff to replace him.
ugh that one hurt. we got absolutely destroyed on the boards tonight. can't win em all tho. bounce back on thursday
