DanH

The only tweak we need made is to a) tighten the rotation and b) stagger the rotation for matchup purposes.

Patterson needs to be defending Pierce at all times, if possible. Amir should see as much time as possible as the C against Blatche/Plumlee. It would be nice if Ross stayed in the game, but most non-Ross minutes should go to Vasquez rather than Salmons, assuming Fields is not an option (although frankly I'd be all over Fields taking Salmons' and de Colo's minutes).

So, tighten (less Salmons and de Colo, no Hayes, minimal Hansbrough). Check.

Stagger - take Amir out early, about 3-4 minutes into the 1st Q, bringing Patterson in to check Pierce. When JV subs out (end of Q1? 10 min mark? This lines up with when Pierce went to the bench in G1), Amir comes in at C, Hansbrough in for Patterson. Run Amir-Hansbrough for first half of 2nd Q, sub JV and Patterson in for Amir/Hansbrough when Pierce checks back into the game (about the 6 minute mark in G1). JV-Patman for rest of 2nd Q. Er, that seems like a run on sentence - let me make it clearer:

Start: JV-Amir
3-4 minute mark: JV-Patman
10-12 minute mark: Amir-Hansbrough
6 minute mark 2nd Q: JV-Patman

That's 9-12 minutes for Amir, 6-8 minutes for Hansbrough, 16-18 minutes for JV and 12-16 minutes for Patman.

Same idea in 2nd half, but less Hansbrough. Pierce played the entire 3rd Q in G1, so will need to split the Q between Amir/Patman to keep them fresh. JV/Amir for first 6 minutes, Patterson in for Amir, then Amir in for JV around 3 minutes left (Blatche subbed in here in G1, and Patterson can handle Blatche while Amir switches on to Pierce to take some of the running around the perimeter load). Then in 4th, Pierce sat until about 6 minute mark - run Hansbrough-Amir for first 3 minutes, then get JV back in (for Hansbrough). Then Patterson in for Amir when Pierce comes in (Garnett came in at the same time in G1 and JV matches up better with him). JV-Patman to finish the game, with Amir subbing for either if need be.

Again, to clarify that mess of a paragraph:

Halftime: JV-Amir
6 minute mark: JV-Patman
9 minute mark: Amir-Patman
Start 4th Q: Amir-Hansbrough
3 minute mark: JV-Amir
6 minute mark: JV-Patman

That's 15 minutes for Amir (bringing his total to 24-27), 3 minutes for Hansbrough (9-11), 18 minutes for JV (34-37) and 12 minutes for Patman (24-26).

Of course, it also matters that we exploit the big matchups properly (such as using Amir in PnR, rather than handing him the ball in the high post and asking him to dribble drive, which might be the stupidest thing I've ever seen in a basketball game, and I've seen Salmons play meaningful minutes in a playoff game, so I've seen some stuff). But I think allocating the minutes like this would be a great first step to making our bigs most effective against their long-ball lineups.

bjjs

Forget Hansbrough completely. Jonas/Amir/Patterson for the 96 minutes.

js12

Also, we need to post up our 4 man on Pierce.

Make J-Kidd have to adjust to our match ups, not the other way around.

Rene_13

This would not only force Pierce to play on both ends, when the other nets plays collapse, it'll free up a shot and or allow us to move the ball easier. We need to be crisp with our passes. Way too many turnovers in game 1

DanH

I'd like that, and started breaking it down that way, but Amir/Patterson get worn down quick chasing the Nets' stretch 4's around the perimeter, and it just started seeming like too much. I think Hansbrough was effective enough in his minutes (and I say that as probably his greatest critic) to give them a couple short breathers.

Ball Don't Lie

Hansbrough didn't do anything positive in game 1, but I'd still bring him in during a stretch in the 1st or 2nd quarter to see if he can bring some energy and get on the glass for us(and if not, then bench him in the 2nd half). You'd think he'd be an ideal candidate to really give us a lift off of the bench since the Nets play small and he'd be able to pound the boards vs Mirza or Blatche but that wasn't the case in game 1.

just4_raps

YUP!

I was there singing my ass off! And I usually never care to sing our national anthem.

The ACC was rocking. That was my 3rd Raptors playoff game and it was by far the most lively crowd.

Raptorman

Anyone going to the Raptor playoff game Tues night that can give me a ride home to Morningside and Lawrence?:cookie:

LOG

Our go to defensive lineup should be

Lowry
Ross
Fields
Paterson
Amir/JV (depending who are Nets playing at C)

Lowry, Ross take on their guards and Fields with 2pat defend Pierce and Johnson.


on the offensive end this 5 should be able to score efficiently while outrebounding Nets. Having Lowry, Ross, Pat would give us enough spacing to make up for poor 3pt shooting of LF, and they could not cheat on him because he is so active moving without the ball

LOG

who in their right mind would drive to a playoff game?

DanH

OK new hope - my outline above stands, with Patterson, JV and Amir taking all or near to all the bigs minutes, with Hansbrough filling in for short spurts if those three are tired.

On the wings, you'd hope we can get 30 minutes out of Ross if he can stay out of foul trouble. DD will probably play 36. Lowry as well. Vasquez can do 24-30 as well, playing a bunch at the 2 spot, although we'll need to make sure he is not on with DD, as it will be hard enough to hide one of them at a time. Vasquez should NEVER guard Williams, and should be kept off Livingston where possible. That leaves 12-18 minutes for Fields to be used as a primary defender. We'd want to make sure he's in with Patterson and Ross as much as possible, and with Vasquez to give GV another ball handling outlet. A Ross-Fields-Vasquez backcourt allows for a nice mix of defense, shooting, rebounding, and ball handling, especially with JV-Patman or Amir-Patman up front. That's a real nice "bench" group actually, and could be a great strength in the mid 2nd and late 3rd Q's. Anytime Fields is on with Amir-JV, you need some pairing of Lowry-Vasquez-Ross out there to space the floor.

bjjs

I would run with a 7-man rotation; Vasquez/Patterson off the bench. 7 guys getting 30+ minutes.

Use Salmons/Fields/Novak/Hansbrough/Hayes as a third off the bench depending on the situation in limited minutes...like 4-6 minutes.

DanH

Vasquez is too hard to hide in conjunction with DD defensively. I think you have to have Fields in the rotation to keep those two apart as much as possible.

raptorstar

hansbro should start a fight with pierce teach him a lesson , worth a technical

halphbreedballer

The reason he doesn't play is that he hasn't shown that he can shoot the ball well at all yet or he would be in the game more...

LOG

Neither can Tonny Allen, but he plays around 25mpg. LF is not as good defensively as TA but he brings alot of things to the floor. Play Landry in the lineup with Paterson while DD is the resting, and spacing is not going to be an issue

LOG

Maybe we could play Fieldvak :cookie:

Morsatun

I have two questions:
1 Does anyone know what actually happened with Amir? There has been so much talk about Ross scoring only 3 points, and DD not playing well, but I really think we missed an aggressive Amir big time.

2 Is there a specific reason why we are running so few picks and rolls? Last game we only had a couple with JV and he actually could not handle the ball, and then one in the last minute when Brooklyn was nit really marking JV.

Young Gunz

The waiting sucks!

Ball Don't Lie

The day has finally come. We finally agree on something.