I cant believe it took 4 games to realize but McHale finally did - and allowed the Clippers to play 2 on 5. That is -- let Paul and Blake beat you but no one else. I felt having Ariza guarding a hobbled Paul was not a good use of Ariza's defensive talents. Paul wasn't going to look to drive and score but wanted to set up his teammates. The Rockets were geared to try to stop Paul from scoring - it let guys like Redick, Barnes, Rivers and Crawford get multiple easy looks. Tonight even though it was old man Terry on Paul Ariza was able to bottle up Redick early and made it tough for him to score the ball. The result? Paul and Griffin were a combined 21-37 the other 4 guys were 9-41. Griffin is going to get his regardless in this series so let Chris Paul get his points but stop him from letting the other guys get easy baskets. Guys like Barnes and Redick do not create for themselves and are reliant on Paul finding them for easy baskets. Rivers can create for himself but not for others. These are the players the Rockets need to focus their defense on. Paul and Griffin wont beat you by themselves. Jordan isnt a threat offensively unless on a lob or putback. upsetting to see that it took so long but at least it was fixed for the Rockets to live to see another game
Really smart post YoYo def made a big difference , have to do more of that especially knowing paul is reluctant to drive it in
It was a great adjustment. I think Rivers is slightly overrated as a coach, but he's still pretty good. And Paul's as good a coach on the floor as you'll find. You can be damn sure they'll adjust. Whether their adjustments make the role players shoot a bit better... who knows, but they'll adjust. But even if they hit a few more, Rockets still probably win the game. Will game 6 (and hopefully 7) finally be tight games?
One thing JET did extremely well was take away the screen. He over played it and forced the screener to make a decision. The Rockets also did a much better job of doubling Griffin at the right time. The other guys (Harden, Ariza, Brewer) played the dribble handoff extremely well. The only problem is, they got steals on plays I can definitely see being called a foul next game. Also, rebounding... Enough said there.
Also forgot to mention we DIDNT quit on the screens this was HUGE imo....Dont settle for switches because thats what they want and we gave it to them too many times game 1-4 Fight for everything, on the boards, through screens, defensive positioning and especially boxing out
Great point and observation! I have, unfortunately, been impressed with Blake Griffin this series. He is a better player than I thought he was. He is going to get his points. But don't let Redick, Barnes, Rivers or Crawford get open 3 point shots because you are working so hard to try to cover Griffin! We did a lot of things well in this game. Rebounding, transition offense, attacking the basket (getting their bigs in foul trouble) and, like you said, defensive assignments. Let's keep it up and see if we can steal a game in LA on Thursday!
THANK GOD THEY STOPPED SWITCHING! switch switch switch no more. they're playing real defense. rotations are still a bit off, too much help in the paint but its better than last 4 games. one of the best ways to guard a great pg is to make him beat you. defend the passing lanes with team defense and put a good defender on him for 1 on 1 ball. if bev was there he'd give paul at least one tech
best defence i seen from harden all postseason he didnt gamble on plays by trying for the reach around steal his help defence on blake was solid and he closed out on shooters well hopefully keeps this up for 10 more games
Lets check your comments to see if you said this prior to the game. Folks sure like to talk matter of factly in hindsight, smh
Absolutely agree. I said before the series started, this series doesn't come down to the big dogs. It'll come down to JJ, Jamal, Brewer, and Smoove. JJ and Jamal have historically lit us up. We can handle 20-10 from CP3 and Blake. We can even handle 20-15 from DJ. But we CANNOT afford to have JJ and Jamal go for 25+. Great defensive adjustments. Let's carry this momentum thru game 6!
Did you guys nor watch the game? The only reason we won was because reddick crawford barnes and rivers missed all tier shots. Ariza terry made thiers. Defebse still sucked. Clippets got the shots they wanted. They just didnt make them
