Generally by people who are subsequently mocked by others pointing out that said departed person is still alive.
You can bet the Suns will be throwing out more zones against us. Perhaps, the Blazers will be moving a bit more - i.e. less iso's - without Roy in the lineup.
Why should the playoffs be any different than the regular season? Nate will be forced into making the correct choices thanks to injury and lack of options.
Hate on Nate all you want Odd, but you can't discount the power of his leadership and how important it is to this team and the adversity they've pulled through
There are two ways to beat a zone: 1. Be on fire from the outside 2. Crisp and quick passing to overload one area of the zone and open up a man for a shot. For us, #1 is unlikely, so we'll have to do it with #2.
Having Roy out might actually help make #1 more likely. Having both Rudy and Batum, or Webster and Batume, or Rudy and Webster at the 2/3 should give the Blazers some good zone busting power from 3. Miller will still be unable to shoot, but Oh well.
I still think pentration by the guards is the best way to beat an NBA zone. The defensive three second rule makes it more of a quasi-zone than a real zone, and it leaves the circle area under the basket wide open until a drive starts. I say make the Suns rotate to defend the rim as opposed to rotate to cover a perimeter shooter. Getting Stoudemire in foul trouble could be a bonus.
As I've said 5000 times. Nate's a good coach who has figured out how to strangle a season to death. But, he'll never get us to where we want to go.
This only works if the zone needs to defend the long ball. If there are no, or limited deep threats, the zone still collapses just out of the paint, but being 6 feet closer to the basket than the offensive player gives them plenty of time to pack the paint when the drive begins. it's a sliding scale, the better the offensive team can shoot, the more lanes open for the driver.
I'll assume early in the game that Phoenix will try to defend shooters if they are in a quasi-zone. Regardless, there is still the FT line extended rule, and there is still the defensive thee second rule, so spacing is already enforced by the NBA to disallow teams from sagging like you see in college basketball. Attack the rim! I do agree that hitting shots helps, though.
I kind of agree with you here......albeit, if we did get to the WCF, or something it'd be because of stellar individual play (oden, roy, aldridge), rather than a stellar team performance...IMO. It just seems his offense lacks creativity...
