One thing I've noticed is this: Kirilenko is still starting and is still sucking. He does not dare to take any 3s nor any shots that aren't within 10 ft of the basket. Here's what I'm thinking: Why expend energy by putting McGrady or Battier on him when you can put Yao on him? Sounds crazy at first, but Sloan has exploited Yao's lack of speed so why can't we exploit Kirilenko's lack of range? The problems I see are: -Kirilenko can move around the court, thus tiring Yao out. But he can move around all he wants to, he isn't going to get the green light to shoot from a distance any time soon. His game is near the basket. -He's quicker. This is only to his advantage if the Jazz decides to let him have the ball and have him drive into the lane...which I have a hard time seeing happening when they have 3 or 4 better options on the floor. So what am I trying to get at? Yao guards Kirilenko. Just stay close enough to him to not get the defensive 3 seconds. AK's going to hover around the basket most times anyways because he gets his points through putbacks. Chuck guards Boozer. I rather have Chuck be closer to the basket for rebounding purposes (and by guarding Boozer, he would have that opportunity) than anything else. We, by now, can see that Boozer can shoot. But putting Hayes out there to guard Okur takes away our best rebounder, which has been a problem since Game 3 I think. Battier guards Okur. I thought about Tracy on Okur but Battier is stronger in case Mehmet decides to post up. Okur hasn't exactly been lighting it up and Battier can make it stay that way for the rest of the series. Rafer guards Fisher. This is by default since we all think Tracy should be guarding Deron. Tracy guards Deron. If he can get into Nash's head, he can get into Deron's head. This is also a bit more advantageous because it gives the Rockets better lateral movement when they're defending the pick and roll. Deron and Boozer runs it exclusively and that means that it's up to Alston and Yao to neutralize it. Which is a problem since Yao is slow laterally and Rafer is.....Rafer. Now that you have Hayes guarding Boozer and McGrady on Deron, they can recover and pick up the necessary player faster.
I didn't say they would, but why the f*ck can't we at least try them out? The sh*t we're doing now is NOT WORKING. What the hell is so hard to understand about that?
I agree...but I think it's more our player's fault...as in TMac/Rafer/Shane don't try to drive...they just settle for jumpshots and miss or just pass the ball. I think the problem is that our D was terrible and we can't buy an open bucket I think TMac's lack of effort killed us. He had plenty of chances to try to drive, but he passed the ball or shot a jumper.
Your right the pick and roll play isn't giving us any advantage right now since Hayes or Yao aren't perimeter players. Howard PNR with McGrady has worked in the past but Howard is shooting crap now. Deron is heart and soul of the Utah team right now, if we smother him I bet their offense goes chaotic. TMac needs the home crowd, he just not playing inspired basketball right now. Our defense is getting worse as the series goes on, Utah has figured out the mismatches and now taking full advantage of them. Adjustments need to be made, I would like see Battier guard Okur and TMAC on Williams. Rockets just need some home cooking, im confident we'll win game 5.
The only thing that needs to be adjusted is where the game is played. The home teams have naturally had more energy playing at home. Fortunately, we have HCA, and that will be the difference in the series. I wouldn't put T-Mac on Deron. Rafer has been playing decent D on him all year. The pick and roll defense is what was so pathetic today. In general, we have to stop hacking. They shot 11 more FT than we did. I heard a whistle like once every minute. It was ridiculous. Another reason I wouldn't do that is because Harpring went off today. T-Mac has got to play better D on him. For the person who suggested putting Yao on AK... why? Yao is our best post defender, so you may want to take advantage of that and have him guard Utah's best post player - Carlos Boozer. Note that we contained Boozer today to 15 points. Yao had once again a solid performance of paint defense. He can't get 5 fouls though. Stop the fouls already! The perimeter defense is what needs to improve. We allowed penetration WAY too easily. Okur hit shots also. Hayes needs to do a better job on D.
