Are we seriously talking about guarding Curry... Have you all not been watching this guy all season long? Its an impossible task even for the best of the best when he's playing this way. You HAVE TO be able to trap Curry, and the rotate perfectly. The Rockets didn't do that till late in the series, and early in the series just straight up left him open in the corners where he was shooting like 90% from three. All the defensive potential in the world wont stop Curry or any other superstar with that type of offensive game without better TEAM defense. I wouldn't harp too much on looking at JUST DEFENSE with a PG upgrade. First thing you can do is look for a more efficient offense with PG help to STOP TURNOVERS which gets a team like GS and a player like Curry going. Then you need better rebounding which those second chance looks where Klay and Steph always get back and get a three out of. Moving someone that isn't a PG like McDaniels of Johnson to PG next to Harden sounds great, but simply upgrading the one-on-one defense from Terry to KJ/Johnson isn't going to solve all your teams issues in beating the best team in the league. The Rockets simply need to be a more efficient team offensively, and they need to get much better on team defense like they were at the beginning of the year. They really fell after the all-star break in their team discipline. Gotta be better next year. Getting a more efficient offensive creator at PG will help at least be more efficient on that end with less killer turnovers.
You put Ricky Rubio on this team, he will average 12 Assists easily and our turnovers will definitely go down.
That always is the question isn't it? How does an almost rookie get PT on a team as good as the Rockets? If the injury bug goes away next season the Rockets could win 65 games.
I disagree. It's not THAT hard to guard curry except for when the inevitable illegal screens come. If you can stay near him and pester him, you can do a good job guarding him. He's not someone who is good at creating space on his own so he relies on a lightning quick shot and his teammates to get his shot off. If you can stay close to him then you limit his effectiveness, the only time you need to worry about rotations is when the illegal screens come. That said, if the Rockets are at full strength, they probably beat the Warriors this season, improving the on ball defense of Curry would only make that easier. They aren't THAT good, they just had a nice regular season run and got super lucky in the post-season. Luckier than any team I can remember.
One thing I can guarantee, nobody, not Rubio or anyone else, is taking the ball out of Harden's hands enough to average 12 assists. 5 maybe. Any more would actually harm the Rockets significantly. Harden generates more points off of assists and his own scoring than any player in the league. All because he has the ball in his hands.
These are absolutely spot on! -Better half court offensive efficiency. -Less Turnovers leading to fast break points. -And better rebounding, not allowing teams to get offensive rebound put-backs or 3pt shots during chaos.
There is no one in the league that generates more offense than Harden. And he always has the ball in his hands. In college, in OKC, in Houston. He is the reason Morey feels no need to chase point guards. Harden is Houston's point guard.
The Defensive Intensity at the beginning of the season intensified my hopes and excitement for the season... they were Locking Down possessions like HarDen off da charts Efficiency & Aggressiveness. If they can figure how to maintain that for most of the season but more importantly in the playoffs even MVPS like Curry, LeBonBon and arguably Klay will not be able to sustain the legacy of clutch city
Agree 100% well said. Team defense really fell off after all star break and they never got it back unfortunately and missing Beverly in playoffs was a real killer compared to rolling with two 37 year old PGs. Would be huge to sign Llull and resign Beverly if Les will do it.
Rubio will improve his shooting here, there is no chance for him not to do so Bad shooters of a bad teams are always improving after transfers to a good teams because of quality of play and quality of shots Bad teams are bad because they are behind almost all the time, good teams are ahead almost all the time. It's way easier to make shots when you are in the lead for a non-lead dog, than to make it when you are behind and defense is trying to build a blowout-caliber lead. Minny is losing games with him on a -5.8 point diffential, two possesion games. As simple as that. 18.5% on his threes Minny is winning games with him when he's +10.9 point differential He's knocking down threes in 43%. That's why his 3-pt shooting will be around 32-34 percent with this team
I'm sure a Mavs fan said something similar about Rondo before they ruined their team with that trade.
Hope springs ever eternal in fans projecting 5 minutes a game in the playoffs by a rookie. Five well chosen minutes by McHale. LOL.
Aside from da supamanluva twinz, candyland, yo ming, and our beloved man with many names i havent seen anyone on the rox box with such reach, height, athleticism, passion for grabbing da rock and protecting the rim in recent memoirs.
If you have watched him play, like at all, you know that rebounding is pretty much what he does best. He just has a knack for finding the ball. I'm not projecting him to be the next great center, but he's certainly capable of providing very solid rebounding when Howard is on the bench. I don't think there are many who would disagree with that assessment.
You need both. No amount of amazing team defense can makeup for the fact that Terry and Prigioni couldn't stay with their man. Beverley was worth at least another game in the GSW series....maybe even 2. I do agree that a better offense would've helped our defense.....hopefully Llull can provide that.
