[NYT]: Worrier coach "How Are the Rockets Getting Away With All That Dribbling???"

Funny article for "Team I'm Smarter Than You Doubters". Lowers the sodium intake.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/sports/houston-rockets-golden-state-warriors.html

RENO, Nev. — The Houston Rockets, who have seldom been accused of playing the most attractive brand of basketball this season, were running their usual one-on-one isolations against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night, and Mariah Musselman, age 8, took it upon herself to count the number of times that James Harden dribbled during one possession.

“Eighteen, 19, 20,” she said as Harden’s teammates cleared the space around him and the shot clock ticked away.

She seemed both amazed and annoyed. Eric Musselman, who is Mariah’s father, is the men’s basketball coach at the University of Nevada, and he made it clear that he considers himself philosophically aligned with his daughter when it comes to the proper (or at least most pleasing) way to play the game. He appreciates passing. He does not like prolonged dribbling.

But as Game 5 of the Western Conference finals wore on, Musselman reclined on his couch and considered the peculiar way that the Rockets go about their business, for better or worse.

98-94 victory over the Warriors gave them a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Musselman, 53, watched the game here at his home, where he was joined by his daughter, who broke out an iPad to tally Harden’s dribbles, and several members of his staff: Anthony Ruta, 28, an assistant coach; Brandon Chambers, 28, the director of basketball operations; Hays Myers, 25, the director of player development; and Christian Murphy, 24, a graduate assistant.

I was there, too, back on another coach’s couch. I’ve been traveling the country to watch these games with knowledgeable basketball people and collect their thoughts on an extraordinary series. On Thursday, there was pizza from Rick’s, a Reno-area institution. Musselman was excited that Rick’s had come through with red pepper flakes.

“Awesome,” he said.

In three seasons at Nevada, Musselman has coached the Wolf Pack to an 81-29 overall record. Last season, Nevada advanced to the regional semifinals of the N.C.A.A. tournament. Musselman, as he is known to do, celebrated the achievement by ripping his shirt off. He was named the Mountain West Conference coach of the year.

Musselman has coached at nearly every level of basketball. He has worked with national teams from China, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. He has spent time in leagues that have folded (Continental Basketball Association, United States Basketball League), coaching teams that no longer exist (Rapid City Thrillers, Florida Sharks).

But for two seasons, from 2002 to 2004, Musselman coached the Warriors. In his first season, they went 38-44, finishing with their most wins in nearly a decade. Musselman was runner-up to the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich in voting for N.B.A. coach of the year. But Musselman also had the misfortune of coaching Golden State before Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were on the team, and he was fired after his second season amid change in the front office.

In a twist, Musselman is still channeling the Warriors — or at least the new-look Warriors. At Nevada, he runs a similar offense predicated on ball movement, cutting and screening. Whenever the ball goes in the post, for example, he wants his other four players to click into motion by setting a pair of screens: one on the strong side and one on the weak side.

Like the Warriors’ coach, Steve Kerr, Musselman charts his team’s passes. (He wants at least 200 a game.) And when he watches the Warriors play on TV, as he has with his staff throughout the playoffs, Musselman has Murphy keep a running total of their passes.

“Murph!” he will shout during timeouts. “How many?”

Musselman has other goals for his team. He wants at least 30 defensive deflections a game, and at least five possessions when all five players on the court touch the ball. Musselman calls these “shared possessions,” and they are an indication of chemistry and unselfish play.

“Is it possible that we’re going to watch a team play an entire playoff series without running one play?” Eric Musselman said to his staff during Game 5. "Has that ever happened in the history of the N.B.A.?”CreditMax Whittaker for The New York Times​

At the same time, he understands that the Rockets have found a system that works for them. But that does not mean he is enamored of it.

“We’re seeing possessions where there are no passes at all,” Musselman said in the second quarter after Harden dribbled for 19 seconds before scoring on a layup. “Right now, there are about 80 A.A.U. coaches going, ‘That’s what we run!’”

During the game, Musselman spotted a bunch of familiar faces. He knew the referees, two of them dating to his days in the C.B.A. He expressed regret when the Rockets’ P.J. Tucker entered the game. In his lone season coaching the Sacramento Kings, Musselman had tried to persuade management to draft Tucker, he said. (The Kings went with Quincy Douby instead.)

But Musselman also reveled in the impact that the Rockets’ Gerald Green was having on the series. Musselman once coached Green in the N.B.A. Development League.

“The game takes on new meaning when one of your former players is playing in it,” Musselman said after Green shed his warm-ups in the first quarter. “So right now, until Gerald checks out, all I care about is if he gets a shot. And if he touches the ball, trust me: He will shoot it.”

Back when Green was with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the D-League, his green light to shoot was a shade so fluorescent, Musselman said, that it defied description. Sure enough, the second time Green touched the ball against the Warriors, he drained a 3-pointer.

“Told you,” Musselman said. “He’s one of the greatest guys I’ve ever coached. It’s neat to see his career take off.”

When the Rockets’ Clint Capela appeared to lose a contact lens in the second quarter, the scene reminded Musselman of the time he was coaching in the N.B.A. and one of his players held up wind sprints at practice because he said he had lost a contact. As everyone searched for it on the court, another player approached Musselman with some information.

“Coach,” he said, “he doesn’t wear contacts.”

As for the game itself, Musselman was pleased to see that Durant was working to establish position in the post and looking to score over smaller defenders. In their Game 4 loss, the Warriors had settled for too many long, contested jumpers, especially late.

But even as Durant tried to do more of his handiwork closer to the basket in Game 5, the Rockets made adjustments. Ruta noted how each time Durant touched the ball, he seemed to see a new defensive look. The Rockets sent traps and double-teams. They also tried to push him away from the paint so that he received the ball about 12 to 15 feet from the basket.

“Everyone talks about Houston’s offense,” Musselman said, “but their defense has made the difference this series.”

Consider that the Rockets shot just 13 of 43 from 3-point range in Game 5, and Harden went 0 for 11. Musselman sensed fatigue.

“After 82 games of the regular season and three rounds of the playoffs, your legs start to go,” he said.

But the Rockets’ struggles from the outside were offset by the Warriors’ inability to protect the ball in the face of pressure. Golden State had 18 turnovers, none more costly than when Draymond Green, after receiving a pass from Curry, lost the ball with 3.4 seconds left.

Houston had forced Curry to pass ahead to Green, Musselman said, by sending two defenders his way.

It was another savvy defensive play from the Rockets in a game full of them, and it was almost — almost — enough to make up for all that dribbling.