Guys are so scared their pass will get deflected they end up making it more obvious and therefore easier to deflect. In the Lakers game I saw Harden trembling with the ball a couple seconds eventually backing out. Today he quickly got into a great spot under the rim and Parsons saw him but passed to someone else instead. I really dont get it, they need to stop overthinking the damn pass and just DO IT and QUICK.
I was just talking about post up btw. PnR with Harden looked great today in the 1st half. But does anyone feel sometimes Dwight is kinda slow at rolling to the basket? I dont know something is off from his end a bit imo. That'll come with time tho.
I could make better entry passes. I think he needs to fight his man in the block more.. He isn't getting a good seal on his man. Idk why
Slight correction: Dwight never tries in the 4th quarter, he usually avoids it even runs away. He no like hack a dwight
The thing is, Howard is not Shaq. Shaq was a guy you can throw a ball too, and he'll survey the court and make the right play, be it a a shot, a move to the basket, or a pass to the open shooter. He was really special as a big man who can use up a ton of possessions, play in a crowd, take high % shots all without turning the ball over. Dwight is not that. He is an elite defender-- probably much better than Shaq was for most of his career since Howard was much more mobile than the 350+ pound Shaq. Dwight on offense is kind of like how Yao Ming was during the early part of his career-- very good, but flawed. Nice finisher at the basket, but not really a play-maker from the post and liable to turn the ball over if he tries too hard to make things happen in a crowd. Tonight, I think that the team could have used him more in the 2nd half, but he also came up empty in the possessions that he actually got.
Still thrilled about the victory, but this was yet another game in which Dwight had a monster 1st half and a quiet 2nd. I can't really figure it out. I can understand down the stretch because of Hack-a-Howard, but why does he disappear for entire 2nd halves? Does this happen because: a) Dwight fades b) We go away from Dwight in the 2nd half c) The other team makes adjustments d) All of the above Could someone please break this down for me?
Beverley is not a passer. Against the Raptors Lin got hot in the second half and it was an easy choice to give him the ball. Harden did pass a couple to Dwight but not enough and he rarely passed to the hot shooting hand (Lin).
The reason why for the disparity in touches for Howard between the first half and the second half is one thing: fouls In the first half, they can't afford to foul him because then they'll be in early foul trouble. But later in the second half and toward the end of possession, every time he gets the ball, he'll most likely get fouled and shoot free throws which we know is a loss possession for us. You can see it all game, he doesn't want the ball in the fourth. He quickly gets rid of it after a rebound
From what I have seen, he hasn't really been trying to get touches either with a few exceptions. He has the tools and ability to absolutely dominate down low both offensively and defensively.
Agree with you 100%... They got that lead in the 1st half by pounding the ball to the big men... They lost the lead by taking an excessive amount of outside shots.. But I still have hope they will work things out... T_Man
Maybe Toronto had something to do with it? Possible that they made adjustments? Toronto went to a zone to neutralize Howard and also used Lowry to help double on Harden. That left Lin open and he capitalized on it. As badly as we were shooting from outside, it was the best strategy for them. Try and take away our two best players and take your chances that the other guys can't beat you. It kept them in the game and they almost got a win. I think that you'll see teams do this more and more. Pack in the lane and double on Harden. We will need one of the other guys to continue to step up and make teams pay for using that strategy. If we do that then teams will be less likely to try that strategy. If nobody steps up, then we'll continue to see that type of defense.
