[HP] Nowhere to Hide: Damian Lillard Defending the San Antonio Spurs

My sentiments exactly. Just check out the no calls during the game. They allowed aldridge to be bumped, no whistles, which he always initiates contact anyway. Goes to show my (and others) theory on how the NBA has turned into a reality show, where referees are allowed to call games at their (the league's) discretion. Too many shenanigans: pissed off refs retaliating on players etc... bush league. Well, it's always been that way though. Sucks the joy out of the game... everyone just ends up getting bitter.... like me i guess. That will be all.

 

Its pretty clear that if Parker was here, he would be handling the ball more than Lin is now. Its a respect thing and a confidence thing. Lin either does not have the respect of his teammates, or has enough confidence to demand the ball and run the offense.

 

Its probably both.

 

Yes, clearly the difference between Parker and Lin is that one gets the ball while the other does not.

 

It's a pity we didnt/couldnt make the Blazers work as hard as the Spurs are making them work.

I think we have enough talent to crush teams like the Blazers.
Seriously.

Just need a better system, well, something better than just playing harder anyways.

 

It goes further than that. There's 2 reasons you use a lot of screens.

1) It increases scoring efficiency. It would help the team somewhat overall, but it sure would have helped Harden or any other player who was struggling to get a good shot.

2) The smart use of screens wears down your opponent, creates moments of indecision and tempts the defense to over help.

The number of screens that the Spurs run the Blazers through in games 1 and 2 was ridiculous.

I saw multiple possessions where the ball handler would begin turning the corner of a screen/pick so that the defender would hit the screen, and instead of continuing they did a 180 forcing the defender to go through the same screen Again. On one screen, Lillard had to run through a screen 3x on a single play... by the time he bumped into the screen the 3rd time, Lillard was so confused he had no idea if Parker was going to run him through the screen again or actually turn the corner and make a play.

I saw another possession where Lillard had to chase Parker over a double screen, then Parker changed direction and ran Lillard into 2 consecutive blind back picks before he drove for the lane kicked it out to another wide open 3.

Running into a single screen hurts. Can you imagine if you're a Portland defender and the Spurs not only run you through screens, but intentionally run you through multiple screens on the same possession with the goal of simply wearing you down and confusing your defense?

Screens have multiple applications beyond just increasing your offensive efficiency. They also wear down your opponent and create indecision on the part of defenders as well as cause the opposing team to start over helping and create even more shooting options.

This is what Lillard had to say about it...

http://www.csnnw.com/blazers/damian-lillard-what-makes-spurs-tough-their-screens-hurt

 

LOL if you think starting dumb as rocks and mental midget LIN would have made a difference

 

In the playoffs possibly. Bev was sick + injured.

 

Lin got minutes

 

LOL at people saying we don't have parker, hiding the real issue here, like they've never watched basketball before.

No matter what pg we have, as long as harden and Mchale are here, the pg role would be diminished. I honestly believe Mchale doesn't like the sticky ickey but what can he do? He fears the beard.


I really want Lowry here now just to see how he can convert assists and points with Harden massaging, howard posting and chandler modeling. Lowry still gave up many points to other pgs, so defense will always be difficult when you can't hand check plus have to play offense.

We have to Face reality, harden is the PG/SG and the Center on defense because he is nowhere around the perimeter. Until the change in philosophy to "democratic" ball happens we're sitting 'duckies'

I wish Howard was younger so his prime years won't be wasted if this continues.

 

yes (or someone like him) if you're plan is to screen lillard to death which is the OPs plan. either of our pgs are that quick or have the handles/awareness to execute that plan.

 

LOL at you who doesn't under stand how forum's/thread's work. OP's post was about lillard and OP's plan was to attack lillard with pick and rolls.

we're not talking about the "real" problems of the rockets. that's called derailing. my posts are addressing the OP and the stupid plan because the Rockets don't have the Spurs personal to execute suggested plan.

