[Opinion] Possible rotation changes that may improve the team

First of all, player A should be able to see the court and pass out of doubleteams. It's not what Kevin Martin can do on consistent basis

Second point - all of this is about good executions. I like Terrence but he played only a couple of minutes in Rockets uniform, you can't ask about an excellent decisions from him right now, cause he's not the part of the team chemistry and he doesn't understand it a lot. It's not bad for a newcomer, no offence on him, but we should wait for a couple of month' to give him those kind of responsibility. It's not for tomorrow game, it's not for game with Jazz and it won't work now. But I don't say, that it is a bad idea, it's not bad at alll.

It's was a part of Pacers game, but when it was most deadly when Reggie had Mark Jackson at the point: one of the most underrated pass-first pointguards in the history of the game. It was the main reason, behind Reggiie talents, of course

 

fixed

 

Battier sets up the majority of the plays in our high post starting group.

Saying his contributions are pretty limited is way off base.

The same with Hayes.

We have two *Cough* offensive zeros *Cough* in our starting lineup and are still scoring like crazy.

The bottom line is, we arent winning because of defense. And the reason we have no defensive is not because of Martin or Brooks or Budinger, its because we have no defensive centers.

We have one defensive "big" in Hayes who is cancelled out by how terrible Scola is. Then we have Miller and Hill who can't rotate properly. Patterson is a bright spot, but he is a PF, not a C.

This team would be drastically improved with Andersen Varejao.

 

This sounds like one of those "It's so crazy, it just might work." strategies that teams adopt when all others options are exhausted. Basically, you're saying that you want to provide our opponent with an obvious mismatch, so that we can double team the post more effectively. In reality, you only want to double team when absolutely necessary. Whenever you double team, you are left scrambling to try and recover and get back to the open man. Not only this a gamble, but it requires a greater amount of energy from the guys who are left rushing to rotate to the open man. Essentially, you're saying your strategy is to give your team on obvious disadvantage on defense. That doesn't make a lot of sense....

On top of this, if Battier is at the 4, then that probably makes him our 2nd most effective rebounder, and quite frankly he's not that great at it. For a team that already struggles with rebounding the basketball, this is going to cause huge problems.

 

I did not say that Pat-Pat is bad, but you can't rely on rookie who hasn't enough self confidence. That's all.

Hill is not ready to start, Pat is not ready to start, Bud is not ready start, T-will, too. Brooks is not just not healthy enough to do it and that's our major problem. Nobody can't step ahead, on the next level. And Hill or Pat Pat won't change anything

 

Let me ask you this then:

Battier excels at defensive rotations and help defense He's no longer a very good on the ball defender, whether that's in the post or out on the perimeter. He knows where to go, and usually gets there in time. You're strategy takes our best help defender and places him in a situation where he's over matched physically and unable to do what he's good at. This team is much better off playing a real PF at the PF position, and double teaming his man as it becomes necessary with a player like Battier.

Battier might be the second best rebounder statistically, but he's not going to keep opposing 4's off the offensive glass, and he's doesn't have the size, hops, or quickness to be an effective rebounder around the basket. In the NBA, size matters. Hill, Patterson, Brad Miller, etc are more effective rebounders than Battier, no matter what the stats say.

(is it odd that someone is actually using stats to defend Battier??? this feels like bizarro world)

 

If you put him at the 4, he will never be a help defender because opposing teams will attack him directly. He will be physically over matched. Other teams will be quick to take advantage of this.

Basketball IQ and intangibles can only get you so far. Let's assume for the sake of argument that Shane actually is the game's smartest defender. Even if this is true, it's still a bad idea to have him guard someone with Shaq's size because he simply isn't physically big enough to provide any kind of resistance. Shaq kills that match-up every time down the court. Shane isn't strong enough to "herd" him anywhere.

This isn't even a hypothetical argument. JVG actually tried starting Shane at the 4 when he came to the Rockets. The results were a disaster, and JVG abandoned the idea quickly. But, don't let actual games change your mind. It didn't work before, but maybe now that we don't have a 7'-6" center in the middle this strategy will work better (heavy heavy sarcasm).

I know rebounding isn't all about physical ability, but physical ability is a big part of it. For your own examples:

Scola - always boxes out, slightly taller than Shane, outweighs Shane by 25 pounds

Hayes - always boxes out, pound for pound probably stronger and tougher than anyone on the team

Lowry - strong for a point guard and possesses great quickness which lets him chase down long rebounds

Fundamentals are a big part of the game, but don't underestimate the fact that you have to be able to compete physically too. There's a reason that 7 footers are always at a premium around the league. Physical attributes make a huge difference. Shane would be at a huge physical disadvantage at the 4 spot.

 

When I saw the thread title I knew it was another cleverly disguised "Play T-Will" thread. He has to earn his PT.

 

it is not a good idea to change all the time.
we are a team with not so much talent and defense is not just one on one. It is needed to defense with perfect cooperation. It will cost a lot of time to build this perfect cooperation, so you rarely saw a team with so much change in a game.

 

Shane Battier can't do this!!!!! This has been my point throughout the entire thread!!! I'm not knocking Shane, but he is not physically strong enough to stay low and hold his ground against players who have 30 more pounds of muscle than he does. His legs will be exhausted, not theirs.

This technique works for Chuck Hayes because he is short and strong with a low center of gravity. Battier does not have these physical attributes. No amount of "fundamental basis" can change this. If all you needed was "fundamental basis", then Aaron Brooks would be capable of guarding Zach Randolph if he was coached properly. It doesn't work that way.....

 

Jefferies definitely needs to see the court more. Just having his defensive prowess out there would be nice. We can score, but we can't play a lick of defense in the post. Not sure why he doesn't dunk though. I guess he has no hops at all.

 

so you only want to employ this crazy idea when the game is on the line???

 

you have TWill in your 4th quarter closing lineup.
this tells me you have too much love for him.