[Game] Trailblazers @ Kings - 12/27/15 - 6 pm PST, 9 pm EST

[Henkel]

Rondo is shooting 37% from three this season. He made 2 of them in the first quarter of this game. Until desperation time, the only shots he attempted in the second half today were layups. That's not it at all. Rondo can shoot. Portland didn't take him out of the game. He had 8 assists in the first quarter. What changed in the second half? A lot more Belinelli and Collison. We shot ourselves in the foot by going away from what was working.

Teams will clog the paint and play him for the pass in most half court situations, maybe you know something they don't. Blaming Belinelli and Collison for his play after the first quarter doesn't make sense to me. He's played the major minutes this season with both those guys and has been productive, and he clearly didn't have a good second half. He's been great this season, but he can have a bad half without shifting the blame.

And that's the big issue. When we start getting into our bench the offense grinds to a halt as guys take turns firing up bad shots. We have very little player movement on offense with the two and three guard lineups. We ran two sets in a row for Marco in the fourth quarter where Rondo held the ball at the top of the arc, Marco ran off a screen, and everyone else stood still for the entire shot clock. Then DeMarcus came in and our entire offense was dumping the ball to him and asking him to beat a double team or fire a long jumper. It's not like defenses are packing the paint against us, we're just electing to play idiotic telegraphed offensive sets for the entire fourth quarter where anyone in the arena could tell you where the ball is going to go.

We may luck our way into some wins playing this way (we got some really unlucky bounces at the end of this one to put it out of reach) but we're not dictating the game. I still think that Rondo and Collison together is the problem and it's not going away. Ben running off screens and threatening to hit shots makes us a tougher team to defend. With Casspi spotted up too and Cuz in the post the defense is stretched pretty thin. That should be our offense... and it was for the first half of the game. Then we got stagnant, iso-heavy, and stupid like we do in almost every game.

Hate the two point guard lineup as well, but more for defensive reasons. Collison has actually adjusted well to playing off the ball.

I agree with you. Less small ball, slower pace and more half court offense that goes through Cousins. That translates to Rondo having the ball less in the half court, which I'm in favor of. Cousins and Rudy are going to have mismatches down low most nights, so put Rondo in the corner and let him try out that improved three point shot. The trouble is Rondo has been dominate in the open court this season, simply one of the best. So you have to find a balance that takes advantage of what he does best and a more half court oriented offense.