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Expanding core competencies

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by mike_lu, Nov 16, 2012.

  1. mike_lu

    mike_lu Member

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    I battled whether to use ‘Method to Madness?’ or ‘the Objective is Not Win-NOW’ as thread title, but chose ‘Expanding Core Competencies’ as it is probably more catchy for a basketball fan site.

    A long-winded post, but hopefully worth reading.

    To win, generally coaches want NBA players to stick with their core competencies. Dwight Howard stay in the key, Jose Calderon run the offense and take open 3s, Yao Ming go under pick n rolls on D, and Bruce Bowen play suffocating defense and take only corner 3s (later in his career). It’s how teams maximize their chances of winning and reduce turnovers/low percentage plays.

    The flip-side to this, of course, is that many players don’t develop their talents fully, or a more well-rounded skillset. 85% of the players in the NBA are role-players, 10% quasi-stars, and 5% superstars to franchise players, and out of that 85%, perhaps half would not look like NBA players in the wrong team/system.

    I got to thinking on this because what the Rockets are doing, if not ‘planned’, would really amount to ‘madness’.

    Let’s start with Jeremy Lin first. Just ask yourself, if Lin could improve one skill that could make him much more complete, what would it be? He’s already a good athlete, very capable to top PnR & iso player with the right spacing/screens, a good & smart defender with quick hands and ability to channel the opposing players to traffic and excellent post-up defender, a very good floor general, good passer in half-court defense and top-notch on fastbreaks/outlet passer. He has demonstrated good ability to finish at the rim (last year), and excellent touch on mid-range jump-shots. Very good rebounder for a PG also. His main weakness? Spot-up catch and shoot (and left hand and turnovers both of which has improved a fair bit this year).

    So what has the Rockets got him doing? Dribble to ball past half court and hand it off to Harden and spot-up at the corner.

    That may seem to be the strategy to utilize Harden, but the funny thing is it gets reversed when Toney Douglas enters the game, and Toney runs the show with Harden playing on the wings. Toney was a good (streaky) spot-up shooter in 2009-11, averaging 38-39% for both seasons, before his shot deserted him last year and this year (last game against NOH notwithstanding). But he’s not a good floor general or decision maker, and nowhere near Lin. So why are the roles so completely reversed for Lin and Douglas, such that they are against their strengths? It can’t be coaching because even casual clutchfans posters know it, and we all know Morey knows his stats and the players’ strengths and weaknesses.

    Let’s dig a little deeper. When Lin joined, he liked the idea of the Rockets because it is a young team where the players can grow and develop together, away from the spotlight. With the Knicks, or most other ‘win-now’ teams (including the Lakers … please stop saying trade him to the Lakers), he would be cornered into playing the type of game he played in Linsanity, and not developing his weakness. Even Sampson’s post game interview of not providing Lin with more PnR plays because of his weaker left hand sounds phony, because if you can put in a PnR set for the left hand (Harden), you just reverse the set for the right hand, and get someone else to play it (Lin). Lin is not getting the PnR sets. Full stop.

    But is that really a bad idea? We’re not in ‘win-now’ mode, and most posters here want the youngsters to play and develop. We’re playing the young players (just not the rookies yet), and developing them but not in a way fans are accustomed to seeing. Like Lin’s spot-up shooting. There’s two steps to the development – repetition in practice, and game time simulation/repetition. For Lin, consistent spot-up shooting is just not going to come in a few games. He’ll get lots of opportunities this year, then with an off-season of repetition (and we know how hard Lin works), he should be much better next year. Much like Lowry had to go through to improve his 3pt shot.

    And it’s not just Lin or Douglas, who is getting experience running simple plays such that the Rockets may eventually utilize his good defense and ouside shooting touch, while not losing too much on the playmaking/team running side. Remember Douglas is also still on his rookie contract. If he develops, he may be retained. If not, then cut ties. To this day, I still think it is a better decision than retaining Livingston, who’s proven he can’t develop an outside or even consistent shot, and on a team like the Rockets, spacing is a priority. Imagine the even less spacing Harden would get with Livingston playing next to him.

    Let’s go to Asik. He joined the Rockets specifically saying he believe he has more game than just defense and rebounding, and wants to be developed. Carroll Dawson did a fine job with him in the off-season, and the Rockets are actually feeding (not pounding, mind you, that’s reserved for the likes or Hakeem, Shaq or Yao) him the ball in the low post or a little on PnR. Some days it looks downright ugly (just like Lin on spot-up 3s), but it is showing some signs of improvement.

    Asik was never going to get any of this by staying at Chicago, or going to a win-now team that only wanted him to stay in his comfort zone of defense and rebounding. He is expanding his core competency nicely right in front of our eyes.

    James Harden. He has the moves, the efficiency, and the shooting touch. But what didn’t he get at OKC? Usage, last-second shot opportunities, starter-role/playing time, and alpha dog status. He’s getting them all now. Unless the Rockets can get an even better player than Harden, and that’s more luck than planning, they better develop him for this role. They’re fast-tracking him. And it looks ugly, especially once it gets to the 4th quarter, because Harden has never had to iso for last second shots with 3 minutes left in the game. In fact, in certain match-ups, he wasn’t even on the floor and OKC played Thabo instead for defensive purposes.