If I were Jeff I put T-Mac on Williams, Shane on Boozer, Chuck on Okur, Rafer on Fisher, Yao just control the lane.
This series was likely lost in the offseason. When we did not secure a playoff caliber starting point guard. Rafer does well with what he brings to the table, but he should be a backup. Also, this team needs some fire, some killer instinct. We need a Darrell Armstrong, or a Bob Sura. Someone who will kick them when they're down. This series shows that this team isn't ready. Even if we do get past the Jazz, we need another good offseason especially if we're going to have a short rotation. Maybe also a few more pages in the offensive playbook. It's funny that tonight I'm frustrated about watching some of the same lax and unmotivated play that I used to see in the late 90's.
After game 1 Sloan said "we're getting good looks the shots just didn't go down." And after looking at the film all the Utah players came to the same conclusion. I don't think Utah has made a lot of drastic adjustments. They're just making the shots they missed in the first two games. And they're playing defense with more energy. They (and the other three teams ahead of the Rockets) have more shooters who are able to make pullup jump shots when driving behind screens. T-mac is the only player the Rockets have who has the ability to make that shot consistently. Aside from lacking a slasher to the basket (um-m.. who can also finish) the Rockets need another player who can make that pullup jump shot from driving behind a screen. It also wouldn't hurt to have a center who relishes dunking when the opportunity is there.
But that is not enough, Houston should have some counters to the defense the Jazz are running..... DD
I think we need to run some iso's for Tmac at the top of the key. Once he makes his move, you know someone will come to double, leaving one of our shooters open for 3. Running the pick and role, esspecially with someone other then Yao, is just going to get Tmac doubled and force him to give the ball up. Basically, we need to get Tmac into the lane and to the free throw line. And please, stop the turnovers!
That's actually a very very good observation...I noticed the same thing in the last couple of games... Yao comes out for the screen, sets up the pick (he doesnt set the best screens but lets assume they're good enough) and then gets back VERY slowly or even stays out in the perimeter to get back to the other half faster after tracy has taken a contested jumper. I mean...What is the point? Either you get back in the paint fast and grab the assist for an easy bucket (yao) or have t-mac take advantage of the mismatch and drive to the rim... That's the whole point of the pick'n' roll . What happens with the rockets is that Yao hardly ever runs back into the paint and T-Mac doesn't drive. Therefore T-Mac just ends up taking a jumper with the only difference being that he takes it with whoever is guarding Yao in front of him, rather than whoever was originally guarding him, who in general tends to be taller and makes it a harder shot! I don't expect Yao to run straight back in because he is not that fast due to his size but i'm sure T-Mac can dribble past Yao's defender and drive to the rim. Or at least play the pick'n'roll closer to the basket so yao can take the jumper from around the free throw area. Even if he doesn't run in past the defender, it will still be whoever was guarding t-mac and Yao should be able to shoot over them easily.
Sad but true- there probably is nothing that can be done - unless the players decide to do it on the court...... Wild abandon - taking it to the rim
What's also surprising is that McGrady is posting up on Fisher. Common sense would tell you that this is the way to go at a smaller defender, but McGrady was/is never a player that plays all that well posting up. And he's never that efficient in backing down a player, and taking turnaround-fall-away jumpers either.
Good points - I have grown to hate the jumpshot missed - then the rebound missed - then we are on our heels on defense-Our defense becomes inept All because of settling for jump shots. Take it to the rim-Challenge the Jazz- we are getting laughed at Get in Utah's dirty mind that we do not fear them or going inside!!!!
I've stated before in other threads that Yao needs to be a little bit more aggressive, like many of you would agree. But I've been thinking, ever since game one, Yao has looked out of breath 5 minutes into the game. I think he's still not 100% conditioned for the playoffs yet since that injury. I saw Yao bending over resting his hands on his knee in between possessions. I think the problem is Yao needs to condition himself first before he can dunk on everyone. Dunking takes so much out of you, so he went for soft layups..
