I still don't understand why you don't hard double Steph on picks. He is the key to that team and 70% of what he runs is pick and roll. And they're unstoppable when a big is switched. The whole defense gets confused... Or Steph just starts hitting. Al A hard double is also dangerous since the rest of that team is good... But at least you get the ball out of Steph's hands and can somewhat dictate who you want to shoot by rotating as you wish. Also I saw Steph struggle on the actual double himself when the Rockets did this a few times last year. Sometimes you say don't double, let the star go off and limit the role player. The issue here is that the star is unselfish and the team has the players and a system so that it's hard to do. Have to disrupt the system here... Not make a choice about which players you want to play well. M
I've said constantly.... constantly... you beat the Warriors by showing hard on the Curry pnrs. A team which has two competent wing defenders is trouble for that Warriors team. The better defender (Ariza) is on Curry. The second defender (Brewer in this case) is in Klay's grill. You don't let Klay go off when Curry is actually being forced to give the ball up you're already heading in the right direction against that team. It's why I honestly believe we beat them in a Playoff series if we're healthy.
I dislike them, but the Warriors are a great team and should be favorites to repeat. It is extremely difficult to stop that offense. They get you because if you have any lapse in offense, RT go on a major run at any time. Especially with the threes. I think the rockets, Spurs and OKC have the firepower to challenge the Warriors in different ways. With Lawson, we should be much more efficient and not run into long lulls on offense. Our length and size on the perimeter and wings with Bev, Ariza and Brewer is the best set of tools to make life difficult for Thompson and Curry. A Lawson, Harden, Ariza, Brewer, Howard lineup stands up well against Curry, Thompson, Iggy, Harrison and Green.
I agree. What makes it hard is that he has Klay Thompson who can pretty much score from anywhere on the court. But I would rather see Curry try to make plays out of double teams. I wonder if we will have a small ball lineup that is specifically for the Warriors and we switch on every PnR.
The key with steph is to force him to pass and let others beat you. Also when he drives you absolutely have to put him on the floor. Nothing flagrant, or to the head, but a strong body check every time he drives. Cant let him get away with being a driving, finesse player. He's not gonna finish above the rim so you have to make him pay a price for driving. Do it 4-5 times in a game and see how much hes going to want to drive after that. The way the rules are now you need a new set of jordan rules. With no handchecking its really hard to stop the quick pg's with elite handles like Kyrie, Curry, Westbrook. Westbrook is strong enough to play with contact but the other 2 should be layed out on all drives because their touch is too good around the basket.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Derrick Rose on Matthew Dellavedova "It's no match-up" <a href="https://t.co/awjm6enP2V">pic.twitter.com/awjm6enP2V</a></p>— Joshua A. Vinson (@TheJoshAVinson) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJoshAVinson/status/659239743222235136">October 28, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Curry played great last night but lets not forget this was the "Pelicans" he was playing Nate Robinson and Ish Smith were literally signed in the last week just so they could field a team. I think Ish was signed the day before. Neither player was known for their defense. They were getting so lost from just lack of focus. Curry is deadly on any offensive rebound and transition since matchups are fluid during those times. In the half court with the right defensive scheme and defenders he is far more containable. (Not that he can be contained in the half court, but its far easier) He went off early on a lot of wide open looks and settled down after. Sadly Nate Robinson played better defense on him than Ish did. He was pretty quiet when Gee was put on him. But really the Pels were down so many players it was shocking to me the game was as close as it was in the first half. Gentry is an offensive wizard but you still need some talent for that system to work. Also we need to lay off of AD - its one game against what was the best defensive team last year. Coming in I am sure the game plan was to limit AD since the Pels really had no other offensive threats on the floor. The spacing and everything was horrid for the Pels. No ball movement whatsoever. All of this stems from new players and a new system. Davis rushed some shots and took a few bad shots I felt but every time he got the ball the Warriors crowded him pretty well and made him feel uncomfortable. What I did like from AD was his ability to force the issue and get to the FT line. Warriors looked good but they were playing a D League team last night if they didn't win in convincing fashion I would be worried, especially on the night they received their rings. To be honest this is probably the easiest opening night matchup I can think of for a defending champ in a long time. Spurs hosted the Mavs last season who were perceived to be a lot better than they actually were (and their offense was near historic prior to the Rondo trade last season). I mean its not like the Warriors choose their schedule I just thought it to be interesting like they played their worst opponent from the previous year's playoff run. An opponent that was really banged up - I am glad it wasn't Houston with Howard being suspended but a Grizz or Thunder matchup would have been probably a bit more interesting. Just makes me more hyped up for the game tonight and the game Friday.
Yeah, but most of their PnRs seem to be with someone other than Klay, purposefully. You don't see them running a lot of 1/2 PnRs. They'd rather have Klay running off other screens without the ball to get open. While Klay has become a better creator, he's still not great. The Warriors start to hurt you when they can hit that 3/4/5 roller and those guys are ALL good at then moving the ball. Barnes, Green, AI, Bogut, etc. Those guys know how to get the ball in the high post and create something for the offense. And that's where the trouble is. You've got to either show very hard, or double hard on Curry. And in doing that, you need to prevent him from hitting that roller, or generally hitting anyone in that high post, FT'line esque spot, where the defense is scrambling. Look, it's not like you are going to hold them scoreless. They are amazing offensively. But you need to get them operating at 90%. So you double hard, if Curry can get a clean pass off, try and force it towards the sideline, as opposed to the middle of the court. That's just my two cents. Curry has been doubled hard before. In college he was held scoreless once because the other team basically doubled him all game. His squad still won easily. And he's been doubled in the NBA. And he's a great player. It's hard stuff. But you watch teams try and guard them, like last night, and just scratch your head. They're an amazing 3 point shooting team, and I think even with that, the Pelicans might have done better just going to a zone last night, even though zones typically leave open shots. They wouldn't be as open as the shots the Warriors get anyways by getting opposing defenses moving.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Remember when Chuck said the <a href="https://twitter.com/warriors">@Warriors</a> were just a jump-shooting team that couldn't win? Credit to him for this pic <a href="https://t.co/TIUOYXsMnz">pic.twitter.com/TIUOYXsMnz</a></p>— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/659386869399072768">October 28, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Oh when I said that it is hard when Curry has Klay I didn't mean they do 1/2 PnR's. Just meant that it is hard because once they do a PnR with the 3/4/5, it is very difficult to leave Klay to help when the bigs get it on the roll. So pretty much what you said just not in good detail like your post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our new court projection is absolutely sick: <a href="https://t.co/1jsa6XA7SW">https://t.co/1jsa6XA7SW</a></p>— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/659384845097824256">October 28, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Byron Scott says D'Angelo Russell will start</p>— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkG_Medina/status/659438851539144704">October 28, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The 53 people that actually went to the game must have been impressed! Nah, really though, that's amazing. It only further enhances my frustration with the Rockets' game-day presentation.
