The Miller/Johnson match-up is going to be trouble. Johnson can just shoot over Miller on offense, and smother him on defense with his superior size and athleticism. Roy doesn't have the size to guard Williams, but I doubt the Hawks will take advantage. Conversely, if Roy actually shoots well, Williams can't stop him. Crawford off the bench will be the other killer. Granted, the Blazers were flat for the first game, and played the 4th quarter like their feet were in concrete....but even under the best of circumstances, if Crawford gets hot, who do they have to defend him?
I wouldnt' be suprised here for the Blazers to try moving a guard to a SF types, because IMO Marvin Williams is not a very agressive offensive player and you might be able to get away with it. Let's put it this way. He doesn't use his size well most of the time, but he might just go for it if he has Miller or Blake on him.
The only issue for Roy is the spacing and the ability to get into the paint. He is faster than both Joe Johnson and Williams and can get by them at will from the dribble. The problem he had in the last game was that they did a fantastic job of crowding the paint and making him pass - which because our spacing was so bad - lead to turn-overs. Forget about shooting. If Marvin is the one guarding him, he should attack the rim from the dribble hard, all night long, and try to pass to Oden/LMA based on whoever is going to leave them open to double Roy. If he does that, we are golden. If Blake/Web hit the long-ball, we will, again, be golden. Crawford killed us by getting into the paint. If Greg gets more than 15 minutes this game - I am not too worried about Crawford. Sure, sometimes he can shoot the long-ball like a mad-man - but that' not something that happens that often. He killed us in the paint last time. Keep Oden in the game - and a lot of these easy buckets will be contested ones.
Yep, I think also we didn't prepare for a Crawford either before last game. He wasn't such an "x-factor" for them. I believe we will make damn sure he doesn't scorch us again with that dribble penetration. I think the main key is to have points in the paint. We had success last game briefly when all we were doing is force feeding the low post and taking everything in the paint. The minute we fell in love with the Outside Shot and forgot what was owning the Hawks.
He was flat out killing Rudy. He had Rudy so off of his game, that Rudy was making some real bonehead plays trying to make up for what he was losing at the defensive end. Hopefully that turns out better tonight.
Q1 8:57 Oden fouls Josh Smith Q1 6:52 Oden fouls Horford, Q2 7:24 Oden Fouls Crawford Q3 1:05 Oden fouls Josh Smith Q4 4:24 Loose ball foul on Josh Smith In the last game it was not Crawford that gave him trouble. It was Josh Smith. If he plays Smith/Horford clean - we are going to be OK, even if he gets an extra foul or two on Crawford. Crawford killed us mostly in the paint when we did not have a center in the game.
Well, the three guard lineup got exploited pretty badly. We had to go zone because we couldn't keep up man to man.
