Nonsense. That flat out isn't true. Shaq "showed" sometimes, though less than other centers, especially towards the end as he gained weight. PJ would NEVER coach defense like that. Ludicrous. But I'll grant you the Lakers weren't exactly a defensive powerhouse during those years.
Ooh you'll grant him that. Shaq was the worst dminating Center ever defending the PnR but he was unstopable on offfense and that more than compensated for it. Get it? Get it?
Whatever! He wasn't the worst ever defending the PnR because Yao is worse right now than Shaq used to be. Get it? Get it? Plus, the Lakers defensive issues weren't mostly about Shaq. Get it? Get it?
Just that one series. The kings were robbed on that one. But the lakers beat every other team fair and square. Minnesota could have a gripe too, but that's it. EDIT: A_3PO, Shaq hardly ever showed on the PnR. The lakers defense on that play was to under the screen. That's it, pure and simple. Shaq didn't need to help. They'd give up the jumpshot any day of the week. And it had nothing to do with Shaq's weight or conditioning issues because he helps out on the PnR now than he ever did as a laker. The lakers went under the screen, we have Yao "show" and then go back to his man, the mavericks switch. Three different coaches, three different philosophies.
Enough of the Lakers talk, back to Rockets defending PnR. Yao does this "showing" a lot. The problem is, it will get him exhausted by the time we're in the 4th quarter. Either that, or he gets into foul trouble. It's definitely not a bad strategy, seeing that we've actually done it before. I'm just hoping it doesn't ware Yao out against the Jazz. Plus, when Yao is out there, that means he's not near the paint where he can challenge shots.
I don't see us trying zones until we're in a desperate situation, as in either being down in the series or down in a game. Perhaps I'm being too confident in the team, but I don't see us having any trouble with them. We're playing well, and they're sucking it up. You can't ignore momentum going into the playoffs. That's how we won the 1st two games in Dallas two years ago. They will get some points from PnR, but on the other side, I don't see them stopping the playoff version of T-Mac and a playoff version of Yao. If Rafer can play even close to the way he played vs Hornets, and if Head stays hot from beyond the arc, we'll be awesome. In other words, we'll be playing well enough on offense that we won't be forced to do something drastic like changing our defensive scheme. With my strategy (and it's pretty much JVG's defensive philosophy), the only way they beat us is if they make their perimeter shots.
Yao MUST show. It's that simple. If the offense already knows our center will not show, we are dead. Sure it makes Yao work harder on defense but the Rockets must deal with it. Have you noticed the last few games Yao is getting more rest splitting the 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th quarters? I think this is to give him more energy to finish games. It looks like the plan is to have him play only the last 8 minutes of the 4th quarter, which sometimes gives him a long 8 minute break spanning the periods. I think it was against the Blazers that some complained during the game thread when JVG took Yao out during the 3rd quarter. I like the strategy because it's a big key for us when Yao finishes games strong. Even when Deke couldn't come back, JVG put in Jake for a few minutes until it was Yao's time to return. Looks like "stubborn" JVG changed and figured this out, for now.
OK, so JVG has decided to rest Yao in certain stretches. This will somewhat prevent him from fatiguing. But rest or no rest, I just don't have the confidence that Yao can pull this "showing defense" off consistently in a 7-game series. If his strength is post defense (he's one of the best post defenders in the league), I think we should keep him there in the post. Why exactly does Yao have to show? If Deron and Boozer are doing the PnR, have Rafer and Hayes assigned to defend them. If Deron and Okur are doing it, have Rafer and T-Mac guarding them. I don't want Yao involved in this PnR mess at all. We've seen him fail miserably (like today) enough times. He's going to get exhausted regardless of how much rest he gets and when he gets the rest.
I agree with Rockets64. Yao is obviously much better off sticking with a post player down low. I know JVG keeps harping on Yao to show on PnR situations because of the team defense philosophy he preaches, but really, this is a time when you have to decide if it's worth it to have your star centre chasing guys around and dashing about in a half-court set defending the PnR. I think an effective way would be to use Tmac's length to disrupt the PnR. Doesn't matter if they have him go under or over the pick, when you have length, you have a much better chance of disrupting the options they have in a PnR. Simple as that. Of course, it's still no surefire way to stop it, simply because there's no surefire way to stop a perfectly executed PnR, but it's quite possibly the best option we have IF we want to preserve Yao's energy or not let him pick up needless fouls.
