Yeah, but that is not the main issue.....does he realize WHY defense is the problem? Does he realize that the schemes that the players are running are crap, and are the main problem and not the players? Does he realize that the defense they ran last night was one of half measures? You either trap CP3 hard, or you play him straight up, but you don't kind of trap him, and leave open bigs at the elbow for an open 15 footer. Does he realize that? Because that is the main problem.....while the players may be struggling the coaching staff is hanging them out to dry with horrible schemes. DD
I can say with full confidence that you are immensely unqualified to comment on the defensive schemes that NBA head coaches run. It's funny that a few years ago we were a great defensive team -- and then many player personnel changes later and suddenly it's the scheme's fault? People hated on me for wanting Iguodala over Martin -- now we have three guys in the starting lineup who play subpar defense (I'm looking at you, Luis.) One of our best defenders(Ariza), who was starting, was traded so that Courtney Lee could play 16 minutes a night off the bench (Blame Morey). The truth is, Aaron Brooks should come off the bench. And that isn't meant as an endorsement for Kyle Lowry. Brooks should be a change of pace guard, instant offense off the bench type -- not a starter. He's a poor defender that has trouble knowing when and how to run this offense (the 'fast break' vs. GS comes to mind when he went the full length of the court to throw up a hook shot while falling out of bounds - pathetic.) And for all the Bosh haters, this is why we needed Chris Bosh. We need the one guy we can go to for a big bucket to calm us down -- the safety net. Kevin Martin has no interest in taking shots that don't land him at the free throw line; Aaron Brooks is too erratic to be dependable and Yao Ming's restrictions and rust won't allow for it. The common answer to the question, "Whose our closer?" was always "We have three! Martin could, Brooks could, or Scola!" If you have three closers folks, you have none. This is a star driven league and the Rockets will be stuck in mediocrity until they can trade for or draft a superstar..
LTF, You didn't once address anything I brought up about schemes being the problem. So, therefore, I conclude that you don't think it has anything to do with it. Do you understand what I was talking about regarding CP3 and the scheme? DD
I did kind of go off in a mini-rant that wasn't entirely directed at you, apologies. I just don't see how schemes are the problem when they helped us be one of the better defensive teams in the LEAGUE just a few years ago. If schemes are the problem, that would mean firing our coach and bringing someone else in would probably make us better, right? JVG wouldn't have created a magical scheme that works. He would've benched the guys who aren't playing defense and brought in someone who will. You're not going to be a good defensive team with Brooks, Martin and Scola logging major minutes. Create whatever schemes you like, it's not going to happen. I was against the Ariza-CLee swap, and am now even more so that CLee is only playing 16 (!) minutes off the bench. What an awful trade.
LTF, We are not running JVG's..sorry...Thibedeau's schemes..... Last night had nothing at all to do with defensive effort, it was 100% about the scheme and CP3 exploiting it. People blaming the players are not looking deeply enough, IMO. DD
Pretty much. This group isn't suited to play defense. They can play harder and better some games, but they will revert to who they are. They know offense only, and it shows.
I don't really agree with that. A couple years ago, the Rockets completely shut Chris Paul down with Brooks in and Rafer out. http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200811150HOU.html http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Rockets_Rebound_in_Big_Way-289541-34.html [rquoter] Rick Adelman (on the play of Luis Scola): Luis did a good job. To contain them, you have to play five guys against them because Chris Paul is such a handful and creates so much for them. It was crucial that Luis and Chuck [Hayes] be there for help. Chuck, for the minutes he played, was terrific. He does the best job for us when they try to run that stuff. [/rquoter] They didn't do it with trapping him hard or playing him 1-on-1. That doesn't work against a player with his IQ and ball-handling skills. Sound team defense means you know how to tilt your help defense to deter the penetration, and your perimeter defender understands where the help is and makes sure that if his man gets by him he goes in that direction.
