Warriors vs Rockets || Game 2 ||

The above post is mostly how I feel about it. I think they need to do it, but at the right time. It will force the Capela PnR whether that’s good or bad is arguable. But if they do it over and over. They will dissect it.

Athletic Alchemy

Hey alc, you think Steph should just gaurd pj tucker from the start? So they could trap harden and force pj to dribble the ball?

Id be surprised if it he doesn't find it Sunday.

Athletic Alchemy

The call should be you hard trap after a made jumper. Like I had mentioned, that 1st quarter his mind set is to score. He’s such a prolific scorer, he heat checks off one make. It can’t be repeatedly, there needs to be a element of surprise. Later in the game he seems to be a much more willing passer. I’d deploy it in the first, rule basically being he doesn’t get the opportunity to make two in a row.

Athletic Alchemy

How do you feel about potentially hard trapping harden off the pick and roll to avoid getting curry switched on him?

guni_800

I know we've seen these shots a million times, but I'm just saying, it bodes well. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m-E37lNoQk" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m-E37lNoQk</a>

WarReady

It aint helping thats for sure! I think a few step back bombs leaving Harden pinned to the floor would go a long way for him mentally.

Athletic Alchemy

You have to look at big picture...yes in for a game or 2 it might be a better move. But the media would explode with this...and the damage that could cause makes it not worth it.

Athletic Alchemy

Bruh, Curry is a 2-time MVP and one the best players in the league. He will not be coming off the bench.

Starting lineup for game 3 should be Livingston Klay KD Dray McGee Curry has not been a first quarter player all year, with regards to productivity or energy. He could save a lot of energy and have a lot more to give in the 3rd &amp; 4th if he and Iggy came into the game 7 to 8 minutes into the 1st quarter. Probably need to sub Looney in at 5 minutes when McGee is tired. I know Kerr probably wont do this for media backlash, but for this upcoming game it would be the best choice. Warriors don't need to play exceptional in the 1st half, but they need to not turn the ball over so much and at least 40% of Curry's turnovers are in the first quarters of games. I think once he comes in and everybody else is a bit spent, it would provide the needed space he's looking for. Once he finds his stride coming back into the starting lineup for the finals. For media sake they just blame it on the knee not being 100. What do you think Alchemy?

Stevie Ray

I mean it wasn’t completely Steph’s fault that we lost Game 2. Sure the Rockets targeted Steph on the defensive end and nothing was going right for him until it was garbage time. Klay only having 8 points was the real factor and that’s credit to Rockets defense which took Klay away from our gameplan. We won with Steph only having 18 points in Game 1 but Klay had 20+ points. Since the Splash brothers were virtually a no show, it’s why we lost.

I think Houston does have our number now. Steph's not Stephing. Simple as that. He's still really good but it is hurting us on both sides of the floor. It seems like the Dubs haven't really adjusted and are just hoping that after one more game, Steph will catch fire. But if he doesn't catch fire then they are going to need to adjust somehow. ISO-KD won't beat the Rockets. In game-1, Steph was targeted by the Rox on both ends. This was great for us because Steph wasn't 100% anyway. But after watching tape the Rox realized Steph wasn't Steph. So he lost his gravity on offense and was still ruthlessly attacked when on defense. If Steph catches fire then the Rockets are toast but if he doesn't then what is plan-B?

We lost this game bc we didn't impose our will on defense. You could tell right away the defensive intensity was not matching Houston's aggression. The offense was not the problem. Any issue we're having on offense is not hard to fix. As KD said, "Steph is the system here." All we need to do is run more high screen and roll to get Curry cooking again or involve Capela in ball screens and drive and kick to shooters. Or just keep the same game plan. But it all starts with defense and that's what where the focus needs to be. And Curry wasn't the only issue on defense in Game 2, it was everyone. Houston made 11 of 12 shots when Klay was the primary defender. Draymond, KD, Iguodala were all a step slow. When you are a step slow on switches and rotations against Houston, they'll pick you apart. I don't know why people think Tucker/Gordon/Ariza aren't gonna shoot like this again when they've been doing it all year long. They'll do it again if we're not locked in bc Houston is a great road team. People can talk about all the adjustments we can make like starting Looney or Liv or playing Bell instead of West but these are not the adjustments that matter. The lineup doesn't matter. The adjustment that matters most is the mental one. Our mentality, intensity, focus, and discipline have to change for Game 3.

