People complaining about what MDA says - coaching doesn't happen on the sidelines. It happens in practice everyday over the entire season and pre-season.
Yes, Boston has a great future ahead of them. A terrific young coach. Talented young players and high draft picks to look forward to. Heck, this may be the perfect year to face them. God knows, as you alluded to, they stood between us and a championship twice. It burned, I remember, but we were facing one of the finest teams in NBA history. A little payback, even if long delayed, would be sweet, so I would love for us to face them in the Finals and start a renewed rivalry, one with a slightly different ending. As for MDA, I was against the hire initially, but left that feeling behind after he proved his value in the best possible way during that first regular season by winning, not treading water. This year? Wow! MDA has 120 wins and 44 losses over two years, and brought a real breath of fresh air after the McHale/Bickerstaff era. Morey's impact can't be overestimated, literally remaking the team and its culture during the off-season with the brilliant acquisitions of Paul, Tucker, and Mbah a Moute, and bringing in Jeff Bzdelik, who has made such a difference with our defense. They seem to be a diabolically good pairing. Sure, the playoffs are ongoing, with the end result still unknown, but one thing is clear. D'Antoni has earned our confidence, in my opinion. Good thread!
Game 2 was the point where I trusted Mike. I worried about him making the proper coaching adjustments. He made them and most importantly he convinced his team to make them. I trust him to match wits with Kerr now
Yeah, I think you might be right. Much like the year Houston beat Orlando in the finals. Boston losses in the regular season were split evenly Home and Away. But post season has been 9-0 at Home and 1-5 on the Road. In tonight’s game I noticed M Morris guarding Tristan. Cavs ran a high PnR with Tristan setting a pick up high. Morris sagged back near the FT/paint area. Rockets will exploit that sagging defense. Boston can get away with that vs Cavs, not so much vs Houston. Boston is not great in transition (frequency of 12.3% in playoffs). 15th out of 16 teams. Warriors are 1st. Rockets 10th. Boston is 4th @1.18 ppp. Warriors 1st @1.23 ppp. Rockets 8th @1.08 ppp. Isolation Both Warriors and Boston have a 0.88 ppp. Warriors @8.6% freq. (8th) while Boston is 11.7% freq. (6th) Post Up Boston is 4th in freq.@10.0%. Warriors 7th in Post Ups @6.3%. Rockets last @1.3% (16th) Boston @0.98 ppp (8th). Warriors @1.08 ppp (3rd). Rockets @1.18 ppp (1st) Cuts Boston only cuts 5.6% freq. (10th). Warriors @12.1% freq. (1st). Rockets @ 5.4% freq. (12th). Boston @1.33 ppp (5th). Warriors @1.19 ppp (11th). Rockets @1.48 ppp (3rd). PnR (Ball Handler) Boston @10.5% freq. (13th). Warriors @10.5% freq. (14th). Rockets @22.6% freq. (2nd) Boston @0.64 ppp (16th last). Warriors @0.75 ppp (11th). Rockets @0.96 ppp (2nd). PnR (Roll Man) Boston @ 5.6% freq. (10th). Warriors @3.6% freq. (14th). Rockets @6.7% freq. (6th). Boston @1.22 ppp (4th). Warriors @0.89 ppp (13th). Rockets @0.85 ppp (14th). Spot Up Boston @22.3% freq. (2nd). Warriors @14.3% freq. (15th). Rockets @14.5% freq. (14th). Boston @1.03 ppp (8th). Warriors @0.98 ppp (12th). Rockets @1.19 ppp (2nd). Off Screen Boston @6.4% freq. (5th). Warriors @13.6% freq. (4th). Rockets @3.3% freq. (11th). Boston @1.05 ppp (5th). Warriors @1.06 ppp (4th). Rockets @0.94 ppp (11th). Really nothing special about their offense. Most positions are capable of hitting 3’s. In each play type the Rockets will need to mainly key on: Post Up: Smart (10.9% freq. @1.07 ppp), Horford (30.0% freq. @1.19 ppp), Tatum (5.6% freq. @1.43 ppp), Morris (9.9% freq. @0.90 ppp). Isolation: Smart (15.3% freq. @0.86 ppp) Not too much to worry about. Transition: Brown (21.4% freq.), Rozier (19.7% freq.) Tatum (16.0% freq. @1.24 ppp) PnR (Ball Handler): Rozier (21.4% freq. @0.72 ppp), Brown (7.9% freq. @1.06 ppp) Not too much fear here. PnR (Roll Man): Horford (20.5% freq. @1.51 ppp). Spot Up: Rozier (23.1% freq. @1.37 ppp). ................Brown (30.2% freq. @1.08 ppp). ................Morris (27.2% freq. @1.15 ppp). ................Tatum (20.2% freq. @0.84 ppp). ..............Baynes (29.6% freq. @ 1.21 ppp)...........This play type appears to be their bread and butter. Cuts: Horford (8.1% freq. @1.41 ppp), Baynes (25.9% freq. @1.19 ppp). Off Screens: Tatum (9.1% freq. @9.1 ppp), Brown (10.2% freq. @1.23 ppp), Rozier (9.0% freq. @0.71 ppp) Hand offs: Morris (9.4% freq. @0.95 ppp), Brown (6.5% freq. @0.86 ppp), Rozier (4.7% freq. @1.27 ppp). It’s the Celtics defense as an X-factor. Long and Lanky. Agile enough to help in the paint and get back to the perimeter quickly. Probably not enough offense generated to beat Houston for the series. They look to be a good jump shooting team. Jump shooting teams can be streaky though. Let’s see if Cavs can make a comeback.
