They start the podcast off talking about last nights Rockets Clippers game. Figure I would pass it along. Just now started listening and they don't have nice things to say about our perimeter defense as you would expect. Lowe said like he did in his tweet that Harden, Parsons, Lin and Brooks are all minus defenders and it's our one obvious flaw so far. http://c.espnradio.com/audio/1965958/bsreport_2013-11-05-150958.mp3
One game sample size. We were good on D the first 3 games. It's a combination of Harden's especially bad defense that came against one of the league's best and most explosive offenses that led to the result last night. I'm not expecting a repeat of last night tonight.
I do agree that it's a bit of an overreaction. So far(extremely small sample size) we have played the 1,3, 27 and 29 teams in terms of offensive efficiency and we are sitting at 8th in defensive efficiency. Throw in a few injuries and the fact we are still testing lineups and getting used to new players I can't say that I'm all that worried yet.
The Lin-Harden backcourt will never work on the defensive end. In the next month they'll need to either win shootouts with that combo or try starting Brewer at PG.
Harden just looks to be a bad defender that has no real desire to get any better. Parsons has regressed from that first year where he looked really good on defense. That's problematic really as the two wing spots are being held by guys who are just not impact defenders. I think this is why Dwight or Asik being on the floor at all times is so vital to this team and why I am reluctant to move Asik.
you completely misunderstand what simmons and lowe tried to point out. they think harden was not that bad with ok due to a small role he played. now he is doing everything on offense side. he can't manage his energy on defense end. now you think bev will help harden to take less role. are you kidding you or not? btw, if you think bev can manage cp3, you're delusional. cp3 is the best pg , a 100% future hall of famer nowadays.
I think in the long run Harden / Parsons is not going to work, regardless of who starts at PG. We need a defensive minded wing player and both do not qualify.
I have my concerns about it as well. I like Parsons and if Harden can at least play average defense it is fine, but if Harden is going to be a negative on defense then you are going to need STRONG defense at the 3 spot.
You seem defensive, are you Patrick Beverley? I wasn't trying to say anything other than Beverley helps our perimeter defense. I don't see how that is debatable. if he slows down the point guard and delays their offense, it only helps his teammates because now their offense is rushing rather than ahead of the Rockets' D. Picking up opposing Pgs ASAP is not done enough in this league and should be a priority. Forget letting them set up their offense. It's like not pressuring a QB ever. Perhaps not enough PGs can pressure often because of endurance/energy issues, but PB doesn't seem to have that problem, so let him have it.
I was going to say, wasn't Lin guarding the guy who dropped a ridiculous line of 29 pts 17 assists or some mess. Regardless this was a team effort loss, need to obviously fix our perimeter D and start by getting Bev back.
Problem isn't stopping CP3. You can't stop him. Problem is stopping everyone else. Jared and Reddick just killed us. Harden was a major liability on D.
Out 2 weeks is conservative for the injury he has. Even if he's able to get on the court in that time I don't expect him to be 100%.
I wish I were bev. that means I will have a good life, better than I have now. :grin: just look at the first game bev played for 10 mins. I don't see any sign he can slow down cp3. he didn't do anything on defense end except he scored a 3 pt and offense board put back. he let his man beat him by dribble attacking 2 or 3 times. luckily we had bigs to clean up his mess so ppl won't realize those plays.
If the Rockets' game plan was for Lin to stop CP3, than they are way overrating Lin's defense. Dudley/Crawford/Redick combined for over 60 points during that game, and Harden/Parsons guarding those guys and allowing them to go off should be the most responsible. Though it's just a game, and I doubt Harden will play that bad ever again. Parsons needs to step up and regain his defense though.
23 pts 17 assists. Wasn't hard for CP3 to pile on the assists with Redick and Dudley having no defender within 5 ft of them launching 3s. Also, 10 of his 23 pts came midway through the 4th after Lin picked up his 5th foul.
Harden and Parsons defense has been a problem for awhile but everyone always likes to focus on Lin. Look, the point guards in the nba are good. No one really stops them, CP3 gets toasted by Parker, Lin torched Parker, Curry torched CP3, Westbrook torches Lin etc. But Harden cant let JJ Reddick get open for 3s. Thats all JJ is doing is running around screens, Harden has to stick his man. Parsons plays the small forward so his defense has to be better as well. But its only the FIRST DAMN WEEK of the season and the ROCKETS are playing their 4th game in 5 days in four different cities. The overreaction is hilarious. Watch the rockets beat the clippers this weekend and ppl will be like damn the Rockets look great blah blah blah.
I know I'm about to sound crazy, but maybe we could try Brewer at the 3. Brewer plays really good defense (or at least he used to, not sure how he is now). So basically surround Harden with good/great defenders in that starting lineup. Similar to how Chicago does with Rose. I feel like Harden being around guys like Bev, Brewer, Howard and either Asik or whoever we may trade him for (hopefully someone who can still play solid defense) would make him more interested in playing defense when it's more apparent that he's slacking on defense more than the people around him and wants to keep up with their level of defensive play. Then have Lin/Garcia/Parsons/Casspi/Asik (or whoever at the C spot) to come in and scorch the opposing team while the opposing team's offense is still stagnant. I'm probably saying this because I like seeing great defense more than great offense. It's more reliable. If we could have everyone buy into playing defense then we could really become a dominant team. Our offense is there. The defense just needs to be more of an emphasis and just playing it as a team. That's the only way it'll get done. We just look too sloppy on that side of the ball.
It's pretty simple. The perimeter D has needed improvement since last season. Lin is picked on because we sure as hell aren't trading Harden and although we could trade CP, it probably won't happen soon, if at all. So the improvement has to come from the PG spot, not for one game, not against CP3, but overall, for the season. It was set to happen, until PB got hurt. For Lin to avoid that he's going to have to step up his offense or defense to the next level.
