Aloha,
The Dubs blew us out in game 2 so it was only fair that we returned the favor. I was surprised when the Warriors blew us out and frankly I was surprised that we did the same. But it was clear why it happened.
It always begins and ends with AD. We rarely lose when he dominates the game. AD had commented that the last game, he just missed shots he normally makes. And that is true. As a matter of fact he only made 2 more baskets than the game before. But he aggressively attacked the rim and went 11 for 12 from the line. He was 1 for 1 the game before. The Warriors are small and they have no answer for AD when he attacks.
And we saw it on the defensive end as well. The Warriors got off to a good start when AD was staying in his deep drops. Once he began to come up and show on the guards, the game turned around. The one thing that AD can do that most bigs can’t is show on a guard and still drop back and protect the rim. His 4 blocks hardly tell the story. He altered so many more than that and discouraged others from even attempting the shot. If AD can bring this every game the series is over.
LeBron is LeBron again for the 2nd game in a row. There just seems to be more spring in his step and he was super efficient in choosing his spots. I also loved that he only took 4 threes, canning 2. He scored 21 but he didn’t need to score more. And his 8 assists were as important than the points. We have seen LeBron bring it on offense all year but what has impressed me more has been his defense. He has been intense on that side of the ball, rarely taking a play off. He had been our weak link on defense this year. If he defends like this, we are in good shape.
I had commented earlier if we didn’t get good guard play, it didn’t matter how many points AD scored. Well we got good guard play. You could say that it was our guards that opened things up for AD and Lebron. DLO torched them in the first half. I think this opened everything up. And it wasn’t just DLO. Dennis was 3 for 6 from 3 and Lonnie was 2 for 4. We won the 3 point battle 15 to 13 but more importantly on 13 less attempts. 47% from 3 will get it done. And that opened everything up inside. We can’t constantly out shoot the Warriors from 3. But if we can continue to hit a decent percentage the Warriors can’t beat us.
Let’s give coach Ham his flowers. Three big adjustments turned the tide. I already mentioned AD coming out from his deep drops but just as important was putting Vando on Draymond and having AD guard the other Green. The Warriors run everything through Dray and we disrupted their offensive flow. What made this work was our guards defended their butts off. I’m not surprised when Dennis and Austin do it but DLO looked like a defensive stopper last night.
The last move That Coach Ham made was something everyone here had been asking for. He inserted Lonnie into the rotation. I believe I could even hear Buba shouting with joy all the way here in Hawaii. That really changed the offensive dynamic. Now the Dubs had another scorer to worry about on the perimeter. Lonnie was 2 for 4 from 3 but he is much more than that. He is a 3 level scorer with a mid range and he can get to the rim. His reverse layup was a thing of beauty. We know he can score but he also played large on the defensive side of the ball. Not only was he able to hang with the Dubs guards but he had 2 steals and a block as well. I’m hoping that this is the rotation for the rest of the series.
We all know we will have to win on the defensive end. We can’t consistently out gun the Warriors. We also need very good games from LeBron and AD. But we have a real luxury knowing that on any given night we can get big offensive games from DLO, Austin, Dennis, Rui and Lonnie. We don’t need them to all go off but knowing any one of them can, puts more pressure on a Warriors team that isn’t a great defensive team.
Monday is another big game. Like with Memphis, I don’t want to be forced to win another game up north. The Warriors don’t lose many home games. We just need to take care of our home court.
Great post, Michael. Returning to the high drop and changing the defensive assignments were excellent adjustments by Ham and his staff. Love how they started out in low drop to see how the Warriors were shooting but when they got off to a hot start, we made the adjustment and won the last three quarters.
The high drop is such a dramatic defensive adjustment because it unleashes AD’s unique ability to challenge at the 3-point line and still get back to protect the rim. This is the defensive adjustment that Vogel could never make. Rather than requiring massive rotations to cover shooters, this allows the Lakers to defend the action with just two players.
I also loved putting Vando on Green so whenever Curry tried to use Draymond for a screen he ended up with Vando on him but without Jarred having to run around like a chicken chasing Steph around a million screens. Great moves by rookie head coach.
We won the first of our two MUST WIN home games. Now we need to complete the double header and put the Warriors on the edge of elimination. That’s the goal for Monday night.
Yep!
“The last move That Coach Ham made was something everyone here had been asking for. He inserted Lonnie into the rotation. I believe I could even hear Buba shouting with joy all the way here in Hawaii. That changed the offensive dynamic.”
Great read, Michael. You had me cracking up several times and I feel vindicated. I feel the same way about Bamba, though some folks don’t want to cut him some slack. Yep. On Feb 23rd, Mo played 22min vs the Warriors. Had 10 points and 13 rebounds and went 2-4 from 3. If you watch highlights of Bamba’s game vs the Warriors he moved fluidly and defended well. He did none of that in the game 6 garbage time. Didn’t look like the same guy. I guess it was a significantly more serious ankle injury than we realized. I know he was in a walking boot after he got hurt. It’s a shame we didn’t get time with him healthy.