[Video Playbook] Draymond neutralizing himself to stop Capela

Awesome thread.

I think we were too vested to the Red Lobster in Game 1 by executing the gameplan we were successful with against the Jazz. When that happened, our layups were short because we didn't have the option to feed CC who was pinned down by Dray. I think they were told to look for CC's availability but commit to the bucket if they're in the air.

 

Capela has alot height advantage on DG, he needs a hook shot

 

that's cuz Draymond is not as good of a defender as Gobert, nor as long.

Gobert was actually containing Capela at times and then stepping up last second to contest any shots at the rim

 

Great post hp. Haven't had time to really digest it yet, but it confirms what I thought I was seeing during the game ...

I wasn't worried about Clint's offensive output because if his man is sticking with him relentlessly then that opens up shots(harder ones than the lobs but still...) for harden.

What has been concerning me though is the awesome job the WARRIORS have been doing keeping Clint off the boards. I don't know if it's just an aberration or just tied in to defenders being glued to him or just bad bounces but the warriors have been doing a really good job at boxing Clint off with much smaller defenders.

And in game 2 the warriors were challenging him and he wasn't nearly the defensive presence that he usually is. I'll just chock that up to a little bit of bad timing and awesome O on the warriors part.

The oops are nice ... the lack of them aren't that alarming though. I hope he can step up and be that monster on D and on the boards because that will make it so much easier for the rockets to take a stranglehold in the series.

 

He's not just stopping the alley oop. He's also trying to prevent Capela from getting offensive boards. Capela averaged 4 offensive boards in the first two rounds. It killed opposing defenses.

 

He can't. He can only find other ways to compensate for that disadvantage. Like getting Curry to score on offense more than he lose on defense.

Just like we can't really stop Durant from scoring without sacrificing other aspect on defense. So we do other things to compensate for the disadvantage. Like disrupting Curry and Klay by switching on every screen set for them.

It's a game of give and take. You stop something, you expose yourself to something else. They stopped Capela's oops or Tucker's 3s, they lost rim protection. Against a good offensive team, you pretty much have to pick your poison(s).

 

Capela is feeding Harden by just standing there. Give him the max!

 

Curry flopping and with few calls can mitigate his weakness by limiting Houston’s possessions and forcing time off on the clock as much as possible to disrupt our offensive flow are few ways that he can be effective on defense. As seen in the past 2 games, this causes him to be ineffective on the offense end.

If we don’t hit our shots, then Curry’s teammates will start helping him out. Making 15+ 3’s at decent percentage is the key to keep their defense honest and for our offense to open up.

 

Great analysis as always @heypartner .

People are getting too cocky with this info though. Curry will torch us at some point, he is who he is because he is capable of putting up 30+ with a hand in his face and 3 feet behind the line. We have been f'ing with his head, and Durant's iso's are also f'ing with his head, but he is an elite all-time scorer too, even if he's not THE best player in the league.

He has had looks that he normally takes and makes. If Curry puts up 35, it's not because we failed. It's because some things are inevitable. Like Harden's upcoming triple double.

Also, Capela is just not fighting for boards enough. I'm happy with his interior D considering who he's up against. Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert are looking meh against Rockets/Warriors offense too. But on the boards, he could've grabbed a few more in game 2. He doesn't have that menacing look on his face this series. He has that young capela face going on, the emotionless expression. I want him to go for more blocks, we can afford to risk Capela getting into foul trouble this series.

 

It’s amazing how a player of KD’s stature can belittle someone of Capelas skills yet the game plan was to not let him get rolling on the lobs.... If Capela was such a non factor and his job was easy (in the words of KD) than why even bother game planning for him?
Look, I live in a world where GS is probably going to go down as one of the greatest teams ever assembled. So I understand that the Rockets beating them would be a HUGE accomplishment, BUT, let’s not act like HOU doesn’t also have a great team who just happens to give GS fits. Like GS, HOU can also switch everything, they have great shooters, multiple guys who can plays D, great role players (maybe even better than GS), they also have 2 HOF’ers, a future AS, a former go to guy (EG), and a champion (Ariza). Will we loose this series? Maybe, but not because we under achieved but because the greatest team ever beat us.

 

This is all excellent stuff. Dead on accurate description of what we're doing to Draymond.

A 7-game series is a chess game. It's move counter move throughout. It's the Warriors turn to counter.

Tell us how the Warriors are going to counter in game 3?

 

clearly Capela is the X-Factor here

 

The Cats stills have my LOLing. That was so brilliant!

 

This thread by @heypartner is absolutely incredible! I mean, during the game you see some of these things, but it is not until you get a chance to really review them that you see what is going on. And I didn't really realize how much GSW doubled down on this strategy until I saw the totality of those clips.

I have to believe that GSW is going to change some of this up. If not, I have to believe Draymond will get frustrated at not being able to freelance.

@Clutch, this thread is "sticky" worthy.

Aside: That one clip of Ariza beating KD off the dribble. KD, rightfully, did not respect Ariza's drive. Just played the shot. This is why it is SOOO important for Ariza or Gordon to be alternate attackers with Harden/CP on the floor. It really forces GSW's hand. Opens things up. Quite frankly, it gives GSW a taste of their own medicine with what they normally do to teams with a fleet of attackers.

 

Prime HP. Best thread on CF in years. Thanks!

 

I agree. The big adjustment in game 3 almost certainly will be to make the Rockets "role players" do more playmaking. That's a smart strategy, since there is typically a psychological need to depend more on star players when playing on the road. The Rockets will need to fight against that impulse and just let their offense flow. Gordon, Ariza, and Tucker will all need to be sharp this game. I expect to see a lot of minutes with Harden, Paul, and Gordon all on the floor.

 

Yeah, I keep waiting for GSW to trap Harden at times to try to make PJ or Ariza the playmaker at the FT line. Ariza has been good at layups recently. And we have seen PJ make floaters which is amazing. Can they keep that up?

 

Not only are they making Curry play defense to physically tire him, you get mentally tired trying to figure out how to stop/slow down your guy. Then you start making bad decisions. And you slow down cause you think too much instead of just playing. Bad if your a PG.

I think people underestimate mental fatigue. I took an 8 hr test once. After it was over, I didn’t want to talk, think, cook, or anything for the rest of the day.

 

Also wanted to point out about this @heypartner video series....

1) The big story was the Rockets ISOing for Curry. But this video series also shows the underlying ISO target. Knowing GSW's Capela strategy and using it against them.

2) We talk about "gravity" as it related to Ryan Anderson's 3pt shot. This video series shows the inverse gravity of Capela as it relates to Dryamond. The Capela black hole is sucking Draymond away.