Anthony Davis Discussion: Thanks For The Ring AD!!!

And we scored less, so the defense is the problem. Their goal is to slow the game down and keep the scores down. This makes every possession more important down the stretch, they feel like they can out execute us late with Paul.

 

Suns were pushing the ball as much as possible , they know our halfcourt defense is SERIOUS .
We are holding the 5th best offense in the regular season to 1.022 per possession, a mark which would represent the ... 3rd worst offense in the regular season .

On the other end our offense is 0.007 per possesion worse than ... Houston one which was the 4th worst offense in the league.

 

Defense is not the problem. Offense is. Any one can see that..well most folks.

 

Drummond was -9 and Gasol was +1 in game 4. I agree Gasol is vulnerable against PnRs but he's just better at spacing, passing, boxing out, then Drummond which offsets anything.

Play Gasol when Ayton is in the game and then Drummond when Ayton is out

 

yeah, this team hasn't been able to hit 3s all season. there's the problem

 

Kcp was +16 in a the game where he went scoreless. I don't put much stock into that stat. It has a lot to do with the other players on the floor at that time. The Suns prefer Gasol on the floor for two reasons. 1. I already mentioned the guards attacking him
2. He doesn't make Ayton work on the boards or defense on offense. They would gladly take their chances with Gasol firing jumpers. He doesn't shoot enough for one thing, and secondly they can guard him with a perimeter player and leave Ayton in the paint to rebound and protect the rim.

 

Gasol can help with spacing, offense and getting guys into their sets. This suns series has showed that our offense has dictated the defense. The team was flying up and down the court in game 3 and it fueled their defense.

AD2 has not been as good as advertised.

 

Embiid hurt again

 

The NBA needs to allow hand checking again because this free flowing up and down basketball is good television but at the cost of mounting injuries. They need to slow the game down and allow players to post up and rely on mid range games. No wonder guys like Duncan, MJ, Kobe played heavy minutes in the playoffs and were still successful. They were supremely skilled in the post. This fast style of play is not sustainable health wise

 

I have to ask whenever I see this spacing thing. How exactly does Gasol help with spacing? What is the difference from Gasol's "spacing" than any other forward or guard on the court instead of him? I could get it if the opposing center was coming out to guard him, but teams simply guard him with forwards, because he doesn't shoot, so how does his "spacing" making any big difference?

 

If you can hit an *adequate* percent of 3s you're a threat and teams have to respect your shot and guard you at the 3 point line. Look at Danny Green last year he wasn't a knock down shooter but he was enough of a threat to still keep defenses honest. What we have learned is AD2 doesn't convert enough of his shots in the paint and neither is he an outside threat. With Marc in there you pull Ayton out to the 3 point line and opens up lanes for Lebron to drive in to the paint. Todays Nba especially with Lebron on your team if you can't shoot you can be exploited.

 

That sounds good in theory, but Ayton doesn't pull out to the three point line to guard Gasol. Phoenix simply rotates a forward over to Gasol when he's in the game. I don't see how that isn't blatantly obvious after 4 games. It's one of the reasons he got benched during the season. Opposing teams knew that he only attempted less than 2 shots a game, so they left their big in the paint. The Suns have been doing the exact same thing all series.

Gasol actually makes AD work harder. It increases AD'S numbers, because he puts up more shots, because again Gasol doesn't shoot. Being on the perimeter forces AD to be the only big hitting the offensive boards too. He ends up taking more contact playing with Gasol.

 

We have no choice but to play Gasol and Drummond now. I would be leary of putting Trez at the 5 because his footwork is horrible against the guards. Gasol at least has an excuse by being big and slow, Trez is just terrible at it and he's short. Drummond moves better laterally but Phoenix neutralizes him by forcing him to switch off of Ayton, and then either lobbing to Ayton or reposting him deep on everybody, including AD. He is shooting an absurd percentage from the field because almost all his attempts are from 6 feet in.

Vogel needs to make an adjustment of some type, because this is the Suns main method of attack, and it has been successfully all series.

 

Defense isn't the problem. Finding someone who can score is.

 

it's amazing that we did so much better with gasol playing with our starters than with drummond, considering he's the worst player ever. guess i need to watch moar film.

anyway, i hope AD doesn't play on a twice-strained groin. no way he can be what we need in that condition. just have to play differently as a team.

 

I think we can win without him.. I still have faith. We overcome this first round and win without A.D. and get him a few games rest I think confidence levels increase, especially from our bench. It might improve our chances in the long run.

I don't want to see it snowball into a major injury like KD so if he's really in pain I hope he just sits and doesn't push it.

 

I just posted this in the Lakers-Sons playoff thread, but to back up BadCoaching’s take:

According to the Athletic, which I don’t have a subscription to, the Lakers have an interesting and encouraging set of +/- stats for this series:

In the 101 minutes with Bron and AD both on the floor: +21
In the 37 minutes with AD in and Bron sitting: -30
In the 50 minutes with Bron in and AD sitting: +16

Link: https://theathletic.com/2624692/202...-5-the-minutes-lebron-james-is-off-the-floor/

 

Right. Of course that’s generally a no-brainer, but to put AD’s impact in this perspective was a little surprising to me at least (then again, I couldn’t watch Games 1 and 4, thankfully).