With the 3v6 matchup all but guaranteed I'm curious what you guys think. I know what the offensive strategy and plan is but I'm curious on how we decide to defend. There is 2 methods I think would work best. The first is to double Westbrook heavily and force him to defer to his teammates and try to make them best us, or force him to take really bad shots. The second is to deny his teammates and let Westbrook chuck all game long. He will likely put up an abundant amount of points but he can't keep up with us on his own. Thoughts on this, or mentions of how other teams best defend them?
Guard the whole team. Let westbrook chuck. They are far more beatable that way IMO. We shouldnt over react to him getting 50 pts. Just dont let adams and kanter beast on our guys down low
Yeah, let Westbrook chuck. Unless he throws in 70 a game they won't win. Of course, when he scores 50 and gets more credit for the L than we get for winning we're just gonna have to move on to the 2nd round like grown ass adults.
This is how I'm leaning also. Let him get his but beat him with teamwork. No way he can beat us 1v5 offensively in a series.
I'm comfortable with Bev defending him until Westbrook proves otherwise. Bev seems to be healthy and playing well. Harden is going to eat Robertson up.
Let soon to be ALL NBA 1st team defense, former ALL NBA 2nd team defense, former Taco Bell Pollo Loco All Star SKills contest champion Patrick Beverley go at him one on one to begin with. Bev also has unlimited heart, hustle, passion, grit. He is capable of frustrating Westbrook into taking 50 ill advised shots
I would let him chuck, but if the game is close in the final minutes then I'd double him and trap him in PnR situations in order to force his teammates to beat us. Westbrook's clutch play this season is no longer an aberration to me. His teammates should be out of rhythm a little bit during the final minutes of a close game if they haven't been getting consistent touches throughout the game. whoever is guarding Roberson would be shading towards Westbrook at all times and crowding the paint so Harden better be locked in defensively...Roberson does not have to be guarded
Off course let the westchuck chuck and guard the rest. Let it become a 3 point much up. Crowd the paint as much as possible, see if they can beat us from the 3. Use Harden as the help guy on defense, leave Roberson on an island. Should be a good match up for us if they don't drill us in the paint and offensive rebounds.
1) Release the Beverley 2) Don't go over screens and let him get in the paint. Let him shoot jumpers.
I like this detail. He isn't nearly as prone to shoot a pull-up behind a pick like harden is. That's a good tidbit.
westbrook is going to throw up his shots regardless of how a defense is played against him. That's one thing about him. His bball iq which obviously isn't as high as it should be doesn't allow himself to adjust accordingly
Miss a lot of shots so that his teammates will start boxing out like crazy, forgetting to do anything remotely related to transition offense.
Do not double him. Give him the outside shot. Teach Capela to stand straight up on all Russ' drives to the rim. When he attacks the basket force him to make a play and deny shooters.
