Stotts won it for us

[Stevenson]

That substitution of Hood late in the 4th OT was brilliant. The guys were so gassed, and here comes Rodney prancing on the the floor. Fresh legs. Two big makes, and then the 3 that eventually wins it.

Coach has been fantastic throughout the playoffs. He learned from last year. Timely timeouts. Substitution pattern that works. NBA coach of the month the past few months in row.

 

[Natebishop3]

From what he said, he didn’t have much of a choice. Mo started to cramp up.

 

[handiman]

It's never made sense to me why coaches stick to substitution patterns in regulation, to keep the starters fresh for the final minutes, only to ride their starters into the ground in OT. If you're afraid of losing the lead in OT with a sub, why not play your starters all 48 minutes leading up? Pick your hottest bench player that game -- in this case Hood -- and insert him for a minute or two for an infusion of energy. It seems like such an obvious move...and last night validated it.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Yeah mo couldn't come back in. So.. hood or layman?
Hood is the obvious.

 

[tester551]

That substitution of Hood late in the 4th OT was brilliant. The guys were so gassed, and here comes Rodney prancing on the the floor. Fresh legs. Two big makes, and then the 3 that eventually wins it.

Coach has been fantastic throughout the playoffs. He learned from last year. Timely timeouts. Substitution pattern that works. NBA coach of the month the past few months in row.

Great decision. I was calling for that at the start of the second OT. I would've put Collins & Hood in for at least 2 minutes. Would've attacked Jokic every time down the court

 

[wizenheimer]

like people have said, and Stotts confirmed...that substitution wouldn't have happened if Mo hadn't cramped up

basically, the MVP of the game was a leg cramp

 

[royo]

As you said, asked bout Hood Stotts said (more/less): "I would love take prise for that but IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN if not Moe's injury".
So no.

 

[crandc]

Also getting in Seth. Two monster free throws under max pressure

 

[BonesJones]

That substitution of Hood late in the 4th OT was brilliant. The guys were so gassed, and here comes Rodney prancing on the the floor. Fresh legs. Two big makes, and then the 3 that eventually wins it.

Coach has been fantastic throughout the playoffs. He learned from last year. Timely timeouts. Substitution pattern that works. NBA coach of the month the past few months in row.

I was asking for Hood at the start of the 4th OT, then Stotts put him in late because Moe was cramping. No props from me on that.

 

[Pinwheel1]

It's never made sense to me why coaches stick to substitution patterns in regulation, to keep the starters fresh for the final minutes, only to ride their starters into the ground in OT. If you're afraid of losing the lead in OT with a sub, why not play your starters all 48 minutes leading up? Pick your hottest bench player that game -- in this case Hood -- and insert him for a minute or two for an infusion of energy. It seems like such an obvious move...and last night validated it.

Yeah it has been a pet peeve of mine for a very long time. Most do it and I don't get it when fatigue becomes so obvious. Like you allude to, you don't need to replace players completely , but get an infusion of energy in there. At least after the 1st OT.

Now I can see his reluctance to take out Dame or CJ, but rotating in Collins and Hood for Hark, Aminu, and Kanter seemed like a no brainier.
There has to be some coaching philosophy I am missing, because they all seem to do it.

 

[Natebishop3]

I was asking for Hood ar the start of the 4th OT, then Stotts put him in late because Moe was cramping. No props for me on that.

Yup. Stotts will only deviate from his plan if he absolutely positively has to.

 

[handiman]

Now I can see his reluctance to take out Dame or CJ, but rotating in Collins and Hood for Hark, Aminu, and Kanter seemed like a no brainier

Yeah, the big guns stay in, obviously. But, when you've got two starters in Moe and Aminu that are basically just rotation guys, anyway, it makes no sense to leave them in when the main thing they bring in the first place is energy. Guys like Hood and Collins played half the minutes and would have had a lot more spunk.

There has to be some coaching philosophy I am missing, because they all seem to do it.

I think it's mostly a fear of being second guessed. If you play it safe with tired starters and lose, you don't face much heat. If you throw a game away with reserves in OT, you might hear about it...

Another component might be fewer timeouts and refs blowing fewer whistles down the stretch, so less stoppages of play provides fewer opportunities to rotate players.

 

[Paine Tablet]

I actually think the players bailed Stotts out and that Stotts almost blew an easy win. I give him ZERO credit for this win. Hood was obvious and it wasn't even a decision he made. I firmly believe even playing Layman at that point would've given the team a serious offensive threat that Denver wouldn't have been able to contain given their exhaustion. Instead, Portland barely ran an offense because they were so tired and refused to close out the game despite many opportunities. Hero ball luckily worked only because Denver was just as stupid and failed to inject life into their unit. I think if Malone had put in Beasley it would've been over for Portland likewise.

