Having watched the game (to the best of my abilities), while the defense is a whole is frustrating, it leads to probably what I see as our biggest issue: the inability to get a quality stop when it really matters. You can't expect to put the screws to someone when you really need a stop if you haven't been conditioned to do it all game.
Both in this game and in the game before, we had a positive shift in momentum, and we really could have taken a good hard run at two playoff bound teams had we been able to get a stop. Vs. Atlanta, Teague really didn't have to work that hard to get buckets in the end, and with maybe a bit more coherence on that end, maybe we steal a win. Same thing last night vs. the Clips. Momentum was there, but they found it was too easy to get a bucket whenever they wanted.
Close games require attention to detail on both ends of the floor. If we need to lock down a team for a period of time (say, two possessions,) we need to be better at doing it when the game isn't on the line. You can't just flip a switch. It has to be a persistent mentality. Karl is right when he said that this team has the ability to defend. He just needs to emphasize it a little more.
Both in this game and in the game before, we had a positive shift in momentum, and we really could have taken a good hard run at two playoff bound teams had we been able to get a stop. Vs. Atlanta, Teague really didn't have to work that hard to get buckets in the end, and with maybe a bit more coherence on that end, maybe we steal a win. Same thing last night vs. the Clips. Momentum was there, but they found it was too easy to get a bucket whenever they wanted.
Close games require attention to detail on both ends of the floor. If we need to lock down a team for a period of time (say, two possessions,) we need to be better at doing it when the game isn't on the line. You can't just flip a switch. It has to be a persistent mentality. Karl is right when he said that this team has the ability to defend. He just needs to emphasize it a little more.
