Aldridge completely had his way with Scola. 27 and 12 for LMA, and he was a +12. Scola with 35 minutes today? This is where we're really going to miss Deke, with Scola having to play more at the 5 where it will be a mismatch. It was no coincidence he had the worst +/- on the team of -13. His offensive production wasn't nearly enough to offset his defense. And 2-6 from the free throw line won't get it done either. Shades of "Scrubola" from the Jazz series last year. Somehow Hayes only plays 13 minutes and was a +4. Obviously, he should be on Aldridge and playing at least 20 minutes. I thought Adelman really dropped the ball here. Where was Landry today? Only 14 minutes and gave us small production. Injured? With Deke probably gone the rest of the playoffs, this might be my main concern other than PG. If Adelman doesn't want to play Hayes much, we could get clowned around in the interior, and Portland might steal one on the road.
its not like hayes could stop aldrige either. aldridge was scoring at will over everyone. with scola you have 100x more offense.
Scola was clearly hesitating on some of his wide open, reliable 15 ft jumpers today, which then probably affected his FT shooting at the line. 5-10 wasn't bad or anything, but he should've shot 70% from the field tonight. I'm not sure if Landry is still not 100% or what. Granted, Landry had a lot more easy opportunities when (the healthy) McGrady was around, and our PG isn't doing a steller job to get him involved. I think he would've done ok guarding Aldridge with his length. It wasn't anything Scola did in game 1 that forced Aldridge into a bad shooting night. I think Landry needs to step his production up in at least 1-2 games for us to be successful getting out of the first round. With Hayes on the court, I cringed every time Lowry ran high pick n roll with him. That's the problem.
If Deke was here, he won't allow those drive by Roy and our defense will look much scary throughout the game. With Yao sitting and no Deke : we have no shot blocker so naturally Blazer will drive more and cause fouls and disrupt our defense. Losing Deke is that BAD.
Been following him since his days at Seagoville. Glad to see him doing well, but hate to see it against us. He is a badass.
Never underestimate "The Tooth". He will be back at full force at home. Comparing him to Head is ridiculous!
Aldridge is taking tough fade-aways with defender's hand all over his face. i would rather let him shoot those than Roy running a deadly screan and roll
Aldridge hit one contested fadeaway over Hayes in the first half. Other than that, I didn't see him "score at will" against him. The problem is that Hayes now has to guard Greg Oden when Yao isn't on the floor, so he's not going to get as much time on Aldridge. The matchups just won't allow it.
How was Landry a no show? He only played 5 min, grabbed 3 boards, went 2-4 (one jumper and a driving layup) for 4 points. When Scola fails to hit wide open FT-line jumpers, Landry has to be in there. One, Landry is a solid midrange shooter; two, Landry has the speed and athleticism to drive the ball to the hoop. It was really the coach's mistake to play Landry only 5 minutes.
Its just not a great matchup for Landry unless they play Outlaw at the 3. He isn't a playoff choker, this is proven. Unlike Head where we aren't sure if he is a playoff choker or whether the Jazz just weren't his matchup.
i never expected Scola to shut down Aldridge, Game one was just too lucky. Chuck would be the ideal defender we should put on Aldridge: strong lower body with incredible strong hands too, can push him around to destroy his rythme. I guess Adelman just too stubborn to do that.