    So Harden is getting development outside his core competency also.

    Look down the list. Parsons shooting 6 threes per game. Morris shooting corner 3s. Patterson shooting corner 3s plus been fed the ball on post-ups, but not getting many 15-18 ft jump shot which was his strength in his rookie year. Douglas running the show with Harden playing off him. Greg Smith both PnR and post-ups. Actually, for Greg Smith, any improvement is an improvement as he is so raw (yet with good potential).

    Everybody is getting ‘real’ development, not just court-time. And they should be better and more well-rounded for it. And the crazy thing is, usually only the worst teams in the league get to do it, and few do it properly by ‘developing’ the players weaknesses. They just give them playing time, playsets to run, and ask them to stick to their strengths.

    I’d expect Terrence Jones to have a chance soon, and DMo, Machado and White (if he shows up) to do the same at RGV. Except with rookies, you need to develop their strength enough so there’s a reason for them to be on the floor. Once you get past that, they can join the fun too!

    Feel free to discuss
     
    10 people like this.
  2. slickster

    slickster Member

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    This is a very interesting, well thought out post.

    But here's a simpler explanation: Mchale and sampson just aren't that good at coaching pro ball. :shrugs:
     
  3. rocketsfan4

    rocketsfan4 Member

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    Fascinating, interesting post, and I do hope that this is indeed the Rockets' strategy. Agree with your assessments as well. Reminds me of watching Lin in D-League being asked to do left-hand pick and rolls and spot-up shooting (which he did well, shot a good 3-point percentage). Lin was also used as a defensive stopper for Reno against the best perimeter scorer as well, and did very well.

    What this strategy might hurt, however, is trade value for our players as they will not look as good.

    We shall see how this progresses.
     
  4. scaramanga

    scaramanga Member

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    Possibly, there's method in this madness...
    I prefer to think long term.
    or.. probably accidental?
     
  5. quinnolivarez

    quinnolivarez Member

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    interesting perspective on the sets the team is currently running. I do, however, think it's a bit idealistic to think there's this much 'meta-planning' going on - let's meet somewhere in the middle, and add a sidenote. I feel like you're half-right, in terms of the team building on player weaknesses, but I also think that our coaching staff gets a little panicky on offense (letting these ISO-beard plays occur), and that Jeremy is just being deferential because he doesn't want to re-ignite Linsanity.

    I also think that the coaching staff is so intent on improving our defense (and it is improved - top 5 in defensive efficiency), that they are working more on those sets than offensive plays in practice. Our offensive sets are also limited (we have NO go-to scorers who don't rely on shooting and / or dribble penetration) because we have such a 1-dimensional offense. Once the management can add some more diverse scorers (post scorers, scorers who use athleticism), the offense will be less iso and chucking up 3s. Our offense in general is radically different this season, and it's largely because Scola is no longer here.
     
  6. slickster

    slickster Member

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    Even a clock that's broken is right twice a day.

    OP, you are projecting coherence where it doesn't exist. A monkey can smear paint onto a wall, but it's not art.

    Simple observation tells me the coaches suck.
     
  7. kinein

    kinein Member

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    Slickkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk~

    Can you keep the coach bashing to the 3-4-5-6 threads devoted to the coaches :D

    I just keeeeeeeeeeep reading the 1-liner over and over. At least some creativity and pictures or pictures of hot girls. or Kate upton dancing or something new~
     
  8. slickster

    slickster Member

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    Think about it the other way. Perhaps the offseason is the time to develop new skills, and the actual season is the time to exploit existing ones.

    To give extreme examples, you don't run iso plays for rodman during the regular season. Why? It's dumb. You have him rebound and defend.

    You don't ask Chris Paul to defend centers. Why? It's dumb. You have him run the point.

    Let a PG be a PG during the season. Let them work on their spot up shooting in the offseason. This is logical and effective.

    Bottom line there are two possibilities here:

    1. mchale and sampson are innovative coaching geniuses. Probability of this thesis being correct: 1/1 millionths of one percent of being correct.

    2. mchale and sampson aren't properly utilizing player talent. Probability of this thesis being correct: better than 50%.

    Therefore, odds are, mchale and sampson aren't utilizing player talent.
     
  9. just a word

    just a word Member

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    Thank you for posting this. I've been having thoughts along the same lines. It's like learning a new language via immersion or learning how to type properly; the fastest way to learn is to utterly throw yourself into your weakness and do-or-die fixing it. And it will be ugly at first, but with enough stubbornness, the end result is worth it.

    I honestly think they're trying to do part of this. Because I don't think Morey's numbers aren't seeing what we're seeing, and if they are, then why hasn't he fired his coaches? I think there's a bigger plan.
     
