Timmy is quietly having an amazing start to the season on D

[Thomas82]

It's amazing how versatile on defense Tim has been. He has had to adapt to a faster pace in the league, changes in our defensive schemes, new teammates...Just amazing.

That just makes what he's doing that much more impressive.

[TDfan2007]

Figured this thread deserved a bump since RAPM numbers just came out and Timmy is #1 in DRPM. Just ridiculous stuff from one of the GOATs.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM

[SAGirl]

Aldridge has been assigned to pound the offensive boards to punish the Warriors small ball lineup when they eventually face each other.

nice observation.

It kills transition offense too, if 2-3 guys need to stay back to box out or fight with Aldridge for a board, and he may still get his O put backs here and there. Tristan Thompson did a number on all small ball the past post season, for how aggressive he was with this. It may have shown Pop the way.

I am looking forward to healthy Aldridge.

[Kawhitstorm]

nice observation.

It kills transition offense too, if 2-3 guys need to stay back to box out or fight with Aldridge for a board, and he may still get his O put backs here and there. Tristan Thompson did a number on all small ball the past post season, for how aggressive he was with this. It may have shown Pop the way.

I am looking forward to healthy Aldridge.

Offensively he can't do worse than Mozgov who had a nice series in the Finals. At times Cavs couldn't throw the ball to him b/c Draymond was fronting him but with Tim/Diaw/West being great passers they would make them pay w/ the high low passes. Defensively he's a bit more mobile than Mozgov & has proved to be a very good rim protector so he should be able to protect the paint when Tim is off the floor. He's most likely going to play a lot of center when Bogut/Ezeli aren't on the floor which include their "Death Squad" (Curry/Klay/Iggy/Barnes/Draymond). If Kyle can become a rotation player, he would come in very handy to counter their small ball lineup.

Most likely counter to the "Death Squad":

Tony
Manu
Danny
Kawhi
LMA

Defensively, they are going to have whomever LMA is guarding set screens for Curry so he's going to need a lot of practice hedging then recovering, if Pop resorts to trapping then they are at the mercy of the Warriors missing open shots. Best option is probably to put Kawhi on Klay to take him out of the series then put Danny on Curry since he's very good at recovering on D which is imperative for anyone guarding Curry. Kawhi can still play free safety occasionally as long as Klay isn't hot. If Kyle become a rotation player then Pop can also try a Kawhi/Kyle front-line (like the Suns game) for desperate measures.

[SAGirl]

If Kyle can become a rotation player, he would come in very handy to counter their small ball lineup.

Most likely counter to the "Death Squad":

Tony
Manu
Danny
Kawhi
LMA

Defensively, they are going to have whomever LMA is guarding set screens for Curry so he's going to need a lot of practice hedging then recovering, if Pop resorts to trapping then they are at the mercy of the Warriors missing open shots.

Did you see Slo-mo's "slow-break" it came from a steal on a hedge. Those long arms and the excellent timing and quick hands he has are a terror (not on Kawhi's level, but he's still able to make a play on a lot of guys with the ball that you would not think he would be able to reach, cleanly).

I don't know if you have paid attention to him, since most people don't really like him, but I am curious about him, and Pop has him switching defensive assignments whenever.

He picks up PG, SG, SF, stretch 4, some with more success than others, but he switches on defense more than anyone else in our team that I have observed. Switching on that level, when he's so new has got to be Pop sanctioned. He's got an elite defensive rating, so his decisions are mostly on the good end. It is early in the season, but he's looked well defending on the perimeter, and has even provided solid post up defense on some guys using his length to contest, even coming up with blocks. He looks promising on that end.

[pgardn]

nice observation.

It kills transition offense too, if 2-3 guys need to stay back to box out or fight with Aldridge for a board, and he may still get his O put backs here and there. Tristan Thompson did a number on all small ball the past post season, for how aggressive he was with this. It may have shown Pop the way.

I am looking forward to healthy Aldridge.

This is not Aldridge's game but I can hope it works.

[SAGirl]

This is not Aldridge's game but I can hope it works.

His game is kind of changing. I am still not sure what Pop has in mind or where he's heading with Aldridge, since Aldridge has looked a bit out of sorts and off his game at times, he is having aldridge crash the O boards a whole lot though. That is obvious.

[pgardn]

His game is kind of changing. I am still not sure what Pop has in mind or where he's heading with Aldridge, since Aldridge has looked a bit out of sorts and off his game at times, he is having aldridge crash the O boards a whole lot though. That is obvious.

If he was as mobile as Tristan Thompson I would be more confident in the plan if we must face GS.