Vote NOW for the CB Draft Playoffs, Conference Finals (Q&A Thread)

[Who]

I'm not all that concerned with Rashard's post game, it's certainly spotty, and I think we can give him a few different looks to shake him a little on the nights that its on.

With Wesley Matthews: Anybody is going to need help on D with even a decent PG let alone someone as good as Rose. But Matthews is a good starting point, and having Dwight Howard protect the hole is going to help a lot.

Rashard Lewis has a very effective low post game against SFs.

The reason not to be overly concerned about it ... is questioning how often he'll really be there with Boozer + Z.Randolph on the team. How many touches in the post will he really get? Sure he'll get 3-4 touches down there and he'll do well with them ... that's a pain in the rear end but it's not going to kill you.

Furthermore, Rashard Lewis doesn't have the mentality to pick apart a team (in terms of scoring) that gives him a matchup advantage. Sure, he might do it in one game but he's not going to maintain it for a series.

-------------------------------------------

Why Wes Matthews instead of Baron Davis? Defending Derrick Rose I mean.

[Rondo2287]

Who thats Fine, but do you think with a defensive minded coach in Thibbs who has figured out a way to knock Lebrons team out of the playoffs the last two times he played them wont be able to figure out how to stop it? 

Not without better defensive players.

The combination of Kidd + Maggette + Dirk leaves your team too vulnerable against this Chicago team.

you mean Lebron?  Not the team.  Other than lebron who scores points for this team?

[Who]

Who thats Fine, but do you think with a defensive minded coach in Thibbs who has figured out a way to knock Lebrons team out of the playoffs the last two times he played them wont be able to figure out how to stop it? 

Not without better defensive players.

The combination of Kidd + Maggette + Dirk leaves your team too vulnerable against this Chicago team.

you mean Lebron?  Not the team.  Other than lebron who scores points for this team?

LeBron + B.Jennings

Plus two excellent complementary shooters/scorers in Ersan Ilyasova and Mike Miller + an excellent (on this team) complementary interior scorer in Joakim Noah. Do not under any circumstances dismiss these players because they will be hugely effective offensively on this team.

This team is going to stretch out your defense and get consistent penetration against your D. Then they'll proceed to pick you apart and take whatever they want.

Nothing your coaching staff can do about it ... you simply don't have the horses to change things defensively.

Your only hope is to out-gun them.

[Rondo2287]

Who thats Fine, but do you think with a defensive minded coach in Thibbs who has figured out a way to knock Lebrons team out of the playoffs the last two times he played them wont be able to figure out how to stop it? 

Not without better defensive players.

The combination of Kidd + Maggette + Dirk leaves your team too vulnerable against this Chicago team.

you mean Lebron?  Not the team.  Other than lebron who scores points for this team?

LeBron + B.Jennings

Plus two excellent complementary shooters/scorers in Ersan Ilyasova and Mike Miller + an excellent (on this team) complementary interior scorer in Joakim Noah. Do not under any circumstances dismiss these players because they will be hugely effective offensively on this team.

This team is going to stretch out your defense and get consistent penetration against your D. Then they'll proceed to pick you apart and take whatever they want.

Nothing your coaching staff can do about it ... you simply don't have the horses to change things defensively.

Your only hope is to out-gun them.

I just disagree completely.  Miller has regressed significantly over the past several year.  Noah is extremely limited offensively, he gets his garbage points, but not much else.  And Ilyasova shot 33% from 3 last year, thats not an effective way to stretch out a defense.

And I dont think a second year player in Jennings who has never played this many games in a season before in his life will be able to be a primary scorer on this team.  he regressed significantly last year in the second half because his body can't yet handle the demand of an NBA Season, Let alone the third round of the playoffs after 82 games. 

this is where skipping college comes back to bite him.

[StartOrien]

Why Wes Matthews instead of Baron Davis? Defending Derrick Rose I mean.

Couple reasons:

-Wesley is a really good defender, and I like him man-man on any guard. Not that he's a world-beater but I like what he can do.

-Davis is no Rondo, but I really like his anticipation skills. I think off of Rose he can capitalize on this a little more, as well as help out on pick and rolls

-Davis on a perimiter based player like Garcia helps us get in transition more. Defending against Rose would often have him under the rim on misses.

[Who]

On Hedo at PF,

Picture Carlos Boozer 20-25 feet away from the rim trying to stop Hedo Turkoglu's dribble penetration off the pick and roll. He can't do it.

Neither Boozer or Z.Randolph can provide an adequate defensive matchup for Turkoglu + nor do they have an adequate defensive matchup for Dwight Howard + they do not have an adequate team defense with Z.Randolph and C.Boozer on the court together. Not with the Suns stretching out the court with shooters.

The result will have Sacramento performing comparable to a bottom three team in the league defensively while that lineup is on the floor.

In contrast, the Suns have fine matchups 1-3 and the best defender in the league in Dwight Howard at the five. Turkoglu is a liability and he will cost them points ...

But the simple truth of this is that Phoenix with Turkoglu at the four can defend Sacramento better than the Kings can defend Phoenix's lineup.

Sacramento will score a large number of points but Phoenix will score more and they'll win the series.

-----------------------------------------------------

Sacramento's only hope of being competitive against that lineup is to put one of their wings on Turkoglu and ask Boozer to defend a Wes Matthews.

Still a losing strategy (lack a top defensive SF + no team defense + Boozer a liability against Wes) ... but at least it'll be somewhat competitive.

[Roy H.]

