He rarely ever does that until its grind out the clock mode. Like tonight. Up 7 with 3 minutes left. Time to grind out possessions.
Apparently it is to you, because it’s: 1. much easier to defend iso than movement 2. especially if you don’t mix it up since most iso possessions are the same with Harden or CP3 setting a screen for a switch or with Tucker / Capela to get them onto a big man 3. They can thus conserve energy on D 4. guys are tired so if you let the ball do the work, chances are your key guys don’t have to work too hard as well 5. Harden has in the inclination to settle for threes and everyone knows it 6. so these ISO possessions have a high chance of being contested 7. they can get a long rebound and with everyone on the perimeter a high chance of securing the defensive rebound 8. chance of a fast break for the opponent It almost burned us tonight with all our misses and we were up by 20 so while iso possessions in itself are not the problem, the way we play it and how we just go consecutive possessions with the same play basically is just not smart. Or not rocket science if you prefer
are we playing and winning all these games with ISO ball alone or a mix of ISO, drives, slashes, 3 pts from shooters? you may have been watching OKC and not rockets games
It's the last few minutes of games and quarters that drives me crazy. Dribble dribble dribble step back three.
We’re talking about the best offense the nba has ever seen from an efficiency standpoint. The playoffs are a different animal but we’re a talented team. To date, we’ve had an answer for everything teams have thrown at us; I don’t see that changing in the playoffs
We don't chase people around screens, neither do they, we switch. The actual point of the switching defense is to nullify the movement offense, its weakness is iso switch mismatches, that's the trade off, that's the design of the thing, and why specific player types who don't lose out too much on those switches are targeted. Moving to a higher movement offense plays into their hands, trying to add that so late in the season isn't just counter productive, it's downright stupid. Yes, they're super talented, and beating them in an iso game is difficult, given their talent level, though Curry is particularly susceptible to those mismatches, beating them with a movement offense is for all intents and purposes impossible, barring injury, you can never beat that team with that offense. the most effective offense against them? Slow the play down to a snail's pace and iso/pick and roll....
Our entire offense is based on high pick&roll and creating mismatches for isolation. According to stats.nba.com, we have the least movement per game offensively and fewest passes per game, yet our offensive rating is the best in the history of NBA, which shows that this style of offense is extremely effective. GSW and we have a completely different personnel, you don't want Harden and Paul to run off the screen constantly and C&S like Steph and Klay do because that's not their game. Our offense now is most well suited for the players we have.
ISOgame becomes less efficient on a whole playoff series, you're right. But: We're wrong if we make that typical and simple statement. Rockets now have TWO elite player, that's the DOUBLE of 1. Rockets are not playing ISO against the best defenders, they are playing it after a p&r against the worst opponent big man... And with 2 of the top ISO players in the world (probably the best one). Those are not details, those are key factors that transform the efficiency of our ISO game. Also, having 2 go-to-guys, the fatigue factor that was key at the last playoffs with Harden becomes less harmful. Also, when we put in our best shooting lineup with Rhyno as center, the middle is empty and it becomes even more difficult to defend our ISOs. And ultimately, Rockets are showing some under the radar offensive alternatives to the p&r and ISO game. We have some smart sets for Gordon off the ball. We have the Joe Johnson option from the post, that is creating good ball movement and good shots already. And among our p&r's, we are showing different looks with Harden and Paul, not only the clean frontal one, but other sets that END on a p&r. We're seeing p&r's between them... situations that are even more difficult to defend. In addition to the Iso plays from the post with Harden and Paul that require a different defensive plan. Also, with Tucker on the starting lineup, our defensive intensity and overall level has improved dramatically, and we are getting more stops and transition opportunities, where our team excels at. Also, we have lowered the TOs and with our current game we have a good defensive balance and we cut the transition game of the opponent, which is a good plan against GSW. Then, we could speak about how our team, defensive scheme, is prepared specifically for the GSW offense, and I guarantee you that some question marks emerge for them as well. Basically we are forcing them to end playing ISOs, which is not exaclty their best strength. So in the end, I completeley understand your point, and I partially think like you, but there are some interesting things to be seen and proved when playoff time comes. Don't underestimate Daryl, Gersson, D'Antoni and that crew... They are revolutionaries and they are smart.
