Westbrook needs to pass up the open 3s for contested midrange jumpers.... This doesn't apply to anyone else in the NBA but him!
The momentum got screwed when Russ picked up his 5th foul and then became a defensive liability. LBJ took advantage of this and got Lakers to score 6 quick points with 4 coming from LBJ himself while Russ hesitated to guard him due to foul trouble. This is when Lakers took 6-7 point lead. Then rest was just scrappy plays; Harden could not break lose from his defender while dribbling for 15-20 seconds and often got double teamed so Rockets had to jack up 3s or take highly contested shots. Execution was simply terrible in the 4th.
He needed to go quicker, before the second guy comes to double. He had some chances to do that, go back over the game film. He made great passes, but he is the nba’s leading scorer and, by far, our best player. He needs more than 12 shots. He has to bring it up and attack right away, or make a decision right when he makes the pass (when someone else brings it up). Tonight wasn’t on him, but if you want to get past the Lakers, he can’t average 12 shots.
I don't disagree with anything you said. But again, Harden recently has not shown a tendency to do any of that. We cannot expect him/this team to change how they play. Which we can all agree, is unfortunate.
Westbrook totally forgot he shouldn't be shooting 3s. When the Lakers left him wide open and he took the bait, I knew we were going to lose.
Everyone was great except Russ. His decision making is so bad, the Lakers would pack the paint and he would still try to drive in and got stripped every time. He needs to just let the game come to him and not force it. Definitely never attempt 7 threes again too.
i just want Russ to mainly focus on mid range and attack the basket next game. only shoot 3s when we are up over 10 or something.
For as bad as Westbrook played, I still think this game was all about the adjustments the Lakers made. I think their adjustments forced the Rockets to THINK and some of our players, mainly Westbrook, but also Harden, self-destructed. Harden's troubles were less apparent, but he didn't get as many shots up as we need him to get and he didn't make enough plays. The Lakers's zone defense seems to be the key to keeping us from shooting the amount of threes we need to shoot to win. The zone defense plus the sacrifice of their centers minimized their advantage on the boards to the point where it never felt like rebounding was a problem. Tucker even got the chance to get some offensive rebounds and putbacks. The Rockets have to make them pay for leaving the paint open with their zone and by going small by getting more offensive rebounds. And they have to figure out a way to operate more from the pockets of space that zone gives up. I don't know how they do that given the fact that we don't care about rebounds or that space on the floor that they are willing to give up. Then, the weird doubling of Harden discombobulated him, IMO. Westbrook also had issues as he couldn't take advantage by attacking the rim because LeBron and others recovered quick enough from defending the corners to protect the rim. Harden's troubles were less noticeable because Westbrook's type of mistakes were aggressive whereas Harden's were passive. Adjustments have to be made by them and the coaching staff.
The single biggest adjustment I saw was the way they Lakers are floating Lebron around on defense. His presence in the lane has made it very difficult on players driving to the basket, which is virtually Russ's entire game. Because he is so large and athletic, no one on our team can really take it to him, so we get a lot of drives and kick outs, but the kick outs are done when the Lakers have not collapsed to the basket but instead just used Lebron to protect the rim, so it becomes easier for them to rotate and cover up the outside (or when they're playing zone, they hardly have to rotate at all). I don't see an alternative to this outside of getting past the outside man and pulling up for mid range jump shots more often. This is not just a Russ issue - Gordon, Harden, House, etc. will have to get used to pulling up and settling for short jumpers instead of trying Lebron at the basket. This alone will drastically reduce our dependence on 3 point efficiency which is dangerously high right now.
Russ should stick to his midrange shot off the glass and around the FT. He should only shoot 3s at the corner if he HAS to take them. I think the blocks from weak side by Lebron and AD have gotten in his head and he's become hesitant to drive in the paint. His mid range game is probably his best offense right now when he's not able to get layups in the paint.
When everyone was drunk in the euphoria after Game 1, I told you folks that the Lakers would adjust. It wouldn't be so easy beating them. They are one of the top defensive teams for a reason.
I agree with all of this and a lot of your OP. Some of those 3's Westbrook took because the ball was passed to him with the clock running out, which was happening with the whole team too often in the first half. It was like they were playing hot potato a lot of the time, while the clock ran down, with players giving up open shots to pass it around until someone got it at the last second. And some of those passes, including a few from Harden who should definitely know better, forced Westbrook to shoot a 3. Westbrook hasn't come into any game with a plan to shoot 3's in a very long time. He knows his strengths lie elsewhere and that this is a weakness of his. I don't think he planned to shoot so many 3's tonight. I think he was taking what their defense (and our offense) were giving him. But yeah, he had a rotten game tonight. I was rooting for him to get his 6th foul because I didn't think MDA could really bench him with the game on the line, even though he was a liability throughout the game. Alas, the 6th foul never came.
When the ball swings to him he must penetrate. His number one job is to put the defense on its heels if he does that an dont make turnovers we win easy.
It is unfortunate that our good 3 pt shooting got wasted in game 2 but you have to give it to lakers that they also shot the ball well. We gave up too many easy points in transition. We must improve our transition defense and get back.
Or the fact that he never hustles back to try and at least stop the fast break after a live ball TO. He just has this bewildering look on his face. It is beyond perplexing. Hopefully he finds something that works offensively for his currently limited skill set or there has to be a lineup change.
