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Message: [QUOTE="champs99and04, post: 2730030, member: 488"] I need to rant for a minute after that game. - First, who decided it would be a good idea to ask about the Santa Fe shooting 30 seconds after a heart-pounding finish that may determine the champion? The guy can barely catch his breath and is charged with all the adrenaline in the world after arguably the most important game of his life. It's not that the broadcast is unworthy of that subplot, it's that you're trivializing the scope of the tragedy by trying to jam it into made-for-TV moment. Harden answered it a lot more gracefully than I would have, but TNT should still be embarrassed in my opinion. - I knew the sport was heading this way but it's still staggering to see the best two teams in the league switching literally everything on every possession. "Solved basketball" is a good way to put it as [USER=1329]@auror[/USER] did - it's not always aesthetically pleasing, but I don't think we should confuse it for "bad basketball" or "sloppy basketball." It is sloppy basketball induced by a full-circle evolution in half-court defense. Four years ago, we watched the Spurs play some of the prettiest basketball of all-time by slicing up Miami's trapping schemes. Right now we are watching some of the ugliest basketball ever because all the math and all the rules have gone so far towards one extreme that it's brought us back to the playground. You'd rather let Chris Paul accost Kevin Durant in the mid-post than let Steph slip through a broken hedge and find Klay for an open three, even if everything you've ever been taught tells you that defending Kevin Durant with Chris Paul is stupid. The league is absolutely complicit in facilitating this transformation because of how much contact is allowed in the post compared to the perimeter. We may finally have reached the overcorrection that compels them to scale back on that initiative. - I've been wrong about this series because I underestimated the shotmaking skills of Houston's guards (Harden is in a nasty slump, but Paul, Gordon, and Green shot 10 of 24 from three to keep them above water). They're not one-trick ponies who catch and shoot in rhythm - they're nailing step-back threes and contested threes at a rate that has surpassed Durant's contested twos. - Speaking of, the Rockets have dared KD to beat them and he has not. Their entire strategy was to make him a one-dimensional player and they have mostly succeeded. He has ten assists in five games, six of which came in a blowout game three, and he has shot just 17 of 46 over the last two games. He did get to the line ten times tonight, but you get the strange feeling when watching that Golden State has reached a point of diminishing returns with their roster as currently constituted. When you're playing strictly iso ball, the whole "one ball" thing applies. Steph Curry isn't any more valuable than Eric Gordon if he's watching KD post up. That's why it has appalled me to see Houston beat Golden State at their own game - Curry is turning down the chance to do the things Paul and Harden are doing to win games even though he's arguably better than them at those things. That has to kill him. - The Warriors still had a chance to win and they simply puked on themselves for the second straight game. Quinn Cook had the chance to hit one of the biggest shots maybe in NBA history and he couldn't even catch the pass cleanly. That's just nerves, that's just not being ready for that moment. One possession later, Curry had the chance to get Cook that exact shot but he took a tough banker because he didn't trust him. Then there was Draymond butchering the last sequence. The shot clock violation, though, is what I'll remember. I mean, I don't want to turn into a sports radio host, but 2:45 remaining, down three, four of the most skilled players in the world, and you can't...even...get...off...a shot. Bad. - Golden State should be able to win without Iguodala, but man are they better with him. If you replace those West/Looney/Bell minutes with him, you're much better equipped to switch across the board. Bell, in particular, is a player I really like but who is targeted relentlessly by Houston on switches. He held up OK a couple times, and they hit tough shots, but he's a rookie who can't deal with savvy vets like Paul and Harden one on one. Which brings me to my final point... - Steve Kerr needs to be better. Nobody is a bigger proponent of liberal switching schemes than me, but you don't need to do at it all five positions, especially when a lot of the time Houston's just going through the motions knowing what you're going to do. At least make them earn it. You're doing them a favor by retreating so quickly into a last resort alignment when they're not even coming with a hard screen. You're telling me you can't string out their action for a few seconds late in the shot clock while they try to lull you into the match-up they want? You can't make Capella or Ariza think in the middle of the floor with seven seconds on the clock? Lack of imagination from Golden State has hurt them in these situations. If Chris Paul can't go game six or seven, maybe this is all moot. It isn't so much that they'd be losing Chris Paul - though that wouldn't help - as much as it is that they're dangerously short on depth as it is. Asking them to fend off a historic team with six or seven guys is a lot as it is; take Paul away and suddenly Harden basically has to play all 48 minutes and create everything. That's simply not viable. [/QUOTE]

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