hello friends it's the 2018 NBA Playoffs, a place where dreams GO 2 DIE

not every postgame thing i've read agrees but i thought capela was good at limiting draymond's help defense. draymond could not roam off of him out of fear of the lob. i felt like when capela was out of the game draymond started to get really disruptive on harden.

https://deadspin.com/the-warriors-are-better-than-the-rockets-1826038408

i think this makes some interesting points about the rockets style of play

yeah the rockets deciding to make the fewest passes in the entire league was an interesting choice

hot potato ball movement is such a hallmark of championship teams

and it makes great one on one players like harden and paul that much more effective when they receive the ball with a positional advantage

i turned on the game last night in the early second half and the warriors were only up by a few but it still had a total stressful horror movie vibe so i turned it off

also i hadn't really thought about the idea that hunting steph out when the warriors are on defense isn't as really as effective when harden is just iso-ing him at the top of the key

harden will prob score a lot but the point is more to wear steph out & if you're not banging him in the post or putting his body thru screens he has to fight thru then what's really the point? harden can score on anyone

yeah going against a totally set up prepared defender who you have a theoretical advantage over prob isnt any better than going against a superior defender who you encounter on the move

and needless to say the rest of the defense is just hanging out in perfect position ready to do their thing

one thing that wld prob help is if harden just went faster instead of dribbling a million times

right that's what i mean about steph and the picks. when the cavs were really wearing him down i feel like his body was going through the meat grinder on switches bcuz he really needed to fight for position or else the cavs were going to score, whereas last night a lot of the picks/switches felt really perfunctory, like steph knew harden just wanted to line him up for a one on one and didn't need to worry about being out of position

yuup

it was a little odd that both teams were doing that from the jump. i guess it speaks to the intensity of the series but that kinda relentless hunting feels more like something from a game 6 to me or something.

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, May 15, 2018 6:29 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah kerr is smart, the rockets started by denying all the warriors normal actions so he just want to the kd mismatch to hopefully open things up, which it did by the last quarter. curry played really well, 8 assists and only 1 TO and no crazy forced shots, played like traditional pg game basically. defended well enough and got a couple key steals.

crazy thing is that they didnt even use their most lethal play one time last night, the curry/kd pnr.

if i were warriors coach i wld run the curry/kd pnr every play just to be obnoxious

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Harden was realllly bad on defense last night

Sure, as the Rockets have shown, it’s a solid mathematical proposition over the course of a regular season. Letting two of the best isolation players in the NBA chuck up as many step-back threes as they possibly can and hoping the percentages break your way is a fine bet to make on a macro level. It’s a bet that can get you 65 wins and the one seed. The problem is it’s also a bet that leaves you with very little to do in the face of an opponent who so greatly reduces the margin for error. Shoot until your fingers are numb and the nylon is threadbare against the Warriors; they’ll just shoot right back.

i thought this was pretty otm, great 82 game season and all but all it takes is a 4-game dislocation and you're out :)

rockets def all year scanned to me as a good reg season team that isn’t a real playoff threat

the presence of alltime great team is a pretty big factor in that formulation

i mean the rox are the clear 2nd best team

for sure just feels like I never took them seriously?

because the warriors exist?

kinda a dinosaurs vs asteroid situation

maybe steph will fall down a well

idk, i really like their talent and the defensive additions they made who can also space the floor. and iso scoring has a lot of value in the playoffs. the problem i'm seeing is that they really only play one style and can't shift to a faster, ball-movement offense when playing iso isn't effective. and despite the better defense overall they're very prone to easy mistakes even if they start off strong on a possession.

a good reg season team that isn’t a real playoff threat

They're a top four team playoff for sure. That's why they're in the western conference finals. The eastern conference finals aren't as tough to play your way into. I'm pretty sure the Rockets would beat the Cavs and compete pretty well with the Celtics. They just aren't as put-together as GSW.

i think the bron/kyrie teams of past could probably take these rockets

i mean it’s basically what goon was saying: the dubs exist therefore all is folly

2016 cavs vs 2018 rockets would be a fun 2k simulation I would dig

so scoring has a lot of value in the playoffs (but really shdnt be yr default)

i

right it can't be the only way you play

what happened to 7 seconds or less dantoni? they are so predictable this way. warriors can win playing a handful of different styles and the rockets have the players and tools to do it as well.

their two best players won't play that style

yeah thats prob it

kinda a dinosaurs vs asteroid situation

that's called Raptors vs LeBron now

i mean credit to the rockets for finding the best way to mesh two iso-extraordinaire players, a combo everybody was doubting prior to the season

mostly they did it by staggering minutes tho, which is prob not the ideal solution

crazy thing is that they didnt even use their most lethal play one time last night, the curry/kd pnr.

― they call me melo gelo (Spottie), Tuesday, May 15, 2018 12:30 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark

most lethal play to me is just when they get KD the post on the right block and he just shoots that little twisting fadeaway. it's basically a lay up.

yeah the only hope of defending that one is not letting him get to his spot

which wld be possible under different circumstances

most lethal play to me is just when they get KD the post on the right block and he just shoots that little twisting fadeaway. it's basically a lay up.

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, May 15, 2018 11:09 AM (seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeh this is the fail safe

what happened to 7 seconds or less dantoni? they are so predictable this way. warriors can win playing a handful of different styles and the rockets have the players and tools to do it as well.

― they call me melo gelo (Spottie), Tuesday, May 15, 2018 2:02 PM (fourteen minutes ago)

good coaches play to the strengths of their roster. I don't really buy the argument that iso-ball works in the regular season but not the playoffs -- and I'm not sure increasing variance (by slowing the game down and taking a ton of 3s) is necessarily a bad strategy against a team that, when healthy, is all-time great

did not really feel like the variance was that increased last night

the rockets only shot four more 3s

just think you've got to mix it up. altho it seemed every time they tried something else last night it ended in a turnover.

ariza foul trouble really messed with their rotation last night. surprised dantoni tried out Nene. R Anderson probably wont see another minute in this series either.