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Great players cannot be controlled in an entire series.
It'd be a great playoff season IMO if Houston beats GS in a seven game series, only to lose to Milwaukee in the finals.
Last edited by R. DeMurre; 03-27-2019 at 11:32 AM.
Great players cannot be controlled in an entire series.
Spurs don't have the players to play like that.
yeah DAF,and it was a thing of beauty.
Watching Harden trying to figure out what he's supposed to do when he can't go left and watching CP3 being constantly harassed by good ol' Georgie Hill! Wonderful from Budenholzer,great stuff.
Bucks is the best and most athletic team in the league, with no defensive sieves and a freaking monster covering any possible defensive flaw in the rotation, Spurs is just the opposite.
I obviously agree that the Spurs don't have the defensive weapons Bucks have,but can't you see some variation of the Bucks defense last night being used by the Spurs in some shape or form to limit Harden from dropping 60?
I'm not saying we can keep him at 20 like the Bucks did but at least disrupt his whole game,make him work in uncomfortable situations for his 30?
RealGM has a thread discussing this, Bucks basically gave to Harden freedom to attack the rim (and forced him to use the weak hand) and challenged his floater, mid range, etc. I just do not believe the Spurs have the human material (in terms of size and athletic skills) to do something like this, Harden can just run over our guards.
Last edited by r0drig0lac; 03-27-2019 at 10:21 AM.
Right,they needed to defend with a gimmicky defense against Harden's gimmicky offense (stepback 3,draw foul,left hand drive,teardrop,alley oop).Defend his left hand sideways,take away the stepback and the draw contact,force right hand drive,meet him at the rim with a rim stopper.
I will agree that Derrick White is not enough to enforce such a strategy like Bledsoe and Hill.(And yes,Giannis covers defensive ups constantly)
But we do have Poodle who is a pretty good rim protector,we do have White and we will get Murray back next year.
What i'm trying to say is,i can see us dealing with Houston better next year of course,but if we happen to meet them in the first round this year,we should give it a go and see how it plays out.
OP is just a scared little "fan". He follows the Spurs but is just too afraid to get his heart ripped to shreds by the team falling short again. So he resorts to resigning to a doomed fate, in advance. Tempers the pain, he thinks.
Be brave for once, OP.
Except the Spurs. i wonder why that is?
What? Use your reading abilities before you quote me again please.
There wasn't a HOUvsGS game during this comment was posted
So it obviously implied that the Warriors will destroy the Rockets in the playoffs as a prediction.
To which i replied that the Warriors are expected to destroy everybody in the playoffs.
The Spurs included of course.
You think the Spurs will beat GS in the playoffs? Go bet some money on it,get rich buddy,enjoy life.
Point taken. Perhaps controlled is to strong a word. Let's go with limited. Make the rest of the team beat us and keep him off the line
When a team stupidly refuses to take wide open midrange jumpers you can defend them with whomever you want. That's why Patty Mills looked like a Harden stopper in 2017.
in 2017 we stopped Houston with Mills guarding Harden and Gasol patrolling the paint.
although I agree that we did a good job at Harden (24 ppg on 41/30/83), it was not just Mills who defended Harden in this series (we had moments with Murray, Simmons, Kawhi, Danny and Manu on Harden),
so it was not exactly Mills in Harden for 7 games what occurred in that series, the coverage also exerts a big factor in this form of defense
That's exactly my point. It doesn't matter all that much who you personally put to guard Harden. It is a global job that relies more on smart scheming and execution than individual ability.
unfortunately the league gave even more benefits to the attack this season (the nba entered a new era in 2019 imo), so the primary defender today has more importance than it had in 2017 (I will not even get into the question of the roster that was defensively two levels above the current)
Having the best defensive PG in the entire league isn't that bad, tbh.
Spurs beat Mavs, Rox beats OKC, Jazz beats Nuggs. 2 playing 7. It’s happening.
If the Spurs beat the Mavs and the Rockets beat OKC. The Spurs finish 6th, not 7th.Spurs beat Mavs, Rox beats OKC, Jazz beats Nuggs. 2 playing 7. It’s happening.
Rockets' record and stats look impressive post ASG, but, somehow, I still think they are beatable with a smart defensive plan. Their offense looks so gimmicky.
It looks gimmicky because it is gimmicky. If they are making threes, they are near unbeatable...if not, they are just another good team.
Their luck almost held out long enough to beat GSW last season though, so...
Their 3 pt shooting is the least gimmicky thing about their offense, tbh.
I'm talking about the over reliance on one-on-one basketball and foul drawing (mainly from Harden).
I feel like a smart defensive shceme would be able to seriously limit them.
-Avoid fouling at all cost. Specially dumb fouls in jumpers and reach arounds.
-Stay with the shooters. Limit spot up threes opportunites.
-Limit pick and roll efficiency by either switching or playing like the Spurs did in '17 and the Bucks did not too long ago: with the guard defender going over the screen and overplaying the 3 pt line while the screen defender sits way back waiting for the drive.
Basically, just let Harden, Paul and Gordon play all the one-on-one basketball they want, preferrably baiting them into taking step back jumpers. If they beat you that way, then hats off.
That, plus prevent the refs from sending Harden to the FT line 11 times per game. I bet his ex-teammate D-Mo knows how to do that, and that's why they brought him over.
Exactly that Thunder Rockets game determines a lot, but could be undone by the Nuggets or Blazers....I'm more concerned about Houston staying in 3rd even if they do beat Thunder...Thunder wins and we likely stay in 7 and play the Kind Buds.
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