Tough loss. I have a feeling Houston and Utah will be fighting hard for playoff seeding at the end of the season, perhaps for home court advantage. It would've been good to get this win and a leg up on the head-to-head matchup.
I think the Rockets should give it a shot... But going to Denver on the tail end of a b2b is tough, not sure why it feels like we can never just go to Denver after like a 2 day break.
I'm with you if we talk about the past two seasons, but i think he's doing a good job this season, he was not really a factor against CJ,you're right, but CJ is a terrific shooter, he can be unguardable in some games and i don't really remember Pat leaving him that open but maybe it's just me.
Harden definitely got the memo from the coaching staff to not force things too much, this is one of the reasons he committed only 2 turnovers in this game. People say he was too passive - but shooting 23 times is not being passive, he just didn't try to make things happen when the opportunity wasn't there. Much better than the Raptors game, IMO
Concerns about b2b games are way overblown, there really is no evidence that it hurts players' performances http://www.databasebasketball.com/content/backtoback.htm Also, we always seem to lose against teams playing b2b, I actually want to avoid that at this point
Your link confirms what we are going through too... "On the other hand, teams playing the second game of a road/road set do have a much more difficult time. " Also IIRC Denver has one of the best home records in the league, b2b road games + altitude...
We're just not good enough to play with the good, disciplined, defensive-minded and hot shooting teams. We are going to get destroyed on Thu. MDA never calls timeouts until the game is out of hand. Beverley is trash. Trevor is a nice guy and all but he is not an impact player Capela is just a role player Anderson is soft and a one trick pony who needs to make more 3s. More shooter than maker Harden does not have the right players around him Why does Brew even get pt? Gordon is a nice pick up Nene is old We need a trade We're just not that good of a team. (we just look good against trash teams)
I wish I could control this teams minutes and rotations for one game....okay all of them, but just as a fantasy, for one game. This is what I would do (not that any of you care lol): Starters: Harden (plays all of 1st, comes in 6 minutes left in 2nd, repeat in 4th unless we are behind he come in early: 36mins) Gordon (plays first 8 min in 1st, starts 2nd, rests at 6 minutes, back in with 3 minutes, repeat 2nd half: 34mins) Ariza (plays first 7 min in 1st, comes in 10 minutes left in 2nd, repeat 2nd half: 34 minutes) Anderson (plays first 10 min in 1st, comes in 7 min left in 2nd, repeat 2nd half: 34 minutes) Capela (plays first 10 min in 1st, comes in 8 minutes left in 2nd, repeat 2nd half: 36 minutes) Bench: Dekker (in at 7 min mark of 1st SF, switch to PF, out at 7 min mark of 2nd, repeat 2nd half: 20 minutes) Bev (in for Gordon at 4 min mark in 1st, plays till 3 minutes left in 2nd, repeat 2nd half: 26 minutes) KJ (in at 10 min mark in first as SF, out at 10 min mark 2nd, repeat 2nd half: 8 minutes) Nene (in at 10 min mark in 1st, 1st 4 minutes of 2nd, repeat 2nd half: 12 minutes) Harrell (in for foul trouble at C or PF when rebounding needed) Brewer (in the Sewer) 5 man Lineups on the court: Harden, Gordon, Ariza, Anderson, Capela (10 min per half, 20 minutes total) Harden, Gordon, Dekker, Anderson, Capela (1 min per half, 2 minutes total) Harden, Bev, Dekker, Anderson, Capela (2 min per half, 4 minutes total) Harden, Bev, KJ, Dekker, Nene (2 min per half, 4 minutes total) Bev, Gordon, KJ, Dekker, Nene (2 min per half, 4 minutes total) Bev, Gordon, Ariza, Dekker, Nene (2 min per half, 4 minutes total)) Bev, Gordon, Ariza, Dekker, Capela (1 min per half, 2 minutes total) Bev, Gordon, Ariza, Anderson, Capela (1 min per half, 2 minutes total) Harden, Bev, Ariza, Anderson, Capela (3 minutes per half, 6 minutes total) This team and all teams need DEFINED ROLES, so players know when they will play most likely, and what is expected of them each night. Harden loves to start the game getting his teammates involved, so starting Gordon gives him the best opportunity to do that over Bev because it opens the court up more because Gordon is a better 3pt shooter than Bev, with longer range; and Gordon can take a pass and dribble to get his own or hit a teammate much better than Bev....which makes the offense much more potent. This makes the other teams defense work even harder, thus taking away some of their legs on offense, which is sorely needed the way teams are shooting against us. Playing Harden the entire 1st quarter, which he seems to like and is used to, is best for him because he likes to take advantage of teams at the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters when we are in the bonus to get FTs for our team. Taking him out like MDA is doing now during the last 2 or 3 minutes of the 1st and 3rd quarters is destroying that option/ability for Harden. Also, playing him this way give the team the best chance to be ahead so that he can rest longer in the 4th, or come in early when needed when we are behind or losing. The way MDA is doing it the last 2 games, trying to play Harden all of the 4th quarter makes less sense because he isn't as fresh as