CB Draft Western Semis: (2) Blazers vs. (3) Lakers

[KCattheStripe]

im picking the lakers (yuck, the second vote for lakers from me....i need a shower!)

All- American Nice Guyz, homie. We did that for a reason.

[jgod213]

I think Aldridge plays tougher defense on Dwight Howard than Al Hoford does. Horford has been surprisingly bad at defending Dwight Howard in the past.

I imagine they'll end up having to switch back and forth a fair bit anyway. The cross-matches in transition + possible switches (big to big) in the pick and roll.

I don't know about that.  The two have only played eachother 4 times since 09.  One of those times Dwight went for 35 and 19.  Plus, as KC mentioned, it's tough to figure out exactly how often those two did battle one-on-one.

At least Horford has the ability to keep the rebounding disparity down.

[Who]

I think Chuck Hayes plays terrific defense on LaMarcus Aldridge.

I saw him take Aldridge completely out of the game a couple of times while Hayes was still with the Rockets. Scola couldn't do anything with him. Carl Landry didn't fair any better. Aldridge would get red-hot against those guys and then Hayes would come in and completely neutralize him.

Always shocked by how a skilled seven footer like Aldridge can't figure out just to turn and shoot over the top of the 6-6 big man. Instead he just keeps trying to back him down, failing repeatedly and then forcing himself into a much tougher off-balance shot.

I think Chuck Hayes could be a good option against Aldridge when Dwight Howard takes his 4-5 minutes of rest if Aldridge is on the floor.

[KCattheStripe]

I think Chuck Hayes plays terrific defense on LaMarcus Aldridge.

I saw him take Aldridge completely out of the game a couple of times while Hayes was still with the Rockets. Scola couldn't do anything with him. Carl Landry didn't fair any better. Aldridge would get red-hot against those guys and then Hayes would come in and completely neutralize him.

Always shocked by how a skilled seven footer like Aldridge can't figure out just to turn and shoot over the top of the 6-6 big man. Instead he just keeps trying to back him down, failing repeatedly and then forcing himself into a much tougher off-balance shot.

I think Chuck Hayes could be a good option against Aldridge when Dwight Howard takes his 4-5 minutes of rest if Aldridge is on the floor.

This is what I hate about head to head stats. There's no way to see if this game Who saw was an abberation or the norm for Hayes/ Aldridge becuase there's no per minute h2h stat.

[StartOrien]

Sorry for my absence I had a very long night and morning. Will provide some commentary a little later today.

[KCattheStripe]

Sorry for my absence I had a very long night and morning. Will provide some commentary a little later today.

Slacker.

[Who]

I wonder about that Nick Collison vs Matt Bonner matchup. Or even switching Collison off Bonner and having Horford or Aldridge play Bonner.

I think Matt Bonner's three point threat and how he opens up the offense will create more added value for his team than Collison would add as a defender/rebounder out on the perimeter covering Bonner.

Even if you switch Collison and have Horford or Aldridge defend Bonner, their (Horford or Aldridge) defensive contribution would drop off in that matchup too. I think the net-gain by switching the defensive matchups would be fairly small. And I think it would need to be Horford on Bonner. I don't Aldridge defends perimeter bigs well enough.

I think the Lakers would be better off following the Thunder's idea of going small against Bonner to both neutralize his three point threat + create an offensive advantage going the other way. Put Rudy Gay at PF against Bonner. Bonner would have to defend Carlos Delfino (SF) which he can't do.

And Delfino is a more capable (shooting ability, ball-handling ability, driving, shot-creation, passing) vs Bonner (strictly a spot-up shooter) ... which would make Bonner a liability for Portland. Give LA the matchup advantage there.

[jgod213]

I think Chuck Hayes plays terrific defense on LaMarcus Aldridge.

I saw him take Aldridge completely out of the game a couple of times while Hayes was still with the Rockets. Scola couldn't do anything with him. Carl Landry didn't fair any better. Aldridge would get red-hot against those guys and then Hayes would come in and completely neutralize him.

Always shocked by how a skilled seven footer like Aldridge can't figure out just to turn and shoot over the top of the 6-6 big man. Instead he just keeps trying to back him down, failing repeatedly and then forcing himself into a much tougher off-balance shot.

I think Chuck Hayes could be a good option against Aldridge when Dwight Howard takes his 4-5 minutes of rest if Aldridge is on the floor.

This is what I hate about head to head stats. There's no way to see if this game Who saw was an abberation or the norm for Hayes/ Aldridge becuase there's no per minute h2h stat.

I think Hayes would be a good defensive foil for both Aldridge and Horford, but yes it would have to be in very limited spurts.

[KCattheStripe]

I wonder about that Nick Collison vs Matt Bonner matchup. Or even switching Collison off Bonner and having Horford or Aldridge play Bonner.

