Morey I hope you're reading Clutchfans for tips today... The good thing is its still only 1 game. I wonder if the team psyche is going to be "***** we got dominated, lets just lay down and die" or if they step the **** up and say "**** everything else, we will not embarrass ourselves like this again". That OKC team that everyone in the media keeps freakin comparing us to in 2010 didn't juts lay over for the Lakers. They won 2 games at home before getting bounced. Ive lauded this team's character and resolve all season long. How they finish this series will go a long way in confirming or denying how I felt. You cant just lay down here. That said by the end of the game I think there were some insights/bright spots--especially in regards to the bench. I know it was garbage time, but I saw some good things from our bench at the end of the game . I think we should lengthen the rotation instead of shorten it--especially on the road. Play everyone except Harden (and if anyone else is hot) in shorter spurts. Bring guys in, play all out on both ends of the floor, sub them out when theyre tired, and play uptempo Rockets Basketball instead of this sticky bogged down version. I DEFINITELY want to see Tjones get more time. He can actually get a hand on rebounds and loose balls where Greg Smith spends 99% of his time hand fighting then can't get his hands up to grab a freakin rebound. Start Greg and if he's playing poorly, get Tjones in. Francisco Garcia deserves time - especially if Delfino is cold. Garcia has been a consistent 3 point shooter since joining us-- and can do it with a hand in his face. He's good enough all around to not be a liability. Same thing with Jeremy Lin. If he's playing tentative then get him on the bench and get Beverley in. I like the lineup with Beverley and Lin playing together. It was successful last night in a stretch and was successful at different points this season when they used it. Mchale should do it more. AND if Lin and or Beverley arent performing. Hell even if they are, be ready to Aaron Brooks ready to go. He can provide some instant offense off the bench. Can't wait til Wednesday to see what this team is made of. Let's Blitzkrieg these fools.
The C-PF rotation of Asik-Smith-Delfino just won't cut it in the playoffs on both ends of the floor. It's almost laughable that our ONLY backup center is Smith and our ONLY backup PF is Delfino. I don't blame it all on McHale though because we are clearly shorthanded in the Big department, unless you count Jones, Motiejunas, and Robinson as rotation worthy in the playoffs.
Need to add 2 more players into the rotation. Have a 3 guard rotation with Harden, Lin and Beverley. Have Parson, Delfino and Garcia man the SF spot and sprinkle them in at 2 spot when needed. Have Asik, Smith and TJones man the 4 and 5 spot. It's not that hard. Make sure either Lin or Harden are in the floor at all time. Stop letting Beverley start the offense and have him spot up. He is a very good spot up shooter.
Hell if we get blown out the next game, I say lets have a 10-11 man rotation going and just see who has it that particular game. Our guys seem a little gased, and we are playing the second best team in the league. So I say we should go down swinging with every arsenal (players) we have.
Smith shouldn't start versus OKC. Said it before Game 1 and his play only confirmed this obvious fact. Delfino should start at the 4, period, but of course McHale is too stubborn to learn from his mistakes. On the bright side, maybe a bad sweep will cut McHale's time here short.
Smith sucked but it's his first playoff game. This is good learning experience. I want to see how he responds in the 2nd game. You can't start Delfino at the 4. Unlike other PFs, Ibaka can actually cover Delfino or even Parsons. So basically you are conceding the 4 spot early since Delfino is not going to out rebound Ibaka.
Start T. Jones. That way if Asik needs to sit, bring in Smith to back him up. And you get a little more athletic on the front line. Chandler needs to sit, bring in Garcia. It should be a 9 man rotation. Not 7
We need size and rebounding.inside.. Play Jones/Robinson heck even Monta for some post up moves.. Smith should be backup C not starting Jones should start....
Once again our poor rotations and substitutions cost us. I would like to see more Beverly, TJones, and Garcia. I also would like them to speed up the tempo. I think if we run we can keep it competitive. We CANNOT beat them by walking it up and playing iso!
i honestly, did not expect such a vast different between ppatt and the rest of the bigs. but the dropoff has been quite immense..
He needs to experiment with Dmo and Robinson in there. We have to see how much they're going to respect Dmo's range and he's no scrub in the post. We need Robinson's ability to run the court and defend.
If he is covering Delfino or Parsons, he isn't in the paint covering Harden or Lin when they penetrate.
smith was getting his lunch eaten last night by their bigs, although as it got later in the game their bigs slowed down somewhat and thats when we put in jones. i think that we should put jones in sooner, but i would not put jones in the starting line up.
Agree with you and in two major ways: (1) I think it helps us in the series, to a minor extent, but (2) It helps us to a major extent to give all of these guys some real and intense playoff minutes. So we give the series our best shot, while pragmatically helping ourselves as much as possible for the future. 1,000,000 D-league and preseason games < 3 playoff games.
No, Ibaka likes roaming the paint. Playing a PF with no range plays right into OKC's hands especially when that PF can't or won't defend or rebound.
