5 replies to this topic

[thejohnnygold]

Perhaps that pesky Knicks team coached by JVG still holds the title, but if not these guys are right there.

 

Game 1 is in the books and we won thanks to a virtuoso performance from James Harden, solid team defense, and Clint Capela looking as good as I've seen him.  Outside of those two the rest of the team shot 14-42 including 3-25 from deep.

 

How did we win???

 

We were out-rebounded (by a lot), they made more foul shots than we attempted (on a better % too), and (in the 1st half) played our game better than we did knocking down one open 3-pointer after another.

 

The two things that stand out are the blocks and steals---we had 8 apiece.  The T-Wolves had 5 combined.  That's a lot of defensive stops and a lot of fast break opportunities; although, the stats show we only enjoyed a 13-10 advantage in fast break points for the game.

 

We also managed to take a 54-44 edge on points in the paint.  That is a lot.

 

I agree with DenverRocket that once the 3pt. shooting comes back this series should end nicely for us; however, I'm also counting on Thibs to make some adjustments.

 

First thing I would do is post Towns on Capela early and often if for no other reason than to try and get him in early foul trouble and keep him off the floor.  (Did y'all see Capela swat that one post-up right back into his face?  I did.  It was glorious.)

 

For us, I think D'Antoni and Chris Paul need to spend some time with the chalkboard.  He looked a little lost out there most of the game in half court sets...which should be his bread and butter.  Also, how did Eric Gordon play 30 minutes of that game and I barely noticed he was on the floor?

 

One last thing:  I will continue to eat crow on this James Harden thing.  Not only has he eliminated all the things I disliked about his game, but he has also improved and expanded the good parts beyond where I thought he could get.  He is one of the best passers in the game--something I did not expect.  He is leading.  He is playing both ends of the floor.  Heck, he has almost eliminated that herky-jerky-floppy thing from his game.  The best part is he is making it all look easy when we know it is anything but that.

 

Looking across the landscape of the NBA I would argue that right now he is the best player in the league.  Not LeBron, not KD, not Steph, not Anthony Davis...James Harden.  (LeBron is still really close though)  It's time to sit back and enjoy the show.  (Also, how good does it feel to be Daryl Morey?  Every day you wake up and remember that you traded for the best player in the league.)  

 

 

[DenverRocket]

Perhaps that pesky Knicks team coached by JVG still holds the title, but if not these guys are right there.

 

Game 1 is in the books and we won thanks to a virtuoso performance from James Harden, solid team defense, and Clint Capela looking as good as I've seen him.  Outside of those two the rest of the team shot 14-42 including 3-25 from deep.

 

How did we win???

 

We were out-rebounded (by a lot), they made more foul shots than we attempted (on a better % too), and (in the 1st half) played our game better than we did knocking down one open 3-pointer after another.

 

The two things that stand out are the blocks and steals---we had 8 apiece.  The T-Wolves had 5 combined.  That's a lot of defensive stops and a lot of fast break opportunities; although, the stats show we only enjoyed a 13-10 advantage in fast break points for the game.

 

We also managed to take a 54-44 edge on points in the paint.  That is a lot.

 

I agree with DenverRocket that once the 3pt. shooting comes back this series should end nicely for us; however, I'm also counting on Thibs to make some adjustments.

 

First thing I would do is post Towns on Capela early and often if for no other reason than to try and get him in early foul trouble and keep him off the floor.  (Did y'all see Capela swat that one post-up right back into his face?  I did.  It was glorious.)

 

For us, I think D'Antoni and Chris Paul need to spend some time with the chalkboard.  He looked a little lost out there most of the game in half court sets...which should be his bread and butter.  Also, how did Eric Gordon play 30 minutes of that game and I barely noticed he was on the floor?

 

One last thing:  I will continue to eat crow on this James Harden thing.  Not only has he eliminated all the things I disliked about his game, but he has also improved and expanded the good parts beyond where I thought he could get.  He is one of the best passers in the game--something I did not expect.  He is leading.  He is playing both ends of the floor.  Heck, he has almost eliminated that herky-jerky-floppy thing from his game.  The best part is he is making it all look easy when we know it is anything but that.

 

Looking across the landscape of the NBA I would argue that right now he is the best player in the league.  Not LeBron, not KD, not Steph, not Anthony Davis...James Harden.  (LeBron is still really close though)  It's time to sit back and enjoy the show.  (Also, how good does it feel to be Daryl Morey?  Every day you wake up and remember that you traded for the best player in the league.)  

