Brooks was a really good help defender. He also was good against post ups and bothers opponents with active hands and using his body being really physical. He may have let quicker guys blow by but who really is a shut down defender in this league? He was pretty good overall. I miss him
That’s the thing. Everyone has talent. How do players use that talent and how do they learn and evolve is the key to success. In 2 years he hasn’t shown he can evolve and play in a team concept. It’s not just about raw athletic ability. This is why Beasley isn’t in the league or guys like Brandon Jennings who bounced around before being out the league.
This team needs a table setter. JD Davison, Reed Sheppard, hell get that injury exception and sign Ben Simmons who's averaged 7 assists through out his career. Somebody that can get us into the offense and play d.
a) it's been 2 games b) when defended by Durant, opponents have shot 3/21 this season for a 14.3% fg%. Durant has held his man to 28.2% below their normal fg% on the same shots that they are taking. c) Offensively, Durant is averaging 30pts/gm on 52.9% fg%, 42.9% 3pt%, 67.3% TS%. He's also pulling down 6.0 reb/gm and 1.5 steals. What exactly was your expectation? He's our #3 rebounder. How many 2 guards average 6 boards? If playing heavy minutes and only allowing 3 made baskets over two games is a sieve, then we should go get a few more sieves. The issue with the defense isn't just Brooks being gone, it's really the fact that DFS isn't playing yet. The Rockets cross match more than any other team. They make sure that Sengun is playing somebody who isn't a good offensive player and isn't involved in pick and roll much. We were able to do that because we had two defenders who could cross match both up and down. DFS is suppose to fill that role along with Amen. Right now, we don't have that 2nd guy and to cover for that, we're playing more zone than I think that we would prefer to play. Unfortunately, the zone gives up a whole lot of 3pt attempts and allows our opponents to get offensive rebounds. There's certainly things that they have to work through but Durant is the last person that I'm worried about.
You've got to get rid of the double-big and get Amen off the ball. Reed should be the starter and Holiday should be the backup. Reevaluate everything in December.
I am not placing the blame on KD for losses, he has been carrying this team on offense. You're right, his on ball-defense has been solid. Have you not noticed how he does not close out of shooters, slow to rotate, ball watches, and does not make the effort to box out his guy? If not, we must be watching different games. He has an MO as a lazy defender, but we expected this. The defensive struggles are also due to starting two Cs, two PFs and a wing. You cannot play switchy defense with a lineup like that. Sure, two games. There are foundational issues due to roster construction that won't magically dramatically improve with more time, at least in regards to the offense. I have more faith Ime can make adjustments to the defense, however.
Serious question: Did our offense ever flow with İme? I would say no! That tells me the problem is not the pg.
No, our offense never flowed in the past two seasons. But it did flow very well in this preseason. I thought replacing Green with Durant was a big difference. It might be the fact that the first two opponents this regular season were good defensive teams. And the double big lineup is not designed to generate beautiful offense. Apparently it's not bringing good defense either, mostly because we don't have good defensive guards to play up top in the zone. I am curious to see how long this starting lineup will continue.
Welcome to Raphael Stone….worst GM in basketball and I’ve been saying it since day one when he hired Silas. This thing will really implode when KD at 37 gets slower and injured. Stone is the one change this team needs to make. Never makes moves ar trade deadline and it cost us each and every year.
Maybe I am wrong but it looks like Sengun is initiating at the perimeter more compared to preseason, kind of replacing fvv for the initial action, even for bringing the ball. We can’t space the floor for him with Adams. Neither we have off ball movement, off ball screens or cuts. So this turns into a very inefficient play. İme simply asks players to expand their playbook too much, rather than creating a structure for their strengths. And that comes with asking for too much effort on defense.
You're describing our zone. There's no rotation and no boxout by anyone. Here's a prime example: NBA tracks the closest defender on every shot. There's two classifications fir being uncovered - "Open" ( closest defender 4 to 6 ft away) and wide open ( closest defender 6+ feet away). In the double ot opener vs OKC, the Thunder took 52 three point shots. Of those, 36 were wide open and 15 were open. So, the shooter was left open on 51 of 52 total 3pt attempts. Nobody is closing out on shooters. BTW, holding your man to 14.3% shooting is a lot better than "solid". Also, as I mentioned, 6 rebounds from the guard spot is great.
The zone is the problem not Durant. They are playing zone, because Adams and Reed are playing a lot of minutes. DFS can help that hopefully. Starting Okogie instead of Adams would help it as well. We might see a Tate appearance next game as well
To the question of "why is there no flow to our offense?"... The root cause is that Ime Udoka doesn't believe in offensive flow. His core basketball philosophy on both sides of the ball is to beat your man. It's why he loves KD. It's how his Celtics teams played. Everybody takes turns trying to get their shot. System-based offense, strict spacing discipline, off ball movement principles, hierarchical offensive roles... he doesn't believe in those things. Never has. Ime is overall a good coach that helps teams win more games than they otherwise would. But he will not be "coaching up" our guys into a different offensive philosophy/system. It's not in him. It's either sink or swim doing it Ime's way.
I mean, the guy had a meaningful impact on the pace of play and offered complementary basketball. Know idea why we have to beat our head against the wall going big. The last two teams we played could dig in their rosters and come up with lineups that essentially neutralized our size advantage. And if we try to go big against the Spurs, their big is going to embarrass our taller players. This lineup, as many others have noted, is a novelty that we should turn to from time to time. It's no staple diet. JD Davison and Jeff Green deserve minutes. They played exceptionally well in the preseason. My vote is bring Adams off the bench, work Davison into rotation, and let Uncle Jeff have some run with Sengun--since he actually know how to move without the ball.
I put little blame directly on KD. He is playing his role and excelling. However, I cannot help but notice is laziness on (team) defense and hustling for rebounds. That's what I am seeing; you can show me any stats you have, but I am seeing it differently. Again, KD is not the issue with this team, but how he plays defense in a big shift from the intense, physical defense the Rockets were know for last year. Hell, besides Okogie, everyone is lethargic on defense. Edit: Refreshing to have a back and forth here on CF that doesn't devolve into name-callings. Reminds me of the early days when it was still clutchcity. Cheers, mate.
Durant is SUPER old, he can't play offense and defense. His effort to rebound is basically zero, unless it goes right to him he'll let the other team get it. That's not his fault though, it's just what he is at this point.
Yeah, I fear you're right. We have been waiting 2 years to see the offense evolve and become more complex like Ime himself alluded to over a year ago. It's sobering news. We don't have the personnel to play like that. Puts an immense amount of pressure on the defense to keep the game close or maintain a lead and for KD to be a closer most nights.
Which is why I don't blame KD. We all knew this when the trade happened. This does not however change the reality that it does diminish our strengths from last year - team defense and rebounding. I do think playing KD as a SG is absolutely ludacris, and changing the lineup to match the modern NBA will do wonders for the defense.
Yup, couldn't agree more. It's also why i railed so hard against the people who say that KD is the same guy he used to be even though the impact metrics have shown that his impact has plummeted as he has gotten old (which has also happened to every single player in the history of basketball).
We literally lost FVV before the season started. The team is learning how to share the burden of losing FVV while adjusting to the KD trade and the resulting lineup. We are 2 games in and have played very good defensive teams. I think some of the NBA pundits were right after the FVV injury, it's going to take some time to figure it out.
