Im wondering what the hell is wrong with our offense lately and im thinking we are too in love with the 3pt shot. I wish we would move the ball around and have more people take more midrange J's. The only person outside of Yao who does that consistently seems to be JHoward. We either dump it down to Yao to score or he hands off for layups and kicks out to 3pt shooters. What about players taking the quick short jumpshots? (ala Rip or Cassell) We would be alot more effective moving the ball around then finding the open man inside the 3pt line to take the higher % shot. Right now its score in the paint (Yao or someone else's layup) or its a 3pter. I love the 3 when we make them but I think we would be much more efficient if our players tried taking more midrange J's.
I think it's called lack of talent. Honestly, when was the last time a team with only 1 great player and a bunch of average role players was successful? It just doesn't happen. It didn't happen or hasn't happened for Jordan, Magic, Bird, Shaq, Duncan, Robinson, Kareem, Wilt, etc., etc., etc. Hakeem was successful at it for one year. AI actually got his team to the Finals. More specifically to your point, our offense is the way it is because that is the strenghts of our players. Luther Head is, right now at least, basically an excellent three point shooter. Alston throws it in, too, and occassionally makes a floater or two, but usually sucks at that. Juwan can hit open jumpers, and does. Shane is basically not an offensive threat. Bonzi is a post up player. Just adding that one extra player, if that players is autmatically the most or 2nd most talented player on the team, and a top 20 talent in the league, allows all other players to excel at their game, offensively and defensively.
how about trade Snyder + a pick for J.R. smith? Denver doesn't need smith offense any more and can't give him big contract in near future. But they can use Snyder's defense with AI. For Rockets, can use JR as 2nd or third offense option.
The problem is that Van Gundy lacks to see that a balance of attacks is needed. Sure, I've never been a basketball coach at any level and he's, of course, got the credentials, but I don't see how playing the same game over and over will win. 1. Play to Rafer's strength. If he can't be an effective scorer from outside, he can still penetrate and lay it up. That's his strong suit. Run a high screen with Yao and just open the lane up for Rafer. 2. Have Hayes and Battier set up double screen for Luther on the baseline. It worked for Reggie Miller for years and it works for Rip Hamilton and Luther is comparatively just as good a shooter as they are. You start Head from one side of the court and have him cut all the way over on the baseline and curl to where he always shoots his three (the area between the baseline 3 and the top of the key 3) 3. Howard is the 2nd or 3rd most efficient scorer behind Yao. When he comes off the bench, you use Alston's penetration skills to open up shots for Howard. Can't believe I'm saying this, but Howard has been shooting at a very respectable clip. All I'm saying is: MIX IT UP. It's been too many times where they get down the court and dump the ball to Yao on either block w/o doing much else. If the other players get plays that are for them and play to their strength, it not only creates better offense, but Yao can still put up 30 a night because defenses has to finally guard our other players.
Here are some things the Rockets should add to their offensive scheme. 1. Post up Battier and Bonzi. Both of these guys have the ability to post their man up and be efficient scorers doing it. There guys are usually bigger and stronger than the guys that are guarding them and they can use this to their advantage. With these guys on the low block, it will make battier look to score more, and bonzi can get into a scoring groove with his back to the basket. 2. Rafer's strong suit is in the open court. The Rox need to mix their lineup around when Yao goes to the bench to rest. When Yao goes out, the Rox need to play small ball and get out there and run. Have Battier, Hayes, Bonzi, Head, and Rafer on the floor and play a phx style of bball. With those guys on the floor, maybe they can creat havoc on defense and create easy basket opportunities via fast breaks. 3. Pick and Roll using Howard and Hayes. Whether it be Head or Skip running the pick and roll at the top of the key, it doesnt matter. If JHo is in the game, have him set the pick and pop out for that midrange jumpshot of his. If Hayes is in the game, have hayes cut to the basket after the pick. There are other various moves and plays that can be run with the P&R, JVG just have to be creative with it. The rockets have a very versatile roster where they can do many different things on offense. JVG just has to be more creative and deviate from his predictable offense.
