I don't know about that. Definitely double him hard if the shotclock is running down or he's deep in the paint and Jones or Smith is in trouble(as they did in Game 5). But otherwise I don't mind letting Griffin get his as long as you keep the supporting cast in check. The key is to just not let him get off like he did in the 2nd quarter of Game 2.
Cant believe it took McHale 9 games to change-up Harden's rotation. It's been killing us all postseason. Nevermind. I can believe it.
Hopefully, Brew woke up from his nightmare for the rest of the series. He didn't hit from behind the arc, but only took one shot from distance, and hit his freakin' free throws! Terry was terrific. Smith? I hope this game signals that he's getting it together again. We'll see. We desperately need the good Josh Smith, and more of those lobs to Dwight. Heck, he should be tossing lobs to that tall quick dude who got some minutes, as Clutch pointed out in the podcast, and showed up. Capela. Yeah, almost forgot that he was still with us. Finally had an impact in his 11 minutes. We need Clint to take this performance and build on it. God knows, we need those kinds of effective minutes from him. Prigioni only took one shot, which pleased the hell out of me. He was 1-8 last game from Downtown, and I couldn't figure out what he was doing taking 8 shots. I thought he was a positive when he was out there this time. So have another good game, people. Hell, play better than last night. It may not sound like a strategy, but it's a huge part of what we need. Good performances from players not named Dwight and James. I expecting great games from those two. It won't be enough if the other guys don't show up. McHale and company made adjustments, finally, to counter Rivers and the Clippers. Use what worked last night, but be prepared to counter the adjustments Rivers makes. They don't want a game 7, they want to "rest" before the next series. Let's not give them what they want. Obviously, the next game is the biggest game of the entire season. The team needs to reach down deep and put everything on the court. They have to play smart basketball for 48 minutes. Scrape together whatever it takes to pull off a win in LA and bring this series back to Houston for game 7. I like our chances if they do.
The reason you hack when you are up is it statistically makes it harder to come back. When we were up by 20, assuming DJ goes 50%, we would have to go scoreless for 20 possessions for them to get back in it. As opposed to playing straight up and they hit a couple 3's real quick.
As I mentioned in another thread, snort 2 lines of coke off your significant other's ***, one on each cheek, as she (or he) is wearing nothing but a Houston Rockets shirt. That's my good luck strategy. That's what you meant, right? EDIT: Well, I just read the rest of the thread. Uh oh.
1. The Rockets must continue to establish the paint. 2. In order to cause a similar situation where the Rockets are able to get to the paint, they must effectively continue to attack DeAndre with waves...What I mean is, if Harden is attacking him head on, it would be prudent to have a Ariza or Brewer following his route to the basket attacking any loose balls or lack of calls inside the paint. 3. Their shooters were shooting at a very low clip and its unreasonable to expect them to continue to struggle...must continue to make their lives miserable from the perimeter 4. You can not have wasted possession, and careless turnovers; yesterday was nice, but we must continue to protect the ball 5. Must close out on all shooters make or miss. DONT worry about the result, just go contest the damn shot. 6. Employing the Hack a whomever is very effective when they have a lead...continue to use this philosphy in LA. 7. Playing with pride and a sense of urgency is of utmost importance. They did so last night. Yes you dont wanna get blown out of games, and you dont want to lose composure. But you compete as much as you can, and live with the results. Rooting for our boys, and we never know how things could drastically change in a series...just focus on game 6. Go Rockets
I don't know if it's Harden not being on the floor that's been killing us in 2nd quarters. The Rockets' biggest problem is that they simply can't get stops defensively during that stretch and constantly blow huge leads. What Harden starting the 2nd quarter does do for the Rockets is keep Josh Smith from initiating the offense. That's been really hurting us and helping the Clippers. Harden being doubled and then passing to an open Smith who can kick it out to open shooters works much better. The Rockets were killing the Clippers with that play in the 3rd quarter in Game 5.
The main thing is "attack, attack, attack" we are 2-0 in the series when DJ is in foul trouble. We need to play down hill feed Howard early and when Smith and D12 get in to pick and roll and DJ switches smith has to drive right at him instead of settling for the shot. If Dwight, Smith, and Harden are going at him all game there is no way he doesn't get into foul trouble. DJ is a shot blocker who goes after everything we need to turn this strength into his weakness and go right at him
We have to limit them from the three point line and specifically limit production from their role players. Notice how Griffin and CP3 had great performances in Game 5 and yet they still got blown out. What that tells me is we should continue to shadow all their shooters (Barnes, Crawford, Redick, Rivers). Let Griffin and CP3 get 30+. Let them torch Jones/Smith and Terry/Prigioni. Doesn't matter. We CANNOT give their role players confidence.
Whatever strategy gets us a win In all seriousness last nights win makes Game 1 sting even more. What a missed opportunity. We should be up 3-2 right now, looking to close. Only hope is to play with nothing to lose, pressure is on Clips to close us out at home. Although they handled even greater pressure well against Spurs so we'll see.
Two things. 1. Go hard at Jordan from the tip and see if we can get him in early foul trouble. Apparently the Clippers are a lot easier to play without him on the floor. 2. Put Chucky Brown on the team plane. "Who is Chucky Brown," you might ask if you were Charles Barkley and he was about to deny you a 3-1 advantage in a playoff series in 1995. Very few players have dug out from a 3-1 hole. Chucky's one of them and, to quote CBFC, "Chucky Brown karma is real."
Austin Rivers really does appear to be the spark plug for the Clips especially in the 3rd. We need to make sure he has a bad game and his confidence is rattled. I think we need Brewer to come up big as both our spark plug off the bench while also putting pressure on Rivers. Also no matter what we need to own the 3rd. Even last night the Clippers started to make a run in the 3rd but we had enough cushion to weather it. We can't end up in a situation where it is a close game in the 3rd and suddenly Rivers sparks a huge run and we get mentally down.
I might consider bringing in Nick Johnson in the 3rd with the instruction "Don't worry about offense just stick to Austin Rivers like you were Siamese twins."
Drive to the basket every possession - foul out DJ and get to the line. STAY ON THEIR 3 POINT SHOOTERS. No lazy passes or bounce passes in traffic.
so important, cannot get discouraged and stop attacking rim if the first few attempts are blocked. the reward will come later.
1) attack, attack, attack the paint. get jordan in foul trouble. 2) limit second chance points which means REBOUND!!! 3)attacking in the paint will create for open shot opportunities and make sure we hit those. 4) energy. another elimination game. seems is the only way rockets get motivated in this series 5)hope for a good ref crew.
I like the way we smothered their shooters like Reddick & Crawford. They literally had only 1 or 2 good looks. I noticed Ariza is now guarding Reddick while Terry's guarding Paul. Paul will get his but we made a consertive effort to chase them off the 3pt line. Good strategy McHale!! Finally!!
