So how do we stop Lamarcus Aldridge and the Blazers

Does that mean "Let's overrate them" or "Lets rape them"? It could really go either way.

 

Get Taj Gibson.

 

We genuinely do not have the personnel to stop Aldridge, Griffin, Randolph or any other offensive oriented 4. You guys keep begging for a stretch 4. We need a capable defender at that spot. BADLY.

 

Ive broken down LA's game strength and weaknesses and discovered a flaw that we could exploit, of course, if done right.

Spoiler

 

I've got a plan, we put Terrence Jones on him and make excuses for him after he gets abused all game long.

 

To beat LMA it's very simple. You need a long defender (4/5) with decent footwork. The problem with TJones is he's not long enough to bother LMA's shot, and while Dwight has the length if you pull him away from the paint you leave the rim wide open for drives to the basket. Additionally, you run into foul trouble if you put Dwight on LMA for long stretches (with no credible back up 5).

LMA is a jump shooter, there's not much to say other than that. He's not a classic bang in the post player, nor is he an athletic around the rim finisher ala Dwight or Chandler.

The problem is personnel more than tactics for the Rockets right now. Last season the problem was misuse of Asik. When we had Dwight in the paint and Asik on LMA, it allowed us to keep the paint covered as well as enough length to bother LMA.

I suspect that if you had to make do with our current roster, you'd probably put Dwight and Dmo on the floor simultaneously, with Dwight at the 5 and DMo at the 4. Dmo isn't a great stretch 4 defender, but he's passable. Or you could move Dwight to the 4 and leave Dmo at the 5, but you would take a significant drop off in terms of paint protection and shot deterrence.

Quite simply, we don't have the depth at the 4/5 to use a Spurs strategy (rotation of Duncan, Diaw, Baynes and Leonard) to throw off a player like Aldridge. To reduce his effectiveness, you need guys with strength and length to constantly fight him for position and keep a hand in his face when he goes for the jump shot.

That's just not the Rockets this year, and without some really good signings or trades we can expect LMA will give us a hard time.

As for slowing down Damian Lillard, solid team defense is all you really need. Few of the Spurs perimeter defenders are exceptional. It's not like Tony Parker is shutting anyone down. However, the Spurs team defensive execution is exceptional. They make every rotation, they close on 3 point shooters, and they generally don't jump past perimeter shooters or risk a chewing out by Pops.

Without strong defensive scheme discipline, guys like Damian Lillard are always going to chew us up. We don't need lots of amazing defenders, we need the guys that we DO put on the floor to rotate and contest consistently. Too much ball watching or lazy rotation and every PG and SG in the NBA is going to torch us at one point or another.

Beverley has his strengths, but once he's switched off on Harden we're going to have some issues. Harden can defend post up players decently, but in terms of perimeter shooters and following rotations, he has some issues.

 

I was gonna say blonde girl in Colorado, but overrate them works too.

 

I don't know that beating the Blazers is just about containing Aldridge. He was his regular self after the first two games and they still beat us. They didn't lose anyone and signed Kaman. They're also quite young and will have benefitted from going to the second round.

I think the series was close, so just a bit more poise and team defense makes a huge difference. For example, a Brandon Bass cannot contain LMA, but his presence in the starting line-up with Howard, Ariza and Bev would make us a fantastic defensive team. The advantages of that are the ability to put LMA in tougher spots and also denying him the ball more often. Some more mind games maybe.

The Blazers are an excellent offensive team and the 5th best team in the West (we were the 4th). There's no reason to think we should be able to beat these guys without going to the wire.

Our ability to get over the hump, if we don't acquire anyone else, rests largely on the improvement of Canaan, Jones, D-Mo and Dorsey as well as the additions of Daniels and Papa. It's not a bad bet because it's fair to expect any of those guys to improve, but nothing is certain.

 

Can he stop him? No. Could he contain him? Possibly. But you still have Mchale coaching. You still have no bench, and Moreyball is still being ran.



The result=Another 1st round exit

 

Break his leg ?

 

I am not at all worried about the Blazers. They beat us in one series for 3 reasons. Aldridge played OUT OF HIS MIND, Harden disappeared, and the refs BLEW.

We are not designing a team to beat the Blazers.

 

Yes, the refs were bad.

Yes, LaMarcus Aldridge played out of his mind.

But the real reason we lost that series is terrible 3PT shooting. We shot 31.8% from 3 during the series. Our average margin of defeat in the 4 losses was 3.25 points.

 

Splitter stopped him by playing physical and making him play with back to basket

 

Which could have easily been made up by:
1) Aldridge missing one shot.
2) The refs calling some of those free arms LA got away with against Asik.
3) Harden making a shot.

 

That's a possibility...when the refs aren't calling you for breathing too heavily...

 

Wait...you mean we're not going back to this????

Spoiler