WCSF Game 5: HOU @ GSW

[DoItALL9]

Kerr should be riding the referees about not calling the forearm push (offensive foul) used by Harden and CP3 incessantly.

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[ILOVEIT]

This is THE Game. Warriors keep alluding to this confidence that they have ...no worried...know what they need to do etc...
If Warriors don't come out and soundly beat Houston then ...no...they DON'T have it.

I do think Coaching is a big part of this. I haven't seen Kerr make any obvious in-game adjustments. If Warriors are hoisting rushed shots...then why isn't he taking a time out and set the tone. Seems like it's game plans to start....great post game observations in the loss. Where is the correction DURING the game?

No excuses....I'm hoping Warriors come out and put the defensive clamps down for 48 minutes.

[Outside]

Making more shots, especially threes, will help their defense by allowing them extra time to set up. Missing shots leads to runouts that make the defense look bad. It's a feedback loop.

[HiRez]

man, 8/33 from 3s.
the splash brothers haven't scored more than 5 3s combined in this series so far. 5 3s combined.
where do you expect to go shooting from 3 like this?
they're basically the only true 3 point shooters of the team (cook cannot play consistently due to him being a defensive liability), if they don't hit their 3s - and they're missing open looks as well, not only contested 3s -it's a loong game.
btw, klay is playing decent defense, and steph is putting the effort on defense. actually this may be one the reasons why they're shooting so bad, their legs are tired and legs are essential when shooting.

Reggie Miller actually made that point on the broadcast last night, that the Rockets are making them work so hard on defense that it may be fatiguing them into some offensive woes. I don't know that I buy that it's the reason for all their problems since they've had some slumps early in games and have made comebacks late in games, but obviously working harder on the defense end has to take a toll over time. I mean Steph and Klay are missing some wide open 3s that are normally like layups for them. Every time I see Steph or Klay pull up for an open 3 in this series, I'm starting to feel like I'm watching Harrison Barnes in 2016 Finals Games 5-7, not a good thing.

I'd bet a lot of money that the Warriors won't win this series if Steph & Klay end up shooting under 30% from 3 (combined, they are right now through 4 games).

The other main key is offensive rebounding for both teams. In the first 2 games, Dubs were +13. In the second 2 games, Dubs were -15. We need to do a much better job of boxing out but the Rockets are scrapping for every 50/50 ball (and even the ones where we have inside position) and we're just not.

[HiRez]

If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that Steph needs to shave that damn ugly, scraggly excuse of a "beard" to unlock his powers, am I right?

[KevinMcreynolds]

Going to have to put KD on Harden in this game.

It doesn’t matter who the initial defender is, Harden is gonna screen and force the switch to whoever he wants guarding him.

Harden’s gonna get his points. But the question is, who can stop the role players? Someone has to defend PJ Tucker and box him out on rebounds and such.

If I’m Kerr, I would put Draymond on Tucker to limit Tucker’s hustle plays. And if Draymond proves incapable of it, then don’t bring him back next season.

Iguodala can avoid the switch half the time, so KD can as well.

[DAWill1128]

They have been playing Klay on Paul and I think he has done well considering his ankle woes going into the series. But at this stage Paul is more reputation than a scoring scare, he's not that quick and his shot is the mid range jumper. Klay should cover Gordon primarily, if Gordon doesn't score 20+ they can't win. Let Curry cover Paul, he wins that matchup everytime and is less of a scoring threat from 3 and attacking the hoop than Gordon.

Jerebko should be the first player off the bench next game. Jonas always brings energy and isn't afraid to mix it up physically, the starters and fans need to see that.

Bogut should be inserted when Harden is out of the game, who cares about Paul attacking the cup? That's an easy contest at this stage.

McCaw would have helped a lot this series, guys quick and Igoudola could have came off the bench for depth.

The front office really did take a gamble on Cousins. One or two useful guys with that MLE and this series would be over already.

I said it at one point this year but why didn't we bring Nick Young back? We have zero shooting off the bench and wing depth and the guy is actually a pretty good shooter. Loved watching him defend Harden since he bit on nothing.

[likashing]

At this point, there will be minor adjustments but it will come down to who wants to win more. We didn’t play like we wanted Game 3 and 4. Time to show up or the season will end too soon for this group.

[TinoDubs]

We need Klay jump to London Square or something. We need Klay to hit a few jumpers like what Curry did in game 4 to start out a game. Once Klay is clicked, then we are on. Anyway, game 5 is kind a must win for both teams.

[clyde21]

this is just a bad match up for Steph defensively, because Houston 3 strong ISO guards that can switch onto Steph all game and make him work on that end, which has inevitably affected his offense.

how about some zone looks as a counter?

also, defensively i'd like Durant to play closer to the paint and focus on defensive rebounds. we should have size advantage when Capela isn't on the floor.

[superunknown]

They have been playing Klay on Paul and I think he has done well considering his ankle woes going into the series. But at this stage Paul is more reputation than a scoring scare, he's not that quick and his shot is the mid range jumper. Klay should cover Gordon primarily, if Gordon doesn't score 20+ they can't win. Let Curry cover Paul, he wins that matchup everytime and is less of a scoring threat from 3 and attacking the hoop than Gordon.

Jerebko should be the first player off the bench next game. Jonas always brings energy and isn't afraid to mix it up physically, the starters and fans need to see that.

Bogut should be inserted when Harden is out of the game, who cares about Paul attacking the cup? That's an easy contest at this stage.

McCaw would have helped a lot this series, guys quick and Igoudola could have came off the bench for depth.