 

[riverman]

I like Stotts...very comfortable with his coaching across the board. The defensive improvement is marked..

 

[James lamphear]

Stotts did almost lost the game when took out Kanter and we had Aminu on Jokic and Harkless on Millsap and Millsap score with ease and they went 2.

 

[ehizzy3]

Stotts did almost lost the game when took out Kanter and we had Aminu on Jokic and Harkless on Millsap and Millsap score with ease and they went 2.

i didn’t understand that substitution...maybe I missed the reasoning for it

 

[BonesJones]

Stotts did almost lost the game when took out Kanter and we had Aminu on Jokic and Harkless on Millsap and Millsap score with ease and they went 2.

We actually had Hood on Millsap IIRC.

 

[Wade Garrett]

i didn’t understand that substitution...maybe I missed the reasoning for it

I noticed that too and I figured Stotts probably saw fat boy was so gassed he wasn't the threat he was so he switched and put the bigger stronger Kanter on Milsap.
Great move, actually.

 

[Propagandist]

Also getting in Seth. Two monster free throws under max pressure

I have a complicated relationship with Seth's free throws...

 

[BonesJones]

I noticed that too and I figured Stotts probably saw fat boy was so gassed he wasn't the threat he was so he switched and put the bigger stronger Kanter on Milsap.
Great move, actually.

What?

He took Kanter out and put Aminu on Jokic and put Hood on Millsap and Millsap scored.

 

[Wade Garrett]

What?

He took Kanter out and put Aminu on Jokic and put Hood on Millsap and Millsap scored.

Then he put Kanter in on Milsap.

 

[BonesJones]

Then he put Kanter in on Milsap.

What? We're talking about the play he took Kanter out.

 

[TBpup]

Props for doing something he had no other choice in doing? Okay....

 

[Wade Garrett]

What? We're talking about the play he took Kanter out.

I know..he took Kanter out for a minute but when he came back in he took Milsap.
Must be 2 different situations here but I do remember noticing Enes on Milsap and thinking "smart move jokic is done..." why let Milsap abuse Farouq..put the bigger guy on him.

 

[James lamphear]

We actually had Hood on Millsap IIRC.

Ok I knew the person we had on him wasn't strong enough to contain him.

 

[James lamphear]

i didn’t understand that substitution...maybe I missed the reasoning for it

The reasoning was bad it was just bad decision by the coach at that part of the game.

 

[BonesJones]

I know..he took Kanter out for a minute but when he came back in he took Milsap.
Must be 2 different situations here but I do remember noticing Enes on Milsap and thinking "smart move jokic is done..." why let Milsap abuse Farouq..put the bigger guy on him.

53 seconds left in the 1st OT. At the dead ball before that he subbed out Kanter and put in Hood. He had Harkless on Murray (makes sense), Aminu on Jokic (A mismatch but not terrible) and put Hood on Millsap (who got an easy layup on him in the low post). We had 2 timeouts, so he could've called timeout to sub back in offensive players, or could've rolled with what he had -- Which shouldn't have been Hood on Millsap. Collins, Meyers, and Turner would've all been much better options than Hood. Terry basically handed the Nuggets a go-ahead bucket. It was the worst defensive matchup I've seen him come up with given the magnitude.

 

[tester551]

53 seconds left in the 1st OT. At the dead ball before that he subbed out Kanter and put in Hood. He had Harkless on Murray (makes sense), Aminu on Jokic (A mismatch but not terrible) and put Hood on Millsap (who got an easy layup on him in the low post). We had 2 timeouts, so he could've called timeout to sub back in offensive players, or could've rolled with what he had -- Which shouldn't have been Hood on Millsap. Collins, Meyers, and Turner would've all been much better options than Hood. Terry basically handed the Nuggets a go-ahead bucket. It was the worst defensive matchup I've seen him come up with given the magnitude.

Agreed. I was shaking my head in disbelief when i saw how they were matching up.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

It's not like he doesn't have a history of going small for really strange reasons in clutch situations. He's done it to Nurk at least a hand-full of times this season which either lead to a loss or a tie game. Why doesn't someone tell him to knock that shit off already. It literally has never worked to our advantage yet he continues to do it.

 

[Stevenson]

You know what fellas, if you were that game like I was, exhausted from standing and cheering and groaning for an hour, and you saw a move that looked brilliant, and you didn't know Mo had gotten hurt because you hadn't heard that or seen the post game interviews, you might make a post giving the coach props too. Obviously I didn't know Mo was hurt and Stotts had no choice or I wouldn't have started this thread, would I?

So bully to all of you for feeling so smugly superior.

At least I got to see the game!