I agree fully. esp with regards to Scola. the dude is just horrible when it comes to defending jump shooting big men. How many shots did that unknown white dude on the hornets make today? He was WIDE open on almost all shots and Luis is to blame for that. I know that Luis has to go down and help if a guard penetrates, but this was frustrating to watch. I wish we had Deke
The Hornets today are a much more versatile team than they were then. No longer do they have a one trick pony in Tyson Chandler at the Center spot, and a better shooter to replace Mo Peterson. Now they can put multiple jump shooting threats on the floor with CP3....again, you can't run the same scheme with this team because it is NOT the same team. If they used the same scheme as before, they failed because of their lack of adaptability and scouting. DD
You're missing the point. The point was, even if did still have Thibs, the same problems would persist. It's not a scheme problem, it's a our-players-suck-at-defense problem. If you want us to become a better defensive team, scale back Martin's minutes and play Courtney Lee (why the hell did we trade for him if not?) Bring Brooks off the bench as a scoring punch for the second unit. Give Jordan Hill, our best shot blocker and active defender, more minutes. I would love to see Hill next to Yao -- I think they could be a great defensive front court.
While they are not the best at defense, they have proven to be part of a very effective defensive squad before.....all of them at some point. It is not the players, it is the scheme, well technically I guess it is a little bit of both....but the scheme is not helping the players.....as it should. Everyone is saying the defense sucks - but they are not looking at the WHY it sucks......other than saying the players need to play better. That is just not always true...and a very shallow look at it, IMO. DD
Kevin Martin has NEVER proven to be a part of a very effective defensive squad. Aaron Brooks was "a part" of one when we had Artest/Shane covering the perimeter -- I wouldn't dare say he was a vital part of us being a good defensive team.
Sometimes the Scheme needs to account for your own team's weaknesses as well as the others. You can't just say....play harder.... Part of it is that the scheme on Paul last night was horrible, simply 100% the wrong way to guard him....they played right into his wheelhouse....staggeringly stupid, in all honesty. And part of it is that the rotation is too large, and the players don't know their roles on offense or defense. Right now...the players are struggling but the coaching staff has done a piss poor job of putting them in positions to be successful. Maybe others don't see this the same way, but it is crystal clear to me. Right now, they are too busy worrying about who plays and not busy worrying about HOW to play.....focus...focus...focus... DD
You really don't want to hold Brooks accountable for anything, do you? There's nothing wrong with the coach's defensive schemes. Too many mistakes on defense, and too many really bad close outs. You're right that things can improve as players gain more comfortability on the floor playing with eachother, but its still a player problem.
The one thing we can agree on is that the rotation is too large. We signed Brad Miller to a MLE-type contract for him to not leave the bench on random nights? And frankly, I'd rather us play Jordan Hill -- he gives us a legitimate shot blocking threat and an energy that our other bigs can't match. It's hard to argue with 'coaches haven't done a good job of putting them in a position to be successful' -- mostly because it's the oldest cliche in the book (so is that.) The truth is, we haven't been successful -- so everyone deserves some of the blame. I don't think it's fair to openly blame the coaching staff for the defense with the belief that Brooks & Martin will ever play major minutes on a great defensive team. And it's not entirely the players fault either -- they have their limitations, it's up to the coaches to get them out of the game when they can't do the things that are asked.
Please Durv....that is silly, I said he made a monumental screw up in failing to guard Blake in the first game....last night he played pretty danged good against CP3...outside of that innane behind the back toss to Scola that CP3 pilfered. I disagree, if you watch the game last night our bigs slid high on the PnR, but then tried to recover to their man whom was wide open at the elbow. That is a half assed measure, either you trap him or you don't....and let the man guarding him slide in behind....... It was 100% a bad scheme, and it played right into their hands. Lots of excuses being made for poor schemes if you ask me. DD
DD, Can you show us examples of teams who used the schemes you suggested (trap hard or not at all) and successfully contained Chris Paul?
Your assuming these poor defensive players were executing the scheme the way it was designed. Regardless of what "scheme" they were running, in the end it comes down to execution, and 3 players out of our current starting line up are below average on the defensive end. I'm sure you could construct a good defensive line up with either Brooks or Martin playing, with a good defender in the other guard spot who can help when they are beat. Especially if you had a better defender at power forward and a completely healthy Yao Ming playing 30+ minutes a night. But if your help defenders are also bad, then exactly what scheme are you expecting them to execute that is going to hide all these poor defenders?