  10. Unstable

    Unstable Member

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    Mike - I concur with your viewpoints and the reason is simple. If any of our starters aren't doing what our coaching staff is asking them to do - we will in fact be hearing a lot of complains from the coaching staff - the key point is - there aren't any major complains at the moment that we can hear from the cs about our starters.

    It is quite telling that stats-wise if a player is under-performing, and if the team is intend to go all out for the win, you'd almost immediate see a switch of players. Yep, I'm seeing lots of attempt at developing our players and heck, it's the beginning of the season, what better time to try things out? My guess is after maybe around game 10-12 or so, they might actually review how things are progressing and make adjustments.

    imho, our players are doing fine - am just perplexed at the level of knee-jerk reactions and general "the-world-is-ending" kind of pronouncements about whether the coaches/players sucked. Relax guys/gals, we are in development. Stay cool and enjoy the show! Okay you are allowed to cringe once in a while but stop all that shouting of "off-with-their-heads" thingie - people can't grow if you keep chopping off their heads ;)
     
  11. TTNN

    TTNN Member

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    wow, impressive, so in new age, not only our team is rebuilding, but also our players are rebuilt too. We need our PG to expand his core competencies to a 2, and our SG to expand his core competencies to a 1. And I thought our coaches want MM to play 3, after he successfully changed to that position, now he is needed back to 4. Poor TD, people always say he is a SG trapped in a PG body, but we need to rebuild his soul into PG within his PG body. I guess after we finish rebuilding all our young and talented players, Rox will be a true positionless team, and we will contend.;)
     
  12. Coban Hutton

    Coban Hutton Member

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    I think Sampson's comment about Lin and running PnRs for him was telling. Now if he had said, "Well, we expect Jeremy to adapt to a new role on a new team, we want him to be a spot-up shooter." -- now that's a red flag that they're idiots.

    But what he said was, they wanted to run PnRs from all over the floor with him, and so he needs to get better with going left. He CAN go left already, by the way. But he's less effective.
     
  13. AbrahamLincoln

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    I like this thread. Probably the most interesting thing I have read in weeks on here.

    I agree to a point about what you are saying. I think that our players are so young that the list of skills that they are average at is longer than the list of things they are very good at, which you are saying to a point. Roles, particularly for Asik,Lin and Harden are different because they are finally seeing extended start minutes and have expanded roles.

    I think many fans have pigeon-holed these players that are extremely young into types of players that they have seen briefly without considering that they should be more than what they are. If Lin is to be a superstar one day he will need to be able to spot up 3's as well as master the pnr. Asik will need an offensive skill-set. And Harden will need to be go to. I don't think it is a plan by the coaches to specifically strengthen their weakness, that is just a byproduct of what is happening. While Lin fans may scream about misuse and others about Harden going ISO and Asik fumbling in the paint, like any other team when trades,injuries and acquisitions happen, the roles change. These guys haven't even started a whole season in their careers. They are not well rounded and are going to look like fish out of water when asked to do different things. The plus side is what you have pointed out. In a year from now Lin will probably be able to spot up 3's. Asik might be able to finish around the rim with greater efficiency. And hopefully, Greg Smith becomes our starting 4.
     
  14. BraveFox

    BraveFox Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  15. Hakeemtheking

    Hakeemtheking Member

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    Very good post indeed.

    So... instead of a system where the players best skills are utilized, we are asking the players to fit a particular system, thus reducing their chances to be successfull. Bring this up to Morey and let's see how he responds.
     
  16. meh

    meh Contributing Member

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    tl;dr version, the Rockets are tanking.

    Because if this is correct, then thecoaching staff is prioritizing something other than winning. Which of course is the definition of tanking. Not that I have any problems with it. But it would go against traditional wisdom that coaches are only about winning at all cost.

    The funny thing is, if you are correct, and Jeremy Lin becomes a more complete players as a result, I bet none of the 2012ers here would give a shred of credit to the Rockets coaching staff. Because in the fans world, player success is due to the player, and player failure is always failure of the coaches.
     
    1 person likes this.
  17. BraveFox

    BraveFox Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  18. meh

    meh Contributing Member

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    You need toread the post again. This isn't about fitting a particular system, but rather make players more well-rounded. Gone are the days where NBA players all fit a specific model. Today it's all about versatility. The more ways a team can attack their opponent both on offense and defense, the more dangerous that team is. Think Miami or the Pippen/Jordan Bulls teams. Versatility among almost all positions.
     
  19. Coban Hutton

    Coban Hutton Member

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    According to this line of thinking, what do you think is up with Sampson not putting Asik in at the end of games?

    We can scream that they're idiots, but even a high school coach can figure out how to manage Asik's minutes so that he's in at the end?

    And Sampson did it TWICE, after being asked about it the first time.

    My theory is, though it's not a very good one, is that they want the other guys to step up and close games, to teach them that Asik won't be bailing their asses out all the time.
     
  20. jscmedia

    jscmedia Contributing Member

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    I don't have spare nano-seconds to consider the Rockets meathods, but but if Lin doesn't start giten 'er dun in the first half of ball games, I do know about the madness part.
     

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