On Hedo at PF,

Picture Carlos Boozer 20-25 feet away from the rim trying to stop Hedo Turkoglu's dribble penetration off the pick and roll. He can't do it.

Neither Boozer or Z.Randolph can provide an adequate defensive matchup for Turkoglu + nor do they have an adequate defensive matchup for Dwight Howard + they do not have an adequate team defense with Z.Randolph and C.Boozer on the court together. Not with the Suns stretching out the court with shooters.

The result will have Sacramento performing comparable to a bottom three team in the league defensively while that lineup is on the floor.

In contrast, the Suns have fine matchups 1-3 and the best defender in the league in Dwight Howard at the five. Turkoglu is a liability and he will cost them points ...

But the simple truth of this is that Phoenix with Turkoglu at the four can defend Sacramento better than the Kings can defend Phoenix's lineup.

Sacramento will score a large number of points but Phoenix will score more and they'll win the series.

-----------------------------------------------------

Sacramento's only hope of being competitive against that lineup is to put one of their wings on Turkoglu and ask Boozer to defend a Wes Matthews.

Still a losing strategy (lack a top defensive SF + no team defense + Boozer a liability against Wes) ... but at least it'll be somewhat competitive.

You're way off on this one, Who.  If Hedo was as strong at the PF as you say he is, his teams would play him there.  They don't.  Why?  Because he gets consistently and overwhelmingly outproduced there.  In the one year Orlando did play him at PF (for something like 11% of their total minutes), he had a .391 eFG%.

You're massively overrating Hedo's offense.  He's just not that good any more, and even in his prime, he wasn't good enough to play PF.  Also, he'd foul out in five minutes trying to guard either Boozer or Randolph.

[StartOrien]

Still a losing strategy (lack a top defensive SF + no team defense + Boozer a liability against Wes) ... but at least it'll be somewhat competitive.

If effective, and I don't think it would be, this is when I could employ Rudy Fernandez or Terrence Williams.

[Roy H.]

Still a losing strategy (lack a top defensive SF + no team defense + Boozer a liability against Wes) ... but at least it'll be somewhat competitive.

If effective, and I don't think it would be, this is when I could employ Rudy Fernandez or Terrence Williams.

Don't worry about it; Boozer won't be guarding many SGs this series. 

I welcome you having Turk guard either Boozer or Randolph.  Like I said, there's a reason that this stuff doesn't happen in real life.

[StartOrien]

Obligatory reminder that I have Dwight Howard and the Kings don't have a center

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlztmc6lvD4&feature=related

[Roy H.]

Obligatory reminder that I have Dwight Howard and the Kings don't have a center

I appreciate you evening the playing field by guarding Boozer with a defensively weak SF, and by guarding one of the most athletic PGs in the league with a SG.

Sacramento has mismatches at PG, SF, and PF, as well as a huge advantage on the bench.  Orlando has the advantage a C, and starting SG is a wash.

As has been proven time and time again, Howard can't beat a team on his own (unless the team he's beating is Orlando).

[StartOrien]

Obligatory reminder that I have Dwight Howard and the Kings don't have a center

I appreciate you evening the playing field by guarding Boozer with a defensively weak SF, and by guarding one of the most athletic PGs in the league with a SG.

Sacramento has mismatches at PG, SF, and PF, as well as a huge advantage on the bench.  Orlando has the advantage a C, and starting SG is a wash.

As has been proven time and time again, Howard can't beat a team on his own (unless the team he's beating is Orlando).

And I appreciate you trying to latch onto a small piece of strategy I laid out as an option in an effort to try to detract from the fact that I have Dwight Howard and you have 3 poor defensive power forwards.

[The Walker Wiggle]

Obligatory reminder that I have Dwight Howard and the Kings don't have a center

As has been proven time and time again, Howard can't beat a team on his own (unless the team he's beating is Orlando).

[Roy H.]

Obligatory reminder that I have Dwight Howard and the Kings don't have a center

I appreciate you evening the playing field by guarding Boozer with a defensively weak SF, and by guarding one of the most athletic PGs in the league with a SG.

Sacramento has mismatches at PG, SF, and PF, as well as a huge advantage on the bench.  Orlando has the advantage a C, and starting SG is a wash.

As has been proven time and time again, Howard can't beat a team on his own (unless the team he's beating is Orlando).

And I appreciate you trying to latch onto a small piece of strategy I laid out as an option in an effort to try to detract from the fact that I have Dwight Howard and you have 3 poor defensive power forwards.

Until you come up with a strategy to keep Howard out of fouls trouble -- like he was constantly battling in the 2010 playoffs (you know, in "real life") -- I'm not too worried about it.

Your strategy is basically guaranteeing that Howard is going to have to defend two post players plus a penetrating PG by himself.  By Hedo (or Jamison) getting outmuscled inside, and Wes Matthews not being able to stay in front of Derrick Rose, Howard is being asked to do a ton on his own.  He's just not going to be able to (especially, of course, when Boozer takes him out to 19', leaving Hedo guarding Randolph on the inside with Rose coming at the basket with a full head of steam).

[StartOrien]

Until you come up with a strategy to keep Howard out of fouls trouble -- like he was constantly battling in the 2010 playoffs (you know, in "real life") -- I'm not too worried about it.

My strategy will involve him playing power forwards playing center...

And for as documented as his foul troubles were, they're pretty overrated: In his final nine contests in the past playoffs Dwight Howard played in over 38 minutes in EVERY ONE OF THEM.