TNT had an interesting discussion during half time of GS vs Dallas... what should Dallas do against GS? At first... I agreed totally with Kenny & Charles. Dallas is the best team in the league, they should just play "their" game and they should win in series of 7 games. But obviously, that didn't work tonight. If you were coaching Dallas, would you continue to play the same game... or change up the lineup to match up against GS's small ball style? If Houston advances and faces GS, would Houston need to change up its style as well?
You have no choice but to change the lineup. Buchner would be better off guarding Davis and you need to start either Diop or Dampier to stop any penetration and get the sure rebound. Then you got to just run up and down. They're bound to take bad shots and miss them. Then you push. Harris did a good job of this, but I don't know why they kept trying to slow it down. Look for big changes in game 2
the problem is mavs don't have any good one on one players like kenny said. When the small guys switch on every screen then it's all isos and one on one. Someoen besides dirk needs to showcase their one on one game.
I think the Rockets could be a bigger headache then the Mavs for GS's defense because they have no answer for Yao without building their entire defense around stopping him, leaving Tmac isolated and at least one shooter open. Dallas is in a big hole right now and the pressure is all on them. Time for Dirk to prove his worth and carry his team.
Unfortunately, AJ is really good at making adjustments. He will definitely make those necessary changes and game 2 will show for that. Right now, the way I see it.. GS is just keeping the seat warm for us until the time comes when we play the Mavs in the second round (hopefully we will make this series a quick win against the Spazz).
Golden State finds it easier than normal to defend against Dallas playing small ball because they just ignore Diop/Dampier and play 5 on 4. I remember one sequence in the 4th quarter where the clock was winding down and Diop came out to the perimeter to set a pick for Dirk. Diop's man totally ignored him and went over to help someone else, so Dirk was forced to shoot over two people -- his defender and his own 7 ft teammate. Airball.
this is the big difference between the rockets and the mavs. the mavericks have no low post options on offense. dirk plays mostly highpost. the warriors can afford to stick someone out there on diop and dampier and basically ignore them. they're not capable of doing anything other than finishing on a layup. yao would give them a much larger problem. he would have a field day just shooting over the top of them. they would likely try to front him and bring help side, but that creates chances for t-mac and gives up a lot of open looks from the outside.
The Rockets are way better equipped to handle the Warriors because of Yao. If Yao/Tracy runs Pick and Roll, the warriors couldn't possibly switch because Yao would crush them. If they front on Yao, then you just got to swing the ball quickly and post up Yao on the other side. Just need to execute.
I did not like the decision not to start Dampier. You have to realize that this team gets to the hoop so much. You need a fierce inside presence; you can't just pull your center because they pull theirs. Centers shut down the paint. Dampier should've played more minutes.
You grind it out, and play your game. Post Dirk and exploit their lack of size. Until GS played the Rockets without McGrady, the Rockets destroyed them. Yao could have gotten 50 in one of those games. They tried to match him up man to man, and when they did double, there was always an effective player open. Without McGrady, they doubled him off the ball, and that was the only way they stop him. Avery's a smart guy. He fell for the Nellie mystique once, but he's got more talent. If they just play the way they know how, they'll win.
They don't play with center. They're basically running out 4 guards. They're big guards, but they're guards.
"small ball" will only work against teams like dallas or even the suns - san antoino or us would crush them. if it was us, i would say we just play our game and force golden state to adjust to our game. dallas, on the other hand, has had problems all season - despite having the best record, its not so easy for them to just play their game. the warriors swept them this season. they have to make adjustments. fact remains that the rockets were the only texas team to hold their homecourt advantage
Dirk putting the ball down on the floor = disaster waiting to happen, especially against the quick GSW players that are always zeroed up on him. Nelly knows it. Avery knows it. Dirk knows it.
I owuld take advantage of the fact we're bigger than they are and hack the crap out of them for even trying to sniff the paint. If they want to sit outside and launch jumpshots all day, that's fine with me. Dish a couple of hard fouls, make them afraid as hell of going into the paint, turn them into a 1 dimensiaonl jumpshooting team.
I would start Novak in place of Yao Ming... take a page right out of Avery's book. After all, he's the coach of the year, right?
They started Dampier before more than once. Guess what? They got swept in the regular season. To Warriors, Dallas is an inferior team. As simple as that!
