What went wrong in Game 4

In game 4, our team collapsed on both the defensive and offensive end. Remember how everyone was saying at the beginning of the series how it's a good thing that Okur and AK-47 didn't show up or otherwise we'll be in big trouble. Well, I didn't watch Game 3 but in this game, they sure showed up...in a BIG WAY. And yes, bandwagon aside, WE'RE IN BIG TROUBLE.

The Jazz:

1). Sloan made adjustments and it shows. He knew Okur needed to step up offensively in order for his team to win, so he drew up some plays in this game to free up Okur on the weak side in order to give him a few open looks beyond the arc. It worked and Okur got his scoring load in this game. On the defensive end, Okur is showing Yao up in a big way as well. Notice all the turn overs anyone?

2). Since AK-47 has been struggling offensively, Sloan decided that AK is better used with his attention on defense. Well by doubling up TMAC with a combination of Fisher's quickness and AK's length was a great way to get the Russian going. And it really added to his overall confidence. On the other hand, TMAC's confidence seemed to have come down by a few notches since that Stephen A. Smith interview.

3). Lastly, D-Will became the ultimate 3rd option for the Jazz and Rafer seemed to have no answer for him. Rafer may be a better ball-handler but D-Will seems equally as good and some. On offense, D-Will can penetrate and score whereas our Rafer is at best a spot-up shooter beyond the arc.

The Rox:

Sloan has figured out our Achille's Heel and if we do somehow make it past Round 1, more teams will also notice it as well. It's so glaring it hurts. Steve Kerr wrote a column recently about the future of the NBA and he stated that teams which have players that can run and create their own offensive will be the future. Well, if that's true, then our team is still living in the past. We're built on the old formula of the half court inside-out game which can make having Yao both a blessing and a curse. Since instituting zone defense to speed up the game, Yao's size advantage can almost be negated at will by any team who's willing to double or triple team him. And if you take out TMAC as well, then we are pretty much done for.

TMAC and Yao are the engines of our offense and everyone else are just components that run with them. If you take out the engine, then there is no offense on this team coz no one else can create their own shots. If any team even manages to have a scouting report on us, they can easily figure this one out.

Okay, so we all know what went wrong and rather than pointing any fingers let's figure out how to fix things once we head back to Houston. The answer is pretty simple. The bench needs to step up big time. J-Ho needs to start hitting his open shots, Battier needs to start backing people down a little more, and last but certainly far from the least, Head needs to get his stroke back in a big way. Head is HUGE for our offense and if he fades like he has been so far in this series, then we can forget about Round 2. If these guys can get going, then TMAC and Yao will have more room to work with. Otherwise, TMAC will have more things to worry about than his back this off season.

 

This was my exact point in the earlier post. I don't think I'm a bandwagon supporter but I don't just follow my team with blind passion either. I can see what's on the table for us and I can also see what others have to offer. Yes, a lot of you guys have brought up the good point that in the last few years championships are still won by defense and Kerr is dead wrong about his insight into the current NBA trend of playing fast up-tempo offense. But if you look at his arguments again and then at the current playoff scenario, you'll begin to see that he's indeed the expert that he is. (By the way, I'm not a Kerr supporter but I just find that his recent article makes a lot of sense and it might affect our team.)

First of all, I believe defense STILL wins games and you need to play solid D in order to go all the way as all champions in the past have done. But by instituting zone defense, a great offensive but average to above-average defensive team can now win games and go all the way without facing much resistance. Zone D covers up some of the deficiencies that high scoring teams may have on their defense, mainly against big men down in the post. You can now cheat and leave your man at the perimeter and suffocate the strong post player. But in return you risk leaving the perimeter spot up shooters open. So in theory, that's how an inside-out team like us would counter against Zone D. That's why we've surrounded TMAC and Yao with solid spot up shooters like Head, Battier, Snyder, and Rafer.

So why do we still get killed badly every time we play teams like the Suns? It all boils down to simple statistics. A solid post player will always offer a higher FG% than a spot up 3-point jump shooter. Spot up jump shooters are streaky and when they're hot, they get real hot. But if you can get into their head, they can cool down just as fast. Just look at Head in this series. (No pun intended)

So the defensive solution to our system would be "speed". And teams like Suns, Mavs, Chicago, and Warriors seem to have a lot of that at the moment. You can afford to double in the post and take away the big man's shot and still be fast enough to run back out to the perimeter to put a hand in the shooter's face. Yes, they'll make a few every once in a while but any team would take that rather than a 40-pt night by a big man.

Or even worse, let the big man take most of the scoring load and leave the perimeter players with next to nothing on offense. That would be even more disastrous as we've witnessed in the last two games against the Jazz.

So as you can see, what Kerr is saying and what I'm concurring is that in today's league you don't have to be one of the top defensive teams in the league to win a championship provided that you have a kick-ass offense. The Heat and Pistons were both average to above-average defensive teams but far from one of the best. But they can win because they have plenty of scorers and not simple shooters.

Under the current system, the inside-out game surrounded by spot up shooters simply won't take you to the next level and that's the kind of team we are today. Mavs and Spurs are a little bit better than us in that they have more than one player who can create their own offense and with plenty of speed. But the Mavs are currently having a tough time in the first round and the Spurs will will soon eventually realize that too if they make it past Denver. I'm not calling it yet, but I think Kerr is definitely onto something.