After watching the last couple of games I've realized that our chemistry is slowly yet surely developing. But i think we could do a lot better if we simply picked up the pace and pushed the ball more. I think something we can all agree on is that Jeremy Lin in transition is a highly efficient and effective point guard. We need him to get going and start scoring but he cant do that if hes just dribbling the ball up and handing it off to Harden. Running a half court offense with this team isnt necessarily the best fit for it. Push the ball, get Lin going, get more open shots and drives for Harden. I think overall were a team that could benefit from simply pushing the ball as much as possible. Thoughts? Also please dont start with fire the Mchale/Sampson response. I just want to know what everyone thinks as far as what we could do to improve our offense. Dont get me wrong i dont think its bad, we dropped 100 on a solid defense in NO, but i do think it could be a lot more potent.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2013.htmlhttp://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2013.html 8th in the League. Not bad, right?
What you just wrote is exactly what the coaching staff has been preaching as the Rockets' offensive scheme since preseason. The only issue is that Harden wasn't with the team during preseason. Since his aquisition , they've redrawn some of their sets to accomodate Harden and his style of play since he's the team's most prolific scorer. I think with time and more practice, they'll begin integrating more sets with Lin running the ball and getting everyone to touch the rock. With such little time between games to practice and having to execute such raw/new sets during game time situations, the team is busy focusing on shoring up current mistakes, getting ball movement as well as perfecting the Harden sets. I think they're comfortable sticking with the Harden sets b/c he's healthy, confident and not in a slump. In addition to the lack of time to introduce Lin's sets, I think they're indirectly waiting for his confidence and health both come back to 100% to execute them.
Excellent post, agree 100%. Team needs to look for Lin on the outlet pass. he has been great in transition, decision making, timing, and pinpoint passing. One "problem" for Lin--I never see him cheat and leak out, as he is always helping, boxing out on defense (watch Machado through preseason in contrast); leaking out would make being a transition PG easier.
I would add that the Rockets are looking for Harden a bit too much on the initial outlet pass. Harden does not push the ball like Lin or a good transition PG; he is an excellent passing SG, a good and willing halfcourt passer, but he is NOT someone like Clyde Drexler in his prime, who could push from end to end as good as a top PG. Also, I'm sure it wears out Harden to get fed the ball on the initial pass--you can see that he often walks or jogs it up. There is always time to get the ball back to your top scoring threat later--Lin is always looking for Harden. Reminds me of Maurice Cheeks looking for Julius Erving (ok I'm dating myself).
He helps on the boards, which is better IMO, don't have the ball you get no breaks, and this team is bad at securing rebounds...
39 points in the 2nd quarter last game. 64 in the 1st half. Now if they can keep up that type of tempo - and establish the tone like that all 4 quarters ~ this team will roll into playoffs with a favorable seed.
I agree. If we utilize Lin according to the plan we had pre-Harden i think both would benefit. Harden scored 30 points while going 1-7 from 3. Just imagine if he got more open looks because Lin was also involved! To me it doesnt make sense to have that guy and not utilize him in a way that he can score the ball just as much as Harden.
Lins USG needs to go way up it is so low right now. I won't be able to watch the game live but honestly I don't have to, to tell if he scored well. Just check the box score for his USG & how many times he went to the FT line. If both are high he scored a lot, if both are low he likely didn't score at all. Need to run pnr plays for him & set at least semi decent screens. And Sampson needs to stop using coach speak talking about Lin's left hand being the reason why they aren't running plays for him that is nonsense. We are smarter than that.
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