Assuming the Melo trade goes down

i voted rebounding, but imo athleticism is our biggest weakness overall. with melo, none of our top 4 players have exceptional quickness or can play above the rim. and when we inevitably go smallball this gets magnified with rebounding, on D, and going up against taller rangy lineups.

 

The key players are getting older except for Harden who is in his best years.

 

O is a giant ? IMO as CP3 brings an element different from an MDA prototype. GSW's O is as pretty, effective and efficient as any in @30 years; Nugs' O also pretty. Don't sleep on the Mile High-ers for offensive success, home court advantage and a good rostr well coached.

Rim protection etc is a match-up kinda thing, so leave CC out of this. Even if CC is gone or back the equation re: the 5 is MDA-fluid.

 

Most definitely a Yule-C Clint Capela sucks we're after an ACE BIG thread.

 

ya clyde can still dunk too

 

Wow, good day to miss out on all the CF discussions or lack thereof. Hollic starts a discussion followed by greater than symbols.

Personally, I think our weakness lies in rim protection. The reason I say that is Capela minutes will be limited as they should be. Nene does a nice job in the middle, I really believe in Tarik, but I'm not thinking 'rim protector' when I think of either player. They'll both be good rebounders, but if teams see no long armed 7 footer in there, they'll be attacking the rim for a while. I think Coach Bzdelik has a tough job scheming for that.

Potential ways to work on that: play like Chuck Hayes' and Scola's years and take a lot of charges.

Other ways: I have no idea, I haven't give it enough thought. Time to research.

Edit: So I completely forgot about all the research I had done on how the 04' Pistons beat the Tex Winter offense that the Lakers ran with Phil Jackson coaching. Now, I know what you're thinking, they had a rim protector named Ben Wallace. I'd agree with you against 98% of the competition back then, but Wallace was not a rim protector when you've got Shaq lined up against you. Only Hakeem is a rim protector against Shaq. Here are some of the principals that I came across while studying that beautiful defense:

1) Never let them score unguarded at the rim. Foul if you have to or goaltend. The physiological effect of seeing the ball go the hoop is real, so don't let them have that. That's when the other teams get pumped up. Take their crowd out of it.

2) Play full court defense on occasion to push the shot clock back a few seconds. It might eventually pay off and it won't cost you any more energy than it costs them, but the triangle is designed to use all 24 seconds if need be, so screw up their timing. So don't play lockdown defense while they bring it up, just stress them and get them tense.

3) Try to force them into one on one play. Play one on one defense and challenge players to beat you without passing the ball. The real trick in doing that is to get them to shoot the ball in a contested situation.

4) Always sag off of poor shooters. Poor shooters typically have a longer set of shot mechanics, so stay away from them and help out others. You can always make up the distance and contest a slower shot. While you're sagging, try to double and get your hands in the way of other ball action.

5) Defend all entry passes. They're going to get their entry pass in, you're not trying to stop it, you're only trying to get them to pass it to a spot where the receiving passer is even slightly awkward. Maybe they're a foot away from what they're used to and that's all the disruption you're looking for. It's about getting them out of their comfort zone so it's worth the effort.

6) Run a fast offensive set. You're going to be spending plenty of energy on defense, so get that shot up and start playing defense. Offensive rebounds may be counter productive against good rebounding teams.

7) ****The triangle offense loves to bring the ball up to the three point line unabated. If you're not picking them up at full court, put pressure at half court. Do this every single time that you have 5 guys back.

8) Don't double off the ball. The back cuts and easy baskets down the pipe are coming if you do.

9) Don't gamble, the offense is designed to beat gambling.

10) If you're defending the perimeter, leave enough space in front of you for them, the pick, and for you to get around it easily. Also, don't set your feet, the pick is coming if you do. If you move in a relaxed way in-and-out, you're constantly changing passing/driving angles that are tougher to calculate and the pick has a harder time being set without being illegal. If you move, they'll have to move when they set the pick.

11) Literally anything you can do to disrupt timing helps the defense. So if you're smallest guy gets tied up with the biggest, that's great. You may lose the toss, but they're still going to start their next set with less than 24 on the shot clock and all the options of the offense will not be available.

12) Always keep your eye on your man. They're doing their best to get you to look away. Don't.

13) Foul outlet passers when they're breaking for an easy bucket. No one gets free throws, but you get to be back on defense.

14) Never forget. They are trying to beat you with teamwork, constantly try to force one on one situations.

15) Beat your man down the court on every defensive possession.

16) Never worry about non-calls on offense, they will rip apart a 4 man defense with a straggler who's arguing. Let your coach and bench do the talking or you'll get burned. Missed calls are a fact of life, but they shouldn't transfer over to your defense. (if players don't believe you, run a drill where you have to start the drill by arguing with a ref, they WILL understand)

17) Don't waste too much effort on offensive rebounds. You'll be out of position if they end up with it and they end up with it most of the time.

18) Offensive rebounders bring the ball up from low down. Swipe at it and stay where you are, it will slow them down just a hair and prevent easy baskets. Get your hands up.

I know a lot of what I learned is about complete defense, but I do think that these principles apply to protecting the rim without a rim protector on the court. When you don't have Hakeem or Deke patrolling the paint, you have to do a thousand little things that add up to clogged paint lanes and rushed shot clocks.

 

Option 7.) Warriors still exist.

 

Are you talking about the regular season ... the regular season. We're talking about the regular season?

Enough of dancing around other people's opinion, just tell us how you think GSW will beat us in the playoffs, and why you think we need to worry about any other hindrances/teams to the championship.

 

First thing is first, you have to believe you can beat whoever, whenever. There is nothing about the Warriors that makes them unbeatable. They lost the championship after winning 73 games during the regular season. This means they're beatable and Durant doesn't change that, it only makes it more difficult. I've already mentioned the little things you can do to add up to a bigger thing. Quit believing they're invincible. That's step one. Morey knows it, why don't you?

They're not infallible, they just have to be put on a pedestal where every tendency they have can be exploited. Look at my post above. There are ways to defend these guys. Step one is making them less by making them not a team. Make them try to be you one on one. Give them less time to run Tex Winter's offense. If you start there, you have a chance. See Piston's '04. They beat Tex Winters' offense already.

 

Just for the record, you've said nothing.

 

You should've added "Dynasty" to the poll

 

But we know Melo for Anderson+NG bros is not happening.

The real question is: if you are Derrick Morley what is the next offer you make?

To me, any other core peices should be viewed as moveable. Melo is worth the risk, knowing that you have to have a player like him as third wheel to realistically compete with Golden State.

 

paging Cyberx paging Cybersex

 

What is NG??