Oh I know we don't have to because apparently everyone here but Maris knew that fronting was what had to be done. He asked for a link so I just told him to observe those moments.
Well, it is now readily apparent that you don't ever watch any real basketball and instead incessantly follow box scores. Watch some games, every team that fronts Yao shuts him down.
while im not about to search the internet to provide a link to prove someone elses point, i have read that numerous times in many of the rockets scouting reports.
You need only look to the last game of the season for the Rockets. Yao dominated in the first half in Dallas, they switched up their defense, and in the second half Yao was shut down and the offense went off the rails. The Blazers defense on Yao basically worked in the 3rd quarter. Their big problem was their offense went south (only 14 points scored). When the Rockets get stops, that puts their guards in more favorable positions to get scores on the other end.
I think we need to try forcing the ball into Oden a few more times to see what happens. Let the kid rise to the occasion- especially when Aldridge goes missing.
If he made Yao miss one single shot you might have a case. Oden needs to start for the simple reason that we don't have enough firepower in the starting lineup with Batum and Joel.
I'd love Oden to start, but then that hurts our bench offensively. Actually I don't mind it staying like it is, but never, ever, ever, sub Frye for Joel! Anyone notice how bad we sucked when Nate made that substitution? I must be the only one.
when oden gets the ball in the post we need to send cutters down the lane and guys around on the perimeter to distract the defense and give him options too! And Frye should never play again in this series. Part of being a good shooter is knowing when to take risky shots IE when you have two guys underneath the basket. One thing I find interesting about Rudy, he takes "rediculous shots" but only when the defense is spread out on the perimeter and we have rebounders, other guys take wide open shots, but the defense is packing the lane, what's smarter?
At one point in the first half, Oden was inserted and he took over the defensive responsibilities on Yao. Earlier in the game, I watched Yao back Joel down like he wasn't even there. Joel isn't big enough or strong enough to defend Yao straight up. Oden on the other hand, came in, Yao tried to back him down, Oden flexed, and Yao didn't move any more. Unfortunately, Yao made a spin move and got by Greg for the and-1. So it's either strong against the weak, or experienced against the inexperienced.
I agree, Oden should start. But alongside Joel, not in place of him. Batum is undoubtedly our best perimeter defender, but he lacks the physical strength to do much with Artest. Move him to the bench and slide LMA to the 3. He won't have the issues of guarding a quick, slashing 3 off the dribble, as that isn't Artest's game... Everyone knows, playing Yao straight up from behind isn't going to work. I don't care how good the defender is, you can lean against a tree all you want and it isn't going to topple. Joel didn't play bad defense, it was just a bad scheme. Put him and Oden inside to sandwich Yao, plus LMA's length to drop down and help on Scola as needed, and I think you've got a winning formula. (Or at least not a 30 point loss formula.) Don't worry about fouls on the bigs. Having them with fouls to spare didn't much help at the end of game 1. Oh, and I would start Bayless. After watching Blake once again get run ragged by a quick point guard, I don't need to see the re-airing of that episode. Bayless at least showed some pride when he got on the court. Red Hot & Rolling became Red Hot & Swollen ... it takes some thinking outside the box to fix something that broken.
Start Greg? No. After one bad game, you want to go away from what we used to absolutely demolish teams in the last 3 weeks of the season? Yes, we got blown out. But that same lineup and rotation was on the giving end of those blowouts for the last 3 weeks. PS... Before you get all excited about Oden's offense last night, keep in mind that, not only was he going against 43-year old Mutumbo, but several of Oden's scores came after he traveled, but it wasn't called. In a close game, those would have been called, and would have been turnovers.
That's actually what the playoffs are all about; constant adjustments in the face of a single opponent night after night, not adapting or saying "hey this is what we did in the regular season" is good as far as maintaining an identity (eg. "we play hard nosed defense", "We are a drive and kick team" or "we rely on shooters to space the floor for our drivers and post players") but adjusting lineups and rotations to maximize strengths or exploit an opponents weaknesses is precisely playoff basketball -- you do whatever it takes to win. As for starting Oden over Przybilla specifically, I agree that I'm not 100% sure it would make much difference, but don't be surprised to see Nate utilize the seldom seen and totally unorthodox twin towers lineup (Joel at center, Greg at PF, Travis, Brandon and Blake (or Rudy)).
Sure, we should change our defensive schemes, front Yao, change the tempo, and those types of adjustments. But I would be surprised if many teams change their starting lineups based on the opposition. I believe that Oden is a better player than Joel. But I don't think he makes enough difference, at this point in his career, to change from what we know was clicking very well.
The Blazers did it against Dallas in the first round six years ago. We were getting our asses kicked, so we moved Pippen to the one, Bonzi to the two, Sheed to the three, ZBo to the four, and I think Sabonis to the five spot.
