I guess I'm biased since teams have been doing it to Dream forever and we have made them pay. I would rather Duncan (or anybody) have to make tough turn around jumpers with a hand in face while everybody else on his team stands around and gets cold and frustrated watching him go one on one. I'm just tired of guys getting wide open 3's on us all day long. It's just seems to be simple mathematics that if you double team, somebody else is going to be open. No matter how good you rotate, the ball moves faster than feet.
I'd hate to be the first to reply to my own post but I'm bored and someone just told me the Spurs are the best 3 point shooting team in the league! Even more reason to guard against the 3 and let Tim work one on one. You let them get into a rhythm and then it's an uphill battle. They hit 7 of 14 from downtown for a nice 50% rate.
It is much like the Rockets of old. If you single-team Duncan, he'll kill you. No one can guard him every time down the floor one-on-one. He'd go off for fourty. Rudy is all about percentages. Yes, they are the best team in the league at shooting three's but the percentage is higher for Duncan on the block so you take your chances either way. I will say this. Our defensive rotations are terrible which allows teams wide open looks. In fact, we rank DEAD LAST in the league in opponents three point percentage, allowing teams to shoot 39% against us compared to a 34% league-wide average. That has less to do with single and double teaming as it does with poor defensive rotations. ------------------ The way to use life is to do nothing through acting, The way to use life is to do everything through being. - Lao-Tzu
Good point about the small guy. If anybody is double teaming it should be the CLOSEST BIG MAN, not the FARTHEST, SMALL MAN. Also, I know double teaming is good sometimes, but I don't think we need to do it all day, perhaps just in the fourth. Let their center go off (if he can make his shots) and then we the other guys get good looks, they hopefully don't knock them down because the haven't been free stroking all game.
The way I see it, a player like Duncan is not going to score 100 points. The best strategy is to concede points for certain players, and not let the annoying role players like Antonio Daniels beat you. It seems like the Rockets always lose to the role players on other teams. Players like Anthony Peeler, Rick Fox, Rodney Rogers etc. ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
To be effective double teaming big men like Duncan and Dream, I think you have to double them with big men. The teams that were effective against Dream in his prime, doubled with Forwards. A 6-1 or 6-3 guard doubling on a GOOD big man is like a gnat on an elephant's butt. The doubling is not just to keep the guy from scoring but, also to make it difficult to pass back out. A guard can't do that. ------------------
I agree ZRB. I almost lost it when we were double teaming Rubin Patterson?!?!? last night. We need to make someone demand a double team. Someone should be tearing us a new one before we commit to the double team. It just seems like we double team anybody on any team on any night. I would rather one guy guy off while the others don't do anything instead of double teaming one guy and let their whole team take wide open shots all game.
