Serious question: Why doesn't ISO work, in the playoffs? Can someone explain this to me? I get why normal ISO doesn't work, but this is Harden and CP3. "It works in the regular season, but not in the playoffs." Don't teams usually gameplan for the ISO, when facing us in the regular season? Why would defenses suddenly negate ISOs, when they couldn't do so, in the regular season? We swept Minny in the regular season, using the same gameplan for the past 3 games. Worked in games 1 and 2. It doesn't work for game 3, and all of a sudden, everyone wants us to reinvent our offense?
Very few teams have had iso-players capable of doing what Harden/CP3 do in isolation. That alone makes it difficult for teams. But the shooters have to hit shots. It definitely doesn't work without that. Defenses tighten up and the pace slows down (usually). Tonight...they finally hit some shots.
game 3 is an outlier it took a miraculous game for minny hitting nine straight threes 5 threes @55% to overcome an ISO ball in the 4th which produced 22 pts of the teams output
how did ISO ball do tonight ? jazz kicked our ass with BALL MOVEMENT exactly what the warriors will do, IF the rockets can even get out of the 2nd round
ISO ball is good when you're feeling it and the shots are falling, so you keep at it. But when it's clear that it's not working, move the ****ing ball! Funny how when we moved the ball we were getting points.
no they didn't. they played iso ball, pnr, drive & kick just like the rockets. ingles wasn't shooting off screens. that was nothing like the warriors offense.
so iso ball has had the most success against the post-snake golden state warriors. iso ball had them up 3-2 before chris paul.
i don't think it has to be all or nothing. i believe in ball movement. But i also believe in taking advantage of matchups. I think you move the ball to get better shots and get guys involved, but you also exploit matchups through iso when your opponent gives them to you. Just ask Steph Curry and Ryan Anderson. basically ...what Golden State does with their motion offense.
To be fair, in game 2, ISO ball was paired with off the ball movement. That’s the way I’d like to see the Rockets play moving forward.
When teams decide to switch everything, ISO is the only option. The basis of the Pick and Roll is that the defender guarding the ball will either 1) fight through the pick, giving the ball handler a step on him or 2) go under the pick, giving the ball handler an open shot. With switching, neither of these things happen. The possession isn't any closer to scoring a bucket. The only change is that someone new is guarding the ball handler. If the defense is going to do this every time, the only option is to screen until you have the worst defender on the court going against your best player. We turned the GSW into an ISO team by switching not just the ball handler's picks, but all off ball picks as well. It's telling that, when we employed their defense against them, they began running OUR offense. The only other option against a switching team is to run your offense as normal and hope there's confusion as defenders pass their men off to each other, creating an open shot. GSW had success with this but It's risky and creates a fair amount of turnovers. Aesthetically, ISO is not a pretty way to play. But just as the GSW broke the league in terms of talent, they've also forced the league to spam ISO plays and switching defenses.
I do wish MDA would've implemented just A FEW plays in the offense. He had a whole offense predicated off ball/player movement in Phoenix. The offense here is night & day. Had we a few plays we wouldn't have to work so hard to get baskets
And iso got harden tired Without Paul Who’s won a championship with iso only ? Need to add more to the offense or we will be outcoached again
the rockets are not an iso only team. they were forced into iso by a team that plays aggressive switching defense that took away the PNR. the rockets switching defense forced the warriors to play more iso than they played all season. they got tired too. they just had 3 all-stars go off at different times, where the rockets after chris paul got injured really only had 1 reliable all-star. and the 2016 cavs beat the warriors with iso
the coaching had more success against the warriors than any other team with a fraction of the talent.
I hate iso-ball more than words can express. It violates the first principle of basketball which is "when the ball moves, the defense has to reset." Otherwise, the defense rests and both teams become "observers." I can't even imagine how iso-ball can be a coaching strategy because it works against the team concept. Crisp passing to the open shooter is a thing of beauty, the essence of team ball. Love it.
nope its the key formula to beat this GS team. against anyone else you can go back to more movement but not GS. you just need the appropriate personnel to execute it which the rockets had this year.
If the Rockets get wide open shots, why would I care how they got it? ISO ball leads to wide open shots, and we are lucky enough to have two amazing playmakers who are more than happy to feed the open man. This team is set up perfectly for ISO ball, and I think it is ridiculous to want to change it completely.
