The first target has to be Curry. Durant is their 2nd best ball handler. Slow him down. Make him shoot long 2's. Guard Klay's jumper. We can then have a chance to win.
Setting an indivdual defender in this series is so useless. We switch on D quite a lot to offset their off ball screens. Whoever is on their man initially most likely won’t be on them before end of the play. Instead of comparing individual players, you have to compare the mismatches on both offense and defense of the complete 5 man composition to say who can exploit the other more. Our length with certain lineups such as Gordon and CP3 can be exploited on mismatch with Durant shooting turnaround jumper on the right block. The counter would be to front and have helper in the paint. The Warriors can easily counter that with Dray. Mixing up our defense switches and strategy will be key in limiting their offense. If Luc is hitting his shot, then a lineup of CP3, Harden, Luc, Ariza, Tucker will be deadly both on offense and defense. We can try not switching CP3 on Durant. Anderson off the bench hitting shots is crucial, because Nene can’t match anyone. Anderson can do a decent job while being positive on the offensive end. Their bench for some reason can give us a lot of problems and light is up with Livingston, Cook, and SwaggyP. The key on offense will be to get everyone involved and hitting their shots early and switch to ISO throughout the game to find the mismatches. Gordon really needs to be involved on offensive plays consistently and taking the best shot available to him.
We must make Curry play defense every time we run a set offense. Cleveland put him in play and he was tired by the 4th qtr We must move the ball and not let them load up on us going one on one especially against the Hampton Five unless it's Steph trying to play one on one defense. We can't have Steph resting on defense guarding Ariza and PJ Tucker. I want KD to take a bunch of shots and not let Klay and Steph get off. We cannot let the 3 of them have a big game.
Tucker needs to be a monster on the glass again to get all of Green's missed 3s hopefully. If he's off next series, then yes, advantage Capela.
Moving the ball is tough against these guys. Iso and break down the defense, and make a quick pass for the shooters. This will get the role players going. Harden and Cp3 will need to take whatever shots they can create for themselves, and get to the line. Try to force turnovers and push the ball up. Keep on switching the defense.
Push KD into taking more difficult shots. Gotta control these 3 guys. My biggest concern apart from the poor shooting from James and Eric, is Capela. Once the P/R is taken away from him, he can only play on one end of the floor. This will effect his defense.
Meh. Dinosaur mentality. MDA always goes smaller when things get tight. I am just describing what our actual coach has always done, and it has almost always worked.
Also, if that were the case.....that would put Dray at the 4 in their starting lineup? If Worriers start McGee to match Capela, I still like our chances. Capela has really polished his game the past 2 series going up and winning his matchups for the most part against Towns/Gibson and Gobert. We don't seriously think McGee is better or more of a challenge than those aforementioned do we?
I'm so tired of this Worriers ball club getting gifts every year. They are NOT the tough championship teams that characterize just about every other championship team in the modern era. KD for his God-given talent will forever be a punk to me for joining that team to really spoil the NBA product. The Worriers have become the most-despised team for me personally in the history of my watching. This includes all Mavs teams, all Jazz teams and any other team that has caused Rockets heartbreak over the years. I can't stand Steph (best shooter ever admittedly). Klay is annoying to me but probably the least irksome of the bunch...which doesn't say much. For the sake of the NBA, us fans (of course), the drought of this Franchise and of course CP3/Harden/MDA/EGO/Tucker/Luc/GG/NENE/Ariza/Capela/Ryno/JJ...........SHUT THESE WORRIERS UP in the WCF beginning with game 1........please. I know deep down the Rockets are the better team...just don't have the pedigree. Stakes are as high as ever for EVERYONE on the Rockets and this team has been on a mission all year long through the 2nd round. That goal has not changed. If anything....now's the time to seize it. Beat the Brakes off of the Worriers. Can't STAND that team....... /rant
"a lineup of CP3, Harden, Luc, Ariza, Tucker will be deadly both on offense and defense" Dang dang dang...
