It wasn't Wade that killed the Celtics in the playoffs. It was the return of Bosh that forced KG away from the paint on defense. If there was another big down there that could close the lane for Lebron while still fitting into the offense, that is a huge bonus.
More like Bosh, Battier, and Chalmers hitting 3's. Gortat does nothing to fix that.
Yes he does. When you have a legit 7 footer protecting the paint, your perimeter players can play tighter on their men since they have backup if they are beat off the dribble.
Also, Miami would be hard pressed to be starting their small ball lineup if they have to defend Garnett and Gortat in the paint and the Celtics decided to pound it. Might cause them to play their wings and guards less and Joel Anthony more.
I don't agree.
Miami wins that matchup to me for 2 reasons:
1) Garnett would be guarding LeBron, or Battier, LeBron he can't stay in front of, Battier he has to guard on the perimeter. Both options are bad, because it really hurts Garnett's ability to be a help defender, which is the single biggest advantage we have defensively against...everyone. Gortat isn't much more than an adequate help defender, so when Miami trots out Joel Anthony to be their help defender, they can hide him on offense without allowing one of the best help defenders in the world, the entire world, to help everytime LeBron and Wade, two of the best dribble penetrators decide to go for a stroll in the paint.
2) LeBron can defend the current incarnation of Garnett much, much easier than Garnett could possibly defend LeBron.
The pick and roll would be very hard for Miami to stop without any rim protection though. Rondo at the top of the key with a double pick from Gortat and Kg would be incredibly difficult to defend. Gortat rolls. KG pops. Go under and Rondo is shooting and he is knocking that shot down ever since the ECF. Go over and Rondo is at the hoop. Pierce and Terry on the perimeter keeping guys honest as well.
We basically incorporate a lot more zone and force James and Wade to hit shots. We get almost anything at the rim on offense. We also likely dominate the boards and slow the game down with more points in the paint.
Have you seem the Heat's Defense? It's not as good. The combination of small ball and the fact that Ray Allen and Reshard Lewis aren't good fits in their defensive system have hurt them a lot.
I think offensively you're on to something, in that Gortat would work very well with our P&R, but your idea about going zone, I don't buy it. People have been trying for years to use the zone to force Wade and LeBron into shooting jumpers. Its never worked consistently. You need an athletic versatile defender to make life tough for LeBron, and you hope Wade or Bosh aren't enough to beat you.
Garnett is athletic and versatile, but he's not athletic or versatile enough to defend LeBron, and Gortat isn't good enough to D up Bosh.
I'm not arguing that Gortat could help us on offense. I just don't think he'd be a huge help against the Heat. He'd make us a better team, just likely wouldn't work out against the Heat.
Garnett is a superior man-to-man defender against Bosh than Gortat is + a superior team defender off of Bosh than Gortat is.
Garnett will defend Chris Bosh. Gortat will defend Shane Battier or Rashard Lewis. Paul Pierce will stay on LeBron James.
Having Gortat defend Bosh and Garnett defend a three point shooter is the lesser defensive option. Garnett is needed on Bosh and is too valuable defensively to be wasted on a stand still shooter in the corner.
Gortat will not be in a position to provide interior defense and/or defensive rebounding while defending a three point shooter like Shane Battier or Rashard Lewis. I have never seen Gortat try to defend a three point shooter but I am guessing he's going to struggle with it since most bigs of his ilk do.
Gortat will be a valuable interior defender/rebounder (1) while Garnett rests, and, (2) if Spoelstra is dumb enough to go big against Boston, in which case, Gortat will be a game-changing weapon.