I think Matt Bonner's three point threat and how he opens up the offense will create more added value for his team than Collison would add as a defender/rebounder out on the perimeter covering Bonner.

Even if you switch Collison and have Horford or Aldridge defend Bonner, their (Horford or Aldridge) defensive contribution would drop off in that matchup too. I think the net-gain by switching the defensive matchups would be fairly small. And I think it would need to be Horford on Bonner. I don't Aldridge defends perimeter bigs well enough.

I think the Lakers would be better off following the Thunder's idea of going small against Bonner to both neutralize his three point threat + create an offensive advantage going the other way. Put Rudy Gay at PF against Bonner. Bonner would have to defend Carlos Delfino (SF) which he can't do.

And Delfino is a more capable (shooting ability, ball-handling ability, driving, shot-creation, passing) vs Bonner (strictly a spot-up shooter) ... which would make Bonner a liability for Portland. Give LA the matchup advantage there.

In the limited minutes Bonner would be playing, we feel it's better to have the distinct offensive advantage on the other side of the floor and give whoever was guarding Howard a rest by guarding Bonner.

[KCattheStripe]

I think Chuck Hayes plays terrific defense on LaMarcus Aldridge.

I saw him take Aldridge completely out of the game a couple of times while Hayes was still with the Rockets. Scola couldn't do anything with him. Carl Landry didn't fair any better. Aldridge would get red-hot against those guys and then Hayes would come in and completely neutralize him.

Always shocked by how a skilled seven footer like Aldridge can't figure out just to turn and shoot over the top of the 6-6 big man. Instead he just keeps trying to back him down, failing repeatedly and then forcing himself into a much tougher off-balance shot.

I think Chuck Hayes could be a good option against Aldridge when Dwight Howard takes his 4-5 minutes of rest if Aldridge is on the floor.

This is what I hate about head to head stats. There's no way to see if this game Who saw was an abberation or the norm for Hayes/ Aldridge becuase there's no per minute h2h stat.

I think Hayes would be a good defensive foil for both Aldridge and Horford, but yes it would have to be in very limited spurts.

As much of a foil Hayes would be for Aldridge and Horford, it would allow us to pack the paint against Dwight and take advantage of his limited passing ability out of double teams.

[KCattheStripe]

Alright, I'm out for a while. SO's got you for now. Good discussion all!

The  civility level of this conversation is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMHTK15Pik


VIVA LA RESISTANCE!

[jgod213]

An aside to this big man conversation:

KC referenced Marco Belinelli being a liability in this series - i don't see it that way.

Between Joe Johnson's versatility to play the 2 and 3, and with Tony Allen on the court, I think we can play Belinelli and Johnson together to give more of a deep threat at times and punish Dwight double-teams.

Defensively, Belinelli would be at a disadvantage athletically, but his task would be to overplay the drive and give TA jump shots.

I think that strategy can pay off for Portland in short stints.

[KCattheStripe]

Between Joe Johnson's versatility to play the 2 and 3, and with Tony Allen on the court, I think we can play Belinelli and Johnson together to give more of a deep threat at times and punish Dwight double-teams..

Most Dwight double teams will be coming from another big when Millsap is off the floor.

[Who]

I think Chuck Hayes plays terrific defense on LaMarcus Aldridge.

I saw him take Aldridge completely out of the game a couple of times while Hayes was still with the Rockets. Scola couldn't do anything with him. Carl Landry didn't fair any better. Aldridge would get red-hot against those guys and then Hayes would come in and completely neutralize him.

Always shocked by how a skilled seven footer like Aldridge can't figure out just to turn and shoot over the top of the 6-6 big man. Instead he just keeps trying to back him down, failing repeatedly and then forcing himself into a much tougher off-balance shot.

I think Chuck Hayes could be a good option against Aldridge when Dwight Howard takes his 4-5 minutes of rest if Aldridge is on the floor.

This is what I hate about head to head stats. There's no way to see if this game Who saw was an abberation or the norm for Hayes/ Aldridge becuase there's no per minute h2h stat.

I think Hayes would be a good defensive foil for both Aldridge and Horford, but yes it would have to be in very limited spurts.

As much of a foil Hayes would be for Aldridge and Horford, it would allow us to pack the paint against Dwight and take advantage of his limited passing ability out of double teams.

I think Portland should only use Chuck Hayes when Dwight is out of the game.

And Bonner while Millsap is resting. Alongside Dwight.

[Who]

I think Marco would have a tough creating quality looks at the basket against either Tony Allen or Rudy Gay. Belinelli just isn't good enough to get good shot attempts against athletes / defenders of their caliber. He ends up taking a lot of low percentage shot attempts. Forced jumpers off the dribble.

It would need to be Delfino that is on Belinelli. Even then, I'm not sure Delfino doesn't have a matchup advantage over Belinelli.