Our defense NEXT year. Good enough to be a contender?

As long as we have Yao in the paint taking up space, it's enough to make teams think twice about going to the basket.

Perimeter defense is more about mentality and discipline rather than actual skills. Martin, Ariza, and Budinger are all capable of being good team defenders. Lowry already is. Brooks and Scola are the only potential liabilities.

If you look at the Adelman Kings team that nearly (should have) made the finals, Christie was the only guy you could really say was anything close to a defensive specialist. I don't think opposing teams were too worried about Peja, Brad Miller, or Vlade.

 

I think Battier and Ariza can play on the same team, but I don't think the Battier/Ariza/Jeffries thing will work. If we can get rid of Jeffries for a big man we're good with this rotation:
Brooks/Lowry
Martin/Budinger
Battier/Ariza or Ariza/Battier
Scola/Andersen/Hayes
Yao/???/Hayes.
Hayes could alternate back and forth between the power forward spot and the Center spot or even the small forward position. This provides versatility in case of injury.

 

Meh:

- Brooks/Lowry will be a Smith/Cassell situation and Adelman will allow the one that's playing better to close. If you need a late game stop, Adelman can put out a lineup of Lowry, Ariza, Battier, Jeffries, Yao.

- Jeffries is a wild card. Contract year next year. Provides length to play PF/C. Question is whether he can provide anything on offense. If so, he and Yao can close the paint.

IMO, in today's NBA, great teams are efficient on offense and put pressure on the other team to keep up. The great teams can play excellent defense in spurts to create runs that break a game open. I think that's the mold that Morey is trying to build, rather than a grind it out, defense focused team, that lacks offensive talent.

 

Wasn't saying they were comparable in skill, simply that the scheme of having a big man to erase mistakes is the same.

 

Playoffs are about matchups, and these worries relate directly to the elite Western Conf teams.

Lakers:
Nobody matches up well against the Lakers, but we do as well as anyone:
- Brooks to take advantage of Fisher/Farmar
- multiple defenders to throw at Kobe

The interior length of the Lakers is hugely problematic as they defend the rim and rebound, but Yao/Scola/Ariza is no embarassment.

Our bench is going to have to be a difference maker.

Denver
I think we match up great against Denver and I'd pick us in a 7 game series.
- Yao/Scola/Jeffries/Hayes is enough size to combat Nene/Andersen/Kmart. Yao's size and skill present huge problems (if Yao's healthy)
- Battier and Ariza to combat Melo. Frankly, Battier routinely forces Melo into bad nights.
- Billups is a problem, but Lowry can defend well enough.
- Martin is a significant advantage for us, and more than cancels out the punch that Smith provides.

Portland
If healthy, we beat Portland. Period.

 

I agree. While Yao does not get 3-4 blocks per game, he does alter a lot of shots and makes the opposition think twice about driving into the paint. I think our defense will be just fine next year.

 

That's great, but what are the odds we face those teams next year? The west is always changing. I'll analyze the other teams we could face

OKC
-They don't have anyone to stop Yao, so he'll tear it up
-we can probably contain durant with battier/jeffries/ariza
my guess: we'd sweep them or beat 'em in 5 games
Dallas
This would be a drag-out fight between bitter rivals. Both teams are loaded with good players and have a deep bench if everyone is healthy we could pull out a close one in game 7 just because Dallas is aging.

San Antonio
-Duncan can't stop Yao
-No one I can think of who can stop the other players on the team
-SA is aging fast
-we could easily shutdown their offense
We'd beat em in 5

New Orleans
-no one to stop yao,ariza,martin,brooks,lowry,or really anyone.
-put battier on paul if need be but we probably won't need to
SWEEP

Utah
-probably will be boozer-less so no one to stop Yao
-AK-47 is a shade of what he was
-we can stop deron williams, we've dealt with tougher
win in 5 or 6

Phoenix
-stoudamire can't play d so yao burns it up
-if they wanna run and play fast, we can do that, if we wanna play slow, they'll fail
win in 5 or sweep

The only matchup that might give some trouble is Boston, but I doubt they'll make it to the finals again.

 

I'm sure I have this info somewhere in the back of my head or at least read it here within the past 13 years, but GREAT to see it again. Thanks.

 

Hayes played with Yao so many games. He was the starting PF before Scola became a starter. That Yao/Hayes/Tmac/Battier/Rafer lineup had the best +/- in NBA before injurey happened. A heck of defensive lineup and Yao/Tmac provided enough offense for the starting 5.

 

our big men and wing players arent dominant enough to win a championship, let's be realistic here. teams that win championships have dominant players that make shots enough in the clutch to win, we dont have any of those players (like kobe/shaq/duncan/park-ginobli/hakeem/jordan).

 

You might want to take Shaq out. Offense went away from him in closing moments.

 

im going back to early 90s, so shaq was part of the dominant players that won championships.

 

Early 90s or late 90s? They went to Kobe at the end of the game in those Championship years. Robert Horry made clutch shots too.

 

We still have good defensive players though. Yao/Hayes/jeffries/Ariza/Battier/Lowry, it's just how to reconstruct the team to make the defense better and the all around game better.

Yao/Scola/Ariza/Martin/AB wouldn't be the same defense as Yao/Scola/Ariza/Martin(or AB)/Lowry

 

no, plain and simple unless they improve the defense.

 

Our wing defense is gonna suck next year. Lowry and Ariza are okay, Battier is declining fast and won't be a good defender next year, and Martin and Brooks are subpar. Morey should draft a good defensive wing with our 2nd round pick next yr.

 

Yao will ensure the Rockets remain a good defensive team, its integrating him into a top flight offense that has yet to be seen. Luckily K-Mart is suppose to be one of those hella efficient scorers so the team is set on both ends. At least thats how it should work.