Turnovers and EG sucking is what lost the game. WB has looked like a chicken with its head cut off the past two games. Hopefully he remembers how to dribble for game 7. OKC/CP3 were definitely hunting players off of switches but the primary player that they were hunting was Jeff Green. Green could not keep up with CP and got burnt almost every time down the court in the 2nd half. I thought that it would end when they brought PJ back in but CP was lava hot by that time.
CP3 hit some really tough shots against Cov. Its just great defense but better offense. I have no issue with those defensive possessions. But the real issue is when he gets all into CP3's face and allows old man Paul to drive by him because he got cooked a few times in a row. IMO thats the biggest difference between say Battier/Ariza vs Covington. The former would stay disciplined and just try to continue to contest shots. The latter panics, doesn't follow the gameplan, and gets burned. I'm of the opinion that Cov is still a great defensive player regardless of what happened last night. But he's not a very disciplined perimeter defender. Too many times we have seen him bite on player's pumpfake and gets into early foul trouble. Too many times he gets too closed into ball handler's grill because they knocked down a few early shots. Just freaking stay down and contest shots. If they hit it, kudos to them.
I think people need to be realistic. So fans are complaining that our PF/C is getting beat on the perimeter by one of the 25 best players to ever live (and happens to be a point guard) and by a guy that is one of the fastest players in the league? That is going to happen, that is part of the trade off of switching everything. Guess what, put Paul George at the 4/5 and have him in a similar spot and see what happens, same with almost everyone. Even Giannis gets beaten on the perimeter by point guards. The only guy I can think of that is playing some 4 that can possibly consistently limit it is Leonard........ and in their series with Dallas, both Leonard and George were getting skewered at times.
Turnovers killed us. Cannot score if you keep losing the ball. RoCo was far from the reason Rockets lost this game. There are more worthy candidates to blame in this loss. Russ, EGo, MDA, even Harden. Take your pick.
there is no PF in the league that can stay in front of an all star PG in isolation. he's gonna get beat but where is the help rotation? by switching everything they know they will be faced with 2 glaring mismatches. 1 is against large centers who can score like brook Lopez and the other is against small quick PGs like Schroder. they are willing to live with those mismatches so we can't be mad when they occur. its part of the game plan. I think there should've been better help D, and maybe even a mid-game adjustment from MDA to NOT switch on that last play so ego would've stayed on Paul. what a surprise that would've been. those are the kinds of things that win. this loss is on MDA for keeping rus in the game when he's clearly not physically ready to play. he needs another week of full scrimmages. can't throw someone into a playoff game and they are that rusty. again this loss is on MDA for not getting the ball to harden on the last 3 possessions. some crap out of a timeout where russ drives and kicks to roco? f outta here. there should've been no play, inbound the ball to James and everyone else clear out. and for that matter, while we were struggling to even get a shot up in the last few minutes where was the James post up that was so effective earlier in the series? he will get to the line or score. you have to get the ball to your star in those moments.
Yeah I’m still harping on Eric Gordon. Eric was 3-12 (25% FG%)......1-6 (17% 3P%). In a 4 point loss; that may have been the difference. Covington was 18 points.....7-11 (64% FG%)........4-6 (68% 3P%).........5 stls.........3 blocks. His help defense kept us in the game and kept it that close.
You are correct D-rock. I shouldn’t pin it on just one guy; it was a team effort let down. The hungrier team with more to lose won game 6. I expect the team to pick each other up for game 7. Go Rockets!!
Eh... he is a not a bad defender if that is what you are saying. His job is to hold the likes of Lebron and other bigger forwards. He has trouble guarding smaller, quicker guards. Needs to learn better tech. He will be alright.
Look carefully at where RoCo is located on the defensive points saved axis. Yes, many of you should feel embarrassed right now.
THIS!!! Roco was 4 of 6 from 3 in Game 6. That's 66% for the math deficient. But Russ should have passed it to PJ, he was wide open. Just playing too damn fast on a night he just was not in rhythm.
You are his biggest fan. I like him too. Statistics are a summary of a complicated world and you should add context. He can be both an excellent help defender and bad perimeter man defender at the same time. I do not discount the statistical evidence of his help defense. You should also not discount the scouting reports of Nate Duncan and David Thorpe, who also incorporate analytics into their analysis regularly. I don't expect Covington to stop a CP3 midrange. I do hope he has the awareness to force him off the 3 pt line when 3s are the only way to get back in the game. I do expect him not to let Schroder go right with the scoop when that's his best move. He's great at some things. He has to mentally be better at others, but he's not the team's biggest problem.
It was good defense, sometimes those just go in. The player you should be more upset with is Jeff Green, CP3 had his number moreso than RoCo. I am a fan of Covington but I was critical of him in Game 3 and Game 4 when he struggled with SGA and Schroder. But RoCo is not just Rockets best defender, he's playing the most efficient defense in the playoffs, believe it or not.
I'm not more upset with him, I just hope he does better. He makes a lot more money than Jeff Green, so he should be better, which he is. In terms of being upset, I'm equally upset with every defensive blunder by every player (including the ones Tucker makes). You can keep calling him their best defender, which has statistical backing, but again needs context. If you can't accept that he's not a good man defender, at least accept that he's not as good on-ball as Gordon, Tucker, or Austin Rivers. If not, then we'll just have to agree to disagree. In terms of scheme, I just wish the team had some flexibility in terms of not so easily accepting the switch. Many times, the pick is given not even to attack immediately, but to assume the Rockets will switch and eventually attack Green/Covington/Westbrook/whoever they can get. I wish that if you can see the play developing so easily for OKC, that the Rockets will have some sort of plan to counter it in game 7. We'll see.
4th quarter of game 6: I was shocked how often and how easily CP3 drove by RoCo in the final minutes of the game. He did keep CP3 out of the paint at the 2:00 mark. It's not enough to say that CP3 hit tough 3 pointers over him. When he drove past him, he drove right past him like a turnstile. When I saw Schroeder easily burn RoCo for layups in game 3 & 4 I thought it was a fluke. Perhaps it isn't fair to expect a PF to guard CP3 and Schroeder perfectly, but RoCo's brand is all about him being an elite defender and able to guard anyone 1-5. CP3 did not have the same luck against Green (on multiple CP3 ISOs against Green, he passed the ball away) and certainly not against Tucker, EG, House, or Harden. It's not enough to say that RoCo is slower laterally. So is Green. When ISOed on perimiter, RoCo is biting on all the headfakes and pumpfakes from Schoeder and CP3 and they are running past him like he's not even there, too fast for help to come. I love him as a player, glad to have him, his contributions in game 6 with steals and shooting, blocks, and help defense were awesome. But watching him give up multiple consecutive blow-bys in the closing minutes when he's supposedly one of our top two defenders was eye opening. I'm shocked to learn that in half-court defense, outside of perhaps BMac, RoCo is our weakest link as a perimeter defender against guards. OKC will absolutely continue to exploit this and seek him out on the switch.
Even prime Lebron couldn't guard PGs consistently, what makes you think Covington can? I never heard of the 1-5 aspect, he can guard some 3s and 4s and some 2s.