The front office really did take a gamble on Cousins. One or two useful guys with that MLE and this series would be over already.

I said it at one point this year but why didn't we bring Nick Young back? We have zero shooting off the bench and wing depth and the guy is actually a pretty good shooter. Loved watching him defend Harden since he bit on nothing.

that's something I didn't understand either.
it's not nick young per se (I can see why they let him go and why no other team picked him up. the nuggets did, only to release him straight after....), it's the choices behind it. and that's on the front office and the CS.
Warriors already faced the rockets last year, and they faced the same issues they're facing now. they couldn't play any of their big men apart from looney, they had depth issues after iggy went down, they had scoring issues when the splash brothers were on a slump, they had pace/offensive flow problems against houston defensive plan even because there was no reliable shooter coming off the bench who could spread the floor and punish some double team/switch other than nick young (who couldn't play consistent minutes due to his bad defensive habits). and they were forced to 7 games.
did they address any of these issues in the off season? No, they did not.
what is the point to have 4 C+ a PF like jordan bell if you cannot basically play any of them against the rockets?
they added jerebko and mckinnie but it doesn't seem they can play solid minutes (infact they did not so far).
yes, boogie injury was bad luck, he might have been impactful offensively and rebounding in this series (not sure defensively though), but the priority in the off season/trade deadline, mindful of last season, was clearly the addition of a couple of decent wings.
they didn't expect to match up again against houston? they should thank ariza is not there anymore.

[KevinMcreynolds]

this is just a bad match up for Steph defensively, because Houston 3 strong ISO guards that can switch onto Steph all game and make him work on that end, which has inevitably affected his offense.

how about some zone looks as a counter?

also, defensively i'd like Durant to play closer to the paint and focus on defensive rebounds. we should have size advantage when Capela isn't on the floor.

I always wondered about a zone as well, have Steph/KD/Draymond playing down low and not rotating and have Dre and Klay up top, but Ron Adams is a lot smarter than me there's probably a very obvious reason it won't work.

[clyde21]

this is just a bad match up for Steph defensively, because Houston 3 strong ISO guards that can switch onto Steph all game and make him work on that end, which has inevitably affected his offense.

how about some zone looks as a counter?

also, defensively i'd like Durant to play closer to the paint and focus on defensive rebounds. we should have size advantage when Capela isn't on the floor.

I always wondered about a zone as well, have Steph/KD/Draymond playing down low and not rotating and have Dre and Klay up top, but Ron Adams is a lot smarter than me there's probably a very obvious reason it won't work.

one reason maybe because we haven't really played/practiced it all year so to trot it now might be a mistake, but I don't think a few looks here and there to change it up would hurt.

[KevinMcreynolds]

agreed, but we've also tried strange things in the playoffs before. Like putting Bogut on Tony Allen.

[Admiral-Kizaru]

locked in lets go!



Execute!

[Chrisaaron1023]

if babyfaced assassin doesnt come out tonight.. this series is over

[CS707]

this is just a bad match up for Steph defensively, because Houston 3 strong ISO guards that can switch onto Steph all game and make him work on that end, which has inevitably affected his offense.

how about some zone looks as a counter?

also, defensively i'd like Durant to play closer to the paint and focus on defensive rebounds. we should have size advantage when Capela isn't on the floor.

I always wondered about a zone as well, have Steph/KD/Draymond playing down low and not rotating and have Dre and Klay up top, but Ron Adams is a lot smarter than me there's probably a very obvious reason it won't work.

I'm sure the NBA version is more nuanced than my understanding of zone concepts but wouldn't that play right into what Houston wants to do?

[Outside]

this is just a bad match up for Steph defensively, because Houston 3 strong ISO guards that can switch onto Steph all game and make him work on that end, which has inevitably affected his offense.

how about some zone looks as a counter?

also, defensively i'd like Durant to play closer to the paint and focus on defensive rebounds. we should have size advantage when Capela isn't on the floor.

I always wondered about a zone as well, have Steph/KD/Draymond playing down low and not rotating and have Dre and Klay up top, but Ron Adams is a lot smarter than me there's probably a very obvious reason it won't work.

I'm sure the NBA version is more nuanced than my understanding of zone concepts but wouldn't that play right into what Houston wants to do?

Yep. Zones are typically effective at limiting effectiveness around the basket. A weakness of zones is being able to shoot over them. Perimeter shooters used to be called "zone busters." You can't effectively cover the huge area around the three-point arc with a zone.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2018-nba-western-conference-finals-warriors-vs-rockets.html

Games 1-4 last year Klay shot very bad.
Games 5 and 7 Klay shot well.
Game 6 Klay shot so well that he made his series stats turn into good stats.

Game 6 was the first game of no Chris Paul.
Rockets had a 17 point laed after the 1st quarter of game 6 and then the Rockets collapsed.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

I always wondered about a zone as well, have Steph/KD/Draymond playing down low and not rotating and have Dre and Klay up top, but Ron Adams is a lot smarter than me there's probably a very obvious reason it won't work.

I'm sure the NBA version is more nuanced than my understanding of zone concepts but wouldn't that play right into what Houston wants to do?

Yep. Zones are typically effective at limiting effectiveness around the basket. A weakness of zones is being able to shoot over them. Perimeter shooters used to be called "zone busters." You can't effectively cover the huge area around the three-point arc with a zone.

Have you ever seen a zone that was willing to concede mid range shots?
There might be some strange never been seen before zone that could mess with the Rockets if the Rockets are really unwilling to shoot mistake shots.