If you don't play D, you aren't beating Elite teams. Period. It's really very simple. The top teams will find your weaknesses and exploit the crap out of them. You can get away with mediocre defenders, but you really can't afford to have ANYONE mail it in on possessions. Defend for the full 24s, defend until the end of the possessions, fight for 50/50 balls, and be an active defender of not just your man but the passing lanes as well. Matching up on offense is great and all, but even having Dwight will only help you so much once a team is versatile enough to force him to move or pull him out of the paint. Per the Spurs, the Spurs are deadly because of their versatility. They can go big, small, medium and can kill from from the rim, 3 point line and mid range. They can beat you inside/out, inside/inside and from the perimeter. They can pound you in the paint and beat you through the passing game. Everyone needs to be able to defend on the ball And make multiple defensive rotations. And really if you're going to win in the play offs, you need MORE than one type of offense. You can't just be a jump shooting team or a driving team. You need the ability to pass, the ability to play inside/out, and the drive and kick game. And you need multiple players who can produce and create for when your "stars" are injured, in foul trouble, or simply playing poorly. You also need depth. The Spurs will come at you in waves and their passing game is exhausting to defend. They are built to destroy "top heavy" teams like OKC and Portland. Without bench depth you'll never last a full 7 game series as your starters will run out of steam before you knock them out. Finally, part of why the Spurs carved up Miami so badly is they could field 4 creators on the floor simultaneously... Parker, Diaw, Mill and Manu. 4 players who could all drive, shoot the 3 and pass. This is exceptionally hard to defend as you can't get away with just 1 or 2 "lock down" defenders... you need EVERYONE playing defense. There is nowhere to hide a bad defender when you're playing against the Spurs. In other words, most of the things that the Rockets are currently missing not only in terms of the talent on the roster, but their offensive and defensive schemes as well.
Play off Spurs aren't the same as regular season Spurs. OKC swept the Spurs as well... yet they're still fishing. The only thing our 4-0 record against the Spurs tells me is that we'd be just underdogs vs HUGE underdogs due to match ups (driving guards and rim protection with Dwight). Pops never shows all his cards during the regular season. When he goes deep into the play offs, he'll always find and exploit your weaknesses to the maximum on both ends.
Basketball is a game of matchups, the Spurs simply don't match up well against us, they aren't the team we need to be worried about. The Clippers and Thunder on the other hand....
That doesn't mean much. The Rockets have only made the postseason 9 times in the last 17 years. The Spurs have been there every season in that same timeframe. Of course you're not gonna lose to them if you never face them and aren't even in the damn playoffs half the time.
Never lost to the Spurs in the playoffs? Does not mean much when Rox are losing to the other teams Clippers, OKC, Mavs, Blazers, Jazz
Bingo you win. DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE period. Need a very strong defensive coach to build a defensive culture with these young Rockets. If they can accomplish that then skies the limit IMO.
