The offense never left. The same sets and plays were ran except they all ended in the paint rather then the 3pt line. Which resulted in the exact same net rating. Offense rating dropped a bit as well as the defensive rating. Reg. Season Ortg 111.8 Drtg 106.4 NetRtg 5.4 Playoffs vs OKC Ortg 109.7 Drtg 104.3 NetRtg 5.4
One good thing ... We shot 52% in the 4th Quarter. Probably because Ryno takes a seat. He hasn't been able to set a good pick on Roberson, who was still able to chase Harden, yet Ryno still wasn't able to pop out cleanly, as Gibson could recover from showing on the PnR enough for Roberson to get around in time (or even go under it). So, the Ryno/Harden PnR was a non-factor much of the series.
Our Rockets have struggled when defensive pressure has been applied on the perimeter in the regular season by the Warriors and the Spurs. They have had to face the same thing in almost every game in the playoffs. Also Capela has been unable to execute the P/R due to the much more physical defense baring Game 1. I expected this from Capela, but I was hopeful that our shooters would be able to adjust somewhat better. We should remember that we were slumping coming into the playoffs too, after Ryan's injury. The plus point has been the improved play from Lou, and EG as compared to their struggles down the stretch in the regular season. I expected Nene to step up, he has just been great.
And the most intense quarters in basketball are the 4th Qs of the playoffs, and that's our best quarter so far....shooting 52%.
OKC had a good defensive gameplan. They stayed home on all our 3pt shooters and dared us to score in the paint. Glad they did this since now we have the confidence that if you take away our 3's we can still beat you.
Lack of spacing due to poor shooting %'s, not enough backdoor cuts, and ,Harden as great as he is, is not a pure PG who can dribble in and out of a set defense. I hope they swing the ball around the perimeter early in the shotclock so the defense can move around a bit before getting it back to Harden since that's what they want. But that's gonna take Harden or whomever bringing the ball up the court faster than 7 seconds which is the norm lately.
TIRED LEGS!!!! The Rockets players were saying it last night, they are dispensing more energy on the defensive end, so it's effecting their shots. MDA can not continue to go with a 8-Man rotation in the next round. You have smaller players who are trying to out rebound larger players, play defense and score......IT WON'T WORK!!!!! He has to expand his rotation and bring in T. Williams and hope that Dekker is healed by Monday Night!
MDA said it best " they want to give us paint points, we'll take paint points." MDA just Trollin okc, he will unleash the beast vs S.A!!
The insane amount of bumping and grabbing without any calls The Refs allowed OKC alot of leeway on defense it will always affect the offense Rocket River
It's the fear a lot had when we hired him. Great regular season offense, iffy offense when gameplanned against. Ultimately talent and defense can conquer all.
Come on guys, you're better than this MDA on "7 seconds or less" Book admitted by himself that his offense relies on threes not to shoot threes by itself. The main goal is to force the opposition to defend the three-point line and eliminate a heavy doses of help, which opens up drives to the basket for easy scores. Once you commit to clog the paint defensively - his team shooting threes, once you commit to defend the three-pointer - his team is driving to the basket like maniacs. AND THAT WAS THIS OKC SERIES
I don't think you can get away from expanding the bench players if the players and the coach say that they were tired due to playing defense. Harrell and Williams could make a world of difference in terms of energy gained by playing some guys with fresh legs and conserving our starters.
Yeah, this is a huge observation. How many times did we see this procession: 1) Harden crosses the time line at 17 seconds 2) Harden and Anderson run a PnR - Gibson shows on Harden and recovers to Anderson 3) The result of the play is Harden 28 feet from the basket with 9 seconds left and Roberson in his jersey Roberson earned his Pick Dodger Badge and was able to get around Anderson and Capela like they weren't even there. A huge part of Nene's success was creating separation on his screens. When he entered the game, Harden started going downhill to the basket. Draymond can show and recover all day. Not so sure about LMA though. I'll say this - I feel way more comfortable with 'Antoni making adjustments than our previous coaches this decade.
agree, thats why Nene and Lou shines. and Berverly and Gordon penetretions are very important I still dont understand why Capela struggle. he couldn't go agains Adams
Need to play Williams or decker but hesitant. Don't have time for experimenting. Rockets will be on 4.5 day rest. Treatment, rest, and ready to go. No excuses about being tired.
