Same, and if you read their team's post game quotes, there is no agreement on what went wrong, which is great for us. They don't know whether to play faster or slower, whether to attack or shoot. It was a personal evolution from MDA, Rockets and Suns fans have been begging him to diversify his offense as a plan C and he executed it perfectly.
CF acts like Budenholzer is God in a 3 piece suit, so I just need to know why his team looked so pathetic in game 1 against Orlando? I see Bucks fans lamenting his “lack of adjustments.” How can this be? Also, how come MDA made Billy D look like a Division ll college coach? MDA is supposed to be garbage according to casual fan couch coaches like OP.
Even "coach on the court" Chris Paul at one moment late in the game looked completely befuddled. Just blinking and looking around like "wtf" am I witnessing!? Reminds me of the Porzingis post-game quote: “That’s a really weird team to play against,” Porzingis said. “The way they play and the way we have to defend them is completely different from any other team.” CP3 looked at times he knew where all the passes were going to go. But he, like the rest of us, were seeing some ball movement, off-ball movement, and cuts like we've never seen before. If we can dial-in this Dantoni Micro Ball and everyone feels comfortable enough to hit their 3's at a clip like this, then the NBA Bubble is in trouble!
The real coaching happens when Russ comes back. Green as the point center has been better running the bench than Russ IMO.
Towards the end of the second half I did a double take — we had our *center* bringing the ball up and running point. Completely baffling and genius.
Donovan Sucks! I am surprised he still has an NBA coaching job. Chris Paul is just that good and intelligent. He is the only reason why that team is in the playoffs! It wouldn't surprise me if Paul got a coaching job after his playing days are through. Props though to D'Antoni. He definitely can run a basketball offense.
His defense was damn elite last night too. Like Harden and MDA keep saying lately, their defense is the key to postseason success and they are playing like it.
Naw. Russ plays way too fast with the second team and they don't do well. Russ brute forces everything when he doesn't need to. Russ dominating the ball with the second team is the reason I think EG can never find a rhythm. If Russ would just slow down to mach 2 and let the game breathe, the second team would be better for it. Notice, EG didn't shoot that well from 3 but was majestic going to the rim and had huge impact. EG needs a lot of touches to be effective. Russ is not allowing him to do that with the 2nd team. Jeff wasn't even doing anything crazy he was just sauntering up the court and getting into sets. if Russ would be more calm with the 2nd team and crazy when he is in the same lineup with Harden Rockets would be better. Russ needs to learn how to change his pace.
EGo is also the better defender. But Russ has to do what HE does best which is play fast. His intensity and breakneck pace are what make him an elite player.
I'm going to hold back words until a successful round 2, but I've never lost sleep against them in the Billy D era.
MDA with Harden can always get past the first round I question his ability to win it all i fault him for the playoff loses especially the last Few years we still haven’t made the finals with him @DaDakota
Harden is actually a terrifying defender when he zones in on you. I've always maintained Harden may have ADD, which explains why he loses focus more easily than others when he's not engaged. Which makes sense on the defensive side too because when you isolate him and force him to play focused one on one defense, he's generally good and has been for years. The problem arises when there's a lot of action off the ball, but he was on top of that in last season's playoffs and Game 1 too. Rarely falls for fakes. His distance from you is perfectly uncomfortable. Can't push him off easily. No one understands fouls better than him so his hands are always active but safe. He still occasionally swipes at the ball from behind the player, but he does it much more selectively now so his success rate is higher. His positioning and lateral quickness on some possessions against the Thunder were elite like I'd never seen before from him guarding the perimeter and in perfect step communicating with the team defense too. Was awesome to see.
Looking forward to the Thunder applying backcourt pressure to force the ball out of Jeff Green's hands.
Nothing made me happier than CP's postgame presser, in which he had no idea what to say about what went wrong. When the smartest guy on the court is still mystified after Game 1, that bodes well for Game 2.
