Game 4 strategy

Problem is that you can't go "right after him" because Mo doesn't start, nor should he because it is absolutely crucial that Cato is in there to keep Yao out of early foul trouble against Shaq. And trying to feed Cato the ball in the post would be just foolish. One thing you can do is have Cato set the high pick and roll just to make Malone run more and maybe convince him he can't go.

 

The Fisher, George, Rush, Kobe and Shaq lineup was never on the floor. George played all of his first half minutes with Walton On the floor. In the second half, when George and Walton weren't paired, it was Malone. Phil never once had Devean George playing PF.

But you are right that we do need to take advantage of the Lakers being older.

 

Bad Strategy. I can see LAL features Shaq more next time. With that and refs are calling a fair game. The only thing Rockets needs to do is to keep going at Shaq, to get him either tired or foul trouble.

You don't want to leave Shaq in the 4th quarter with full energy.

We won coz we double teamed Kobe later in the game and that's because Yao can handle Shaq one on one when he's tired/foul troubled.

 

I think that JVG needs to use the bench a little more. Not a lot more, but Padgett and Boki could both inject some energy at key times in the game. Before the season ended, the 2nd unit pulled us back into several games that the starters didn't have the energy and focus to maintain.

Last night, Boki proved that he could provide some scrappy play which could effect the game outcome. I thought the two fouls he drew were huge and the 3-point shot seemed to set the stage for a better shooting night.

Ohhh... I'm not hijacking.... on the theme of your post:

I think the best way to go at Malone is with high energy, not Maurice. Maurice can get his shot off against Malone any time he feels like it, but he isn't going to draw fouls or wear him down in any way. Boki's play under the basket against Malone was great last night. Steve's play under the basket against Malone was also great. Aggressive rebounding and bench play would be more useful I think.

Malone is hurting and can't handle the high energy guys right now.

 

We once frustrated the hell out of this clump of dogshht who goes by karl. Pete Chilcutt was able to rain 3's on him in '95. IMO, Padgett is a rich man's Chilcutt and we should play him some time at the 4.

 

The difference is that the jazzholes didn't have a C that we needed the PF to guard to keep our C out of foul trouble. Yao can only guard Shaq so much, and Cato needs to guard him the rest of the time. Padgett can't do it. Let us not also forget that our PRIMARY backup PF, Taylor is one of the purest scorers on the team, he needs to play big minutes.

 

We don't need to change much from game 3. Steve needs to keep attacking the middle. He's doing a great job of getting to the hoop, finishing, and causing havoc. Most importantly, it puts the pressure on Shaq, who can get in foul trouble. I like Yao pooping out to hit some Js, forcing Shaq to gaurd him. Yao is still having a hard time getting his shot off 1-on-1, so I think we can keep him involved mixing it up. The aggressive D on Kobe is working well. He may go off again, but he needs to work for it. I'm still more scared of Kobe than Shaq, who we can hack if he really gets rolling. Finally, don't stray too far from those pesky bench players like Rush & Fisher.

 

The fakers, by nature, are vulnerable to mobile 4's who can hit from the perimeter. This is how Austin Croshere got a $50M contract after one decent finals series against the fakers. Padgett does not need to start. However when certain matchups are on the floor, I would prefer him out there as opposed to Weatherspoon. Neither shaq nor the failman can guard Padgett on the perimeter or off the drive. However, Padgett can effectively contain the failman, who has now been relegated to a mainly a jumpshooter w/ a whiny wrinkled face and elbows.