Any type of successful Rocket defense will play towards each player's defensive strengths if possible. Thus, if it is possible to keep Yao closer to the post, where he is a stronger defender, I would think that's how JVG will strategize. Rocket Zoom
I hear you guys but the other team will automatically have whoever Yao is guarding come outside to set the pick. In other words, we cannot choose who is involved, the offense does. Tracy is guarding a smaller, perimeter player and can't leave his man wide open to come halfway across the court to take Yao's man on a PnR. Tracy's player could be on the baseline or on the opposite elbow and it would take him too long to get there. Teams that run good PnRs are hard to stop. Last night, the Hornets had a great rhythm going and we just didn't have an answer. One player who has developed very good habits as a PnR defender is Chuck. Earlier in the season it seemed like he would foul with his knees 1/2 the time when "showing". Now he does a good job of riding the dribbler outside without getting called and basically blowing up the play.
We atleast know, that we need to find a counter offensive for Zones and that we must defend against the pick and roll. My suggestion would be a variation of cutting the main source of assault by trapping the PG,switching,and 'showing'.The enemy must not feel comfortable to adjust.By using the three most effective ways to guard the the pick and roll offensive,we keep them guessing.Surprise is an element that will benefit us. If one goes back to the first game of the season Vs. Utah,JVG played alot of Battier at the 4.The rockets would have won that game easily had they not bricked so many shots.Yes,I'm asking battier to play more at the four,when facing dallas,Utah,or phoenix......The following game against PHnx should be a good way to experiment.
I definitely want Battier at 4 atleast for the Utah series. For Dallas against Nowitzki- especially when we need to get stops I would prefer Tmac though! We are covering way too many weaknesses with the current set of personnel.
I tried this earlier, but lost the post. To the OP: There are four ways to defend the P&R. Going under, going over, switching, and showing. For my description, assume that the ball handler is a guard and the screener is a forward, and their counterpart is guarding them. Going under - (Sometimes called fighting through a pick.) The defensive guard goes between the forward and the guard and never leaves the offensive guard. If you could do this consistently, there'd be no reason to guard the P&R any other way. That I've seen, Kirk Hinrich is the only player who does this reliably night-in and night-out. (And why he'd have my vote for 1st team all-defense.) Going over - The defensive guard goes around the screening forward. This leaves the offensive guard open briefly from outside. If you are much more worried about the forward beating you or the guard is a much better penetrator or passer than shooter, this is the defense to use. Switching - The defensive guard guards the offensive forward and the defensive forward guards the offensive guard. If the guard can shoot, penetrate, and pass, or if the guard and the forward are equal threats, this is the defense to use. Showing - Often described as a switch and switch back, this leaves the forward briefly unguarded. The defensive forward guards the offensive guard until the defensive guard recovers, at which point he switches back to the forward. This is the best defense if the guard is more threatening than the forward. If you want to know more, Jeff Van Gundy wrote the book (or at least recorded the video) on pick and roll defense. I haven't seen this, so I can't endorse it.
By the way, the Rockets use all three of the latter ways of defending the P&R, depending on who's on the floor and who they are facing. They showed all night last night because CP3 is a bigger threat than anyone else on the foor.
The pick and roll is really impossible to stop if you have a guard that can penetrate and shoot. The Rockets actually run it with TMac and Yao. Why not Rafer? TMac is a better shooter, paser, and penetrator. Now, back to the defense... It's really a "pick your poison" type thing. The Rockets let our guards go under screens and then get back to the three point line, or simply rotate over. The problem with this approach is honestly Rafer just gets lost in the picks. If you really watch the play, you will always see Rafer lost in the pick. Thats not really something you can correct. becasue the Rockets are so slow, this happens all the time. Going under the pick is way better than getting up on the pick. Doing that only forces Nash and others to drive the ball and that gets Yao in foul trouble. The Rockets actually defend the Pick and roll pretty decent. The problem is thier rotations. Although Yao helps on offense, on defense he slows everyone else down. We have to rotate up on big shooting men. What we saw last night will happen with the jazz because of Okur. Hopefully, Yao can move his big butt up in the rotation to challenege the outsie shot. The only other option is to have JHow guard Okur. But then who guards Boozer? With AK47 out, I can see Battier going up against him. HOLLA!!
Even when he shows, he gets into foul trouble. I would agree with letting Boozer do damage from his jump shot, because he is good at 15 ft jumpers not the ones Marc Jackson was hittin last nite. i beleive they said he tied his season high.
The best PnR defense Yao can do is his offense. This game is still about who scores more not who scores less. PnR might be the achilles heel for Yao, but as long as he's hitting at a 51% clip on the offensive end (and causing foul trouble) and Utah's PnR is at 47% then we have the advantage. Everyone's concern should not be the PnR but how it may cause foul problems for Yao. As long as Yao is on the court, we hold the statistical advantage and that means to not get those fouls 20 feet from the basket.
