It's a tough matchup for the Spurs. Rockets basically put four shooters on the court with one big (Capela or Nene). I thought Pop should have went small, rather than having his bigs try to guard perimeter guys. You can easily get away with putting a SF on Ryan Anderson. Pop was playing big, which is fine if you want to pound it down low in the post. But he that's not the Spurs game. He was basically playing into the Rockets gameplan, but with the wrong guys on the floor. I'm curious to see the adjustments Pop will make. I think with the proper adjustments SA can get back in this series. If I'm Pop, I do these things:
- Play small. Like LeBron, Kawhi can play the PF position, especially in this series. Last night they had Aldridge guarding Ariza for a lot of the game. Have one big man on the court, surrounded by guards and wings.
- Don't play David Lee. This series is not for him. They should use Dedmon, a much more athletic player who can protect the rim and move his feet 20 feet from the basket. I really tihnk Dedmon will be a key player in this series if the Spurs want to win.
- Use Jonathan Simmons. He is a versatile SF who comes off the bench, he can essentially guard any player on the Rockets except the center position.
- I know Aldridge is struggling, but if Ryan Anderson is guarding him, you have to give him the ball on the block. Aldridge needs to man up in this series, I don't see Spurs winning the series with Aldridge averaging less than 15 points per game.