[Chron] Rockets working on offensive kinks with Dwight

to be fair, the only scrimmage footage we've seen are the ones in manila and yes, lin was running with the second unit because they wanted to start bev in manila - makes sense.

we really have no idea how they split up the teams other times.

 

Don't try to reason with people who will only be happy when Lin is playing 38 MPG and leading the team in every countable statistic.

 

the 2 training camp videos in houston bev harden were togther, the NBA instagram video I posted from asia had bev and harden on same team. 3/0 but we dont have any idea how they split the teams

 

how many total minutes are those three videos?

 

I can literally count all the howard pick and rolls with my hands. Disappointing to say the least. Didn't see much pick and roll action with lin or harden. The ones we did run look so broken. I can already see that force feeding howard will not be a good thing. Howard is just not that good finishing at the rim. Big centers historically will give him trouble. Howard should just suck it up and run the pick and roll all the time, his superior athleticism makes him truly dominant in that role, not the ugly post ups I have seen so far.

 

He's clearrrlly not talking to Howard.

 

just stop...

 

I kinda agree. we have had so many bigs. they are good at everything almost. dh is not a center of that type. we can't expect him to do what dreams did or yao did. plain and simple, we are spoiled and are treating dh as one of our elite bigs. p&r might be the best for him on offense end or he should focus on drawing defenders and fighting for RBs.

 

Get Robert Horry.

 

While I don`t disagree, it`s not that easy. We didn`t have a post game last season, and we definetly didn`t have any defense concentrating on stopping our post guy to get the ball. Lin is great at creating of the dribble, I haven`t really see him much pass to the low block with a defender in front and one not close behind our post player. That is a hard pass. Maybe Lin can do it, I just haven`t seen enough of it yet. But it is not enough for one player to be able to feed to post, all of our major rotation players need to be at least decent at feeding the post.

 

it's the preseason so i'd like to assume that they're trying things out and letting different issues come to the surface in order to address them now.

part of me does wonder if 1) houston is humoring dwight to get him to "prefer" pnr since that's what he is great at , or 2) dwight really doesn't like pnr, like they say in LA, and wants to be known for his low post game like a traditional HOF big, and develop that part of his game at all cost.

i think dwight does want to be known as a big with an offensive game outside of pnr - he knows what people are saying out there and you know he cares deeply about what others say about him. but i doubt he'd give up pnr plays if that's what going to help him dominate.

again, it's preseason and wins and losses really doesn't matter. might as well take the time to work on things that you know you struggle. if i had my way i'd tie lin's right hand behind his back for the whole preseason, 20 turnovers be damned.

 

With how broken the pick and roll plays are, the team certainly needs to work on it as well. There are only a few pre season games left. Waiting for regular season to start working on pick and roll is just not smart. Even great pick and roll players need to get in sync. Utilize the strength of your players. Sorry to say, Howard is a mediocre post up player.

 

Unfortunately, the % looks the same to a color blind.

 

They need to change the offensive 3 second rule to an offensive 6 seconds so that you can actually play in the post. It's already hard enough.

 

this is all a matter of chemistry. the rockets have played only 4 games together, 2 of which were on the other side of the world and riddled with time spent doing promo stuff for the NBA. the team will get better as the season progresses. Look at who's on the roster - none of these guys have ever played with a big that is capable of the kind of scoring output that d12 offers. it'll take some time, but in spite of their struggles getting the ball inside, they have found ways to get scores and keep dwight's head in the game. that's the beauty of having guys like harden and lin on the perimeter - they can make plays when plan A or B has gone kerplunk

 

No kidding. How can they expect chemistry when Dwight and Lin are running on different teams.

 

I know ppl like to see dh has good #s. with his strength and weakness, we have to look at things beyond #s. for example, defense attention on dh from opponent creates easy points made by his teammates. we can still say dh is involved in our offense although #s don't reflect it. to measure his ability we should look at how much he can convert opportunities to points when he does get ball underneath the basket. P&R is another way to get him involved.

fronting is mentioned most here. often we see other team throw fronting defense on dh. however, fronting is not really a problem. to overcome fronting, throw lob pass. the problem is the defender from weak side. nowadays, those defenders are fast. they can approach dh fast enough to stop lob pass. whoever is doing entry pass needs to have a good court vision to know when to throw a lob pass.

if i am not wrong, svg often asked dh to focus on defense and not worry about offense. offense will come to him when he is not the offense focal point. svg coached him long enough to know what his strength and weakness are. well, we are trying to ask him to station at low post. it clearly tells other team he is the focal point.

 

They will figure it out. It isn't a question of skill....it just takes experience and understanding.

Asik couldn't do last year what Dwight can, so the guards aren't used to playing the way they are now. Also, as Morey pointed out, Dwight isn't used to an offense that doesn't run set plays. Eventually (1st half of the season), Dwight will figure out where to be and our guards will know where to put the ball.

 

McHale's most important task is to maximize Asik+Dwight.

If he figures out a way to play Asik for 30 min at the same elite level as last season, Rockets become an instant favorite to win the West.