 

I also expect Thibs to make adjustments, but I thought they were poor making in game adjustments. With all our defensive switching, KAT was overmatched most of the time in the post, but instead of posting up, he just cleared out to allow Teague or whoever go ISO. Bizarre play calling.

 

I thought Butler looked out of sorts too - not sure if it's his hand, but he looked a little resigned to me (even he couldn't guard Harden!).

 

If CP3, Ariza and EG step up a little and our 3pt% regresses back to the mean, I think we win in 4. Fingers crossed!

[thejohnnygold]

Game 2 is in the books.  What a game!

 

Once again, we did not play very well on the offensive end.  Yet, we blew them off the floor.  Chris Paul was unbelievable.

 

After the game, Charles Barkley had the gall to say, "the rockets aren't very good defensively".  

 

The Minnesota Timberwolves sport the 4th highest O-Rating in the league (per basketball-reference.com) and average 109.5 ppg.  We have held them to 101 and 82 in the last 2 games.  We have won by playing defense.  9 blocks.  8 steals.  So many stops.

 

We shot 30.8% from deep and 36.5% overall for the game...and blew our opponent off the floor.  Yeah, Chuck....you're right.  No defense here.

 

[thejohnnygold]

So, that's what it looks like when the Wolves play well and we play poorly.

 

I'm not concerned.  The Wolves shot 55% from deep and Thibs finally made some adjustments.  The fans in the bar I was in all thought the refs were killing us, but I didn't think the officiating was that lop-sided; although, poor PJ Tucker could get hit by a truck and they'd swallow their whistles.  I think it's because he dishes it out just as hard and they figure if you can dish it out then you can take it.

 

The Wolves just had far better energy than us on both ends of the floor.

 

The good news is we aren't Portland who just got swept by NO!!!  I bet GS took notice of that.  What do they have to stop AD?  JaVale McGee???

 

Meanwhile, Utah is giving OKC serious trouble.  I'm still not convinced they can take the series...but I'm starting to believe.

[bernardo]

4-1 is pretty much what I expected, the Wolves were too much talented to get swept by the Rockets. Great 3rd Q in game 4, that pretty much clinched the series for the good guys. Utah just melted down after being up 25 but I think it was good for us, because whoever comes out of there will have less rest. I'm still pretty excited for the rest of the playoffs, as they have the best shot at the title in recent years.

[thejohnnygold]

4-1 is pretty much what I expected, the Wolves were too much talented to get swept by the Rockets. Great 3rd Q in game 4, that pretty much clinched the series for the good guys. Utah just melted down after being up 25 but I think it was good for us, because whoever comes out of there will have less rest. I'm still pretty excited for the rest of the playoffs, as they have the best shot at the title in recent years.

 

That was a good series.  I think we learned a lot about exactly who this Rockets team is.  Announcers still have not caught on to the fact we are winning with defense...but they will.  Once Mbah a Moute comes back it will be even more evident.  I think we still need to work on our offense.  There are long stretches where we look awful and D'Antoni won't call a timeout to correct it.

 

It's fine when the shots just aren't falling in.  I'm more concerned about the 5+ minute stretches where it looks like a bad pick-up game.  What is worse is this happens with CP3 and/or Harden on the floor.  Two of the best PG's in the league and we can't run a decent half-court set?

 

To me, that was one of the things that past champions did best.  Think about the Spurs (with Duncan) and the Celtics with KG.  One thing they could always do was get a decent 15' jumper from Duncan or KG---which they practiced so the shot was money.  We don't seem to have that in the wheel house--and at times it shows.  It kept their offense rolling--even when it wasn't--and if we added that wrinkle I think we'd be that much better.

 

Minnesota is a good team.  I think we made that look much easier than it actually was.  Looking forward, I can't decide who I would rather face.  Utah has looked incredibly good--they had OKC on the ropes last night and then the thing I fear happened.  OKC has ridiculous talent at the top of the roster.  They're still getting nothing from Anthony.  Like him or not, he is still an incredibly gifted scorer when he wants to be.

 

So, our options are face the Thunder with their super-talented top 4 (I'm including Adams), or face the Jazz who Quin Snyder has hitting on all cylinders on both ends of the floor (2nd half of last night excluded) and has a solid mix of role players, defenders, and play-makers.  I'll definitely be watching their next game.

 

I'm also pretty excited to see what kind of damage New Orleans can do to GS.  These next two series should both be excellent.

 

Oh, and did anyone see LeBron snatch victory from the jaws of defeat last night?  I was rooting for the Pacers and still wasn't mad--the guy is still amazing.