Yao shoots over 50%. When double-teamed, he makes good passes, and good decisions. His only problem offensively is turnovers. Passing the ball into the post every time IS smart basketball. Understanding that this can't in actuality happen everytime, I certainly understand the frustration and desire to mix it up. But I do think you guys are overestimating the talent on our team surrounding Yao. They are good, not great. Rafer doesn't attack the basket all that well. He thinks he does, which can be a problem, and every once in a while he'll get a floater to fall, but not often. Rafer and Luther, for all their great 3 point shooting, are not good mid range shooters. Luther, for example, is just barely shooting over 38% on his 2's. Rafer shoots 2's a little better (40%), but certainly not good, and at 37% from 3, it is decent, but not outstanding. Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier are NOT offensive players. Posting either one up, especially even on a regular "mix-it up" basis doesn't make sense to me. Juwan Howard CAN hit the open jumper, and has been doing it well. All the more reason, though, for Yao to get the ball in the post more often. Bonzi, if he ever gets into last year's shape, could be a huge difference maker. But he's not there yet, as last night's 2-10 performance shows. I think the team could be a better offensive team without McGrady, even with the parts they have, but not that much better.
the problem is that we only have one option on offense. every opponent knows it. yao plays one-on-five every night. he sees double and tripple teams every play. no one else can step up. no one else can create thier own shot. this team doesn't need a superstar like tmac to be a contender. they need a couple of borderline allstars who can score from the perimeter. if some how, magically, we can trade tmac and rafer for any backcourt combo of: SG - stackhouse, j.richardson, s.jackson, mobley, maggetty, r.davis, crawford, barbosa, finley, mopete, c. butler PG - cassell, atkins, stoudamire, m.williams, james, a.miller, bibby. we could make a run this year. it may not be a smart trade for the future, but i'm just giving you an example of my point. 2 decent perimeter scorers with this team is enough. it's not that hard to assemble.
Very nicely put.... Everyone wants to blame injuries... Well just like last year all teams have injuries but the good coaches adjust to the hand that is dealt to them and uses it to their advantage. Then everyone wants to talk about the talent issue... Well one of the best teams in the NBA (The Utah Jazz) isn't stacked with a group of superstars, ************************************************** 55 Rafael Araujo 5 Carlos Boozer 9 Ronnie Brewer 11 Dee Brown 31 Jarron Collins 2 Derek Fisher 10 Gordan Giricek 15 Matt Harpring 47 Andrei Kirilenko 34 C.J. Miles 24 Paul Millsap 13 Mehmet Okur 43 Roger Powell 8 Deron Williams ************************************************** but yet they are winning. There coach has adapted to what he has and using there strength to win. So Mr. Van Gundy..... Please step up your game.
You're joking, right? Carlos Boozer is probably equal to Yao in performance to date this year. One of the few big men in the league having as good a season as our Yao. But then they have Williams, who is having an awesome season at point. He's shooting over 41%, dishes out 8 apg, and scores over 17 ppg. Read Clutch's thread and you'll see that he's near the top of the league in assists to turnovers, also. Then they have their third option - Mehmet Okur. A center shooting over 42% from 3. 16 points, 8 rebounds a game. Their best player from past years, AK47, is now their 6th leading scorer. Their backup PG, Derek Fisher, is better than any we have. Basically, that team right now is stacked with talent.
