Completely agree with anderson. I don't see what he's done wrong, other than being Harden's back up. I'm not leaning towards Garcia simply due to experience, since he hasn't been in the playoffs either. Anderson is much better in the open court and more capable with the ball. Better on boards too. I think Lin needs to get benched. We're not winning games with defense alone, OKC is too good for that. I'd like to see this line up in there: Beverly Brooks Harden Parsons Asik
The only guys who should play are Lin, Beverly, Parsons, Harden, Delfino, Asik, and Smith. Smith should play only the absolute minimum to rest Asik. If Lin is hurt... what difference does it make who plays?
yep, looks like the majority agree with this. close win yesterday. if bev didnt have ft then we couldve won it. brooks just got demolished. sigh. lin bad timing to get injured.
7 guys? Good luck with that. They'll be burned out by halftime. If Lin is hurt it makes a difference. He's not being aggressive and is 1 of 7 from three. Get someone in there who can hit it and it's a game changer.
Why is everyone ok with Greg Smith coming off the bench??? He can't score down low against OKC's elite defensive bigs. He can't draw them out of the paint. His help defense is worse than no help defense. He should not be an option in this series. There's a reason the Rockets are -49 in the 31 minutes he's been on the court! The coaching staff started off with the right adjustments for this game, but it's amazing to me that they can't see how truly terrible this matchup is for Smith.
I'd like to see Robinson get a chance. Sometimes it feels like they are moving much faster than we are. I'm not sure if that's a lack of effort, speed, or both, but Trob can help with either.
(shhh... It is not going to happen this year for us) The play-offs were the goal. Play-off playing time is hard to come by (3/4 years) so lets play ONLY the player that are part of our future. I would through TRob out there just to see what he does (is he a man or just gets run over). D-Mo more of the same. Sit Delfino --> not part of the future. T Jones would be the 6th man (early Cliff Robinson type less all the dope) playing all three spots up front. Put Smith on a short leash. Anderson over Garcia. As much Beverley as he can take. Good job make the play-off --> use the time to make us better going forward. thought: a 30 point loss is the same a 1 point loss.
I would like to see T-Rob more and less D Mo. If we want to do anything this year, T-Rob has to break out. If we are going to lose, why not see what he has.
They'll play them differently though. Right now they're slacking off Lin because he's a shaky shooter but a better finisher. If we sub in someone who is a better 3 pt shooter, then eventually they'll start playing him close. What then? It might work for a game as a surprise but its not a long term solution. We simply don't have anyone on the roster that finishes as well as Lin and shoots the 3 pt well.
3 guards is very effective against OKC because you have 3 options to run your play and also you can hound the WB and KD almost every time. OKC doesn't have any inside player except Ibaka. The only problem here is if KD decides to play it inside though this might be good for us because you can bang him all night long which can quickly tire him. As long as he plays outside, I'd prefer the 3-guard rotation. Also again, PnR them to death. You can quickly tire WB chasing PnRs...
Why are there so many posts clamoring for TRob? Nobody guards him on the offensive end daring him to shoot a jumper and his defender basically parks himself in the paint. On the defensive end, he gives great energy, hustle, and has the ability to block shots and get a steal but he has no idea where to be once the defense rotates. He is a talent but completely raw. I don't see any point putting him out there against OKC unless they just want to give him playoff experience.
I don't recall Anderson doing badly. But the few games Garica played (when Delfino was out), he knocked down 3's very early in the game, usually a few in a row, and that helped a lot.
I don't recall Anderson doing badly. But the few games Garcia played (when Delfino was out), he knocked down 3's very early in the game, usually a few in a row, and that helped a lot.
Not so much damn Delfino, he sucks on D, sucks at rebounding, and is streaky from deep. He should play, he's a threat from 3pt land but not as much as we rely on him. Asik Parsons Harden Lin Patrick Brooks Smith Delfino Tjones(play him some of Delfino's minutes) just for some athleticism, size, defense. Stick to a 2-3 zone, 1-3-1 zone and some bouts of man-to-man but not much. Maybe some man-coverage, like a sagging man on man defense that's sort of like a zone. It's hard to do that with quick shooters like K-Mart and KD but can be done. Or even be open to box & 1's with Parsons on Durant.
How about a 9 man rotation with Delfino, Smith, Jones, Garcia off the bench ... 1Q C Asik PF Parsons SF Harden SG Lin PG Beverley 1Q 3-4 minute mark C Smith PF Jones SF Delfino SG Harden PG Beverley 2Q C Smith PF Delfino SF Parsons SG Lin PG Beverley 2Q 9min mark C Asik PF Parsons SF Garcia SG Harden PG Lin 2Q 6min mark C Asik PF Parsons SF Harden SG Lin PG Beverley *repeat for 2nd half.
We did have a backup center in Cole Aldrich. Scrub or not, he would have been better than whatever we are throwing out there at the 5 spot.
I'd take most of the suggestions for rotations from you all in this thread. The majority of them are rationally thought out. But let's be clear: No Rockets fan can EXPECT consistent, competent and strategy-based rotations from Kevin McHale. He made a very minor adjustment, after playing 7 guys for the majority of game 1. Beverly played well, but with the shooters we have, McHale isn't even attempting to get different looks. It comes down to McHale knowing that the Rockets cannot win with plays/rotations that OKC can anticipate from a mile away. You have to switch things up when the offense isn't fluid. You have to use James Harden as a decoy once in awhile to force the defense to respect the other guys as scoring threats. You have to make that rapid substitution to get Cisco out there with 4 seconds on the shot clock at the end of a quarter with the hope of hitting a 3. McHale is predictable and even if our guys follow his "plays" (It's very difficult to call them that), they are at a disadvantage because OKC already knows how to react and anticipate their movement. I think that it's been long overdue for Bev or Aaron Brooks to start, so that was not a surprising move. I hope we get Chandler more involved in Game 3. Hell, have Greg Smith get a few touches in the post to show Serge that he can play...we have strayed away from some of those successful plays that were poppin' before the playoffs. James can't do this alone, and McHale can't possibly believe that his playbook is keeping anyone in OKC on their toes.
I don't understand everyone's infatuation with Brooks. He hasn't been involved all year. The chance he got in the 2nd game, he clearly showed he was out of sync and couldn't cut it. The playoffs isn't the time to be trying new players out - hell with that reasoning, why don't we start Royce White. Get out of your Brooks daydream. He's history!
