Stopping Monta Ellis

[Boomersgold]

How do we stop Monta Ellis? The man was a one man wrecking crew down the stretch, and no Spur seemed to be able to contain him from getting into the lane and getting wide open jumpers off of screens. It's evident that Dirk is no longer their best player, so we shouldn't be shifting our focus into stopping him (like the good old days).

How should Pop adjust for game 4?

[benstanfield]

Patty mills is useless go fuck yourself

[eric365]

Obviously danny green but he has been poor offensively and that would mean benching Manu or Kawhi down the stretch

[Malik Hairston]

It's puzzling that Green has only covered him for like 3 possessions in this series, tbh..

Green is the best isolation defender on the team, which is backed up by the stats, and he's by far the best guard defender on the team..

He's struggling offensively, but Pop is going to have to make a choice of defense vs. offense..

[Boomersgold]

Patty mills is useless go fuck yourself
Has nothing to do with the OP, but thumbs up for trying.

[PingPong]

MWP and his elbow.

[apalisoc_9]

- More Green

- Attack Ellis on the defensive End with Leonard.

Boom!!

[Raven]

simple as fuck, either you play green or cojo, no other should get burn when he's on the floor (or harris for that matter, it's the same shit).

[ColinB]

Patty mills is useless go fuck yourself

lol

[Boomersgold]

MWP and his elbow.

Not a bad idea, except we use Bonner. Sub him on in the first, have him elbow Ellis, and BOOM, he's out for the rest of the series with a concussion.

[Texas_Ranger]

- More Green

- Attack Ellis on the defensive End with Leonard.

Boom!!

WTF?? Don't you know Tony Parker needs to dribble the ball for 20 seconds.

[RD2191]

Patty mills is useless go fuck yourself

[slick'81]

Kawai was sagging off huge in the lane and going under every screen Ellis killed him time to go with dg

either that or quit going under every screen and pay his ass straight up

[PingPong]

Not a bad idea, except we use Bonner. Sub him on in the first, have him elbow Ellis, and BOOM, he's out for the rest of the series with a concussion.

Better use Baynes.

[Prime Time]

I'm more baffled at how the Heat contained him last year. Don't they usually scramble when playing against quicker guards? How the hell did they hold him to 14 points on 43% shooting. I didn't watch that series, so I'm probably missing a vital link.

I don't think one can stop Monta. I feel holding the 3pt shooters is a bigger priority. Making sure VC, Marion, Calderon, etc. don't get great looks is a must.

Just my two cents.

[crc21209]

Kawai was sagging off huge in the lane and going under every screen Ellis killed him time to go with dg

either that or uit going under every screen and pay his ass straight up

What was up with that? The screens were being set at the 3 point line and Kawhi would end up in the paint waaay under in the paint..

[apalisoc_9]

WTF?? Don't you know Tony Parker needs to dribble the ball for 20 seconds.

:lol

[dallasmaverickslose]

Danny Green is supposed to be our Ellis stopper. Wish he'd wake up.

[apalisoc_9]

What was up with that? The screens were being set at the 3 point line and Kawhi would end up in the paint waaay under in the paint..

That was the Plan...Making sure he shoots instead of attacking the rim

Ellis had so much enegry on the offensive end because he hardly has to work on the defensive end tbh..

Have Green guard him and have leonard attack him

[Boomersgold]

What was up with that? The screens were being set at the 3 point line and Kawhi would end up in the paint waaay under in the paint..
I saw that too. Splitter/duncan were supposed to hedge, but Kawhi was behind the screen for too long.

[Mugen]

Maybe Pop should only have the defense sag about 15 feet off of Ellis instead of the 20ft he's been doing so far.

[Texas_Ranger]

No one can stop him tbh... He's gonna destroy us and play like shit against Portland/Houston.

[wildchild]

1-1 and Pop didn't change the rotation defensive on Ellis.
1-2 and Pop'll make some defensive adjustements...nahhh that's never gonna happen.

[timtonymanu]

Danny Green is supposed to be our Ellis stopper. Wish he'd wake up.

