What approach should the Rockets take vs the Warriors Defensively?

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Ariza can't and won't match up with Curry. Curry is quick as lightning, and has an even quicker release. Ariza isn't exactly swift-footed. He's long, and can close out exceptionally well. That skill-set is better suited to mark Thompson. We have to approach this the same way we approached the Clippers. Allow Curry to get his, but keep the rest of the role players at bay. If we can control Thompson, Green, and Barnes (as well as Iguodala, and Livingston), we can win this series.

 

We will have to trap Curry at various places, a lot of double teams up high near half court to push the ball out of his hands.

We need to turn Curry into a shooter and take away him as a playmaker.

 

Hack a curry

 

--Double Team Curry with Harden/Terry/(Prigs) (pressure, traps, help)
--Play Ariza on Thompson 1 on 1
--Dwight can take Bogut by himself and help where needed; defend the paint from any drives into the lane
--Smith on Green and help where needed

Let Harrison Barnes beat you

/

 

hack Bogut to disrupt. I think the point was made in an earlier thread that he is only hitting 50% or so from FT.

 

Curry is slightly better than Chris Paul. Better shooter, but a worse play maker. He is a far more turn-over prone than Paul. Terry/Pablo proved to be effective neutralizing Paul. They should still guard Curry. Don't fix it if it aren't broke.

The key is shut down Klay/ Iguodala / Barnes / Livingston, just like shutting down Riddick / Barnes / Crawford/ Rivers. If we do that, we win. Otherwise we lose.

On the other hand, Warriors front court cannot stop Dwight / JMoove / Jones/ Capela. Just too much athleticism. We may see a repeat of Dunkathon as in the Dallas series.

 

hack a curry. so the best he can do is 2pts from ft's, but no 3's for him. that'd kill 'em.

 

this is a good point. Bogut lacks the athleticism to defend against the Smith to Howard alley-oop. If they PNR to death and go over Boguts head, we score every time. Having faced DeAndre Jordan in the last round will have prepared the Rockets well (and especially Dwight) in going up against Bogut-. Jordan is far better than Bogut defensively (shoot, Tyson Chandler is way better) and we should exploit that match-up over and over and over.

Just hope Dwight is down for some PNR and high flying dunks

 

I noticed against Paul, JT started jamming the screen allowing virtually no space between him & CP3. It was a little tweek McHale applied to the defense. Steph Curry's obviously a better shooter, but his numbers have been subpar this postseason (much like Harden's). If we can jam him and force him off the 3pt line we've taken away half of their offense. Put Ariza on Thompson and we can pull this off.

 

As mentioned in another thread, I think Brewer needs to be on Curry. His cutting should fit in well as needed when dumping down low to Howard and if Smith is still starting.. then that should be a good lineup.

Terry and Prig coming in as backups to give Brewer a breather isn't that bad. Some instant offense from Terry.

We lack depth for sure though to keep chasing them off screens.

And we generally lack the discipline to stay on guys for a full 48 minutes. Some of their role players like Speights and Barnes (and Barbosa) can and will go off on us if we don't make sure to contain them. We even let David Lee do well against us for once this season.

 

1. Dominate the offensive and defensive glass - understatement, but you have to destroy this team on the boards. Must box out Green, Bogut and Barnes...If a shot goes up, make or miss...find a body and seal him from the ball. More possession, equal greater chances at points.
2. Can NOT turnover the ball. They dont just score off turnovers...they destroy you by dropping threes in waves off of carelessness.
3. Let Curry get his and prevent everyone else from doing much of anything.
Curry can get hot at any time; Klay can as well... But Klay is a total rhythm shooter; disrupt his timing and you can neutralize him...look at how the Wiz took out Korver from being so devastating.
4. Ball pressure on the person initiating the offense. Curry has been tremendous this year primarily because they actually use him like Reggie Miller/Ray Allen...etc... Curry is devastating because he has the handles to get any shot he wants, but he tears teams apart by getting shots off screens. Heck even he sets screens a lot. The goal has to be tremendous ball pressure on the person trying to initiate the motion. So if Klay, Iggy, Livingston etc are bringing up the ball...be a pest.
5. Ariza must remain glued on Thompson. You have to take out one...and since its extremely impossible to prevent Curry from getting what he wants, focus your attention on Klay.
6. Make them a pure jumpshooting team. This falls on Dwight or anyone else playing the Center. Backdoor plays, screens to the rim, lobs, etc...should never happen in a half court set...Shooters need to get to the rim to get going; locking down the paint will essentially force a team to be one dimensional.

Ideal starting matchup:
1. Dwight vs Bogut
2. Josh vs Green
3. Ariza vs Thompson
4. Harden vs Barnes
5. Terry vs Curry

The Warriors will force the Rockets to go small...guaranteed! They tried it vs Memphis... I can see a lineup with Lee(5), Barnes(4), Green(3), Thompson(2) and Curry(1)...The Rockets should counter with Dwight(5), Harden(4), Brewer(3), Ariza (2), and Prigs/JET(1)

 

Hack A Curry...HackHard A Curry...Hurt A Curry

 

Obviously joking

 

There's no right answer right now.

My best guess, though, is to tell Terry to make Curry's life as difficult as possible, and you stick Ariza on Thompson all game.

Then you live with the results.

 

Make Curry run around a lot of picks on D including all along the baseline, keep things close so the temptation is there to keep Curry in the game for longer minutes, dominate the boards, protect the paint and force them into the contested, long jump shots they want to take.

On the first point, you don't want Curry just running from 3-point line to 3-point line. You want him running at least baseline to 3-point line. On the latter point, as the series goes on, the shooters will get more fatigued and tight.