We also depended too much on offensive players who were defensive liabilities ... we now have Defense to win. Game 1 and 4 we absolutely destroyed the Spurs. Game 3 we drove off of PnR nearly at will (as an adjustment), but ran out of talent to the superior team. Game 4 was an adjustment to continue the PnR rim attack of Game 3 and force them to leave the shooters. We accomplished and destroyed them with 3s. Game 5 was a dead even tossup. Spurs won from experience alone, and rewatch the 4thQ...Pops went to simple PnR, as well. Game 6 happened. Spurs were the superior team with superior experience and talent, and we weren't supposed to beat them, but Game 5 came within seconds of doing so in regulation. Just because Game 6 happened doesn't mean you and the media and nearly everyone here needs to stop enjoying basketball so much they don't remember the beauty of Game 3 and Game 4 adjustments on both sides.
All of those are valid points, except for the fact that both Harden and Paul have absurd isolation scoring efficiency. Harden's isolation PPP is 1.24 (Chris Paul 1.13), whereas the Rockets offensive rating is 115.7 (1.15 PPP). To put things in perspective, the Rockets are already on track to have the best offensive scoring season ever. Running Isolation is legitimately a good offensive play for the Rockets. What you are complaining is, for the lack of a better word, superficial. It's same as when people look at Russell Westbrooks' triple double numbers and automatically assume he is having a great game, ignoring defense, scoring efficiency, usage rate, contested rebounding rate etc. You automatically assume that isolation is bad simply because of the popular notion that ball movement and plays = good offense, but isolation isn't bad if you are converting at a strong rate, like what Harden and Paul have been doing all season. Isolation is just a play, no different to pick and roll, pick and pop etc. Sometimes you miss shots that you normally make, it doesn't inherently make it bad play if the seasons' worth of stats suggest it has been effective. If the Rockets ran more plays, but failed to convert, and allowed easy transition baskets for the Pelicans whilst using up minimal time on the clock, you would have complaints about why the Rockets didn't slow down the pace and burn more time instead.
-55 - 14 & 1st in the NBA. - A Superstar, MVP Leading candidate & NBA leading scorer. -2nd star. - A deep supporting cast who know their roles. -Reigning 6th man of the year. -An experienced, offensive minded Head Coach. - A candidate for NBA most improved player who is also a 23 years old big man. -A top 10 defense. - A GM who is always trying to get better Soooo no I'm not tired of anything that the Rox are doing. I'm loving this year it's been a HELLUVA lot of FUN!!!!!! We have a legit title shot.
Not criticizing you specifically; but one has to define what is efficient in terms of ppp. Is 1.00 ppp the water mark? I believe any play type that nets your team 0.90 is efficient.....1.00 is of course greater. Isolation play type Harden............33.3 frequency.........1.24 ppp..............96.6 NBA percentile CP3...................28.9 frequency.........1.13 ppp..............91.4 NBA percentile Luc MaM..........2.9 frequency..........1.45 ppp............100 NBA percentile Eric Gordon......9.8 frequency..........0.97 ppp.............72.2 NBA percentile ppp accounts for team producing points out of that set while being initiated by that particular player. Not necessarily points solely from that player (I believe). So pretty efficient....but I advocate for Joe Johnson post ups for the playoffs as well. Now Joe Johnson is looking better at post ups. I believe Holiday pulled the chair out from behind him though. Joe will get use to the different styles of defending him. Joe Johnson Post Ups while with Houston is now up to: 19.7% frequency...........1.00 ppp.............82.9 NBA percentile And room for improvement.
I hate thus narrative that Harden had a bad series against the Spurs. Harden killed the Spurs in that series. Go check it again. He wasn't himself in OT of game 5, after killing them in 4 quarters, plus inexplicable game 6 collapse. So if you base your whole argument based on that series, please re-watch that series.