Pop has to let him play first, instead of letting Leonard or anyone else guard him.

[slick'81]

Spurs pretty much gave Ellis most of those jumpers .kawahi seemed to be worrying about the glass

[Boomersgold]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meti360s7PM
Man, isn't Kawhi supposed to be an elite defender? Why was he sagging off so hard on Monta the whole game.

[And1Mak]

gotta hope he gets cancer

[dallasmaverickslose]

gotta hope he gets cancer

That sounds familiar

[Johnny RIngo]

I'm more baffled at how the Heat contained him last year. Don't they usually scramble when playing against quicker guards? How the hell did they hold him to 14 points on 43% shooting. I didn't watch that series, so I'm probably missing a vital link.

Not that surprising. Tony was having a career year in the playoffs in 2013 - the Heat turned him into a 15 ppg player on awful efficiency.

[timtonymanu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meti360s7PM
Man, isn't Kawhi supposed to be an elite defender? Why was he sagging off so hard on Monta the whole game.

He cant defend guards well, that's why. Green is much better at defending guards and thats why i don't get why Pop didn't let him guard Monta. Kawhi is a lot better at guarding SFs.

[313]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meti360s7PM
Man, isn't Kawhi supposed to be an elite defender? Why was he sagging off so hard on Monta the whole game.
That foul on DIaw was such bs

[siraulo23]

I never liked the spurs going under ellis screen, ellis is a good enough shooter to make the spurs pay

and if u look at the highlights, ellis is still getting to the paint with ease, going under actually gives him the space and momentum to get to the rim, once he gets his first step, you are at his mercy

spurs HAVE TO change their defensive gameplan on him

[Ditty]

Spurs should match up with them on the defensive end and see how that goes. It should look like this imo with the players who have played this series:

Duncan on Dalembert or Wright
Splitter on Dirk
Kawhi on Marion or Carter
Diaw on Marion or Blair
Green or Manu on Ellis
Parker on Calderon or Harris
Marco on Crowder
Cory Joseph should be given a shot with his defense over Patty. I believe his defense made a difference in game two in that short comeback, and match up on Harris and possibly Ellis.

[dallasmaverickslose]

Spurs should match up with them on the defensive end and see how that goes. It should look like this imo with the players who have played this series:

Duncan on Dalembert or Wright
Splitter on Dirk
Kawhi on Marion or Carter
Diaw on Marion or Blair
Green or Manu on Ellis
Parker on Calderon or Harris
Marco on Crowder
Cory Joseph should be given a shot with his defense over Patty. I believe his defense made a difference in game two in that short comeback, and match up on Harris and possibly Ellis.

Considering how pathetically Patty has been playing this series, I don't really know what we'd be losing by giving CoJo playing time over Patty.

[Boomersgold]

Considering how pathetically Patty has been playing this series, I don't really know what we'd be losing by giving CoJo playing time over Patty.
Well, you'd get absolute nothing on offense. Keep in mind, any point guard who plays with Manu is forced to be a catch and shoot 2 guard (because Manu loves to do ALL the playmaking), and Cojo is an abysmal shooter from long range.

[dallasmaverickslose]

Well, you'd get absolute nothing on offense. Keep in mind, any point guard who plays with Manu is forced to be a catch and shoot 2 guard (because Manu loves to do ALL the playmaking), and Cojo is an abysmal shooter from long range.

Its not like Mills has done anything positive in this series.

[ElNono]

The question is how do you stop Calderon/Harris/<insert scrub> from going off on us... once you keep those guys in check, then you can start worrying about the actual scorers...

[dallasmaverickslose]

The question is how do you stop Calderon/Harris/<insert scrub> from going off on us... once you keep those guys in check, then you can start worrying about the actual scorers...

I thought those guys were the actual scorers?

[ElNono]

I thought those guys were the actual scorers?

they're scrubs allowed to play way above their head.... heck Rick had to bench Calderon when Game 1 started because he couldn't play him. Now we're worrying too much about the other guys and they're burning us up.

