-34 points in 17 minutes for Greg Smith I hope that's the last we've seen of the Smith/Ibaka matchup. Ibaka has always killed traditional bigs. Bigs that can't stretch the floor on offense allow him to host his own block party and effectively shut down the paint. And on offense he pulls bigs out from being able to help on drives while he shoots open 3s and long 2s against bigs that can't get out there quick enough. If you're McHale, what would you do.. When Ibaka plays the 4? I think we should put Delfino or even Harden on him. Focus mostly on spacing so he won't disrupt all our penetration. Asik can give us the rim protection we need on Westbrook/Durant drives while he's guarding Perkins or Collison. When Ibaka plays the 5? I think you have to go with TJones. Even though he can't space the court as well as Delfino, he can definitely space the court more than Greg Smith or Asik, and he gives you more rebounding/rim protection then Delfino or Harden.
We could only hope T-Jones mature in a quick way, he's the only one with the athleticism, length and range to deal with Ibaka.
Is it too late to sign one of those non-NBA'ers? Sadly a guy like McDyess would probably have more impact than anyone on our roster. It is what it is. We weren't built for this test. I took the SAT's in 8th grade once, the situation the Rockets are currently in is similar. We're taking the test earlier than expected. It'll give us much needed experience. We'll be ready for it someday, but now is not our time.
I get the sentiment but let's not get carried away here. Rockets can do much better than what they showed yesterday.
this doesn't make sense at all , Ibaka is too big for Harden to guard , also it doesn't mean he will be the one guarding Harden at the other end
You expand your rotation to 10-11 and you throw all of your bigs at him, with the instructions "wear him down." D-Mo, Thomas Robinson, everyone- you tell them that you don't care if they use up 6 fouls, just put a body on him-and when you foul him, make him feel it. On the offensive end, tell all your bigs to play outside to draw him away from the rim. You can't stop Durant, and you can at least take the chance that Westbrook will be inconsistent (if he's consistent, there's really nothing you can do), but you have to negate Ibaka as a force. Be physical with him- he's a bit more of an emotional player than others, and he plays better when his emotions are under control, believe it or not, so if you can get physical with him, maybe even a hard foul once or twice, there you go.
I like the strategy of Delfino matching up with Ibaka to get him out of the paint while we're on offense, but do you still go with Delfino when Ibaka is at the 5, and there's no one for Asik to gaurd, and Westbrook and Durant are penetrating?
Harden is a strong guy and it's not like Ibaka ever abuses anyone in the paint. And if it forces a cross matchup where someone else has to switch and pick up Harden that might be a plus for us.
Terrance Jones or Thomas Robinson should get a shot at playing if Ibaka is the 4 or 5. Definitely not Delfino or Harden. I don't know why McHale keeps insisting on Delfino playing the PF position... He tried that against the Wizards and Okafor destroyed Delfino while giving hardly any effort. They should start J Lin, Harden, Parsons, T Rob/Terrance Jones, and Asik and bring in Greg Smith as a backup center.
Can we please get this guy back somehow? It is embarrassing how soft we are at the 4. Greg Smith and T.Jones need to find a mean streak, fast. And actually I think T-Rob in short stints could be effective to match his athleticism.