We do not have a 6'6"/6'7" defensive stopper. On the Bulls/Lakers championship teams, it is Pippen/Kobe who stopped other teams from scoring when the game is on the line. Indiana Pacers did not fare well last year, but this year, Ron Artest did his work at game end, and the Pacers are doing great.
no "defensive stopper" ever prevented Jordan, Dream, or Shaq from winning titles, and that is 11 titles in total. besides, we do have two 6'7 defensive stoppers...so, our loses must be their fault.
We are losing because teams know that they only have to cover Cuttino and Steve in close situations because neither of them will give up the Rock in a tight game. DaDakota
are mini-stars like mini-mings? We are not losing close games for lack of defense....That's just foolish. We are losing close games because our mega-star...Steve Francis does not yet appreciate how difficult it is to close out games night in and night out. He needs more focus.
Okay, let's say both then, defense and killer-instinct. Look at the games: Phoenix game: Marbury scored winning 2 pointer Clippers game: whoever scored winning 2 pointer Memphis game: The dagger 3-pointer but it is always EASIER to stop the other team from scoring than we score on the other team.
It seems when the game is close the Rockets tend to revert to their iso and dribbling game. As a result, we see a lot of turnovers and desperation shot. They abandon the passing game for some reason when they play under crunch time. This could be to their not use to playing the passing game so they revert to what they used to do for the past few years which is dribbling and iso. As a result the opponent don't have to do much on defense except ganging up on the ball handler. Until they learn how to play team basketball on a consistent basis, they will tend to revert to their instinctive play which is street basketball with dribbling and iso. Also it seem that the Rocket lose their cool under pressure and make mistake. Again, we can only hope with time they will learn how to play under pressure and execute the play.
maybe we know we can not prevent others from scoring, thus we are not as patient to set up plays as we have so much pressure on scoring.
I hate to break up your train of thought, but.... <blockquote><hr>Look at the games: Phoenix game: Marbury scored winning 2 pointer<hr></blockquote> That was against Francis one on one. <blockquote><hr>Clippers game: whoever scored winning 2 pointer<hr></blockquote> there was no winning two pointer by the Clippers. We were always behind and trying to catch up. They dribbled out the clock at the end. <blockquote><hr>Memphis game: The dagger 3-pointer<hr></blockquote> No...the dagger was in regulation with Williams driving by Francis for a simple layup and only 2.3 on the clock....the frigging Francis makeup 3 was nice. But what you are pointing out, without really realizing it, is that we are losing because Marbury and Jason took Francis to school in the last possession. How does that have anything to do with a SG/SF defensive stopper. You are confusing yourself. but it is always EASIER to stop the other team from scoring than we score on the other team. [/QUOTE]
Because it takes time for Steve to grow as a one-on-one defender. At the same time, if we have a defensive stopper, we can let the stopper guard the other team's scorer. When Pippen was on the Bulls team, he was always asked to stop the other team's best scorer when the game is on the line no matter the other guy is a PG/SG/SF. Steve is a SPG, he has to set up plays, has to score. He has to conserve his energy on the offensive side, he can not do it all.
I'm sorry, but you will have to remind me how Pippen stopped Isiah, Bird, Drexler, Reggie, Kevin Johson, or Barkley. hmmm.... perimeter defensive stoppers do NOT win championship nor are they really part of championships. The game is won with interior defense like what Kenny Thomas provide. The perimeter defense of Hawk, Artest, and Christie is really freaking fun to watch....but I'd rather have Mobley.
If Jason "pothead, turnover, all-flash, no-substance, can't get University Blue off my jock" Williams is the Grizzlies best scorer, then I can understand why they are such a crappy team. It always seems like the PG on the other team is their best scorer, because we have two of the worst defensive PGs in the league in Francis and Moochie. If we are in a situation where offensive/defensive substitutions are possible, I would like to see Mobley and Hawking brought in on the defensive end.
AMEN!!! Even their own teammates dont expect Stevie or Cat to give it up in the closing secs of a close game. Other teams know that even if they cover Staeve and Cat well they are still going to force the shot...though sometimes they do go in and if they went in more often Im sure no one would have anything to say about it. I really think the offense should run through Yao when he is in the game and especially in the end of close games. He doesnt have to take the shot everytime but so far in our wins over big teams we have been most successful with the O running thru him
Dont be emotional. Our center position is safe, our PG position is safe. But given these two conditions which is a foundation for a championship team, we should and will improve our other positions. Given that our backcourt is small, Francis 6'3"' (195lbs), Mobley 6'4" (215lbs), and Francis is untrable, we certainly will look for situations that we might be able to upgrade our SG and SF positions. A Mobley for Artest swap certainly will help the Rox, but the Pacers are not going to bite. If we can not get equal value for Mobley, it then makes sense to bring in a defensive stopper to help both Mobley and Francis defensivewise as a 6th man off the bench. Our PF position is tricky, we can hope that EG can turn out what we want him to be, but if the right opportunity comes, we have to think carefully about it.
Right, even Stevie and Cat execute the perfect play or pass the ball to an open teammate or to Ming, there is still no guarantee that it is going to be a score. But if we can stop the other teams from scoring, we can get another chance. It can keep us in the game until eventually we score some points.
