Ron is too slow to stay with Roy. The bruising style of defense he plays doesn't really affect Roy's silky jumper, especially when Artest is usually on his heels 5 feet away from Roy when he shoots. Battier is obviously better at defending fast, crafty guards like Roy, Kobe, Wade, etc. He should probably get the majority of minutes checking Roy. However, consider Wafer on Roy. He is not a very disciplined defender, but he does have 2 things that Battier and Ron lack - speed and leaping ability. Watching Wafer chase Rudy around screens inspired this idea. Roy will not be able to blow by Wafer. I also would be willing to bet that Wafer gets a piece of a couple of Roy's layups or jump shots. This will make Roy think twice before hoisting up a fadeaway 3 near the end of the quarter. Von might just tip it into the backcourt and go the other way for a dunk. Plays like these cause huge momentum swings. I want to see Roy finally get frustrated because he can't find a lane to the basket. With Battier or Ron on him, he has had a cakewalk to the basket. Lowry might also be able to fill this role, but Wafer is so fast (maybe even faster than Brooks because of his stride length) that it might throw Roy off his game. Discuss.
Roy has had a great series, but past history shows Artest has defended him about as well as anyone. Sometimes, great offensive players are just going to get their points regardless of who you put on them.
Wafer has trouble keeping an eye on his man, he often leaves them, he also overplays on d at times, instead of going for a easy block he'll try to send it into the 5th row. He cant control himself enough to guard someone like Roy.
I know he doesn't have the highest BBall IQ, but when your only job on defense is to stay glued to the best player on the other team, it is hard to focus on something else. And I agree with the overplaying on D, but this could also be an advantage. I can picture him denying the ball from Roy, or at least making him catch it deep in the backcourt. If you throw a lob pass to Roy near Wafer, who would you bet on coming up with it?
overplaying on d would affect him too much, like with denying roy the ball, he'd probably tie him up and just be called for a foul. The guy isn't completely stable yet, if challenged he'll get out of control. I just think that's asking too much of him right now, he'll try too hard and end up jumping at every fake, going for every jab step, etc. roy is too smart and too talented to not take advantage of that..
I just can't see Battier + Von giving up more than 42 to Roy. Then you could have Artest check Aldridge, which gives us a range shooting 4 on the floor with Yao. In my opinion this would work on defense. I have questions about Wafer being too tired to put on a scoring exhibition as well as check Roy.
Von has played very good defense compared to the regular season and he did do well vs Kobe. Give him a couple of opportunities and see what he does. Artest is too slow and Roy just keeps hitting fadeaways on Battier. I'll have Von on Roy and Artest on Outlaw( when he does come in he's to tall for Von).
wafer can jump alright, but how's jumping ability have to do with defend roy? that he will block roy's jumpers?
the key isn't necessarily von, shane, or roy. It's Yao/deke. Portland always picks off Roy's defender, leaving behind to fight through the pick. Roy then has to decide, does he challenge yao/deke or slow down to look for someone open, therefore allowing his defender to catch up to him? In the past he's slowed down, hesitated, looked around and that usually allowed ron to catch up to him from behind as Yao steps up, forcing him to pass or shoot a tough shot. Now with deke gone, as shown in last night's game, roy has less to worry about and more reason to challenge yao. So you put von on him, and he's gonna get picked off too, even worse, he might just get floored because he's not as strong as shane or ron and Przybilla sets some hard picks. Roy still going to get a lane to the rim and won't hesitate to go at yao since yao will have to avoid contact to stay out of foul trouble. What needs to be done is find someone to cut roy off after his man gets picked and before he gets to yao. Scola, landry, chuck, one of those forwards has to rotate to him and force him to pass or slow down so ron/shane can catch up to him.
Need to use the KISS method with Von, keep it simple stupid. You don't want to put too much on his plate at this point. Maybe next year.
Wafer isn't ready to guard a player like Roy in a playoff series. He's too absent minded defensively for an assignment like that.
If a veteran like Battier was call for 2 fouls on 2 clean very good defensive plays, imagine what Wafer will get call for.
Yup. Not only that, Battier is smart and experienced enough to defend a player that relies on as many screens as Roy does. His timing, ability to fight through and decision making (whether to go up or behind a screen) are all key qualities I haven't seen much of from Wafer. Simply stated: Roy would eat Wafer alive if we tried this.
HTown-BBall, I think you're underestimating Roy's offensive capabilities. While he's definitely got a sneaky athleticism to him (similar to Deron Williams), the strength of Roy's offensive game is his patience and his intelligence. He understands how to use screens, how to change pace, when to retreat, etc. For that reason, I get the feeling that Roy would either abuse and/or simply get Von in foul trouble right from the start. If he's going off again on Friday and nothing else is working, then sure...give Von a couple of possessions as a last resort kind of thing. But I would never go into a game planning to put Von on Roy.
I like the idea of giving Von a shot if Roy starts lighting up Artest and Battier in a future game. It doesn't have to be permanent. Maybe he can't handle it but there is no question he has the best chance, athletically, to stick with Roy. Von is lightning quick and has good size. Who knows? He has had mental lapses, defensively, which is understandable given his limited experience but maybe he would shock people and rise to such a challenge... I imagine a lot of his mistakes defensively relate to rotations and team defense. If they ask him to do one thing, make life diffcult for Roy, maybe we'll find out that his man-to-man defense is better than we think. That was an amazing dispaly of effort and athleticism when he followed Rudy from sideline to sideline, poked the ball away and took it the length of the court to throw it down.
I think of Ron defending Roy as a bruising RB playing in an NFL game. He may struggle to find openings in the first half, but eventually he will wear down the defense. I think Ron, as the series goes on, will wear down Roy with his relentless pressure and you will start to see Roy struggle, particularly in Houston. Roy is having to work way too hard for his shots so far in this series.