The Spurs can survive a good Monta game, and possibly a good Monta/Dirk game... they can't survive if Calderon/Harris/Wright/Marion/Dalembert are all going on off on top of Monta and Dirk...

Dalembert had like 13 pts today. It's crazy.

[dallasmaverickslose]

they're scrubs allowed to play way above their head.... heck Rick had to bench Calderon when Game 1 started because he couldn't play him. Now we're worrying too much about the other guys and they're burning us up.

The Spurs can survive a good Monta game, and possibly a good Monta/Dirk game... they can't survive if Calderon/Harris/Wright/Marion/Dalembert are all going on off on top of Monta and Dirk...

Dalembert had like 13 pts today. It's crazy.

Its funny how in this series one of their guys has always stepped up big, where as our guys, eh not so much.

[Chinook]

Play Joseph and Green more. Pop is desperate to play Marco and Patty because he wants players who can get their own shots, but he's gonna have to rely on the Big Three carrying the offense. He needs to play to Green's strength of on-ball defense and not pull him for every mistake. Joseph is a much better defender than Mills and can get his own shot when he's aggressive.

This is a rude awakening for the Spurs. They need to go back to their playoff rotation from last year and forget their glass-cannon approach toward the perimeter during this regular season.

[ElNono]

Its funny how in this series one of their guys has always stepped up big, where as our guys, eh not so much.

There's two sides to every coin. They're stepping up, but the Spurs are also defending poorly. Poor P&R defense, poor rotations, poor transition defense. We need to defend better as a team first, then you can move on to how contain actual threats...

For the Spurs, it's about making shots. I don't think Patty or Boris are taking any better or worse shots that they've taken during the regular season. Some of them are wide open, and just not falling.

[LakerHater]

Keep postin Kawhi on him bangin him down!

[LakerHater]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meti360s7PM
Man, isn't Kawhi supposed to be an elite defender? Why was he sagging off so hard on Monta the whole game.

He kept followin the ball the whole night leavin his man open!

[poeticism707]

1-1 and Pop didn't change the rotation defensive on Ellis.
1-2 and Pop'll make some defensive adjustements...nahhh that's never gonna happen.

:rollin:rollin:rollin

This, unfortunately.

[superjames1992]

It's hard to stop these guys when you're putting guys incapable of defending quick guards like Kawhi, Patty, Parker, and Belinelli on the floor, tbh. Ellis should probably be primarily guarded by Green and Manu, IMO. Kawhi was just embarrassing as he got torched over and over in the fourth quarter of last game by Ellis.

Parker needs to stop getting torched by Calderon.

[superjames1992]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meti360s7PM
Man, isn't Kawhi supposed to be an elite defender? Why was he sagging off so hard on Monta the whole game.
Kawhi is no Bruce. He's not athletic enough to guard quick guards.

[KL2]

Yet another reason to get Leonard the damn ball, most of his offense last night came from his defense. Leonard can get his shot ANY time against him in the post, or shoot a jumper over him, even if he gets doubled all he's gotta do is pass to the wide open man.

Instead he gets ignored. It's not rocket science, give Leonard the ball more and the Spurs win :lmao

[ace3g]

Can't go under the screen anymore; letting their guards have too much room on the perimeter.

[DPG21920]

Spurs need to close up the spaces on defense and live with guys like Marion/Harris shooting. Don't need to double other guys all the time, but crowd up the painted area and bait those guys into shooting more than they are comfortable with. It's just odd that with this Mavs strategy of sticking to Spurs shooters that Pop wouldn't go with Danny more. If Beli/Patty aren't going to be able to get their usual shots off, why not have the best defensive players on the court so you aren't losing on both ends?

[Malik Hairston]

Spurs need to close up the spaces on defense and live with guys like Marion/Harris shooting. Don't need to double other guys all the time, but crowd up the painted area and bait those guys into shooting more than they are comfortable with. It's just odd that with this Mavs strategy of sticking to Spurs shooters that Pop wouldn't go with Danny more. If Beli/Patty aren't going to be able to get their usual shots off, why not have the best defensive players on the court so you aren't losing on both ends?


