i hate that idea. why would you front a guy who cant do anything with the ball if he gets it? teams front yao because he's so efficient once he has the ball in his spots. to distort your defense for Oden would open up driving lanes for Roy, Outlaw, Webster, Miller, etc. not to mention that the biggest weakness of fronting a player is that whatever player you front is automatically in position for offensive rebounds, which are pretty much the best way for Oden to score. by fronting Oden, you solve Portland's problems for them.
The more I think about it the more I like the SCOLA/ANDERSEN combo kinda like the way Boozer/Okur combo works in Utah. Put them on the same side and if they double Luis let him find Andersen or Ariza/Battier for an open 3.
as great of a defender as hayes is, he's not a "paint protector"... no one on our team truly is. Hayes is better at slowing down big men who face up and those who post up farther from the rim than most. Oden doesn't face up, and he doesn't post up that far since he has no shot or real moves, he's going to get as close as possible and length is a better defense there. Andersen's heigh will bother him more than Hayes' bulk that close to the rim.
If Oden is ineffective in the post when Andersen plays behind him, then all the more reason to have Andersen guard him and use Hayes against Aldridge.
Oden "abused" deke because he did what you should do against long shot blockers, you go into them and bump them, stay away from their wingspan reach. I'm not saying that DA is a better defender that deke at all, but DA isn't looking to block, he just puts his hands straight up, that may not be so bad in this case.
Offensively, Landry plays more like Boozer than Scola. Landry can face up and put the ball on the floor.
i think if you can dictate it, Landry is the best option vs. Oden on offense. It won't be quite as bad as what Boozer did to Yao, but it'll be similar in nature. Pull him away from the basket with the threat of the outside shot, then go around him.
I think if you put anyone weaker on Oden, he will just barkley them under the basket and either dunk or force a double. if the rockets find themselves in a position where Oden is commanding a double, they are toast. that's why i'm convinced that Hayes is the best defense for Oden. he can't move Chuck, he cant go around chuck, and he doesn't have the offensive arsenal to shoot over chuck efficiently. the sore spot is rebounding, but as long as he is disciplined, chuck should be able to box Oden out there too. the downside is that it gives Oden freedom to roam offensively, which hurts your penetration game with AB, Kyle, and Trevor. There's no way around that, because for as long as Chuck is in the game, Portland will put Oden on him defensively to save Oden's energy and fouls. If you put in more offense to make Oden defend, then you have to be comfortable adjusting on the other end also, whatever that entails.
scola got embarrassed in the opening game in portland. i think his post game against oden or the other bigs they have will be largely ineffective. but his range is pretty much as good as andersen's when open. in the past he got a lot of pts from the opponents doubling yao and hitting his open mid-range j's. now yao is gone, i'd like see him getting his pts from his jumpers as opposed to post-ups; the difference is it doesn't come from yao and it can from ab's penetration and kick-out. scola's post moves will be effective more often than not throughout the season; just not against portland and a few other teams with strong big defenders.
and brian cook can use all his 6 fouls on oden, as oden is a terrible ft shooter. by the time cook has used up all his fouls, it's about time for oden to foul out as well.
Gotta keep Cook on the bench. His cheering is just too valuable, even with the new NBA rules trying to bring him down.
I cant see portland going to Oden over and over to expose DA, if they did i can't see Oden being shaq like, he still is raw at this point. All that would do is give him 20 pts or so and take everyone else out of the offense. Which pretty much sounds like when Roy tried to do everything himself int he playoffs and everyone else folded. I'll take that, which would include several Oden FTs, over them sharing the ball.
Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming (who may not literally be in a suit... but should be on the inactive list)?
Obviously he is not going to control it but he can help guarding Oden. People attacking the basket above the rim leaves us helpless. But Andersen is not going to hold his ground against Oden, he is too strong.
I never said anything about Deke's offense, defense only. Pulling Oden out of the paint requires strength that Andersen does not have. Hayes is great at putting players out of position bc of his quickness, strength and lower center of gravity. Oden will just force his way to the paint with Andersen, no contest.
At this point, I think the Rockets should consider just put a mediocre or even bad post defender on Oden and just dare the Blazers to go to him. I don´t think Oden has the skills to really kill as a post up player like Yao Ming. At the same time, each touch his gets is one less touch for a more productive player like Rud F and Brandon Roy.
Portland is just a terrible size mismatch no matter what. I like Durvasa's idea. At the very least we are giving them a different look, knowing that our frontline last game really did not work for us, hence the huge rebound disparity.
This is easier said than done, getting inside position against legit NBA bigs is a tough task, and Anderson is still a project in that regard. Again, its not the actual defending in the post against Oden that's the problem, its the offensive rebounds and put backs that kill you; and that's Odens only strength. He'd love to push someone around in the paint, and Anderson would become his toy. I would love to put Hayes on Aldridge, that is ideal, but I dont think Anderson on Oden is the solution.
