With the exception of Andrew Wiggins (7 of 11 for 20 points), the Wolves forwards and centers were relatively tame. It is hard to blame this on Anderson when it was the Wolves guards that did all the damage. With about 3 minutes to play, here are the stats: Jimmy Butler - 9 of 18 for 25 points Jeff Teague - 9 of 14 for 23 points Derrick Rose - 8 of 15 for 17 points.
The guards were slashing into the paint with abandon, part of the reason for that is Anderson provides no paint protection and can't pick guards up on switches. In the first two games we had Nene, Tucker and Green who either blocked the paint or at least switched pretty well. There's a bit of a snowball effect as well, once they started scoring well even Towns started dominating and bullying Anderson in the paint. Anderson had the third worst +/- in just 18 mins for a reason. Notice how he is the big with the worst - despite shooting 4/6 for the game, thats cuz everyone was scoring on his ass. If the guards were scoring via 3s ok, thats not on Anderson. But they were scoring in the paint, that is totally on Anderson being a liability on defense.
Not a coincidence that our defense **** the bed with this guy back in the lineup. Other teams love Ryan Anderson on the floor. In order for him to be a net positive he has to be making 3s at a crazy high % because we know he is going to be costing us buckets on the other end.
The entire team was just sloppy in the 3rd quarter when the Wolves turned what was a 1 point game at halftime into a 10 point lead going into the 4rth quarter. The Wolves shot 15 of 27 for 56% from three. It was not just the Wolves driving to the basket. All of our guards and small forwards (Paul, Harden, Gordan, Ariza and Tucker) played poor defense. No-one defended the three. No-one stayed in front of their man. And if you watched the game, the passing was sloppy with several turnovers leading to easy Wolves buckets. Finally, the plays were poorly executed with several hastily taken shots. It is hard to blame this solely on Anderson when everyone on the team deserves a little bit of the blame. I'll be quite frank. The team really needs Prince Luc Richard Mbah a Moute back. It is not just his defensive. The team just does a better job of switching and playing man defense. Finally, Mbah a Moute's intensity on defense pushes everyone to elevate their defense.
Exactly this. Anderson as a matter of fact hit some nice threes. We need everyone on board to win it all. The guy was out there actually giving a damn. Everyone else just looked like they had their arms in air to complain about every call...
He was the big with the worst - in the entire game. It doesn't matter matter whether he gives a damn or not, what matters is the results. -12 when he shoots well and gives a damn wtf. Whats his + - gonna be when he is missing shots and not giving a damn?
-12 is not hate. -7 Capela -7 Nene -7 Tucker -12 Anderson On a night when he hit 4/6 Anderson was still almost 50% worse than our other bigs. Dude just sucks on D esp in the playoffs.
Nobody is solely blaming Anderson but you should still see why he should be nailed on the bench. You can't trust Anderson's D he will just get owned by Towns and he can't defend the slashes of the opposing guards. BTW Luc plays PF so that just tells you Anderson sucks even more. It also shows Anderson is the worst signing by Morey ever, we need a guy on vet min to save the season cuz we paid 20M to someone who shouldnt even be on the rotation.
Unfortunately, the Prince is out indefinitely for now. His injury shook me up honestly. He is the most versatile defender and also an underrated offensive weapon. We need to defend and rebound like in Game 2, otherwise the score will be 2-2 going back to Houston. EG's struggles on the court are the biggest problem that we are facing right now. There is no doubt that he is the 3rd best scorer and an underrated defender at his best.
One thing that really annoys me is when people selectively use facts to make a false argument. Why didn't you post the +/- for all the players on the team. For example, Gerald Green and Eric Gordon. Gerald Green: -18 in 21 minutes. Eric Gordon: -13 I like Gerald Green and he has given this team some mojo as well as helped this team win several games. But in this game, he was atrocious and got lit up by Andrew Wiggins. Since it does not look like you watched the game, here are the highlights of Andrew Wiggins going off on Trevor Ariza and Gerald Green. There were plays, as you can see in the highlights where Wiggins take Ariza and Green off the dribble and just runs right by them to the basket.
Facts i like Gerald he's my homie but you are correct on your assessment. We did close out on shooters very well or stay in front of guys as they attacked. Just played lethargic.
I am not sure if you actually watched the game because I watched the game and what you are describing is not what I saw. What I saw was Chris Paul, James Harden, Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza, PJ Tucker and Gerald Green all getting lit up by Minny's guards and small forwards. In the post game, both Chris Paul and James Harden owned up to their poor team defense and Mike D'Antoni talked about it as well. Just to put it in perspective, Derrick (totally shot knees) Rose went off on Chris Paul and scored 17 points. Here are the post game interviews of Chris Paul, James Harden and Mike D'Antoni. I also posted highlights of Jimmy Butler going off on Harden and Derrick Rose going off on Chris Paul. This should serve as a wake up call for the Rockets and let them know that they can not walk through the playoffs even if they are the more talented team. The good news is that Rockets have the ability to defend Minny's guards and I fully expect the Rockets to win this series.
Once you come to accept everything is Anderson's fault no matter what, it will save you the keystrokes. There is no argument that will be good enough when it comes to Anderson. We just have to keep giving Anderson those positive vibes, debate is a futile endeavor. Sending positive vibes to @Huricane as he tries to explain what he saw in the game to @roslolian who saw a completely different game.
I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Gerald Green and Eric Gordon are guards/SF, Anderson is a big. You see the difference between the two? You accuse me of selectively using facts but you are the one doing it. Obviously the guards played horribly, DUH. Does that need to be pointed out? What are you gonna do if Eric Gordon is -13? You bench him for RJ Hunter and Markel Brown is that it? Ryan Anderson is a big and he should be compared to our other bigs namely Capela, Nene and Tucker. Why are you comparing him to guards? The point I'm saying is he is a defensive liability and can't defend the paint, his negative +- which is markedly worse than Nene, Capela and Tucker show that. Green being -18 is an anomaly, unlike Anderson who is consistently a defensive hole Green has shown that on an average day he is a decent defender at the 3 and 4 spots. What is the false argument I'm making here? From what I can see you are the one making the false argument, basically you are saying since the guards played horribly all the blame has to go to them and Anderson is exonerated of all blame. How does that make any sense? Part of Rockets defense is TEAM defense, we don't have 1v1 defenders like a Kawhi or Lebron who will lock a person down 1 on 1. The Rox defense consists of switching and close outs, that kind of defense depends on a big locking down the paint and being able to switch effectively. The plays yo say where Wiggins take Ariza and Green off the dribble and just right by them to the basket are Green and Ariza supposed to stop him cold? Or is a big supposed to rotate and close out the path to the basket? From what I can see you have little understanding of how NBA defense works and think people just defend their opposing position 1 on 1 the entire game wtf
Again guarding the Minny guards is a team effort, Cp3 and Harden are owning up because they are the leaders of the team but stopping the guards isn't solely their responsibility, Rose going off on Chris has more to do with forays to the paint which again is wide open cuz your lord and savior Ryan Anderson can't defend if his life depended on it. The wake up call here is you limit Anderson's minutes unless he is really feeling it and when he is on the floor you tell him to shoot every chance he gets to make up for his horrible D.
Yes there is no argument: Nene -7 Capela -7 Tucker -7 Anderson -13 One of these guys is markedly worse than the others. It is pretty clear unless you are wearing Anderson tinted glasses. Ball don't lie.