It sounds too obvious, but we really miss TMac right now. But not so much for his scoring as much as his passing. He and Chuck Hayes had a pretty good thing going before he got hurt. TMac likes finding him and setting him up for easy buckets. He actually does this better than our PG, even though it should be the PG's job... TMac coming back will help the offense even if he's not dropping in 30 a night like the old days. Also agree with JVG's predictable offense. Too many 3-point shooters, not enough 3-point MAKERS. How 'bout instead of spotting up for a 3 every time Yao passes out of the post, someone penetrates and dishes every once in a while? Even the best 3-point shooters in the league miss over half the time, so why is that our #1 option? If you drive to the basket, you either 1)make a shot, 2)miss a shot, 3)get fouled or 4)dish off to a big guy for an easy bucket. 3 of those 4 things are good. So why not play the percentages?
Trouble is that we have a max player with chronic back problems and the organization should be doing everything to deal him. Yes it sucks!!! But it is the truth.
Actually RA is a better 3p shooter than lay-up finisher. but he's good at ball handle. The problem is L. head is not a point. He can't penetrate (consistently get blocked) and can't create anything for teammate and a turnover prone. L.H. tried hard to be a point, but he's not. Probably JVG should bring in Vspan, let him play defense and penertrate. Share sometime with RA.
Don't know about that. He's average, not good. One thing you'll notice is that Rafer is constantly being hounded trying to get the ball up the court. You don't see this as much when 2 other random teams play. I think it's because teams that play us note that they could potential create a turnover, or if not, slow down the offense enough to make it ineffective. It doesn't seem to happen as much with other teams because those PG's might either be less likely to commit a turnover, even when pressured, or have a better ability to blow by the pressure and create an offensive advatange (which Rafer does do occassionally, but not often enough considering how much he is pressured). The other thing is just look at Clutch's PG thread. Rafer's stats don't speak all that highly of his play compared to other points, and at 19th out of 33 key PGs in the league in assists/turnovers, his ball handling in particularly ain't nothing special.
Talent level of West league. I assume a franchise player =2, a all-star=1, a great role player =0.5 and depth =0 to 2. Spurs have the highest score at 7. Without wells, even if Tmac is healthy, HR still can't match with other elite teams. But with a average Wells, team depth increases a lot, Rockets can win it all this year. TEAM FP ASP RP dpth TS Spurs 1 2 2 2 7 Mavs 1 1 3 2 6.5 Suns 1 2 3 0.5 6 Jazz 0 4 1 1.5 6.5 HR w/o wells 2 0 1 1 5.5 HR w wells 2 0 2 2 7
Would you rather see Rafer take it in for a lay up after a high screen (which Rafer has enough quickness and know how to pull off) than to see Rafer be open 25 ft out--yes 25ft-- because the defender doesn't respect his shot only to chuck it up? I said penetrating is Rafer's strength because nothing else can be considered as one.
Tracy not playing is the main problem. Adding him back solves a lot of problems. During the offseason, everyone here seemed to crave 3 point shooters. A few of us said we needed slashers too. The lack of ability to penetrate and finish is a key missing ingredient. It's killing us. We also rarely have cutters running to the basket. This would be a sure fire way to generate a few more easy baskets each game. Watching Bonzi stand out at the 3 point line makes me want to quit. How stupid is having a post player stand 21 feet from the basket? Last time I checked, Bonzi doesn't shoot 3s well nor does he attack the basket from the perimeter. Clearly JVG is not adjusting the offense to fit our talent. Everything is centered around spreading the floor for Yao to the detriment of the other players. When Tracy isn't playing, we must get more creative to diversify. Yao's dominating performances in this stale offense have yielded a 1-4 record. Some people say the definition of insanity is thinking is thinking you will get a different result from doing the same thing over again. 1-4. 1-4. 1-4.
Did I just read that the Utah Jazz don't have any talent? Hey, we can fix that right up for them... How about 3.5 of the Rockets starters for only 2 of theirs? Shane Battier + Chuck Hayes + Rafer Alston + Bonzi Wells (after Jan 2) + protected pick for Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams
yes.. with a bad offensive coach and even worse, no offensive threats that can create shots.... it can get pretty bad.. i might just go for the nuggets come playoff time, after the rockets lose in the first, that is.
