http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles...62/experts-picks-fueling-clippers-playoff-run Might we be underestimating the magnitude of our advantage when it comes to bench play? Or, more specifically, the implied impact of that advantage on the series? I mean Dahntay Jones is a GREAT teammate - induspitable based on the accompanying picture evidence. And Austin Rivers clearly responds to that type of chemistry and teamwork. Might this be a sum of parts > whole thing? Individually I think you'd take our 6-10 over theirs w/out even thinking about it. But our 6-8th guys are forced to take on more responsibility (think PP on the floor opposite Chris Paul or JJ) than the Clips guys. Asking the Clips bench to do less than we ask of our bench, by definition, reduces their impact on the grand scheme of this series. And, by definition, it reduces the value of our advantage in that category. Also, I just needed an excuse to post the picture.
I looking forward to seeing Brewer run the Clips ragged. I expect a hard foul on Brewer by someone like Hedu during a fast break layup.
Your first paragraph suggests we are underestimating our bench advantage. Your second paragraph suggests we are overestimating our bench advantage. They have 4 players who averaged nearly 40 mpg in the first round. We have an 8 man rotation of players who played more than 20 minutes v. their 6 man rotation. This is great for us. We are entering the series perfectly rested. Our back ups are better than theirs at every position. If Paul gets hurt or they go to the hack-a, they are screwed. Huge advantage for the Rockets.
Their bench is a huge liability. Just look at their series with the Spurs. The Clippers routinely got off to big leads only to have their reserves cough it up which resulted in close games. And in the one game(Game 3) where they didn't get off to a good start, they got their asses handed to them.
Yes, but benches are GENERALLY overrated in the playoffs, I mean who was on Michael Jordan's bench? Starters play 80% of the minutes - unless you are a deep team like San Antonio (Which just lost with a better bench). So, I love our bench and consider it an advantage, but not that much of one. DD
Glen Davis is out, Our bench is solidified as better now. If Glen were healthy, it might be a different story as he gets heavy minutes off the bench
Their bench is as terrible as advertised and we have a huge advantage. Even with DMo and Beverley out, our bench is much better. They have two choices: 1) Play their terrible bench and fall behind. 2) Play there starters their whole game and have them tired in crunch time.
Confirmed. I mistyped a word (RE: over v under) and it took away from not only your understanding of my point (the pic) but also from the real point (the pic!). So the Clips put up 1.1 pts/possession (106.7/97) in the regular season. If the Bench operates at 10% less efficiency that results in .99 p/poss or roughly neutralizes the offensive output from a 50% hack-a-rocket. If they operate at 20% less efficiency that results in .88 p/poss and - over a string of 15 possessions - that nets the 50% FTshooting Rockets team a 1.8pt advantage over those 15 possessions. It's not, ever, this simple. But if - allegedly - one of the biggest weaknesses the Clips have can be neutralized by employing the hack-a-rocket that's significant. The above is laden with assumptions, though complemented with a few legit stats as well. The point still remains. Look at Dahntay's hand and Austin's reaction bruh. WINNING.
The first time around? BJ Armstrong/Scott Williams were probably the key reserves. Stacey King was was the backup C. Armstrong went on to eventually rack up an All Star appearnce during Jordan's first retirement. (and was replaced on the bench by Paxson, who you may remember by hitting the NBA Finals winning shot in 1993) The second time around: Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc, Bill Wennington, Randy Brown. The Bulls got big contributions from a lot of these guys. During each run they generally had at least one starter-quality player on the bench .
The first three-peat? He had BJ Armstrong, Scott Williams, Stacey King, Craig Hodges, and Will Perdue. For the second one, he had Steve Kerr, Jud Buechler, Toni Kukoc, Bill Wennington, Jason Caffey, and Randy Brown. The Bulls also added Scott Burrell for the 1997-98 season. Those teams had solid benches. It's easy to overlook their depth because of how much of an offensive load that Jordan carried during his career, but they don't win those titles without their reserves. Shoot, their bench saved them in 1992 in Game 6 when the Blazers were up 15 in the 4th quarter. Bobby Hansen of all people helped lead that comeback while Jordan was on the bench.
Yes, their bench is poor, but rotations are tightened in the playoffs anyways, so it's not as big of a deal. The biggest impact it has is that it pushes CP3/Blake to play 40+ minutes a night. So, we really need to run them out of the gym. Jamal Crawford is still one of--if not the--best options off the bench in the league. Yes, the rest of their bench is garbage, but we just have to make sure we limit Jamal's production. Jamal and JJ kill us sometimes. We cannot afford to have them drop 25 point games. If both average less than 20 ppg against us this series, I love our chances.
Yes, but that is what the Clippers have with Crawford. We have a much deeper bench with Smith, Brewer, Pablo, Capela.... They don't but if their starters are better it washes out, IMO. DD
Speaking of Crawford, I didn't realize he was 35 years old. So is Barnes, BTW. So not only are the Clippers lacking in depth, but 2 of their top 6 players are almost as old as Terry and Pepperoni.
These are the playoffs where time-outs abound and rotations tighten. Bench contributions become less every game deeper into the tourney. Will there be mutual destruction with hack-a's that require bench fouls to put DJ and/or Dwight and/or Josh and/or CC on the line? Or will KMc and Doc agree to let'm play? Now, injuries happen and bench players must immediately produce. I hope CP3 is out there so that LAC have no excuse when they go fishing.
If the Rox truly believe bench v bench is a big advantage than I find it less likely - or perhaps even nearly nil - that they will employ the hack-a. It lets the Clips starters rest without playing defense if they are on the court. And if they are off the court they get more mileage in terms of real minutes of rest vs game minutes of rest. Either way, you negate the implications of the bench advantage if you employ the hack-a (from Rox POV).