at the beginning of the game or after halftime when you can play a full quarter with no rest. So this to me is a bad strategy and decision by MDA. Capela has to play 36 minutes a game and be our leading rebounder and rim protector, barring foul trouble. He should know when he is going to play, and playing him Mostly with Hardens minutes is best for the team to get the most out of Capela. The rotations above give Capela 32 of his 36 minutes on the floor to play along with Harden, making teams honor that combo most of the game. Gordon has to play 34 minutes a game for this team to be very good. He is our second best scorer and play maker on the team, but we can't expect him to be Harden when Harden rests. To me he plays better when he starts with Harden because he starts the game with easy looks from 3 to get into a groove, without having to work very hard. When Harden sits for 6 minutes or less in the 2nd and 4th quarters, Gordon can jack and drive at will to get even more shots up. But him being on the floor with Harden spreads the defense even more, especially when Anderson is on the court because that's 2 players that you have to guard 4 ft behind the 3 point line; and that's an extra 4 feet that the defense has to try to recover on when trying to help on the Harden/Capela PnR. They can only help with Ariza's man then, and Ariza is a decent enough 3pt shooter to bury you from the corners, as he is proving by leading the NBA in corner 3. Starting Bev in place of Gordon throws this off completely when the rotations start to come in, and not enough time of this combo on the floor together. They could lead the league in scoring, so you want this 5 man rotation on the floor together the most, and the only way to do it is to START GORDON! Brewer minutes need to VANISH COMPLETELY! KJ deserves some minutes for his ability to defend, block shots, hit an open 3 and even be better at finishing then Brewer on breaking out and running the court, or a back door slam dunk. Even with only 4 minutes per half and 8 minutes total, this will give him the opportunity to come in aggressively and contribute something on both ends of the court with a defined role and expectations. All he needs to know is that in his 8 minutes on the court per night, he is expected to get at least 2 dunks, take 2 3pt shots and make 1, get a rebound and hopefully block a shot, while playing decent defense for those 8 minutes. I think he would excel if this was told directly to him that these will be his only minutes and this is what's expected. Dekker has earned more minutes, but we have to put him in better positions to do more. He can't always play PF, he needs some minutes to destroy backup SFs as well, even if only a few for match up problems. We need to take advantage of these matchups, and not just play our normal game and offense as usual. We have to learn to exploit matchups and run plays specifically for what's going on on the court against teams. Anderson needs to get more shots. To do this, he needs to be on the court more with James and Gordon at the same time to open him up. That's again why Gordon needs to go back into the staring lineup. Teams will have to choose whether to help off of Gordon or Anderson when Ariza is hitting his shots. That's also why I love Dekker getting some minutes in as a SF with the starting unit, because unlike Ariza, he can also catch the ball and beat his man off the dribble on a close out and finish or pass off much better than Ariza can. He's much more athletic than Ariza. Dekker in with Harden, Gordon, Anderson and Capela may actually be an upgrade to this potent offense, and lose very little defensively. That's also why I'm for getting Gay if we can do it giving up salary like Brewer, KJ, Ennis and some picks or overseas prospects. All in all, this team as is, is a top 6 team in this league if managed properly. I like MDA as a coach and although he wasn't my first choice, I am happy that he is here, and hope he stays. That doesn't mean that I don't want him to change a few things, or will disagree with his choices from time to time and point them out. I love his passion and his decision to put Harden full time at PG. But I want to see his offense improve when Harden isn't on the floor, and him to make better use of our talent by using better lineups and rotations. Of course, Morey bring him even more talent will make his job that much easier. We do need much more talent to be serious contenders still. So all of this may be mute by the trade deadline, as Morey may have a big trade or two up his sleeves that changes all of these dynamics.
Meh we beat them here pretty good. 1 game out of 82. We could use another powerforward of the bench that can rebound.
With Gobert as a premier rim protector, their strategy was simple. Take away the 3 pt line and contest everything. Force James inside to deal with Gobert. Everyone knows we don't do mid-range. And it worked. To perfection Capela was neutralized inside. Many of James' drives into the paint were disrupted. And not many open looks from 3. Game, set, match. . . .
TLDR but ya, harden shoulda played more. gordon came up big - he impressed me. dekker is good. did we lift weights today? we were cold as ****. anderson was hitting shots early. he and capela had key buckets in the paint. the jazz went with LENGTH - we are built the opposite.
