[SB Nation] Iso-Ball was on the way out of the NBA, until the Rockets reinvented it

Yep, I've had a Twitter crush on Seerat for awhile. Brown girl who knows her basketball? Hard to top that for me

 

This is a really insightful article. I knew we were last in pace since the streak started, but didn't realize we were also dead last in player movement. This is definitely great for veteran players and you know Morey would use that in recruiting.

You don't think LeBron would love playing in a system that won't run him into the ground? Cousins? Love? Think they'd be a fan of that too.

Also like pointing out how the Rockets one-upped the Warriors' offense. The Warriors have to keep the ball moving at all times to be effective, and they have to run. Every pass they make has a probability of being stolen, deflected, or dropped, and those turnovers are what will probably prevent them from beating us in the playoffs.

 

This is what I don't quite get about how/why McHale/Bickerstaff were so disastrous when Harden ISOs were commonplace at the end of shot clocks/game clocks going back a couple years.

Is it primarily that Harden got better? Is he that much better rested by having Paul? Is it the supporting cast? Better spacing?

What I'm inferring is Morey probably felt Harden ISOs were efficient-enough to keep doing be (pre-D'Antoni) even when it neutered the traditional offense at the time which put greater emphasis on moving without the ball.

Tangentially, what's most fascinating about this year's team is the roster is fully capable of running with expedited pace or slowing to a turtle crawl, both with high efficiency. No idea if that was by design, but it's absolutely amazing to watch, along with the interchangeable parts that can switch with anyone along the perimeter.

 

I think the problem with the stepback is even retired officials have confirmed it isn't a travel.

In order to make it a travel, they would have to change the rules so that the 2 step applies only when a player is moving towards the basket, but that would open up a new can of worms.

 

just like how the whole league and the refs spent all summer to change the rules to weaken harden

only to make him stronger with an MVP season and 1st in the league

 

Isn't it similiar to how the Cavs beat the Warriors in 16? They played for the switch onto Curry then went at him over and over again. I feel like this sort of iso play has been a staple in NBA offenses forever the Rockets just took it to the next extreme like with 3 point shooting.

 

Having Paul helps a lot.

Having more 3pt shooters is also crucial. During the McHale era, we had Ariza, Beverley, old Jason Terry, and huh Brewer as our 3pt threats. The best shooter was probably Terry but he couldn't play much and he was bad on defense. Now we have added elite shooters like Gordon and Anderson, together with decent to good shooters like Moute and Tucker. Not to mention how much better CP3's shooting is compared to Beverley's.

In order to be good at ISO offense, you have to have good shooters to space the floor so the opposing defense has to pick their poison whether to crowd the ball handler or to stay with the shooters.

I don't know if Morey was unable to get good shooters back then or he has smarted up since the McHale disaster. You need the personnel to run the system successfully. Basically, you need elite iso players like Harden and Paul together with a bunch of good shooters, and without sacrificing defense at the same time. The acquisitions of Moute and Tucker were huge though overshadowed by CP3's arrival.

 

The replies for this tweet are actually worth reading as well:

 

This. My biggest worry is if those better shooters choke in the playoffs. But they're not defensive liabilities anymore so we'll have to live with the iso and open missed three.

Silly worries until we get there. Their play in the last two months seems like training for those situations

 

the way we sought out Lillard and took advantage of his weak defense in isolation situations is what’s gonna happen to Steph Curry in the playoffs

Steph on Harden is a huge problem for GS...Steph loves to reach so he could easily get in foul trouble quickly

 

This tweet is directly related to the power of Harden and Paul ISOs with our spacing

 

Did MDA ask Rudy how he handled Francis & Cat? Was Rudy T again so ahead of his time that it took almost 20 years for the right combo to come along to follow the ISO blueprint?? :O

 

Rudy T started the "ISO with four shooters" scheme with Hakeem being the ISO guy from the low post. That was in the era of illegal defense. It was much easier to spread the floor because even a non-shooter could draw a defender away from the basket by virtue of the rule.

He maximized Francis's ISO abilities as much as he could. But the Francis-Mobley combo was just not good enough to take the team very far.

 

It was tongue in cheek since Cat & Francis were both taking turns in iso ball and CP3 and Harden a much more efficient version

 

I knew you were joking. But a lot of people didn't realize the genius of Rudy T's coaching. Francis couldn't have succeeded with any other kind of system. He was not very good at reading the defense and making quick decisions. ISO was the best way to utilize his talent.

 

Excuse me for reposting this, but there's been a lot of ISO threads, so makes sense the same comments of Rudy arise, and this is my new chosen way to agree

Plus, Rick Barry 'splaining cuts and reads to Rudy (while Rudy seems to be in silent epiphany stare) makes me laugh every time, and the Rudy 1994 Finals photo looks like he truly is 'splaining--in simple terms--how simplicity can beat complexity when you have a superstar ISO player

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Rudy before he was Coach

Rudy: "I have an idea. Let's you, me, Murph and Robert spread the floor for Moses to ISO, and just dump it into him."​

Rick Barry: "What? No. That's too simple. Cuts, reads and passes, man."​

Rudy after he became coach.