howzabout instead of guys taking turns running iso plays... we run as one. ...and keep Clint on the floor as much as possible.
Don’t put Harden on Klay Thompson. Put Harden on Durant (who just shot over everyone who guarded him anyway.....mostly from 15 feet away) or put Harden on Draymond. I would leave Draymond out on the perimeter anyway. Dare him to shoot 3’s. Harden was the weak link defensively, allowing Klay to roam as Harden lost track of Klay (ball watching). Harden seems to do better at point of attack defensively and against Post Up. Iggy is too fast for Harden to guard.....Iggy is going to drive, let Iggy rise and shoot; guard against drive. Everyone BLOCKS OUT as shots go up and keep cutters from putting in putbacks. Durant was iso (either by post up or away from basket about 15 feet away) most of the time. D’Antoni noted Harden holding on to the ball too long. Harden knows it as well. Harden did the same in the first games vs T-Wolves and first games of Jazz series. Unfortunately the Rockets burned a game to feel the Warriors out. Oh well, win it back down the line.
How to fix the Rockets Game 1 loss? Assign Scott Foster and Tony Brothers to the officiating crew. I kid, I kid(well, not really).
Rockets will not out shoot a better shooting team to win 4 games. This is a losing philosophy. We have won all season without being the better shooting team but playing a certain style coupled with a defensive philosophy. Many games we won were sub 36% from the 3 point line. For us to have a shot, we have to do it by bothering their offensive. If they keep going 52% and 40% from three again, we will be swept. We must win the battle of turnovers and disrupt their passing. Turn them into a one on one team.
1.Gotta get out and run. The Warriors half court D is too good to consistently allow them to set up. 2.I hate to say it but GG may be unplayable in this series. He gets lost on D way too often and his shot isn't falling enough to make up for the defensive lapses. 3.We need Ryno. When we play him at the 5 against that Hampton's 5 line-up Donkey can't help off of him. 4.Eric Gordon needs to calm down and quit rushing everything. He plays out of control sometimes.
KD should not be doubled. Play the best 1 on 1 defense possible by taking him out of comfortable spots (which are practically none), make him work to get the ball, and contest all shots. It doesn’t matter who is guarding him (Ariza, Luc, NeNe, Green, or Gordon), make him work as much as possible. At the same time, no defensive lapses by leaving shooters or allowing cuts. Only players that can be left open are either Green or Iguodala, but not all game. Warriors without Durant or Green are exploitable but damn they make this team nearly impossible to beat. I don’t know how you limit either one of them without take them out of the game.
I don't have a problem with KD scoring all he wants. Let him score ALL the points. Just don't give Klay, Steph & the other guys open 3's. On offense we gotta move off the ball. Yes Harden dribbled the ball alot in game 1, but guys gotta help him by being active and cutting. Chris Paul has to just figure it out. There is no Rudy Gobert to pick on this series. CP will have to score against Draymond & Iggy. It'll be tough
I think the Rockets should just settle down and remember they were the first seed. They just need to remember what got them here: -ISO Harden and Paul just like all season. PnR just like we did in game 1. -Role players such as Ariza and PJ need to remember they are there for one thing, camp at the 3 point line and shoot. PJ trying to suddenly be CP3 and Ariza dribbling and driving need to stop, as it's a negative play most of the time. -team needs to pace themselves...understandably, they came out with a lot of energy in the 1st qtr and half, then ran out of gas. This led to lost of focus in the 2nd half. Hopefully now they will play more loose and just "ball" as CP3 would put it. -if LMM is not healthy enough to finish 60% of the time on layups, it might be best to limit his minutes. Having Ryno out there guarding Durant is not the end of the world, provided Ryno can just let it fly on the other end. Durant can't be guarded by anybody, and having him ISO might just be better than having the splash brothers go off. -Gordon needs to do less talking and complaining, and more manning the F up and stop playing like a girl. He also needs to remember what his role is...which is not be CP3 or Harden...it is to SCORE, so stop trying to do too much dribbling and fumbling and making ill advised passes. You either drive to score or shoot a 3...otherwise, back to Harden or Paul. -I know everyone likes to make fun of "play harder" , but this is true. Harden needs to dive for loose balls, like he did not do when Curry deflected and ultimately stole the ball which led to a demoralizing dunk by Igoudala. Then, Curry is camping underneath the basket and grabs an offensive rebound without much resistance from the Rockets. The Warriors were playing around with the Rockets, since they knew Houston was the little brother who was trying too hard and would eventually lose. Rockets need to show them they belong, they have to show fight and play with confidence by doing the little things that got them there. If you paid attention to the Utah series, the Rockets won a lot of those hustle plays. In game 1 against GS, they did not...which they will need to if they want to compete against the Warriors. -And for chrissakes, the Warriors are a great team...we all know that, but so are the Rockets. If the Rockets lose, they lose. But at least play in character, play the way you know how to play. It won't be easy, but the Rockets have a good thing going, something for this year and the long term...as long as you put on a good fight, it's still part of the process. Just stop playing like b****es and everything will work itself out. $.02
Completely agree that Durant should never be doubled. The Warriors have way too many shooters, plus their blitzkrieg is fed by both turnovers and the splash brothers splashing. If they play ISO ball with Durant all game, things are better for the Rockets. One thing I did not mention in my previous post...our bench needs to step up, which means Gordon and CP3. This is the ONE advantage we might have on the Warriors. Anytime Durant or Green are out, we need to have a positive +/-. We HAVE to take it to their bench.
I mean....I'm even saying because the teams are so good at this point the critiques are bland and Madden-esque. Not out-shooting your opponent is definitely a losing philosophy there John lol... Yeah, play better d or make more shots. Thompson can't get open looks. Gordon has to score. I just looked up his stats out of curiosity, good lord I could've sworn he was like 0-12 through 3 quarters with like 6 points total. He played like ass, how he ended up with 15 is beyond me. Anyway yeah, I'd basically leave KD be to score however much he can so long as none of the rest of them are getting open looks from 3. Maybe it doesn't work, maybe it does but what's the other options? Let Curry go to keep KD in check? Leave Thompson open again? They couldn't get Draymond to jack up a bunch of shots like they did in regular season, that would seem to be the obvious idea.
They did double (and triple him) when he took it inside which is the right defense against him. You aren't going to take him out of his comfortable spots on the perimeter because he is so tall. But you can see he isn't the best passer. Tonight, they played the passing lanes and attacked the pass and it worked. They up'd the D with frenetic play and definitely were trapping many times on the baseline. It worked. Of course you don't double every time, you have to make traps and doubles unpredictable or you will get burned.
