It would be interesting to see how many of then came in the 4th/non garbage with the Rockets up big, where using the whole clock and getting only 1.1 ppp is a decent tradeoff .
Need more data. Like what we saw on TNT last night, please re-watch the game and count how many dribbles Harden had vs. other players and report back.
I like the ISO's, but the key is for Harden and Paul to make their move early in the shot clock just it case it doesn't work out. I don't like them dribbling the air out of the ball while the shot clock winds down.
I agree with you. ISO works, but a big mistake we make sometimes is Harden doesn't get to the top of the key until 15-16 seconds and then dribbles down to 5 seconds before realizing he can't win that possession. This either ends in a bad shot, turnover or a pass to someone else who has no chance. That was cleaned up big time in Game 2. I think a big point here is that the people who analyze these games, be they on tv or on this message board, don't know how to properpyl describe what they have a problem with. ISO ball isn't the problem. Isolating Curry and punishing him is VERY effective.
Iso's and Iso's are not comparable like that. James Harden gets a mismatch 20 seconds on the shot clock and just blow by for a layup is an iso, Harden dribble the ball for 20 seconds and jack up a 3 is a also an iso. we need good and quick iso's when we can get them. Obviously there will be dead possessions where Harden just have to bail out the whole team because Warriors stopped all of our screens and cuts, but that should be last resort
We need to do this again. MOVE THE BALL AROUND. Iso every now and then is fine but be smart about it. eh hem Harden.
The formula should be pick and roll to create a switch, then ISO against a favorable matchup, drive and kick, move the ball for a favorable shot featuring perimeter passing and player movement. We didn't do the last part in game one, and it started off late in the shot clock. We initiated the offense earlier this game, which allowed more ball movement and better shots. It slowed down once we had a good lead in the 4th quarter, but not terribly slow that we got out of funk and had a late game collapse like in past years. Great adjustments all around this game. It's exactly what we needed to do.
Can we find stats how many seconds those ISO average between game 1 and game 2? From my eye test, we made quicker decision out of those ISO in game 2
Fundamentally speaking, the earlier in the shot clock you run your iso the more likely that it ends in an assisted basket; the later it starts, the more likely you get an unassisted basket. We want more assisted baskets, and we got 27% more in game 2 than game 1.
Our issue in Game 1 wasn't ISO, it was that we waited 10-15 seconds to even start the ISO play so when they played great D for 10 seconds we had to force a bad shot. Start the ISO earlier so you have more cushion if they play good D.
so much talk about offense but the biggest problem in game 1 was defense and they corrected that in game 2. they play defense like that they would've beat golden state in game 1 even with all the iso's.
the problem with game 1 was Morey, MDA, Harden, & CP3 all believed the Rockets cannot play at the warriors pace so the strategy was to keep possessions low with efficiently scoring on possessions with their ISO efficient scorers/playmakers thus they deliberately slowed the our offenessive possessions. they were so focused on that that they kind of ignored the defense a bit thinking less possessions will slow down the warriors and get them out of rhythm. so in game 2 they decided to speed things up and trusted everyone to make plays and that showed we do have enough talent to keep up with GSW's talent and pace
Media was trying to bait Dray with iso and Durant being a black hole. All he said was that they did that in the first game and won.
I really don't get what people don't like about the offense. The two best pgs are at their strength handling the ball. It was a problem in close games for Durant and Westbrook but Paul and Harden have more chemistry and the Rockets have versatile players who know how to play off each one. The proof is in the numbers. Neither one of these guys will get in the other's way
After re-watching every play of Game 2, I was shocked how many dribble drives the Rockets had, especially by Paul & Gordon (and much earlier in the shot clock as everyone has pointed out). These plus some secondary action (primarily Ariza attacking the close out from the corner and Tucker cutting to the basket) created a ton of open looks both from 3 and at the rim. That actually reminded me a bit of the '05 finals between the Spurs and the Pistons -- Ginobili and Parker were relentless driving to the basket in that series, and I thought Ginobili should have been the Finals MVP instead of Duncan, whose efficiency was limited with the two Wallaces + McDyess taking turns to guard him. In some ways, the Rockets' drives were augmented versions of those thanks to the manufactured switches/mismatches -- both Curry and Young got seriously tilted, although Harden & Paul also had a couple of good drives against Thompson, and Gordon went at Green, Iguodala and Durant with success as well. Defensively, I thought the Rockets did very well limiting the Splash Bros' catch-and-shoots, and dared them to put the ball on the floor -- Curry had a few good drives, but Thompson looked rather awkward around the paint. There were also much more timely help against Durant, and he had to work a lot harder to get his 38.