Ya, it's puzzling, seems like a simple coaching strategy..Pop has used Green as a whipping boy all season, as TD21 pointed out in a different thread, tbh..

I agree with Nono that you can live with Ellis scoring, you just need to shut down the peripheral players..Marion, Harris, Dalembert and Vince are doing most of the damage..

[DPG21920]

Ya, but they are doing their damage on fluky ways. Those 3's from Marion/Harris are exactly the shots you want them taking..

[Malik Hairston]

I agree, but the Mavs are doing major damage in transition and hustle points, guys like Marion/Harris/Dalembert..

People keep talking about Ellis, but the real problem on defense has been in transition, where the Spurs have been absolutely embarrassing and giving up a ton of opportunities, tbh..not just turnovers, but also off bad shots/bricks..

Marion and Ellis are getting way too many points in transition in this series, and Dalembert outhustled all the Spurs yesterday..

[DPG21920]

Meaning, it shouldn't be that hard to shut down (especially Marion/Harris) crappy offensive players. Which to me means it's worth it to guard Monta because it's not like you should have to sell out to guard Marion/Harris. If they were elite role players offensively, sure, but that's not the case here.

[DPG21920]

But yes, the transition defense has been cringe worthy. There are a ton of issues on both sides of the ball. The most frustrating thing is that much of this is all within the Spurs control. I have never seen a team that was so cohesive in the regular season and so poised all of the sudden meltdown and play like they have never seen each other before..

[Mugen]

It's just strange that Danny has such a short leash even after his Finals run and being solid again this year, while Patty/Beli get the Matt Bonner 2008-2012 treatment tbh.

[superjames1992]

Tbh, Belli actually played fairly decently on Saturday, IMHO.

Actually, tbh, FWIW (not much), the best +/-s on the team on Saturday were Manu (+10), Patty (+7), and Belli (+6). :stirpot:

[superjames1992]

Is it also concerning that Tim Duncan grabbed a grand total of two defensive rebounds in 36 minutes of play? Tbh. Splitter was dominant rebounding, but where was Timmy?

[Malik Hairston]

It's just strange that Danny has such a short leash even after his Finals run and being solid again this year, while Patty/Beli get the Matt Bonner 2008-2012 treatment tbh.

It's 2009 Bowen vs. Finley/Mason all over again, tbh..

[Mugen]

Duncan's rebounding has also been surprisingly sub-par this series averaging around 6-7 a game. It seems like Dalembert/Wright is getting their hands on defensive rebounds and disrupting them just enough to slow down the Spurs offense. This allows the Dallas D' to set their D and get back on sit on guys like Danny/Beli. The Spurs' offense hasn't been much of an issue but these little things contribute to taking away the role players which is obviously huge tbh.....

[hommeaetage]

I think the Spurs should focus on shutting down Michael Jose Jordan Calderon, Marion, Bill Samuel Russell Dalembert, and the others. Monta Ellis used to always torch us back in his warriors/Bucks days. The real problem is allowing the other scrubs to have a field day

[ElNono]

I agree, but the Mavs are doing major damage in transition and hustle points, guys like Marion/Harris/Dalembert..

People keep talking about Ellis, but the real problem on defense has been in transition, where the Spurs have been absolutely embarrassing and giving up a ton of opportunities, tbh..not just turnovers, but also off bad shots/bricks..

Marion and Ellis are getting way too many points in transition in this series, and Dalembert outhustled all the Spurs yesterday..

Don't forget Calderon... which is a guy that couldn't shake a guy one on one under any circumstance, but he's just getting one screen, going to some island of empty space, and pulling comfortably for a jumper.

Rick is hiding him on defense on Danny, which I think it's the main reason Pop is actually pulling Danny out (he can't get around him, can't post him up).

We're also doing an absolutely trash job defensively on Dalembert... how in the hell you buy his pump fakes? :lol In the pick and roll 10ft off the rim, we're rolling with him and leaving the shooters open. Dude can't do damage that far out.

[Gummi Clutch]

Monta doesn't have to be stopped, on the contrary, you want him to shoot as much as possible.

