When you've watched basketball for a long time, there is a difference between coaching late in the season/playoffs and coaching in the beginning of the season. I'm not saying it is wrong or right, but coaches tend to stick with rotations early in games, especially early in the season. That way you have more stable data to analyze and make decisions when there is more at stake. That said, Courtney or Lowry would be the ideal defenders against Ellis in a rematch.
Yes but there were multiple defenders on Ellis throughout the night, it's not like they tried the same thing over and over. So no, I don't agree with your general statements. The zen master, Phil Jackson, comes to mind as a coach who generally doesn't double team players. I'm sure there are other coaches as well, but none come to mind at the moment. Our defense is our weak point right now and we have had two tough nights against the two-time defending champs and the league's most prolific scoring team. I would have been shocked if we came out 2-0.It was a team loss last night, not on the coaches entirely.
I think the big coaching mistake was not failing to double Ellis on the perimeter. The mistake was allowing GS to control the tempo and consistently get early offense and breaks. We have a pretty good half-court system, even with Brad Miller in on the high post when Yao is out. Use it to reduce possessions against a hot team and give your defense a chance.
I may be alone in this sentiment, but I feel like if we have a back-to-back, and Yao is only going to play one game, it makes more sense for him to play against the easier team, in which case it would have been better to sit him against LA and start him last night. Completely agree with everyone else on this thread with the points being made. No matter how bad you think he is, Hill should have gotten some minutes last night. He's a big man who can run the floor and surely would have scored a few easy put backs and hopefully could have contested shots near the basket.
Come on Dreamshake, you know that is not what I am talking about. It is not about multiple defenders, it is about switching up your philosophy to account for a very hot player. Go from playing him straight up to denying him the ball, and doubling him if he gets it...to get the ball out of his hands. Sometimes you have to go outside your comfort zone and make adjustments. I think the Rockets blew it last night by staying pat. DD
LMAO, I thought the 'Rick vs Jeff' debates were done with? Well, when we held teams under 80 and folks gave credit to JVG and his defensive style, why shouldn't Rick shoulder some of the blame for the current defense?
Why would Adelman and staff want to play into to Golden States strength and allow the rockets to get into an up and down game against guys like Monta Ellis. Ellis is impossible to stop, especially with a 6'5 center patrolling the paint. All you can do with Monta is limit his touches and force someone else on the team to beat you.
What I liked and didn't like from Game 2 Liked: * Once again we will score a ton of points Didn't Liked: * No coaching adjustment to Monta at all, was Rick trying to see if Shane or Martin could play one on one. Jordan couldn't have stop Monta, the only way was to run a big man at him and make him give up the ball * No defensive rebounding, there is a 6'10" dude who can leap out of the gym on the bench ready to plan. * We are officially the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns with worse defense. BTW, check my signature, defense and rebounding wins championships
Ok, that would make sense...except for the fact that RA put Chuck back at C where he hasn't played since last year, and kept Miller to 3 minutes. How is that keeping with the rotation. Not to mention holding out Hill when it seemed from preseason that he was going to be in the rotation. No, I'd say Adleman is experimenting with the rotation, and doing it rather blindly.
I don't think either one of them is Monta Ellis......if one guy is going off, you shut that down. For the life of me, I still can't believe that all Adelman did was try a different player to execute his flawed startegy. Sometimes players are just gonna get hot, so you have to ice them by stopping them at all costs. It was mind numbing watching the team try the same stupid strategy time and time again instead of getting the ball out of his hands. He only had 2 assists....he doesn't like to pass the ball...that is a weakness....EXPLOIT IT ! DD
Agree, we could have tried at least a couple of strategies. * Run a double team at him with one of the big men and zone behind * Try a 2/3 or 3/2 zone with Shane and Lee on the wings with Martin up top on the 3/2 zone. Bigs on the blocks * Trap him off the pick and roll * Play straight up man to man, we could have given Taylor a shot (This is where we missed Ariza's length) * What about slowing the game down and run our offense until we got a layup or foul
Stop one first, then try different things on the other.... 25 points is not GOING off.....46 points is going off.....I do like Curry though, always have, he is a good player. DD
So DD spends all off-season telling everyone the Rockets are contenders in every thread, now they're 0-2 so someone has to be blamed, because it certainly can't be that those proclamations were premature. That's what I gather from this. Suddenly Adelman doesn't know what he's doing after game 2 while trying to coach 2 different teams, one of which includes a hobbled 'franchise player' available for 6 minutes a quarter, except when he's not available at all like last night. Seriously DD?
Freak, I still believe they are contenders, but they have to figure out whom they are. This thread is admittadly knee jerkish......but it is still on the money.....last night Rick stood by while the train ran the team over. If he would have made some adjustments, I think they would have beaten Golden State..... Sometimes you just have to step outside of your comfort zone for the good of the team. And you know me better, I am not giving up by any means, but lessons can be learned at any age, and I hope Adelman learned one last night.....but I am not betting that he did. DD
DD, totally with you on this one. It's head coach's job to change the defense strategy until it works. Everyone knows that our backcourt defense with martin and AB is very questionable, especially when an opponent player is that hot. Apparently Coach did not try the two things DD mentioned: double team and change the lineup in center. Coach, don't blame players did not execute the defensive strategy. first show us that you have tried the different defensive strategies.
