That passing game of the Rockets in the 1st half is how we need to play every single game. We can have our occassional 1-on-1 baskets but the rest should come out of ball and body movement. It was so pretty how we got D-Mo going, our 3pt shooting going and running game going. Unfortunately, we stopped that for most of the 2nd half when we forced many ill advised threes to get back to scoring. That is a habit we need to get rid of, because our defense is keeping us in games. I guess that will gradually be part of our mindset, because last year we DID need our shooting. Once these guys start to realize we can just lock in on defense and do not have to worry too much about points scoring, just let the ball move around and shoot the open shots, we will be even better. Of course, it helps to get the ball to the guy who is money 90% of the time: Canaan. That guy got us back in it offensively and there is no reason for him to have a DNP anymore this season! Harden was the key to our final blow of course, but Canaan is almost never off with his shot. We got back to our passing game at times in the 2nd half, but just cannot bury any open shots. Ariza missed, Terry airballed, Papa airballed (thumb bothered him I reckon), Harden was off etc. So just keep passing like that 1st half and we will be deadly!! I know we can do it, the only person who could stop this from happening is Howard. If he does not make quick decisions and keeps wanting so many touches, the passing game will suffer.
The purpose of passing the basketball is to get wide open shots. And the Rockets achieved that many times. But when there is a proverbial "lid on the basket" things start to look very bad. I do not believe the Rockets changed their offense. Our perception as fans makes it look that way.
I would like to see the television broadcast come up with a quality shot stat. I get so tired of Clyde and even Bill to an extent saying the team is just settling for threes too quickly. In the 2nd half there were so many missed threes that guys were shooting right when they were supposed to. Beautiful plays for the most part with the exception that the ball didn't go in.... I rememeber the 0-5 start to the 3rd quarter they got 4 good looks but none went in.... It's amazing how much perception of an offense can change when the ball isn't going in....
A couple games back Clyde was complaining about somebody missing 3's, either Ariza or Harden. So he makes a statement something along the lines of, "Bill, he's missing from 3. What you need to do when you're missing out there is upfake, take a step in, and then........" and then he trailed off and didn't complete the statement because he was implying step in and take the long 2. LOL. Sometimes I wished Clyde had a shocking collar on him so I could hit the button and shock him back into reality. If you're missing the 3-ball and you're wide open, you should keep taking the 3-ball....if you are a shooter. But if you're missing the 3-ball because you're taking a rushed 3-ball with a defender on you, then you shouldn't take one step in, you should go ahead and take it to the basket or swing it.
The first quarter was the best the rockets have played all season. Forcing turnovers on the defensive end and passing the ball beautifully on offense. In part it looked so good because we were taking all the open shots that were created, even if they weren't the most "efficient" shots. Several times we took midrange jumpers and made them. Everyone was making the unselfish pass and it was just awesome. If we played like that all the time we'd score 150 a game so obviously it is something that we are going to fall in and out of. It was nice to see the potential still exists for that kind of movement . It will be key to continue that type of passing when Howard gets back. Hopefully we continue to improve at ball movement .
What is the only shot in basketball worse than the contested mid-ranged jump shot? The contested trey jump shot. The Rockets R&R offense is designed to get uncontested three point shots. They will however take every single 10 footer that is uncontested. Easy money.
