Clippers the worst, Rockets the best. all guys can pick the Warriors all they want, they do not have the best one. Only if Josh Smith keeps playing like this, then I'd agree.
Hmm those are wonderful stats but why has the Clippers' second unit smoked ours in both of the second quarters so far?
Well, it wasn't technically the Clipper reserves killing us last night. Griffin was out there with some of their 2nd unit and he was doing all the damage. As for the Rockets, their bench needs to pick it up in this series. Smith has been godawful so far. And Brewer offensively at least has been mediocre. Pepperoni's been solid, but he can only give us so much. And Capela's minutes have been reduced significantly, so really our bench is Smith and Brewer. If they don't play well, we won't win this series. I hope that if the Rockets do survive this round, Bev will be available in the WCF. That would give us a huge boost on the bench by allowing Terry to return to his backup role alongside Smith and Brewer.
I agree, hopefully the 3 pointers start dropping next game, we're definitely due for a good shooting night sometime soon! I wonder why Capela has been getting so little burn? McHale trusted him against the Mavs but not the Clips? Surely he could use his athleticism to get an advantage against Davis?
I think McHale feels more comfortable with Jones and Smith at the 5 and 4 when Dwight sits than with Capela and Smith. I don't blame him. With Smith playing like garbage through the first 2 games, it might be too risky to have the raw, inexperienced Capela out there with so much on the line. If Smith starts to pick it up in this series, I wouldn't be surprised to see Clint get more playing time. The good news is that despite Capela only seeing 3 minutes of action last night, Dwight surprisingly played only 35 minutes. It sure felt like he was out there much longer. Harden also only saw 35 minutes although that was in large part due to him picking up 4 fouls early in the 3rd. I do think that as the series unfolds, the minutes the Clippers starters have to log could catch up with them. They sure did look like they had less energy than the Rockets in the 2nd half.
Capela is a good shotblocker but his on the ball defense is pretty not good. Always seems to let his guy catch the ball right in the restricted area. Sort of. The Rockets were up by 10 but then Lester Hudson & company cut it to 4 mostly because the Rockets offensive execution went in the toilet, and then Griffin came back and they just went off.
Bench should be the best in the league. Terry/pablo, Brewer, Smith, Capela, and Dmo coming off the bench? The NBA got lucky this year they didn't have to withstand the full terror of what is healthy rockets bball
I wouldn't count on threes falling. We're slumping right now, and there's no guarantee the law of averages is going to kick in to help us before the series ends. We need to attack the rim and pass smartly. We had a lot of successful lobs to Dwight yesterday. They need to spam the hell out of that; Dwight cleans up anything that's thrown his way. In the same vein, I also think Capela needs more minutes. He's playing at playoff level: rebounding, scoring high above the rim, blocking shots. I'd like to see he and Dwight go Twin Towers in the starting lineup, because TJ's not enhancing that lineup. TJ starts pulling it out later in the game, which is nice, but not exactly what you want from a starter. Also, Prigioni is the smartest guy we have, and I think he should be starting. Terry's not a real point guard, so I'd let him go to back to shooting, which is his strength, and I'd use Smith to run the offense as point forward for our second unit like Blake's been doing for the Clips.
gsw has a much better and the best bench than ours, imo. memphis' bench is not shabby, either. so no, w don't have the best bench, especially with our starting pg and d-mo missing. and don't forget josh has played very poorly so far in the 2nd round.
Seems to be a direct result of his weight. Needs to hit the gym this summer and bulk up like Dmo did.