Oh no he didn't forget. He is just smart. This is a small ball series. That's why u got Tucker n the likes for this series
Lmao it's no way the starting mcgee, u don't think Kerr knows all we gonna do is get him in the switch that's to easy for us, n the benefits of them starting him isn't worth the negatives of him just getting scored on easily plus their small-ball line up in they five best players so why would they make themselves worse by going big. Kd n green is acceptable Rim protection while still scoring
I took a look at the last Rockets Warriors box score from January. That game probably is the most representative of the 3 games due to who was playing. Box Score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975425 Some takeaways from the 116-108 Rockets win -Ariza & Green were suspended. Iggy did not play. -Rockets started hot in the 1st quarter. Won it 40-28 -Rockets had a 46-33 REBOUND edge! 12-4 in offensive rebounds. And RYAN ANDERSON had 13 rebounds! He had 5 points. Felt like the rebound advantage here was crucial. -GSW had 19 turnovers to the Rockets 15. Important for Rockets to have an advantage here. Rockets keeping their turnovers low keeps GSW out of scoring easily on Rockets transition defense. This is a killer. -Eric Gordon was 2-14, 0-9 in 3’s with 6pts. -Nick Young had 16pts (6-10, 4-7 3’s). -Draymond Green (21/6/7) and Durant (26/5/7) had GREAT games. -Rockets WON the backcourt matchup with more efficient shooting. Harden and CP were hitting 3’s at a high percentage. -Harden 22/8 (8-16, 5-9 in 3’s) & Paul 33/7/11 (10-20 , 6-11 3’s). CP was AGGRESSIVE looking to SCORE. -Curry (19/8 on 6-20, 5-15 3’s) and Thompson 8pts (3-11, 2-5 3’s) shot POORLY. -Did the fact Harden and CP3 make Curry and Thompson have to WORK defensively help aid in their poor shooting? -Luc 14pts and PJ 12pts weren’t duds. So they played their defense and weren’t offensive liabilities. -Capela had 18pts and took it right at Draymond Green. Rockets didn’t have everything right happen for them. But the Rockets backcourt came to play with good shooting and the team REALLY was aggressive in REBOUNDING and played with Force. Seems like a replicable and not outrageous formula for wins. Can Harden and CP out shoot Thompson and Curry?
Lol gordan won't start, the just of it is they should be on the court the most. I got luc switched out for gordan in his scenario
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...-finals-5-5-big-questions-rockets-vs-warriors What is Houston's best answer to the Hamptons Five? Kevin Pelton: I think the Rockets should start out trying to play their typical starting five. If Capela proves incapable of defending this group, then Tucker sliding down to center with Eric Gordon giving Houston another shooter is a nice adjustment to have. Royce Young: Paul, Harden, Gordon, Ariza, Tucker. Just go all in, super small. Draymond Green isn't going to beat you up inside, and Tucker can dig in and defend there. The Rockets could switch everything, work to space out the floor and try and outscore the Warriors. It's a risky group, but why not go to the extreme? Micah Adams: TBD, which is kind of the point. I'm curious to see how Mike D'Antoni and his staff adjust as the series progresses. Remember, the Hamptons Five is essentially the evolution of the Death Lineup, which itself came into its own only after Steve Kerr's adjustment -- at the behest of assistant Nick U'Ren -- after falling down 2-1 in the 2015 Finals. Is Houston's best answer to the Hamptons Five a lineup? Is it a specific action? Is it a specific matchup? Andrew Han: Foul trouble. The Rockets should attack Green as early and often as possible to limit the number of minutes the Hamptons Five can get on the floor. If Green's minutes can be limited in crunchtime, it frees up Houston to play its own destructive small-ball lineup. Marc J. Spears: Wow. That's a really good question. The best thing is to get the Warriors into foul trouble so they can't use it. Perhaps if Capela does really well, it forces the Warriors to bring one of their own bigs into the game to counter him. Prayer can also be helpful.
