Don't know if we have a chance to contend with the Level of talent GS has but we sure will be a force to be reckon with if we manage to get our defense to be top 15 or even closer to the top 10. That shows consistent effort, and this is what will carry us in the Playoffs. Just having stretches of good D is not going to take us far. Every possession counts. That should be the mindset.
Agreed, but I'm not as afraid of Golden State this year as I was in the previous two years. I think they still have a dynamite team, don't get me wrong. But, they're is only one basketball and you still need guys to shore up other things besides pure offense. I think Golden State lost a step because I think Bogut was a key component who really was more of an offensive lineman and created all kinds of easy shots for them. I also think Barbossa and Speights were key sparks for their bench and they always seemed to have great games against the Rockets. I'm quite happy all three of them are gone. Yes, we have to deal with Durant now. But, there is only one rock. Rockets fans should know this all too well, Barkley experiment, Pippen, etc. Sometimes you can have too many chiefs and not enough indians and stuff, man. Not saying that will be the case for the Dubs, but I don't fear that team the way I did a season ago.
Like Popovich is constantly saying: They are young guys getting millions of dollars to play a game. They do not need a pep talk nor they need to be excused for not giving it all. It's not all about effort, having a good coaching staff is a must, but I feel we have that now. No excuse for playing effortless defense. They need to keep on playing with the level and intensity they are playing now. No excuses. And like I mentioned before, since Beverly came back the pace went up dramatically. Strong defense is feeding the offense with transition baskets and easy layups. That's how it works.
It is not about fearing anyone at this point. The problem with the West was when a team has to go through the Spurs, Clips and the Dubs, they get tired at the end of the grind. Whoever gets out of the West has to play Lebron's Cleveland who has a rather easy path to the Finals. And this every year.
All legit points. Harden's usage is also a factor here because if he runs out of gas the whole system goes down with it too. Now that we have an easier schedule, we have to hope we can take advantage of it. Blow some of these teams out by halftime and keep Harden glued to the bench, MVP awards be damned.
Admittedly, I'm mostly going on the highlight reels, but they seem quick to attack when they bring up the ball, and are often off and running when they snag the defensive rebound. Not second seconds or less, of course, but a pretty fast and dynamic style of offense that I think takes a fair amount of energy.
Awesome, we reached the goal! Number 14 in defensive rating for the season. http://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced...r=-1&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular Season Also #4 in Net rating which is quite impressive And #2 in defensive and Net rating for the month of December. Keep it up guys. Now aim for top 10 on Defense. You can do it!
Yes. More importantly, when it counts, they can be very good. How many teams have two elite level defenders? Bev and Ariza are very good to elite. Gordon is very solid. Harden, when it count, can play solid D. Capela is great, except against traditional center (how many of them are still in the games?) That's 4 of your starters and your 6th man. Then the bad. Anderson, Brewer, Dekker are negative defenders. Nene is a black hole. I think they certainly can play just good enough defense, and can be very good in the closing minutes.
Rockets need more athleticism and length under rim and on the wing, maybe 4 spot as well. Harrell has potential to be decent defender at 4 spot but Brew and Dekker are not good enough to erase average players never mind the elites at 2 and 3. No glaring right now unless injury or once postseason starts. Postseason is where all the small flaws are exposed.
We beat them. On their home court. Games matter, not opinions. We already showed that we have the talent level to contend. Quit acting like we're inferior somehow because their roster looks great on paper. They're still playing the triangle without players that set good picks. Setting a great pick is what makes that all work. Guys like Luc Longley, Horace Grant, Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green (pre-thinking he's a great playmaker and tries to do too much) make the triangle offense flourish. We struggled with Curry because of those barn door picks and the schemes they used to get guys open. Now they're putting Zaza and JaVale out there and thinking it will just magically work because they've added a shooter. That's why they lost to us and lost big to San Antonio in the first game. They thought it could still work. It can't. Not for the long haul. They need a new coach if they want to run with that crew because they're soft right now. Look at their schedule. Best win of the year? Toronto. SOFT. They're the Golden State Pudding Warriors so far. Whoop de doo.
Finished December strong with 14-2 record. #1 in offensive rating, #1 in Net rating, and #6 in defensive rating. That is a pretty good month I'd say. Overall defensive rating for the year is #16 which is close to our goal. Good thing that even without Beverly team is ranked #6 at defense (start of the season without him we were #27). So everyone is playing with effort. http://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced...son=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular Season&Month=3
Exactly. That's one reason why Golden State has had so much success, especially with the teams from 14-15 and 15-16. Smothering maximum effort team defense which led to great opportunities on the other end. Every time you give up a basket, the opposing defense gets to set up for your attack.
