About the same as Batum on FG overall (55%), 95% on 3 pointers.
Basketball-reference.com now breaks those numbers down for each player.
Not sure why the lovefest for Batum. Matthews has proven to be a much tougher matchup for the Spurs...size, strength and shooting ability give the Spurs fits. Batum has the length to get his shot off, but I think the rest of his game is pretty weak tbqh.
yeah so if they're basically both evenly assisted, i'd rather have TP on the shorter guy and Kawhi on the better rebounder
and nice, i never noticed the %assist feature on reference. good lookin out
Regular season minute distribution could be scary in this series.
RS against the Blazers
Beli 30 mpg
Leonard 30 mpg
Danny 26 mpg
Fortunately, it's not gonna happen...
Shorter guy is heavier and has a post game. Would rather him on the tall guy that won't take advantage of him tbqh.
Matthews is actually a very, very average (40%) shooter from anywhere but near the rim (63%), just going by the numbers. The thing is, if he can back up and post up a shorter guy, you're basically playing to his strength.
Batum is more versatile, but he actually does not really have a post game. I guess Batum would settle for longer jumpers, and he's a notch better from 10-16 (44%) than Wes, but I think the Spurs would love that.
Putting TP on Batum is basically conceding an open 3 pointer on most possessions with Batum's height and length. He's also the superior ball handler and passer compared to Matthews which will prove problematic if the Spurs have to send help tbh....
According to reference, less than 40% of Batum's shots against Houston were assisted in round 1, while 70% of Matthews' field goals were assisted.
again, Matthews having a post game isn't worrying me. if their offense featuring Lillard/Aldridge/Batum is going to be reduced to a Wes Matthews post show, i'd be thrilled
I understand that rationale, but Batum has shot 36% from 3 during the season, 30% in these playoffs... I'm not sure you don't want him taking that kind of percentage shot as opposed to LMA taking them...
well, I was going with the season average, since playing against Harden gives you an instant offensive bonus, tbh...
and putting Tony on Batum would be any better than the harden matchup? in fact, Harden was mostly on Matthews while Parsons was on batum
It'll definitely be interesting. TP is underrated defensively in the post where as he's been very up and down guarding the perimeter all season.
I think the Blazers will play a lot of small ball with LMA at the 5 so I assume Parker will see a lot of time on Mo anyways....
Harden was mostly on nobody, tbh... and Houston's defense outside of Dwight and that homeless looking Beverly wasn't much to write home about.
Portland penetrated almost at will against Houston. The Spurs will have to do a solid job between the perimeter and bigs to counter that.
jokes aside, you can't pin Batum's offensive numbers on Harden when he wasn't matched up against him. I think Green will be huge in this series, as i'm not too worried about Portland's perimeter creating outside of Lollard
I'm just going with the larger sample size... I didn't like Houston (or Portland, for that matter) defense at all in that series. Outside a few 'clutch' steals at the end, the whole thing was fairly carefree, I thought.
It's all good. Can't wait till Tuesday, tbh
Portland would kill us during the regular season with that double screen opening up the wing 3. Once a game or two goes by I have confidence that a lot of that type will get cleaned up and the Blazers do not have Spoelstra or Carlisle scheming. Spurs still execute like champs.
I just can't imagine the Spurs losing a game because Wes Matthews posts up too much. One reason why is because it's not easy for a guard to post up for a long time if both teams are playing two bigs. Too much congestion, too easy to help while staying near your man. Another reason is that using a lot of possessions on Matthews seems fine to me, as it makes Aldridge and Lillard spectators. Even if the possessions are productive, it takes Portland's better players out of the flow of offense. Also, how many points can Matthews seriously score on Parker? He's not getting 40 points by posting up. I could see him getting 12-16 while shooting 60 percent, but that's just something you live with if Lillard is struggling as a result.
The only issue with it is that it would potentially wear Parker out more than simply standing at the arc contesting Batum's shots. Playing in the post is exhausting, especially to smaller players. Doing so for an extended period of time can get to Tony's legs, even if he's playing good defense.
very well put. basically what i've been saying, but much more eloquently and well thought out
Man I hate that SOB!Green on Lillard
Tony on Matthews
Leonard on Batum
Splitter on Aldridge
Duncan on Lopez
Sure, Matthews has a size advantage on Tony, but if Portland is going to jettison their entire offensive scheme to have Matthews beat us in the post, i'm totally fine with that
A good thing about playing Portland is that they have virtually no bench. It's essentially just Mo Williams, and thats somebody else Tony can match up with reasonably well on the defensive end.
Green will stop the Lillard slurpfest
if he actually does, i can imagine they will spin it as fatigue since its his first playoff run
...and continue to act like Leonard is some defensive savant while Green's just a guy to warms the seat before Manu gets into the game.
Green will get Lillard duty when Parker is on the bench at times. Theyll switch, IE last year with Parker on Curry. Ultimately, in the fourth quarter, Parker will hide on Matthews who really mostly camps on the three point line. Leonard will be deemed to cheat off Batum and double Aldridge who will have Splitter or Diaw mostly. It comes down to simply as this. If the Spurs bring effort and defensive concentration and defensive concentration that they brought in games 4, 5, and 7, they can win this series. If they defend like games 3 and 6, theyll lose. Its really that simple. They will get their points as Portland was the second worst defensive team coming into the series. Also, the offensive sets? almost identical to Dallas as Stotts was the offensive coordinator in Dallas for a few years before getting hired in Portland. They use Aldridge the same, Lillard runs the offense like Harris and Calderon. So there wont be much of a huge learning curve entering the series. Another key will be foul trouble. If Green and Leonard can stay on the floor, the Spurs should be fine again.
Lillard is a beast but he doesnt have the combination of explosiveness and speed like ellis. I think green does a better job on him than he did on monta
i don't see tony losing against loliard tbh, i think we should stick to players guarding their own counterpart. They are going to block a lot anyway so we'll have to switch non stop, i don't see much 1-1 anyway.
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