Dad comes in from outside after a day of yard work. Dad is a huge Rockets fan and likes numbers too. The Rockets game is about to start soon, so Dad gets cleaned up, grabs his snacks, and plops down in his recliner. In walks his son…. Dad puts the calculator away and lays back in his chair. He feels great knowing that he taught his son a little something about efficiency. The game is about to start any minute now. Meanwhile, Son walks away bewildered and discouraged. He walks down the hall, around the corner, past the back door that is open, and into his room. ---------- I hear over and over again from some how inefficient Howard's post game is. As if the Rockets’ offense was the epitome of efficiency this year and there was no room to spare for a Howard post up. But inefficient compared to what? And then there are others that say, "Well Howard has the most post touches in the NBA." Ok. And?.... What relevance does that have to the Rockets' offense? The entire NBA doesn't play for the Rockets. So he's not competing with them for post touches. The only thing that matters is how efficient (or inefficient) Howard's post game is compared to what the team is doing and the other players on it. Howard in the post had a PPP of 0.82 this past season. I'm using points per possession because some complain about Howard's turnovers. That number is horrible right? Well, now let's take a look all of the other 2PT shots that the Rockets took this past season that were LESS efficient than a Howard post up. Spoiler The Rockets averaged 52.6 2PT field goal attempts per game. 11.9 of those shot attempts were less efficient shots than a Howard post up. In summary, that means 22.6% of the Rockets 2PT shots were less efficient than a Howard post up. I only included shot attempts from players that played in at least half of the Rockets’ games. If I included shots from Josh Smith, Harrell, DMo, and McDaniels then that percentage would be higher and Howard’s request for more post touches would be bolstered by the numbers even more. So if Howard really did go to Morey and asked for more post touches then the numbers show there was room for anywhere between 1 and 11.9 shots in the offense that could’ve been thrown his way. Dwight and the team both would’ve benefited. A bad shot here by player X and another bad shot there by player Y add up to a lot of bad shots at the end of a game. To pretend that the Rockets ran this great offense that was so efficient that the team’s second best player couldn’t get more shots where he wanted them is crazy. If anything, Morey should’ve pulled a couple players (I won't say any names) to the side and said, “Give Howard the ball in the post before you even think about shooting.” To allow scrub role players to shoot at will while you have a short leash on one of your star players is showing a high level of disrespect to that player and his game. Morey and the Rockets mismanaged this whole situation. They could’ve easily met Howard in the middle and allowed him to take 5-6 more post shots per game. Howard would’ve been happier and the offense would’ve most likely been more efficient as well. Everybody wins. Just by simply clamping down on the shots taken by your scrub players instead of one of your star players.
Coddling players is a garbage stance and a cancerous culture. Howard taking post shots effectively makes him a SCRUB player. You're analogy is how you entitle a stupid child.
Well Mauri and this organization have already coddled Jim Harden. He has this franchise by the cojones and can do whatever the F he wants with no repercussions.
I guess what you say makes sense IF Howard's post-ups take the place of ONLY the even more inefficient shots of other players. But there is no way to gauge that. The other players take inefficient shots during the course of the offense and sometimes it's just what the defense gives you. If you post up Howard, you are intentionally taking an inefficient shot as your first option.
I think if giving the guy a few more touches makes him more engaged on the defensive end I think it works. The whole point is moot. He was the only superstar that took the rockets money. Lets see if another one will do the same after the way we treated Dwight.
Our organization is a mess, just a bunch of enabling ninnies. Remember when we bought Royce White an RV? DD
This is very true. Harden however isn't asking to do something he's not good at, he's refusing to do something he very well could do like play defense.
I would disagree because that works both ways. Sometimes the defense is giving you a post up vs an open three. You're also assuming that those guys will make those 3s and bad 2s enough to be considered more efficient. Which isn't always the case.
You've pointed out inefficient shots by Rocket players which is useful. Where I'm confused is why you'd suggest replacing those inefficient shots with a different inefficient shot. The smart thing to do would be to replace the inefficient shots with efficient shots (Shots at the rim,3s and Free Throws). Swapping out an inefficient shot for a different inefficient shot doesn't really help much since you still end up shooting and inefficient shot.
The difference is you keep one of your star players, the second best player on your team engaged. Managing a team is more than about squeezing the most efficiency you can out of your calculator and spreadsheet.
nicely stated, although I see aelliott's point, which is still a good one. I appreciate the obvious thought that went into your original post.
If the son wants fresh air he should just go outside. If Dwight wants post-ups galore he should play in the Chinese Basketball Association.
This is what I've been sayin all year... and hey, give a guy more touches, more shots, heighten his level of engagement and maybe his efficiency will rise... most players have to get in a groove... Just running the most "efficient" plays isn't always the best recourse... if you beat a set of plays to death then the defense will adjust and make those plays less efficient than they could be over time... Keeping players involved on the offensive end is more likely to keep them engaged on the defensive end... It's a game of ebs and flows and maximizing opportunities, but some folks try to reduce to mathematical equations... analytics have their place - but they are not the end all... imo...
You put the 'son' and 'dad' parts in quotes. What is that a quote from? I didn't read anything after that.
TLDR version: We should replace inefficient shots from other players with inefficient shots by Dwight because it will keep Dwight happy.
