Game 7 Adjustments

We’re going to run Russ and Harden the whole game
This is the MDA way

 

This is odd timing since Covington was our 2nd leading scorer last night and was 7-11 from the field and 4-6 from 3. For the series Covington is shooting 51% from the field and 49% from 3, House is shooting 46% and 38% from 3

 

Honestly I'm not sure our D can play any better. The switching nature means that we will always some point in time where one or our "bigs" will have to guard CP3 or Schroeder. Those guys will get beat so we just need to hope our help can get there faster.

For me from watching all but one game of this series it comes to down ball movement and speed. OKC adjusted after the first two games to make it harder for us to drive and to force kick outs to above the arc where we shoot the poorest. It makes it easier for them when we slow the ball down. When we've been successful it's when we move the ball faster than they can keep up and especially on transitions. In game 2 we destroyed them with the transition game. They have gotten better but in the games since when we've run and gotten ahead of them good things have happened.

Finally cannot stress this enough. HAVE TO CUT DOWN ON THE MENTAL MISTAKES..

Last night's game was a test of wills and CP3 is very mentally tough. We need to match that. We want the speed and aggressiveness but that needs to go along with focus.

The one way we can mitigate that is when it's under a minute and it's close Harden not Westbrook needs to bring the ball down. Westbrook should be there to finish a break not initiate the offense.

 

Make open layups . Hit more 3’s . Play harder . Less turnovers

we aren’t gonna do anything different. Maybe we make shots this time

 

Have to cut down on the mistakes. They were brutal.

I think we lost the game in the third quarter. When the game could have been blown open, the Rockets turned the ball over.

 

48 minutes of Harden.
48 minutes of Westbrook.
48 minutes of MDA before he gets fired on the 49th minute.

 

Doesn't matter this team is not beating the Lakers anyway.

DD

 

It doesn't matter the Rockets will win the series. NBA doesn't want a Thunder vs Lakers matchup. The refs will bail us out and against the Lakers we lose in 6. This is what I'm expecting and I'm fine with it.

 

We dont need much adjustments yall. Just play our game. We have a higher ceiling than they do.

 

Covington? He's been our most reliable 3pt shooter and rim protector. He's our center so we need to stop putting him on CP3. If Gordon is our best on ball defender, why isn't he on CP3 when he's clearly their option in the clutch?

What we really need is Harden/Westbrook to take care of the damn ball. For the most part we're an experienced team, so 22 turnovers is completely unacceptable. Offense lost us this game.

 

If we beat OKC we will beat the Lakers.
However, I do not believe we will beat OKC.

 

yep...gordon started throwing the ball for no apparent reason.. i suspect hes manipulating to score in vegas... cant find no better explanation for the unforced tunrovers by him and by russ

 

Don't get the thrashing of RoCo on offense at all. He's even been driving and getting lay-ups so stop that nonsense. That being said, I want to see the following:

1. Dictate the pace - we played the Thunder pace for most the game. It's time to get easy baskets, run and take smart early shot clock shots.

2. Go back to Green as a guy bringing the ball up. Westbrook should only have it in transition. As the main ball handler there's just too much risk right now. I guarantee a loss if Westbrook handles the ball too much.

3. Stop settling for threes and let the threes come in rhythm. This is mainly Harden and EGO. They have to be smarter.

4. Feed the hot hand. I've seen RoCo, Green and House be our best 3pt shooters on different nights and they need to have more opportunities. This means less EGO threes. And means:

5. More McLemore. I don't give a damn if he makes a mistake, his 3 is almost automatic and Rivers is not giving us a damn thing.

6. More play calling, more cutting and passing. We drove the ball a lot this series, more than average and EGO is finishing much better there than on his threes, just needs to finish through contact instead of whining. So we're good there. But the passing has not been there in our losses and I've seen our guys make more cuts in general, but we need even more. More plays involving House, Tucker, RoCo who can all can do something off the ball and Green in particular could be a nice cutter to get the ball in the lane and just go to the basket.

7. No more RoCo on the perimeter, his ass belongs in the paint to alter / block shots and help on bigs and little guys who blow by our perimeter defenders.

8. Get a lead early and not let up. Nothing else matters if we let the game be close late in the 4th, since we're almost guaranteed to lose. We just don't get a high % shot when things get tight. We just settle for a 3 or get another Westbrook fiasco. Harden is already scared of the moment so cannot rely on him late.

9. Don't let CP3 take threes in the 4th.

10. More discipline, mainly from Tucker and Harden. The reaching in needs to stop. There might be some refereeing bias, but we're also just committing unnecessary fouls, late in the shot clock etc.

 

RoCo has been one of the best players on the court on both ends, so I'm not seeing how sitting him accomplishes anything. The Rockets need to cut the stupid ass **** where they rush to make an outlet pass. It's led to so many damn turnovers, and it's just not worth it in the 2nd half. Stop playing so out of control, stop bodying up Chris Paul at the end of the shot clock, and force them to keep having to move the ball.

 

I liked almost all of your points in this post, but this one is the most important and also the most pathetic. We just have to accept that this team will lose every single close game. Not exactly a championship formula.

 

What happened ? he started the series scorching hot and was dunking over cp 3? why mda didnt set him up to do more of the same?

 

Anti-Clutch, anti Maxwell, anti championship material. I'll take Maxwell over Harden right now.

 

Green and Westbrook have been getting in each other’s way a bit, they clearly don’t have that same chemistry as he does with Harden. Play Green with Jimmy and if he’s out there with Russ have him more of a spot up shooter. Get Russ more in the post, Schroder and SGA don’t have a chance with him backing them down. As long as he is backing them down and twisting the the basket - rather than settling for turnaround jumpers - they can’t stop him there.

Also yeah, more McLemore. And get him some ****ing shots. The Rockets have a 100.6 defensive rating with him out there, so he clearly hasn’t been a liability. If he was such a disaster, OKC would be scoring more. But for whatever reason they haven’t hunted him, I’ve seen Chris Paul chilling in the corner with Ben on him not even trying for the ball, even seen CP call for a screen getting Ben off him and Green onto him. That might change game 7 of course, but so far Houston has been able to hide him defensively. I’m amazed Mike D’Antoni isn’t plying him