It has nothing to do with physical tools. All of our players have legs, they just arent rotating. Finger pointing is running rampant on these boards right now but one person who deserves a lions share of the blame is Scola. He seems to be getting a pass because his offense has been dynamite, but right now his defense and lack of rotations is a MAJOR concern. We shouldnt abandon defense and run uptempo. We should put Hayes back in the starting lineup and play slower and more controlled while shoring up our defense.
AB, Martin and Scola have ALWAYS been bad defensive players, if rotating is a problem then it's always been a problem. I'm not basing it off 4 games, more like years of seeing these guys TRY to play "D". My theory is playing off their strengths not weaknesses. If we go back to JVG style offense you'll have two offensive liabilities in the rotation and both are have their limitations there.
The difference was last year, Scola was a liability but he played alongside Hayes and he was good at rotating. The year before Yao and Battier were much more mobile laterally. Our starting five has been stripped of its defensive synergy one piece at a time and now it is awful. Swapping Hayes for Scola doesnt limit our offense as much as people seem to think. Chuck is vastly improved offensively from the JVG era. I am telling you, re watch the first quarter of last nights game before and after Scola pciked up his quick fouls. We executed way better both offensively and defensively with Chuck in the game.
scola is too competitive...it's eating him that opposing players are driving in for easy buckets, so he keeps floating to the paint to help..he's paranoid and although he's trying to help he's hurting more than helping. I do blame him, but it's not the same as AB freezing just to watch someone dribble and forgets about his man. To improve Scola's D we need to get Dampier out there ASAP because Scola's inner fire to compete isn't going anywhere.
This. But spelled correctly with an "s". Tempo is not our friend. If we can't make stops and let the other team shoot +50% increasing the tempo is just going to give the other team more attempts. We tried to push the ball last night and that was when we started jacking 3's instead of deliberately running the offense and getting a good look or getting Yao a touch. That was when they inevitably put the game out of reach. This team needs discipline and defense.
rockets934life, I actually like the idea of Battier being more of a stopper late in games. It just may be time to see if Bud can step up. This being said our first unit is already challenged on the defensive side, it may set them back even more. It's a risk worth taking IMO though. As far as running more, my problem is the first unit. They seem to not push the ball nearly as much as the second unit. I don't even think it's Yao as much as I do the starting backcourt. I see Yao grab a board, turn around looking for the outlet and it's just not there, and the guards walk it up. I actually agree with Hill getting more time to see if he can handle bigger minutes. Things I see from Hill, yes he makes mistakes but more time may help him overcome those mental errors. Hill thus far has brought an energy on both sides of the ball that may become infectious. He's kept balls alive and shown a willingness to attack on both ends. This team needs guys to step up, no excuses, play hard when they're in the game. Who's willing to do what they need to do get this team playing and winning consistently? Guess we'll find out soon enough.
Undisguised Brooks hate post. Maybe you're conveniently forgetting about the play of our backup point? Or maybe you're ignoring that we have team-wide problems.
