I'm not sure if you've seen any of their head-to-head matchups lately, but Yao these days is a major problem for Duncan on both ends of the court. It's almost comical sometimes watching Duncan trying to execute his traditional moves against Yao's bulk. As it is right now, the Spurs don't stand much of a chance against the Rockets in a playoff series, with bad mismatches on both ends at multiple positions. Their only edge is perhaps Tony Parker against Rafer Alston, and even that is somewhat marginal. The Celtics match up with the Rockets much better, and admittedly matching up with Garnett can be difficult especially if he decides to assert himself, but like others have pointed out, they face a similar conundrum with Yao. They also do not have the luxury of quality depth that the Rockets have, with players like Barry, Battier and potentially Landry coming off the bench (or even better, Artest off the bench).
We present mismatched problems to other teams with Yao, Tmac for sure but if we can't deal with the likes of Garnett and Duncan, then it's a wash. At least other teams have long players at the 4 to make it tough for these guys while we don't. Maybe we should still look for a defensive 4?
We have Hayes and Dorsey, who both are good at rooting players out of post position. Only problem is that they don't have the length to guard up high. Having said that, Hayes and Dorsey should be able to at least limit Garnett or Duncan offensively. Also its a good thing that they are starting to get older.
If Dorsey can really play defense, yes defense and just defense at PF position, we will have a good chance to beat any team in playoff.
Is that true about Dorsey? Alot of posters who watched the games said Dorsey was weak defensively and isn't even close to Hayes.
Ask not how we will guard them but rather how will they guard us. And remember we won 22 games in a row last year and managed to lead the conference for a short time even after Yao was injured. I am convinced we would have won our division and competed for the championship had it not been for Yao's injury.
We usually play pretty well against the Spurs. Duncan isn't some huge problem. And Garnett's d is more of a problem for us than matching up on him defensively. Having a third player who can be counted on to create his own shot should help loosen up any d we face.
Agreed in the NBA you never have a answer for everything we lack the long athletic power forward. Your strengths have to outweigh your weakness. Who do they have to guard Yao is correct. Who does anybody have to guard Chris Paul, Lebron, etc ..Great players no real answer.
if KG tried to defend Yao, he would get overpowered, Yao is much stronger than KG and more aggressive. If Yao guarded Duncan for an entire game, I think Tim Duncan would get half of his average stats at the end of the game, only reason why that doesn't happen is because they both need to stay away from foul trouble.
Scola!! Artest plays PF spot sometimes, infact it would make Garnett harder to defend when Artest is playing PF n make it easier for Yao inside. Scola, Hayes, Dorsey n Yao can defend Duncan. Not worried about PF spot at all.
kg and td cannot be solved, same w/ tmac, kobe, pierce, etc. we just have to play team defense and we'll slow them down but wont stop them.
It will have to be done by committee.The addition of Ron will help too. An other guy I worry about is Okur. He is slow,but big and tall and can stretch the defense. I don't seem to be as concerned as about Nowitzki because physical play bothers him more, even though he is a much better player than Okur.
uhh i think Yao takes care of duncan real well and i still rmbr that celtic game where Yao nearly got us the win by himself. Help defense on garnett should solve the problem. Anyone else picturing what a double team of shane and artest would be like?
Who did the Lakers have to solve Duncan? Gasol? And it wasn't KG overpowering the Lakers, that won the Finals. It was Paul Pierce who was their MVP while KG played a complementary role. We'll be fine by just throwing waves of hard-nosed, hustling, energy guys at them (Scola, Landry, and Dorsey), along with a big-time low post scorer in Yao.
Yeah I just don't understand how Kobe and LeBron will be able to handle both Battier and Artest on them. Best 2 defensive player combo in the league.
