[Ringer/KOC] The Rockets Don’t Have a Switch to Flip. They’ll Have to Acquire One

This is easier said than done. There are push and pull factors on this one. To break from the constant switches Harden has to play more defense. If Harden does more on the defensive end, his usage on the offensive one has to go down. With the poor shooting, it's hard to see that happening... and now we're caught in a loop.

A trade might help break that loop for sure. Ennis can't shoot for crap, EG has been delightfully awful and PJ is being tasked with doing so much on the defensive end his legs are gone on offense. There is only one silver bullet here and that's better shooting. I'm just not sure how you fix that without trading everyone not named Harden or Paul.

 

Also, I didn't mean to word vomit on you either. The Rockets twittersphere is pissing me off. So many fans think the rockets can be fixed in 280 characters or fewer. Going back and forth between there and here has riled me up! Haha

 

I like this example comparing to last year ... doing a scram switch.

With Ariza and Mbah a Moute, the Rockets were more effective at executing a “scram switch,” a defensive maneuver that has two players switch their assignments away from the ball in order to establish a more preferable matchup. In the clip below from last season, the Celtics run a handoff to get Al Horford switched onto Paul, and the Rockets respond by having Ariza and Paul switch again. Horford gets forced into a shot from the post, which Ariza strongly contests.

That's the stuff Ariza's high IQ can do for you in an elite switching defense.

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imo, the article is more about we don't have the talent to play any defense as effectively as last year, and Bzdelik using three different looks on Luka illustrates that -- we switched, then went over the DJ pick, then trapped him. We got embarrassed by all of them.

 

I like this example, and I think Ariza's length is underrated, but wouldn't that defense by Ariza be called a foul this year because his arm is wrapped around Horford's waist?

 

It would be, but I feel like he could adjust to that quickly this season.

 

no. Freedom of Movement doesn't really emphasize low post defense. You have more freedom of contact to hold your ground there. It's the off -ball stuff that they are mainly looking at.

 

Arm wraps in the post are specifically mentioned:

 

I don't think this is our major problem. I think it is the breakdown of the ISO offense due to a lack of capable shooters off the ball.

 

Keep in mind, also, that our switching defense has far less exposure to its disadvantage vs the Warriors -- specifically the rebounding issue. We had none of the article's issues in our blowout win this year. The advantages of our switching v the Warriors, far out-weighs the disadvantages, and imso, every team *must* switch their motion, or you are toast. Good luck trying other defenses vs the Warriors.

So, I feel there might be some elitist arrogance in our minds (obsession) to not view the so-called weaker West teams as worthy of adjusting away from our Defense that we can still use effectively against our only threat, right, 'cause we're still the only real contender, right.

sigh

also, the so-called biggest disadvantage of switching is to say you're letting the offense dictate what they want. Well, I'm convinced last year that our response to that was really...oh, yeah, well ... play ISO ball against us, then. That's actually us dictating your offense. Go ahead, try to outscore us if we are both playing Rockets offense... that's the approach with the Warriors....we can't beat them at their game, but we have a chance if we can make them play ISO ball vs our switching defense.​

But now ... the damn rebounding problem is what's improving the opps ORtg to make last year's "Who cares" approach to teams trying to play Rocket ball and attack switches with ISO. Got to figure out the defensive rebounding exploitation ... and improve our offense ... then the ISO attack v our switching is us once again dictating a game of math.