Only two complaints: the Bron + non-shooters bench lineup was rough early on. I don't like Jax on Sengun, Jax needs to match Capela's minutes. For the first, I know we don't have a lot of options and half of our "shooters" are streaky but when you swing it to the corner and it's repeatedly a hesitant Vando, the pass was right and the play was wrong. On the second one, JJ caught on to this as well and matched it better in the second half. But liked the game plan, especially defensively. Guys were ready for their assignment, activity was high. Good job late pivoting to a KD-less team, the broadcasting crew said JJ didn't find that out until he was in the pre-game meeting with them. Curious to see what each coach counters with, I definitely think JJ is the better coach. He had us composed and in control, Udoka and his guys lost composure with those Ts and those out of ball turnovers to the fans signified how lost that young group was out there without a point guard or KD.
I assume you mean the lineup at the beginning of the 2nd Q, which was Bronny/LaRavia/Vando/LeBron/Hayes. I agree that this looks bad offensively, and I would not prefer it. Needs Kennard in there instead of Bronny (and can take away some Kennard minutes from other lineups that need him less). However...this lineup went +3 with an ortg of 166.7, drtg of 50.0, and netrtg of 116.7! It was just 2 minutes, and I doubted it as well, but somehow it worked incredibly. For 2 minutes, lol, but I'll take it.
If Ayton is on Sengun, the Lakers should not double. Doing that burned us a couple of times with offensive rebounds and easy buckets. Sengun in not Shaq or Jokic, Ayton can handle him. One thing I liked was seeing Marcus refuse the switch on the perimeter and sticking to his man. That makes a big difference as that switch everything defense we usually do leads to mismatches.
He just kills me with his lack of timeouts. Just let that 15 point lead dwindle to a one f***ing possession game before calling a TO. I really like him as a coach but Jesus why?
think i said this exact thing in another thread. good plan that i can't see working against like, any other playoff team. yeah, wheels were obviously falling off and it was at nearly the same exact point as they did in game 1, so it was curious to just...let it unfold...
Problem for the Rockets is that Durant is a pure scorer he's not a playmaker and of you watch the Lakers with Luka AR and Lebron who are all playmakers the difference is glaring. His passes are off and it's not like these are Magic type of looks. They can't play shepherd because they're terrified of Lebron and Smart picking on him Amen is can't shoot and he's another whose got no vision They should run the offense thru Sengun at the top of the key but Durant I think hates him and he tends to over dribble. But the bigger issue is Ayton kind of locks him down
Phil Jackson-esque. He just really trusts his players! JJ definitely not calm cool and collected though. While Phil's forte was not X's and O's, and JJ's is. So, instead of the Zen-master, perhaps JJ is... the Pen*master. *whiteboard marker
Yep. And even when Ayton was off, Hayes was limiting Sengun fairly well. I think this is a mistake. Rockets aren't going to beat Lakers solely through defense, they need to score more also. LeBron and either or both of Smart and Kennard are going to get theirs, even without picking on Shepherd. Udoka went away from Shepherd, and Smart had an even better night last night, LeBron scored more points, and Kennard still had a great night too. They need Shepherd plus Durant. Shepherd still had 5 3's on 36% in Game 1. When Durant gets doubled, they need him to pass quickly to Shepherd, who needs to make a shot or get it to the open person who can. It's a coaching mistake that they need to correct, which I hope they don't do, but think they will.
OH WHOA!! Biggest boner on the board here with one exception ( ) of who we'd love to have ... is a one dimensional? While a guy like Rui, face of the team in all of Mark's new hires for expanding ROI internationally, cough Japan, and is shooting from deep (if I'm to believe that incredible stat yesterday) in his playoff career HERE (white hot lights and all that) by a large margin in NBA history, and can move and handle enough to also be MONEY from midrange, is big and strong enough to take on centers in situations when needed and has listened to JJ to have continuously worked on his defense to get better .... is now valued on this board so low that most are fine with him walking just so's to have his salary slot. All because he doesn't rebound very well. Grass is always greener when we look at the "super duper young athletes". Who we have NO idea will perform on the offensive side of the ball SHOOTING .... HERE .... as Lakers. We've bit***d for years about having no consistent shooters, and then when we have them, proven here, it's time to bit** more about the defenders we need who ALSO are going to need to shoot. Some skills proven on this team are in dire need enough to keep these players OMG even if the player isn't a perfect 2 way. Get a couple more defenders which will translate, and keep the infinitely harder to find (playing for the Lakers) proven skills here on the team. Plenty of offense to cover for not so expensive but really elite defensive young bucks in draft or languishing on other teams. I expect this from Walter.
Amen Thompson is an elite athlete..he's not a PG..but good lord, I'd love him on this team. That young buck is going to be a stud, in this league for years to come. I'd give the Firecrackers two FRP for him right now!
if houston had vanvleet, things would have been very different. thompson's game may grow like jaylen brown's has (where he goes from being a shaky ballhandler and meh-to-bad shooter into a solid ballhandler and good shooter), but he's not there yet. but i'm pretty sure he's the absolute last guy houston would trade. hard to find two-way guys of that caliber right now, imo.
Rui’s still my guy..he might have to take a paycut, but I'd choose Yasuke over H- town hustle. Sorry to say that Vando is my boy too