 

Soooo how were we able to beat them in the regular season without Parker?

 

OMG!!!! that is not a discussion for this thread. OP posted an article and his plan to beat the blazers. follow me so far?!?!? my responses were criticizing that plan since we don't have the personal (parker) to execute because our PGs are not quick enough and overall deficient to execute that plan. especially true with injuries and sickness we faced. also lillard never guarded harden so I also pointed out that we've have to set screen with our pgs which again wouldn't be as effective to wear down lillard.

addressing how we beat them during the regular season without parker would be derailing OPs thread. Do you understand?!?!?

 

I don't think the Spurs ever really attack anyone, it's more a case of their natural offense will expose flaws in teams with defensive holes at those specific positions, which is probably partly why we do so well against them. They talk about "playing like the regular season" which makes sense, because actually going into isolations to try and expose someone would take away what makes their offense so good.

 

Judging by your obvious frustration, I think you need to take a snickers break. It's Friday.

Like others have clearly stated, you don't need a Tony Parker to run a PnR and, despite the small sample size, Jeremy Lin was successful in running the PnR when he had the freedom to do so in New York. So your statement that we don't have the personnel to run the PnR is suspect.

Bottom line is the Rockets did not make Lillard defend whoever he was guarding. Just like how Portland got the ball to whoever Harden was "guarding", that should have been a part (not THE whole part) of the offensive game plan. You don't need a quick point guard like Tony Parker to make Lillard work; you just need to make him work on defense period.

 

"Because in morey we allow ourselves to be deceived"

 

i guess you've forgotten that beverly was the walking dead out there for most of the series. also you've forgotten lin and the turnovers, his patented dribble drive to nowhere, jump in the air with nowhere to skills. also let me remind you that lin gets no calls from the ref's, they bump him, slap him, whack him on the face but never gets the calls.

all of that has to be considered or it's disingenuous. if my statement is suspect, then so is your assertion of success with that strategy especially considering all of the factors i stated.

 

thats one thing he fixed in the playoffs, didnt see that not once. Saw alot of other starting PGs do it during the playoffs while watching other teams. it was a issue during the reg. season tho

the thing about bev yes he was a good fit but CF is funny because you guys were saying series was over if bev was out. then we came back 1st and 2nd time you guys were like yessss we will beta them. the fact is bev was a non issue to lillard he took care of the ball perfect and hes never been a super efficent at getting to the rim if you guys watch him, he will get his shots off screens & pick & pop with LMA no matter whos guarding him

 

So now it's Beverly's fault that he didn't gameplan to expose Lillard's weakness?

Again, Lin showed in a system that used his strengths (i.e. freedom to create and decide where he wants to go as opposed to being a spot up shooter or camp on the 3 point line or dribble the ball out for 15 seconds to try and get Harden/Howard the ball) that he can be effective in the PnR.

So you stop being the aggressor because calls aren't going your way?

lol how is my assertion that the PnR can be ran by the players already have suspect? It's not coincidental that my above responses to your comments have one thing in common--game planning--which, unfortunately, won't be improved upon as long as McHale is our coach.

Popovich runs his offense according to the strength of his players. He doesn't just see Duncan and say "Hey, he's been our best player for such a long time, why don't we continue to run plays through him?" or "Manu...he's great in isolation plays, lets let him do that whenever he steps onto the court". No, he tries and maximizes the strengths of his players. Some years San Antonio were the best defensive team in the league when they were on top and now they're more offensive-oriented.

Even the casual NBA fan knows Lillard's defense is suspect and that you need to put the onus on him (and, indirectly, the refs) to defend without getting into foul trouble. The Rockets did not do that but rather decide to stand their ground and play iso-ball for most of the playoffs. Why can Terry Stotts get his players to recognize when Harden was on Lopez and get Lopez the ball but our coach/system can't do the same.

Having the personnel is one thing but not having a game plan for said personnel is another. Jose freaking Calderon can run a PnR.