D’Antoni certain Spurs to ‘change it up’
History indicates Popovich will try something new on defensive end
The Spurs changed their defense against the Rockets from last season to this season. They changed from the first half to the second half last month in San Antonio. They returned to practice on Saturday with time, should Gregg Popovich desire, to hit the Rockets’ high-powered offense with something else entirely.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni has a pretty good idea what’s coming next. More changes.
“They’ll change it up,” D’Antoni said. “There’s just so many things they can do. They’ll try different guys. Danny Green will probably start on James (Harden). If not, it doesn’t matter. They’ll probably throw a trap in every once in a while. One of their strengths is they have a lot of veteran guys that can change things up. I’m sure that’s what they’ll do.” Not the chief concern
For the Rockets, being certain that nothing is certain going into a matchup with the NBA’s best defense is not the primary concern. They have built an offense designed to have counters to the options an opponent chooses.
There is a sense that no matter how the Spurs defend them, the Rockets will have to get their 3-point shooting going again.
The Rockets would not mind winning without it, as they did in the series against Oklahoma City when they made 28.4 percent, the worst 3-point shooting of the first round, but still won in five games.
“That’s what we work so hard on,” Rockets forward Trevor Ariza said. “That’s what we do.
“I guess taking what the defense gives us. Our last series, Ryan (Anderson) and myself, they kind of took us out to where they weren’t leaving us and to when we did get those shots, it was a bit off rhythm. It’s just about continuing to stay confident, stay focused. When you get your opportunities, shoot them.”
Anderson made just 3-of-24 3-pointers in the first round, Ariza 3-of-16. The Spurs will not make it easy to turn that around. Only the Miami Heat allowed fewer 3s per game than the Spurs during the regular season. The Rockets, however, made and attempted more 3s per game against the Spurs than any opponent.
The Rockets do not expect to get as many open looks from the 3-point line in a playoff series, but believe they can get enough to get going.
“Teams aren’t really going to allow us to shoot like normal,” Anderson said. “I think a lot of people forget that. These are high-caliber defenses. Especially, San Antonio holds teams to the (second) fewest 3-point shots in the regular season. We’ve been able to shoot over that. I think we’ve been able to shoot 38 a game against them. In the playoffs, it’s going to be less than 38 a game.
“We’re a team that wants to shoot 3s. We want to shoot them at a high rate. But teams aren’t going to allow that in the playoffs. Regardless of me or Trevor or whoever it is, we just need to play our roles, play our same game and shoot the ball when open.” Who gets Harden?
For most of the first three meetings, the Spurs had Green on Harden, switched on screens and then swarmed to the lane when he inevitably beat big men off the dribble. With Harden rolling last month, the Spurs changed up, putting Kawhi Leonard on Harden and calling off most of the switches. They had big men sink to the lane but often will have their centers or power forwards show or trap Harden.
The Rockets typically seek to find the opening to exploit with Harden so masterful at it, Popovich has said that Harden is the exception to his regularseason rule to not watching video of other teams and players.
“They’ve been together for a long time. They’re going to throw a lot of different things at you,” Rockets guard Eric Gordon said. “During the season, they switched a lot. Sometimes, they stayed with (assignments). They had different people guarding different matchups.
“We’re just going to be prepared for everything, whatever they do. We’re just going to determine everything by the first couple minutes to see how they really (defend) and go from there.”
D’Antoni disputed the notion that the Rockets did not get their usual assortment of open 3-pointers against the Thunder. The Rockets took 33.8 3s in the first round, down from their record-setting average of 40.3 in the regular season, but still the third most in the first round.
“We got them last series. We just didn’t make them,” D’Antoni said. “In a playoff game, they’re more attentive. They know what we’re doing. Everybody plays a little harder. You’re not going to have 50 3s. That’s just not going to happen. But I thought our shots were good last game. Hopefully, we’ll get the same looks.”
If they do, the Rockets expect to make them. But in a matchup with the Spurs’ defense, it is difficult to know just what to expect.