Artest on Aldridge is a good idea. Roll Wafer out there to guard Batum. Batum is a rookie. We can then leave Battier on Roy. That is the best defensive matchup for Roy. Then you bring in Scola to rest Yao and go with Landry as soon as Portland sits LMA. By the way, a lineup with Lowry, Artest, and Battier has 3 great defenders.
Did you guys forget that we put Shane on Dirk in 2005? No way in hell is Aldridge a better jump shooter than Dirk. Artest is strong enough to keep Aldridge from getting deep position and quick enough to challenge his jump shots. Scola is getting abused right now. He didn't even do a very good job in Game 1. LA just missed a ton of shots.
it'll work...Ron is as tall or taller than chuck hayes and a better defender...he'd definitly get into aldridges head
I don't think Artest should be on Roy anymore. We need his offense this series, and he got worn down as the game went on last game trying to guard Roy and score for us. I think Battier is better equipped to guard Roy, who is more likely to settle for a jumper. Artest is better at guarding players who like to drive in and shy away from the jumper. Battier can study tape and analyze where Roy doesn't shoot so well and position himself to make Roy shoot in those spots. Wafer I think could be used in small doses on Roy, just to give Battier rest. He is really good at chasing guys around screens ( he was effective vs. Terry and Fernandez doing that) but against a 1-on-1 player, he is kinda undersized and not fundamentally sound on defense. But I wouldn't mind the Rockets trying that for a little while. I think Artest could bother Aldridge, because he is quick enough to deny him the ball, which would then push him out further. If he's more than 15 feet away, it will be hard for him to back down Artest or Hayes from there, and very unlikely that he could drive past Artest off the dribble. He would be able to shoot over Artest, but Artest is our most physical defender, so I think that would affect a soft player like Aldridge. But the problem is, that would still take lot of energy away from Artest, and we need him for offense. I think if Aldridge starts off hot in game 3, Adelman might try that matchup just to see if it works.
Hell yeah , Artest can definitely guard LMB. Aldrige seldom post up if ever, all he does are fade away shot and take open 15-18 ft. open jumper. With Artest bugging all over him I think that might actually throw his rhythm off a bit. Plus in term of speed , all of Portlands guard and SF are all faster Artest and the funny thing is Aldrige is giving off 20IB. to Artest. So the only thing Aldrige have over Artest are 4inch in height and athleticism: all else Artest > Aldrige. P.S. LMB weight 240 and Artest weight 260.
4in. height difference is enough to shoot over a defender. aldridge is a better jumper shooter than he is a post up player. hayes will be a better candidite to put on aldridge. plus, with the jumpers aldridge shoots, there normally will be a lot of rebounds. and hayes is a better rebounder.
I don't understand the critics of this plan. Aldridge is too big for Artest they say, but the alternatives are Scola, who is not a good defender, and Hayes, who is smaller than Artest. If Hayes size disadvantage isn't a problem, than neither will Artest's be. Then, Battier can guard Roy and he's been the best on him so far. Wafer won't have a tough assignment with Batum. However, I don't think you can start with this line-up. You don't want to change your starters halfway through a playoff series and mess up everyone's groove. So, start the regulars, but do this match-up when Yao or Scola take a rest.
Let..Ron Artest/ Chuck Hayes/ Scola guard Alridge..TRY shutting him down.. Roy can score all he wants..while playing D on the rest of the team.. Let the rest of the team try to get involved..that way we don't get beat by TWO players again..
I think Ron would and could do a good job on Aldridge. May be worth a shot just to see what he can do. Because to be honest, now with no Deke, you have to use Chuck against Oden more. Leaving either Carl or Scola to spend most all of their time defensively on Aldridge.
ron may be able to guard aldridge for stretches just to give him different looks, but should not for long. can hayes guard oden regularly? idk. i think the height and weight difference is too much for hayes to overcome under the rim. yao has to do it (and to do that he has to play more minutes).
Yao will have to do it part of the time, but Yao can't play the whole game... he should stay around the high 30's max to keep his efficiency. Especially if he has to bang with both Oden and Pryz. Chuck will have trouble with Oden, but then so did Deke. Exactly who else are you going to have on him though? Landry - oh heck no! Scola - he can't even keep Aldridge from backing him down into the lane. Chuck's our only choice, hopefully he's eating a lot of Wheaties and Pop-eye's Spinach this week to stay energized I agree switching up on Aldridge should help. Keep him off balance and not get a groove. Like most good players, once he gets into a good rhythm he is very difficult to shut down.
This will also help the fronting problem. Instead of aldridge helping week side on Yao. Artest will be all the way out at the 3 point line spacing the floor. I would go: Yao Artest berry shane AB or lowry I would have berry in to make great entry passes to Yao.
imo yao just have to play 40 minutes (10 minutes each quarter) now deke is gone. and that probably won't change if we reach the 2nd round. he's been effective and play 40 minutes before. tall order i know, but he has to and i believe he can. good thing is this is playoffs and there are 2-3 days in b/w games. how to allocate his stamina will be an issue for yao himself to solve.
Yeah and look what happened in the 2nd game. I think it's a bad idea. Ron is 1 inch taller than Chuck. LaMarcus would just shoot over Ron like he did against Hayes. Guys are underestimating Hayes' strength. What difference would there be in having Ron guard Aldridge than having Hayes guard him. Yeah Artest is going to have the offensive edge but what about on the defensive side?? The best offense is defensive.
You'll lose out offense if you insert Chuck is in the game. A line up like: Yao, Artest , Battier, Wafer, Brooks will spread the floor quite nice. But yes I agree Chuck will guard Aldrige better than Artest since that much is proven, but if Chuck is not on the court the next person I want to guard Aldrige is Artest.
