It would be nice to see our perimeter defenders actually close out on the shooter behind the arc. Until last night our defense in the paint had been solid with poor perimeter defense but last night we were abused by Gasol and D12 as well as our typical poor perimeter defense. It seems like every team has one or two players that have a career night shooting the ball from behind the arc because our perimeter defenders are so bad at closing out on the shooter.
Funny how he called out both Lin and Douglas but you were only offended because Lin was mentioned. No love for TD or is someone a little hyper sensitive? So regardless of how Lin plays is he off limits to criticism?
I noticed your joint day in Clutchfans, Nov 2012. Did you know Akeem played the PG as well as the C? :grin::grin::grin:
Your stupid if so. McHale at least didnt give up 119 point, in two games no less. Did you forget McHale isnt here? Oh yeah and last year? McHale had this group playing defense but now he has an ALMOST ENTIRELY new group, needless to say that didnt get much time together prior preseason. One of our weakest position is PF. Yeay yeah, we got rookies who look so good, wtf ever. You need a PF who can back up Asik when he goes for those blocks, someone Asik can trust to cover his spot if he steps out for mid range shooting bigs. What happened ytd? Who the hell is Darius? Exactly. Its players like those you would sag off. Its players like those who become better because of who is surrounding him and well, with the Lakers, I dont understand what your guys problem is.
Sounds like you're the one making it personal about Lin. I saw an entire team get torched last night - Lin very much included. So... the thread is about 'how do we fix the defense', not 'let's fight about Lin'. How do we fix Lin's defense? Patterson's? Douglas's? Aldrich's? Etc.. For me, it all starts in the paint. It was obvious that Asik was not himself after taking a few hard hits; he seemed intimidated in the paint on both ends. Aldrich played well on offense but was a pylon on defense. If that C is intimidating people in the lane, there's a trickle down effect to the wings. Then there was the fact that the Lakers had that high wing 3 pointer EVERY time they wanted it, and I swear they must have hit 70% of those. It's almost as if all of their bench points came from that one spot. We weren't forcing anything into mid-range unless it was a wide-open Pau Gasol. Then there was the fact that Kobe was jumping into people (the exact rule they tried to abolish with Kevin Martin) and drawing every foul in the first half. Note to players: NEVER go for a Kobe fake. Make him pull up off of his rhythm.
Hopefully defense gets better but it's wrong and absolutely crazy to think the youngest team in the NBA was not or is not going to have games like this. Kelvin Sampson has been running the defense since day one, even when KMac was still here so that's not the issue. The team has one player actually playing great post defense and that's it. 2Pat is not cutting it on the defensive end and when Asik goes out our interior defense folds like a cheep lawn chair. Exhibit A is the Portland game where as soon as Asik fouled out, the Blazers passed the ball into the post and everyone new that 2Pat was powerless to stop LMA from hitting the game winner. TJ is our best hope of a young player that might turn into a stud interior defender outside of Asik. TJ challenges shots in the paint and actually goes after defensive rebounds. On the perimeter TD and Lin are both playing good defense inside the arc but both of those guys and including Parsons and Harden are not closing out on the 3 point shooters hard enough. The team is laying off the shooters beyond the arc and as a result every team we play now has one or two guys with career nights shooting the 3 ball. That is what got Portland back in the game both times, it's what won the game for Miami and its what got the Hornets back in the game. Last night was a perfect storm against the Rockets, the Lakers have the best post players (Gasol & D12) in the NBA to go along with the Rockets typical poor 3pt defense. 2Pat is not the defensive compliment to Asik that the team needs in the post. TJ is the guy who can help out in the post with week side shot blocking and an additional 255 lb ultra athletic defender. Kelvin Sampson has been and is a good defensive coach. For now he has decided to give opposing teams the three point shot in order to keep opposing teams wing players from having their way inside the arc. The only two things I would suggest would be to insert TJ into the line up with Asik and place more emphasis on closing out on the 3 point shooters.
I think it is a coaching decision that is de-emphasizing closing out on 3 point shooters in favor of protecting the paint. We do this every game & no changes have been made. it is frustrating to see but I get the logic. Just a thought.
I agree with this. I'm assuming Sampson would rather live with the 3pt shot then having the opposing wing players drive past our defenders and into the paint. Asik is the only good post defender and as we have seen, we really can't afford to have him in foul trouble.
It seems obvious to me last night against the Lakers that the Rockets were double-teaming when the ball went into the post and they preferred to double using the PG because Houston would prefer giving up the 3-point shot to Morris or Duhon rather than anybody else. Kobe was running the point last night in D'Antoni's system and he went off and picked apart the Houston defense. Kobe was unstoppable last night with his triple-double.
KEY: stop doubling the guy in the post when your man is only one pass away. Ex: coaches should not be having Lin double Aldrich in the post when Lillard is one pass away. Instead, they should be having Parsons come off his man on the weak side to double Aldrich.
Correct. I know I was sick of Adelman's lack of a defensive priority, and Morey may have been fed up too. It pretty much took the first few months to get the 11-12 Rockets paying attention. And McHale pissed off Lowrey realigning the team priorities. However, it is hard to take the games against the Lakers and Blazers too seriously. Over the coarse of a season, some teams are just going to catch on fire. Things will even out, and all they can do is move on to the next game. But McHale is a revered basketball icon. He is a fine front man for Morey and the team, and has great basketball sense. And, after all, this is a rebuilding year.
Don't worry man that last one was a joke. While I don't think McHale is the best coach, I realize that the poor defense is not necessarily attributed to him.
I agree. The problem is that when your interior defense is weak you have a choice. Either you double in the post and take the risk of an open 3 from the perimetre or you concede the inside to the opposing bigs. Right now we've been doubling in the paint and other teams see this and kick it out to the perimetre where guys are making open 3s and burning us big time. I agree that TJones is the best option we have for a solution right now.
I didn't realize that QB's played defense. And besides, the 'QB' of the defense is a linebacker. Which translates to the center. Who I believe is Omer Asik and not Jeremy Lin.
