McHale needs to call plays come play-off time [Steven A Smith]

We have one play...and I've never seen it work so many times with out being stopped. Our point guard passing it to D-Mo to the high post, Harden runs off the screen, and has the option of passing it to D-Mo, or taking it himself.

Not saying we couldn't use more designed plays, but that play is just deadly.

 

Our only downfall in the playoffs is McHale's play calling during offensive slumps. Harden shouldn't be the only one to bail us out.

 

We have dozens of plays.

None are as effective as what Harden can create.

 

The "no plays" thing is easy to say, and I used to say it from time to time.

It's much harder to believe if you actually deliberately watch for plays over the course of a game. I tried that and I don't bother with the no plays cliche anymore.

Less plays, maybe, but with Harden at the helm that may actually be a plus.

 

I have never thought of McHale as a cerebral coach, he was a guy that relied on one on one basketball - so it is not surprising that he is doing that here as well.

DD

 

We run kind of a motion offense that gets bailed out a lot by Harden. We run plays but they are very simple and often not very effective. Problems occur when harden is out and we keep running that motion offense with nobody able to create for themselves. The only alternative to Harden creating for himself is D-Mo in the post that I feel comfortable with.

 

If SAS says it then it must be brilliant!

 

I do think there is too much Harden one-on-one at times, though the ball seems to move more than last season (I could just be wanting to think so, not sure). I think it's odd that you get this "one-on-one basketball won't work in the playoffs" narrative with us -- but is OKC really that much different? I obviously don't watch them nearly as much as I do the Rockets, but their offense has always seemed largely Get the Ball to Either Russ or KD and Let Them Work... yet people (including Stephen A.) repeatedly subscribe to the notion that a healthy OKC could win it all.

What am I missing?

 

I stopped respecting SAS for reasons I won't go into. But he's right about Mchale. Everybody knows we won't win playing iso ball in the postseason. The Rockets will need to find a way to get other guys going

 

The better question is, do we WANT McHale to try to draw up plays?

 

The fact that they have KD and Russ, gives them ample more opportunity with one on one ball. If Harden is not getting his calls or his shots not falling or theres a pj tucker type defender on him, what do we do then? In the playoffs it is detrimental to not rely on just one player.

 

McHale's top 4 plays:

1) Harden ISO
2) Play Harder
3) Play with More Energy
4) Hide under bench during 4th quarter

 

Stop reading when I saw this.

 

Sounds good to me :

whatever is working and works the best, go for it.

 

Morey : The Rockets was the top 3 (maybe best) offensive team after a time out in last season.

 

This.

Also what people don't realize is that Dallas, San Antonio and others use a similar style of free flow, no set play calls because it's really hard to scout which makes it harder to defend.

They all have plays, but they are just worked into the flow of the game.

 

This is the main problem with the Rockets.

Dwight is a "star" player... but he isn't a star offensive player. He's not somebody who can score at will most of the time.

Great teams usually have an offensive duo.

A championship team (in general) has two prolific scorers. Two guys who can create their own shot and score a ton of points. Otherwise it's too easy to key in on one guy and contain him.

 

McHale is an incompetent fool who is simply incapable of calling effective plays. His coaching IQ is similar to Lin's BBall IQ - that is bottom ofdder IQ.

McHale's go to play is ISO Harden and wear him out. If Harden could have some plays like how Curry gets, he would be averaging 30+ easily. However, he has to do everything himself. He has to create every shot himself. He has to take step backs created by himself.

A good coach would help Harden so much more

 

It's probably because the Rockets are known for having this "innovative", "free-flowing", "no-plays" offense, even though in reality they do run sets and other teams play the same way.

It's just that the Rockets have become the poster-boy for it, and these analysts like Stephen A. Smith are just talking heads on TV. They aren't actually breaking down game film. So they don't really know.

It's just the media speaking in cliches and generalities that sound good on tv.