The guy is a low IQ chucker.

[TheGoldStandard]

Pop: make more baskets

[superjames1992]

"Play harder." :pop:

[Mr Fundamental]

Double-team on halfcourt

[cd021]

- More Green

- Attack Ellis on the defensive End with Leonard.

Boom!!

Not quite that simple. Even with Marion on Parker and Calderon on Green, It would appear that Leonard would be able to exploit Ellis in the post. The problem is Splitter and Duncan. If Leonard posts on the left side of of the rim, then Splitter would have to be on the right side with Duncan above the FT line. Dalembert could just sag off Duncan and double Kawhi. Kawhi probably would pass out immediately and the Spurs would close out the possession without re-posting.

[Malik Hairston]

Not quite that simple. Even with Marion on Parker and Calderon on Green, It would appear that Leonard would be able to exploit Ellis in the post. The problem is Splitter and Duncan. If Leonard posts on the left side of of the rim, then Splitter would have to be on the right side with Duncan above the FT line. Dalembert could just sag off Duncan and double Kawhi. Kawhi probably would pass out immediately and the Spurs would close out the possession without re-posting.

It's difficult, I agree, but Leonard actually had backdoor pass opportunities on both double teams he faced..

Pop will point it out to him, they are passes he can make, tbh..

The Mavs are executing well, but they really aren't an intelligent defensive team..

[cd021]

Monta doesn't have to be stopped, on the contrary, you want him to shoot as much as possible.

The guy is a low IQ chucker.

Ellis-20.3 ppg on 18.7 shots (42%, 30%3pt) in the series.

As long as it isn't Dirk taking 19 shots....

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Pop needs to substitute offense for defense. Bench beli for good and play green 40 + mins

[cd021]

It's difficult, I agree, but Leonard actually had backdoor pass opportunities on both double teams he faced..

Pop will point it out to him, they are passes he can make, tbh..

The Mavs are executing well, but they really aren't an intelligent defensive team..

Splitter usually stands on the baseline off to the side, so if someone drives his man leaves him and he would be available for a dump off pass. Depending on how Dirk plays it, he could cut off the passing lane and double Leonard at the same time. Leonard would probably need to back Eliis down and make his move near the left the baseline instead of trying to make his move and shoot in the paint.

The Mavs would live with Duncan getting open jumpers. Duncans jump shot (from 10-22 feet) is down from 41.9 % last season to 37.8 % this season.

[Malik Hairston]

Splitter usually stands on the baseline off to the side, so if someone drives his man leaves him and he would be available for a dump off pass. Depending on how Dirk plays it, he could cut off the passing lane and double Leonard at the same time. Leonard would probably need to back Eliis down and make his move near the left the baseline instead of trying to make his move and shoot in the paint.

The Mavs would live with Duncan getting open jumpers. Duncans jump shot (from 10-22 feet) is down from 41.9 % last season to 37.8 % this season.

I agree, which is what I said in my game 2 thoughts thread, tbh..

Duncan is going to have to make some jump shots in this series, but it doesn't look like he has confidence in the J right now, he has attempted very few in this series, so far..

[therealtruth]

I agree, which is what I said in my game 2 thoughts thread, tbh..

Duncan is going to have to make some jump shots in this series, but it doesn't look like he has confidence in the J right now, he has attempted very few in this series, so far..

He's got to take the shot anyway to make the defense respect it.

[hater]

Monta is a bad matchup for Green, Kawhi and :lol all our other shit guards. Might as well concentrate on stopping other guys tbh :lol

[therealtruth]

It's not about how far back you stand of the offensive player. Defense is about making them feel uncomfortable. Sometimes that means sagging of them and sometimes that means pressuring them. You want to try to keep them off balance so that can't get confident. You want them to be thinking driving when they should be shooting and shooting when they should be driving.

[jARS mEsH sEt]

Kawhi needs to calm down when he's matched up on Ellis in the post. I feel like he's rushing things because he knows that receiving the ball int he post against a mismatch is such a rarity for him.

[ballhog]

Wear Ellis out by making him play D. Bang him around a little.