I cringe every time he puts the ball on the floor and makes a move toward the basket. Ever since I heard it mentioned on The Basketball Jones podcast that he turns the ball over a lot on the drive it's become very noticeable to me. I think he's on the better options we have this year and that's why he's playing a lot of minutes, but I'm looking forward to the time where his minutes are slashed.
Deflino is actually a pretty good glue guy. He doesn't really improve defense, but he's no defensive liability. DMo being rookie can cost us the game at clutch time. Greg Smith will just keep on fouling the other team and give them easy free throws. TRob has no offense, at least Delfino spaces the floor. I see DMo replacing Delfino if he gains McHale's trust, but more likely if our offense is ok, TRob can potentially stay in game for defense reason, just like how Beverley sometimes finish the game over Lin (tho I do not agree this move, because our offense hurts more if the opponent just swamps Harden, and we don't have another reliable playmaker on the field).
Delfino played Durant pretty well when they matched up. He knows how to use his skills to turn a disadvantage into an advantage. Veteran savvy.
You seriously think Greg Smith is going to detour Tony Parker from getting to the basket? That's all he's done his whole career. BTW, the reason Delfino closes out games is because he is the best player available.
And successful. You nailed it. He cuts way down on the mistakes that DMo and TRob haven't figured out how to avoid yet. Like not making dumb fouls. Like not closing out on shooters. Like not making the proper rotations. Stuff like that that drives coaches nuts. Certainly not ideal, but it worked last night.
Because, on offense, Harden usually takes over in 4th qtr, so the Rockets need someone to spread the floor, sitting at the 3pt line.
With Delfino on the floor we score a lot more points on offense. The opponent also scores a little more, but the extra points scored on the offense more than make up for it. Someone else posted the offensive/defensive efficiency of various lineups and I believe the lineups that include Delfino have the greatest point differential (points scored minus points given up). Remember that our only win against OKC was when Delfino started because we'd just traded away both our 4's. A better question might be, why doesn't Delfino start? And the answer to that according to the coaching staff is that the lineups including Delfino are our "curve ball" lineup, not our "fast ball" lineup. If Delfino started he'd do ok for a few games before he got pounded into mincemeat by the opposing 4's.
I won't go as far as to say that Smith would've stopped TP, b/c TP is an elite PG, but the spurs obviously saw a mismatch at the end of the game that was exploited. And that mismatch could've been lack of low post defenders.
delfino shouldn't start because he's a big percentage of our offense coming off the bench. Without him, our 2nd unit would have trouble scoring.
It seems opinions on Delfino's D are mixed. Understandable considering the majority are saying he's only out there because of a lack of a better option. I retract (to a degree) my blame for McHale and put this one up on DM. I know he's got a grand plan for the future, probably starting this offseason, but I feel that if you have a chance to make some noise in the playoffs, why not go after a K-Mart or rent Big Al for a half season. That's another can of worms, but putting Delfino out there because he's the best available seems like DM's is just happy making the playoffs.
Ok buddy, cut it out. Making the playoffs will be a damn good accomplishment for this team. They'd be one of the youngest teams to ever do it. Are you saying that renting Al Jefferson for half a season (which would have cost young players and cap space in a trade) or signing Kenyon Martin would have made this team a contender? There's no way you're saying that.
Here's a graph showing the substitution pattern of each team during the Spurs-Rockets game and how the players and lineups did. Not an "be all end all" graph showing everything, but a decent simple summary: https://twitter.com/nbagraphs/status/316060899448336384/photo/1 As a shorthand, more orange on the graph is better and more gray is worse. The Rockets went to the Delfino-Parsons forward combo in the middle of the 3rd quarter. The Spurs stayed big with Diaw at the 4 (not as big as they could have, but Diaw is still a real PF/C type) and either Duncan or Splitter at the 5. They went to Diaw a couple times during that stretch, but generally neither he nor the Spurs made a whole lot happen during while he was on the court. In the middle of the 4th qtr, the Spurs gave up on their big lineup and went small to match the Rockets using Jackson and Leonard at the 3-4. The Spurs then did somewhat betters since then, but of course Beverley's block, Parsons 3, Harden's shot and the defense on the final 4.5 seconds got HOU the close win. This, to me, suggest that the "small ball" tactic worked and forced the opponent to adjust.
Or it could be that TP is in the top 10 in 4th quarter scoring, so he was doing what he does. But by all means, lets throw two guys who've played 30 minutes together all season out there, because it might maybe possibly help us beat the Spurs.
Making the playoffs is a great accomplishment for a team that was predicted to finish with a lottery pick. No doubt about it. But don't take making the playoffs for granted either this season or for future seasons. Note: see Chicago Bulls with and w/o Rose. Now, obviously, injuries can't be predicted, but we know what we do have as of 2013. Harden - darn near elite, Parsons and Lin are big X-factors in a positive way. Asik, Delfino, Beverly - all solid. We've beaten the Spurs, OKC, and Memphis already. I don't want to get ahead of myself b/c the playoffs are a whole different beast, but I will say we have the talent and intangibles to make a suprising run in the west. We know what we lack, a low post, scoring and rebounding PF. Im not saying to mortgage the future, but if veteran presence is a premium on this team, then more of it definitely couldn't hurt. Will Jeff or KMart put us over the top? Maybe not, but it wouldn't hurt our chances.
