D'Antoni shorter rotation vs Spurs historically in NBA Playoffs

I do believe in that, but that happens for every player on every team in the playoffs...especially as u advance further and further into the playoffs

the only teams that are fresh in the playoffs are the Cavs and Warriors because they're consistently blowing out their competition and finishing their series in 4 games

U should be able to count on your main rotation guys to be able to play between 30-40 minutes during regulation of a playoff game. When u start consistently playing them over 40 minutes during regulation, then we can have a conversation about minutes. Plus we blew them out in game 4. Harden played the most minutes of anyone in game 4 at only 34 minutes. It's not like we were coming off some triple OT game heading into game 5.

 

he made it to the WCF twice and lost to the better team, lost in the 2nd round due to some lame suspensions, lost in the 1st round to SA again, and then lost to the Celtics with a depleted Knicks team...so I'd say he did fine

 

I don't have a problem with the rotation he used in the last game. I think people using the fatigue excuse are manufacturing an excuse because they don't want to accept what happened.

Two of Harden's 3 turnovers were the same turnovers he made all regular season. He just lazily dribbles the ball with no sense of what's going on around him and someone taps it out from behind him and he throws a fit. The dribbling down the clock for the 3 isn't fatigue either. I predicted it would be a problem to end the game as soon as the first quarter ended and Harden was hot from 3. Anytime he gets hot from 3 he is going to shoot them more than he should. He goes 3/4 and you need to hope he stays hot because he'll take 14.

 

The fatigue is real. Especially with Harden.

I know his minutes were reasonable through 4 quarters and everyone is tired after playing 90+ games this season. But with harden, I think the big thing is he's actually expending significantly more energy on defense now in the playoffs while still expending the same amount, if not more, on offense. Should not be an excuse, but it's something for fans to watch.

I also wonder if his energy is affected by defending the post so much. He has had to dig in against much bigger opponents for longer stretches of time than he's used to. Then again he doesn't have to chase players around the perimeter so maybe it's just a wash.

 

Fatigue is obviously a problem, when you play long minutes in an hard fought OT game.

But the strategy, whether it's by design of the coaching or by Harden's own volition, of ISO Harden in the OT was just crap. It had nothing to do with fatigue. Why would you do it three consecutive times when the first two had bad results? It's not like it's the last possession when you had to use ISO to control the time. You have plenty of time left and you don't want to run a play to get a good shot?

 

Adjustments are overblown. Most of the time you just tell the 7 players or less to play harder.

 

Pop owns him...that's all there is to it. He couldn't beat the Spurs with a stacked Suns team..now he's supposed to beat these Spurs with Harden and a bunch of spot up shooters?

 

*clap* *clap*

 

James defending the post is definitely a factor in tiring him out . As James goes so does the entire team , the coach should know this .

There's a fine line between resting your best player too much and wearing your guy down.
Of course you want James in the game as much as possible , but he needs to have something in the tank.

James made bad decisions last game and was not aggressive enough attacking . Several factors contributed to this

1) Spurs D
2) refereeing
3) mental mistakes by James
4) lack of off- ball movement
5) lack of energy/ aggression from James
6) game situation / clock

Dantoni could have fixed 4 , he could have mitigated situations 3 and 5 by sitting James down and making sure he had the juice to execute ...

James got his rest for sure , was playing in the post such a strenuous effort that he was really that much more tired than usual ?

It's the most important question going forward and should dictate our strategy going forward . James is our best post defender outside of Clint , but James is also our offense . So if he cannot do both for 36+ then Mike needs to help him out on one end .

You would think that harden deferring would be OK ; but Lou has played like absolute **** this series. Eric and pat are OK options for the first half and early in the 4th , but the defense will clamp them down . Lou is the guy that has the skills to generate offense if James needs a respite ... He just hasn't delivered.

BUT , I still think Dekker and/or Harrell needs to play . Sitting them is leaving too much athleticism and energy on the bench . Y'all will think I'm crazy but Dekker has the tools to be our best perimeter defender . The work he can do on the offensive glass and on defense can impact the game .

Harrell is a bit harder to play if you are going to start Gordon .. Frankly so is Dekker , you don't want those guys and Ryan on the floor together too much . Both of those guys are best paired with James so he can create for them on offense . Both guys MOVE off ball. Both also have the potential to make stupid, serious mistakes .

I understand Mike doesn't want to play them in certain situations becuase of fouls .... Fouls will kill us . Playing them at the begging of the quarters is risking getting SA into the bonus quite early , that being said there is definitely room to play them .

Frankly they deserve it . They were part of the rotation all year ; Dekker got hurt , and Nene overtook Harrell which was probably planned . But Dekker is healthy ( we think) and nene is hurt . Use these guys , they are young . One of the biggest sources of player development is PT in the playoffs , if you deny them that we are doing ourselves a disservice next year AND they can help us this year.