I just watched the game from last night and I must say that the Rockets pick and roll defense is terrible. It is so predictable. Everytime they'd try to trap the ball-handler, leaving the cutter completely open for a jumper. We're a slow team. Maybe we could rotate if the cutter slashed to the basket, but if he's willing to settle for a fifteen foot jumper, then there is no way help is coming in time. And it's not like the ball handler was killing us with jump shots so I don't understand why we were trapping him so hard in the first place. Make him prove he can drain a couple shots off the pick before you send a two man trap. I was waiting for some variation in the defense, but it never came. There were no adjustments. Same defense. Same results. How about once we try to fight through the screen? Or switch defenders? Or play tight man to man all the time? Or zone? Anything but the defense we already can see isn't working.
It worked last year so well when the Rockets trapped Marbury that he kept on trying to trap Marbury even though Kurt Thomas was shooting like Larry Bird. That's inflexibility.
When the pick and roll is run really well, it can be almost impossible to defend. Just look at the Jazz many years ago or even the Detroit Pistons against the Lakers last year in the Finals. These teams could drain jump shots off picks with only a sliver of daylight. But needless to say, The Knicks are not one of these teams. They are mediocre to the core. I was screaming at the TV. The wasn't anyone within ten feet of Kurt Thomas whenever he got the ball. Then it happened again and again and again. It was like a bad nightmare. I thought JVG was a defensive coach? I'm still waiting for the adjustment.
