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Uta vs. Hou: Game 2 off/def strategy change up?

homerjbirch said:
EXCLUSIVE TRANSCRIPT OF GAME 1 PREGAME STRATEGY TALK:

Alex: hey, Quinn, what if we try to trick harden by getting out of his way and letting him dribble right into the paint?

Quin: WTF? Wouldn’t we be playing 4 against 5?

Alex: um yeah…but the thing is, that’s the last thing he’ll expect us to do

Quin: ok, I’m listening. How could this blow up in our face?

Alex: I’m not exactly sure since I’ve never seen a team at any level in basketball purposely remove a defender and play 4 against 5.

Quin: hmmm, ok, well, what’s the best that could happen?

Alex: harden won’t shoot those step back 35-foot three’s! He’ll drive right into the lane and Boom! That’s where we’ll get him!

Quin: I like your thinking

Alex: that’s not even the best part…when the rockets see us doing that to Harden, they’ll be tempted to try the same thing on Jae – chase him off the 3 point line! No more 1-9 from 3 nights!

Quin: What the hell, let’s do it! Hey do you have any crisp dollar bills? I’m meeting Jonny Football in the bathroom in a few minutes and he’s bringing the pixie dust!
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Dad5.jpg
 
Lakers_Slapper said:
Use Sefolosha as our secret defensive X factor. What do you think about switching up the starting 5 and bench to put Harden in check? What do you think about using Sefolosha as our secret defensive weapon? He is known for his lock down defense. Any thoughts on our next defensive scheme to stop Harden?
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He was known for his lockdown defense earlier in his career but since joining the Jazz he definitely hasn't been a lockdown defender. He seems to have lost a step or two and he just isn't quick enough to guard Harden anymore. I think that's a lot of the reason Quin has played him mostly at power forward, he's better at guarding 4's at this stage of his career.
 
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Even though I’d rather stick to the scheme that got us to the playoffs, I feel there’s a lot of misunderstanding about the strategy we attempted.

1. Harden has a ridiculous “points per possession” rate when he shoots his step back threes. That means that allowing him to get that shot means that on an average or better shooting night, the Jazz lose. It’s a unique skill for Harden and it’s difficult to stop with a normal scheme.

2. The wing defender is supposed to completely take away Harden’s strong hand, forcing him to drive into the lane. Where the Jazz wings really messed up here is that they are supposed to keep pressure on that strong hand, not allowing Harden to comfortably pass and forcing occasional turnovers (which Harden is prone to). The Jazz rarely did this part right.

3. There isn’t supposed to be easy lobs to Capela. The nearest defender is supposed to come over and help prevent a pass to Capella. The Jazz were hit and miss with this, and you could tell there was some confusion on the court—I remember Gobert yelling at Thabo as he messed this up once.

4. This does leave the corner three open. If the Jazz make quick rotations, they can stop the corner three and force a series of passes. That means more chances for turnovers and a less consistent offense for the Rockets. Ideally, the strategy takes away Harden’s threes and Capela’s lobs, while forcing the other wing players to make good passes and hit threes.
 
Strutter said:
Even though I’d rather stick to the scheme that got us to the playoffs, I feel there’s a lot of misunderstanding about the strategy we attempted.

1. Harden has a ridiculous “points per possession” rate when he shoots his step back threes. That means that allowing him to get that shot means that on an average or better shooting night, the Jazz lose. It’s a unique skill for Harden and it’s difficult to stop with a normal scheme.

2. The wing defender is supposed to completely take away Harden’s strong hand, forcing him to drive into the lane. Where the Jazz wings really messed up here is that they are supposed to keep pressure on that strong hand, not allowing Harden to comfortably pass and forcing occasional turnovers (which Harden is prone to). The Jazz rarely did this part right.

3. There isn’t supposed to be easy lobs to Capela. The nearest defender is supposed to come over and help prevent a pass to Capella. The Jazz were hit and miss with this, and you could tell there was some confusion on the court—I remember Gobert yelling at Thabo as he messed this up once.

4. This does leave the corner three open. If the Jazz make quick rotations, they can stop the corner three and force a series of passes. That means more chances for turnovers and a less consistent offense for the Rockets. Ideally, the strategy takes away Harden’s threes and Capela’s lobs, while forcing the other wing players to make good passes and hit threes.
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I think this. Harden didn't go to the line and scored well below his averages. It's just the lousy coverage of Capela and the corners that killed us.
 
I think we will stick to the same defense and hopefully be a little better at it.

As far as offense goes (which was a bigger issue) we just need to make the shots we normally make and shoot our averages or better.
 
Locke on the radio just said expect the Jazz to employ the same strategy, but to do it better.

He knows Quin and the staff so he is probably right, but I wish they would try some new strategies. Maybe try picking up Harden earlier, like in the parking lot before the game. Or some lock-down defense, like locking him down in the basement of the Toyota Center, there has to be a storage closet or something.
 
Strutter said:
Even though I’d rather stick to the scheme that got us to the playoffs, I feel there’s a lot of misunderstanding about the strategy we attempted.

1. Harden has a ridiculous “points per possession” rate when he shoots his step back threes. That means that allowing him to get that shot means that on an average or better shooting night, the Jazz lose. It’s a unique skill for Harden and it’s difficult to stop with a normal scheme.

2. The wing defender is supposed to completely take away Harden’s strong hand, forcing him to drive into the lane. Where the Jazz wings really messed up here is that they are supposed to keep pressure on that strong hand, not allowing Harden to comfortably pass and forcing occasional turnovers (which Harden is prone to). The Jazz rarely did this part right.

3. There isn’t supposed to be easy lobs to Capela. The nearest defender is supposed to come over and help prevent a pass to Capella. The Jazz were hit and miss with this, and you could tell there was some confusion on the court—I remember Gobert yelling at Thabo as he messed this up once.

4. This does leave the corner three open. If the Jazz make quick rotations, they can stop the corner three and force a series of passes. That means more chances for turnovers and a less consistent offense for the Rockets. Ideally, the strategy takes away Harden’s threes and Capela’s lobs, while forcing the other wing players to make good passes and hit threes.
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The problem is that it didn't seem like the jazz game plan was to keep pressure on hardens strong hand. It seemed that the game plan was to defend/put pressure on his back side. To play defense while standing behind harden instead to his right side.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app
 
fishonjazz said:
The problem is that it didn't seem like the jazz game plan was to keep pressure on hardens strong hand. It seemed that the game plan was to defend/put pressure on his back side. To play defense while standing behind harden instead to his right side.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app
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I agree that was the problem, but I doubt it was the game plan. They should completely shut off his right side, but they were letting themselves get beat badly and not trying to recover.
 
Strutter said:
I agree that was the problem, but I doubt it was the game plan. They should completely shut off his right side, but they were letting themselves get beat badly and not trying to recover.
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This! Also I think Gobert has to stay on his guy a bit longer. He is committing to Harden a bit to soon. If he can stay back another second and let his help come over I think the strategy might work.
 
Teams respond to the head Coach's leadership...…. Snyder tried to throw a gimmick defense on Harden abandoning the defense they used all year and got thumped . Expect another thumping.
 
Just get in his grill. Mix up the guys. Rubio, Mitchell, O’Neale, Allen, Ingles. Keep throwing guys at him so he can’t get too comfortable. If someone gets a foul, change who’s on him. I’m not saying to foul him and push him around. But ****. It’s like being a corner in the NFL. Stick to him like glue without an infraction. Help can come over but everyone needs to anticipate better and rotate much more quickly.

Basically be aggressive without being stupid. And bully them down low. Play our game. **** it.
 
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