I think Jeff Bz. is the guy here.... Defense wins more in the Playoffs. MDA did a great job in regular seasons when Offense was King most nights. He is the guy who is out in the media spotlight more, Jeff is in the background, we dun see him.
The partnership between them is invaluable. I didn't think it would work. You're right, defense is somewhat more important in the playoffs, but MDA has to call out the shots from the sideline. This shows he is clearly in charge, and in step with Jeff.
I know what you are saying, the only reason I said that is because his teams were virtually mediocre or below it everywhere he went..... Nuggets, Suns, NY, Lakers......so naturally I would credit another guy with the D. Yeah, he did not have the players.....blah blah. It is good he's found someone but for a genius it is kind of late (he is almost 70 yrs old). Not like he is Brad Stevens.
Have you ever watched the Rockets play prior to the playoffs this year? Are you old enough to have watched them for longer than the last two years? Do you have enough attention span to notice the differences in offensive execution from game 1 to game 2? Have you seen how Harden was utilized pre-and post-D’antoni? Obviously from your garbage post aka vomit you just spewed it’s clear that you simply have no clue! #DontQuitYourDayJob #stickToVideoGames #millenialsSMH
I hear you, xiki. Let's TCB here first. I'm convinced we win one of the next two with our D. We might shoot lights out, at some point, but the defense should carry the day.(look for things to start to open up for CC) And, since Cleveland is showing signs of life, albeit, perhaps a dead cat bounce....I'll say this...We'll spank their @ss too if needed....but, I still see Boston getting out...
I'm just not worrying the LEast; fretting the BWest. Expect Game 5 to be the proverbial 'pivotal' tie-break. We shall see.
For being so short, your post is so riddled with inaccuracies and stupidity its hard to know where to start.... First up, I'm a 48 year old fan of this team since Moses Malone was playing for us... You can see I've had my account here for over a decade - you're the dude that just joined this year... so lets just wipe 2/3 of your post right there... millenial indeed... smh... #idiotassumptions Yes I noticed the differences between game 1 and 2... thats why i stated to say "we did nothing different" is horesh*t.... Game 1 looked like 2015 when McHale rolled the ball out and just let harden iso all game as he saw fit... game 2 otoh was masterful in the utilization of personnel to keep everyone engaged and contributing - which led to better execution on a wider level.... or did you miss that in my post - or simply reading comprehension issues? Point being game 1 and game 2 were coached by the same guy... so I'm not gonna praise the guy for game 2 while ignoring his poorly constructed game plan for game 1.... so I call it a wash.... If you wanna ride MDA's jock and think he's some genius - thats up to you... but even Kevin McHale managed to win one game against the GSW in the WCF (with a lesser roster)... so, so far, MDA is on the same level as Kevin McHale in my book... we'll see today if he can rise in the standings... #stupidpeoplemakeassumptionsandcriticizewithoutofferinganyfactsorinsightto justifytheiropinion
Coaches and QBs get disproportionate love. And hate. Game plan for Game 1? Poor. Or executed p-poorly? Game plan for Game 2? Good. Or executed goodly? I don't really know and I've been a Rox fan since Moses. Was giving out a brace of tablets.
I'm hesitant to even say anything about Harden - bc he put up great numbers in game 1 and anything that even remotely comes off as criticism gets the Harden police coming at you... but Harden dribbled the ball more than KD, Curry and Klay combined in game 1... His isos went from like 26 in game 1 to around 16 in game 2 - we actually ran 1 or 2 more isos in game 2 than in game 1 - but they were better dispersed in game 2 among various players - getting more guys better involved... As I said during the McHale era, you cant heap it all on one guy in the playoffs - regardless of how good that one guy is... when you hit the playoffs - it takes a team effort - you have to get contributions from multiple players.... that means you have to get everyone involved... Which brings me to game 1.... was it MDA's game plan for Harden to run 26 isos and dribble the air out of the ball while everybody else became stagnant or did Harden take it upon himself to try to do too much himself (ala end of game 5 vs Spurs last year) and MDA didnt react to it? Either way... it falls on MDA's shoulders - either his poor game plan or his inability to have everybody play as a team... ...jus sayin....
I think we just stole their souls in #4. So, here we are..pivotal game 5..... Everyone feeling it ? We're in good hands.
The HeartHeartHeart of a champion beats within this group. (So very proud of GG14 for stinking it up on one end, 'his' end, and going aces on the other. So HeartFelt for that man's 'D'eeDs!) Now, can TheGoodGuys please put together a 2nd consecutive strong game?!! Yes they can!!!