Here is my concern. Steph was interviewed before the series took place. He was asked if he anticipated being switched on-ball against the Rockets, and he promptly said, "every time!". He expected it, yet, my concern even in game one was he seemed to be trying to switch back from guarding Harden or Paul over and over again. At first I thought this was a part of the game plan, because it was eating so much clock, but than I saw how effective it was. It has always seemed odd to me, because I can see Steph trying, but guys often score on him. Even if it's a tough shot, it's like they feel real comfortable with Steph guarding them. So after game 2, he said, he felt the Warriors were being too cute with trying to stop the switch, instead of manning up and guarding one on one. But he was running away at first. Are the Rockets chipping away mentally at him by scoring on him so much. Also was not a fan of becoming an Iso yourselves with simply handing the ball to KD over and over. This next game, we must spread the floor via Steph getting his shot going. That's why the death line up offensively shines. It opens things up for Andre and Draymond.

WarReady

I agree that the right move is to give Bell West's minutes and give Shaun iguodala's minutes.

SunniDaZambi

Yeah if the others hit early you abandon the strategy..The theory being Harden is less likely to pass it on time, or at all to them early when he is looking for his.

Athletic Alchemy

They got away with alot of shoving and pulling, so they need to do the same to houston shooters. I need klay and dray draped over harden like a shawl and play their shooter like how boston plays the 3 point line. I don't know about letting the other guys go off early because harden can always flop his way to 30 points. He shot just as poorly as steph but had 27 points. Rather harden have 40 than the rest catch a rhythm. This is not the series for david west. He needs to be on the bench. Steph and kd haven't found a chemistry all year and have been out of sync, so either let steph run with klay because of familiarity and have kd go against paul or let steph run the second unit. If the second unit is about defense bell needs to be in it, maybe put cement in his shoes so he doesn't jump.

Yes I guess I didn’t elaborate on that. I think the help needs to be more aggressive early. Make PJ and Ariza the shooters early.

Athletic Alchemy

Not having home court, it needs to end in 6.

Athletic Alchemy

Yeah I wonder why Kerr is so opposed to this. Initially I think it was to force them to play well together and kill any possible narrative. But now! I don’t see why not.

Athletic Alchemy

If KD and Steph don't play at the same time i.e. stagger their minutes, will that help getting in rhythm? I believe they did this in some games during the regular season but this was before the injuries.

Bailey

I wonder what the all NBA flop team would look like. Marcus Smart could come off the bench for CP3 lol

carlosd93

The effort was subpar. We looked slow and uninterested. I look forward to Sunday when we are at home. Hopefully the team shows up with that intensity the next 3 games so we can end this in 5.

Tre

I am still going through the vid and you had mentioned getting Harden to pass vs trying to score early. I wonder, should the Dubs target Harden on D (be it have Steph or KD target him) while putting Dray on Harden? Like you said, Dray has the mobility and strength to stay with Harden so perhaps that might get Harden to pass instead of looking to score?

CP3 and Harden are the most despicable con artists in the league right now. If LeBron joins them, it'll be a perfect trio of floppers.

Paradox

KD is so freakish his lack of effort isn't always as glaring. Dray his whole game is based off effort, so he is leading with that. Steph's playoff reputation is not the greatest, and I think he knows that. lets bank on him loving to prove people worng.

Athletic Alchemy

Thats social media!

Athletic Alchemy

I think will see the Chef at Oracle...and you know Dray will have a bounce back game. Andre need to step the F up!

Athletic Alchemy

Man, it always bothers me that KD always shows up, but sometimes Steph and Klay will just pull a Houdini and disappear. KD &amp; Dray have bad games just like everybody else, but at least they always try. I think Klay could avoid this if he was better at driving, but you know Steph can get to the rim and that makes it worse when he's just not scoring.

carlosd93

Thanks! It better!

Athletic Alchemy

Warriors smaked em game 1, they adjusted, smacked GS game 2, they will adjust just like houston did. Idk why everyone's freaking out.

Yeah I saw a lotta overreaction to this blowout on the internet, from Warriors fans even, thinking Houston now magically has our number. The fact of the matter is we got one on their court, and now we're coming home. There's a pretty high chance we see laser-focused dubs on Sunday, and Steph will go off a bit (in tandem with KD's automatic 35) and we cruise.

Major Powers

Love the commentary, i think this might put a fire under there ass and get them to show why they are so good. Im going to guess a blowout because they are so mad

martin pattison