Um, no. Battier is one of our best players. You don't match his minutes to a role player. You can put Battier on Korver when they are both out on the floor, but you don't reduce his minutes under any circumstance that doesn't involve an injury. When our guards combine to shoot 12/45 and Utah shoots 52% as a team, you don't need to try to get a marginal increase in scoring at the three. You just need to refocus on the game plan. They are not going to win this series by depending on Landry trying to score against Kirilenko, they can only win by locking down on defense and hitting the open shots as a team.
Here is the diffcult part of having Battier to defend Williams and why Aldelman wants to play him more on the offense. There is simply no one player on Jazz's team worth or match battier defensive skill. (maybe except for crybaby AK) Battier is our best defender, but his usefulness isn't that great with the jazz. Battier can help out scola on Boozer, but not one on one. Battier can't match deron's speed, can't guard him one one one. Those two players are the key to stop Jazz, Deron is the most important piece of that two. We need a player that can match deron's speed and size on D. which brooks can but only speed. Bobby could but only on size. battier on okur, then okur would use his size and play him inside the paint/boozer will shot jumpers. Therefore Battier shouldn't be playing the defensive stopper role and camp at the 3 pt line. He should be taking it inside and penetrate. We saw a bit of him during the 22 winning stretch.
i'd like to know why we didn't sub in landry to go to the paint when boozer and millsap sat down with 4 fouls in the third quarter during our run. i'd have liked to see us go phoenix-sized with inside slashing: brooks mcgrady hayes landry scola
its not as simple as movign the pieces around. that lineup didn't play together. it has no chemistry. radical adjustments for the first time in the postseason is a recipe for complete failure. ask dallas.
If only it was as simple as you make it sound. The Captain Obvious argument of "Just make your shots and play better!!!" sounds great until you set foot on the floor and realize there's more to game of basketball than just some 5th grade pep talk. All i'm suggesting is reducing Battier's minutes to about 30 MPG and giving those minutes to Landry. In the event Scola and Deke stay out of foul trouble Scola gets 40 minutes and Deke probably gets nearly 30 like he did on Sunday. That leaves a window of 10-15 minutes which isn't good enough. We need some semblance of a bench. Given Landry's outstanding efficiency, if you increase his minutes to 20-25 a game that should allow him sufficient time provide a spark. Think about the match ups. Is this really that bad of an idea to try especially whenever they bring in Harpring? Harpring likes to post up and play close to the basket - this isn't like asking him to guard Kobe. Landry could counter his size and physicality. Harpring plays like a bulldog and will kill you if you don't throw a body on him.
Might sound crazy, but I'd like to see Mike Harris on Korver. He has enough hustle to chase him on those screens and contest his shot. He can also bring the pain on the offensive end if we play him like we would Bonzi. Korver has no chance against that.
i like him, but i was never too high on landry. players like him are a bunch every year in the draft. and as the starting 3, battier was the only one who shot well in game 1. and landry played like non-existent. i just can't understand why right now we need to make a change like this.
It might sound like a fifth grade pep talk until you consider that fact that the Rockets as a team shot well below their averages and gave up well above what they normally allow defensively. I am not saying something cliche like elevate your game for the playoffs, put it into another gear, etc. I am simply saying, don't panic and get back to regular season form (the way they got home court advantage over Utah in the first place). In the middle of a playoff series is generally not the best time to tinker with your rotations. When you take into account the fact that Landry has not played as well following his injury, your whole argument just doesn't make any sense, IMHO.
I agree that the shooting will [hopefully] even itself out. Although in the event that happens we're still at a disadvantage. They're shooting 48% from the field against us and although through four games they're shooting a rather unimpressive 34.3% from downtown, Korver has been a madman averaging 13 PPG off the bench and hitting nearly every shot he takes. I understand your reasoning but at the same time you're comparing our season averages to a head-to-head playoff series. Upping Landry's minutes isn't just about scoring. The Jazz have badly outrebounded us all season long in head-to-head match ups. This is one area where giving Landry 10 more minutes or so can help us. What if we tried this strategy in the first half whenever we were getting scorched on the glass? Maybe instead of the quick 6/5 Millsap got, the 2-3 putbacks Boozer got and the open shots AK was hitting due to the extra possessions maybe we don't go into halftime trailing? There's a lot of "what ifs" in there and I understand that, but at the same time if we're getting killed again on the boards I think you have to consider it. Throwing Chuck or Harris out there is always an option too but at least you don't lose anything offensively if you put in Landry.
Popavich did not call a play for a Duncan 3. Duncan said so in interviews after the game. Ginobli just passed it to him when he was open. That's a player read, not some coaching genius. The Jazz are good, it's going to be a tough series. No one here should be expecting us to dominate. I'm hoping we can stretch it to 7 and take it this time on our home court.
Well, I guess Landry wasn't up to the task last night. He looked pretty bad out there - everything from his airball to the lay up he wiffed on. 8 minutes? Yikes. On the other hand it looks like having Battier shadow Korver was the way to go. Aside from his lucky floater at the end we were able to shut him down.
Landry plays significant minutes, we outrebound them and we win....pretty sure i've been preaching that since before game two but hey i'll take a win anyway i can get one
^^ it's 2:20am and i'm literally hungry... but still, he didn't play the 3. and guys like him are still a bunch in each draft...
I'm pretty sure you said to bench Battier and match his minutes to Korver's while playing Landry at the three. Battier played more minutes than he did in either previous game. On the other hand, the Rockets did defend better and hit for a higher percentage on open shots. I'm pretty sure someone mentioned something along those lines.
^^^ That's not benching somebody. It was more or less just to get Landry more minutes somehow since I didn't figure Deke would play so little. Upping Landry's minutes means somebody has to suffer. I didn't figure that guy to be Deke since he played Boozer pretty well and that since Brewer, AK and Harping aren't dominant wings that we could get away with sliding Landry to the three for a few extra minutes. But hey, a Rockets win is a Rockets win. We're all winners and I guess technically both of our strategies worked although I doubt Adelman was stomping around the locker room screaming "Just play better!!! For God sakes!!" like somebody would have had him doing.
