excellent. i don't believe either. i said before in one thread that harden has the beat-you mentality. sometimes, it helps him to make clutch shots. other times, it makes him look selfish, ignoring his teammates. he does need to trust his teammates more. on the other side, lin tends to use other team mistakes to score, such as defense lapses or cracks. of course, he doesn't have the capability harden has to beat defender but he is smart enough to look for opportunities. he reacts those mistakes really fast. lin also trusts his teammates unconditionally.
Because it's what I believe to be the Rockets best set and one the Rockets were going to quite a bit in the late stages of the season -- including the playoffs -- here's another compilation of the Rockets' Chin Spread set: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aEFDOS8ZT_0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> A bit more footage against quality opponents this time. Also includes a couple of quick hitter looks that weren't displayed in the first compilation. Highly likely to stay in the playbook next season, given how often the Rockets got good shots out of it this season. You can find a bit more detailed take on this set from myself, along with the first compilation, from about two months ago here: Spoiler On another note here's a playoff wrinkle the Rockets threw in a few time to run Parsons off a screen with Ibaka on him out of their Wheel set: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2oF1kfyWP6w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> For reference, below, the Rockets 'normal' Wheel set, which OKC was very much prepared for, so the Rockets didn't bother going to it a whole lot. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zC_lwFFDDYo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Do you have evidence of a whole lot broken plays due to OKC's preparation? It was painful to see so many Harden iso ending up with passing the ball side ways to teammates with only seconds left on the clock. I thought they might have created some space with those plays in your vids as better alternative. And I remember Malone/Stockton/Hornecak were consistently successful with similar plays to free the shooter. What's the secret? Coach?
I do not have additional video of Wheel breaking down, as -- unless I want to highlight something -- I usually only log plays that were well executed and/or created good shots. I guess you'll have to trust me. Consider myself a witness. FWIW, though, here's something I wrote about Wheel in late March: You see, the element of surprise very much is a factor with Wheel, which essentially is a simple staggered screen option. If the defense already knows what's coming in advance, it's obviously much harder to create a good look. Look at the playoff wrinkle clip I posted. Is Harden open coming off the staggered baseline screens? No. Here's another clip where the Rockets went to Wheel using Harden as a screener: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PVLVndqVR0Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Is Garcia open? Nope. Granted, the Rockets don't get much body on Martin on those screens, but that's easier said than done considering Martin knowns what's coming and is chasing Harden with more effort than you'll ever see from Martin on defense during the regular season.
Not sure if y'all still care for this with the season over but there are still a bunch of sets I haven't uploaded yet and some of them I was going to upload regardless. Here's one of them -- the Rockets' Baseline Out of Bounds set with 9 seconds or less on the shot clock: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/M_pe0ofQXCI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The alignment is always the same. 4 always clears to the strong-side corner. 1 either screens 2 and then immediately come off the screen by 5 or 1 simply comes off staggered screens by 2 and 5. If the PG doesn't get freed up or the opposing center helps out too much, the center usually is open for either a quick scoring opportunity under the basket or worst case scenario somewhere in the short corner where he then can go into a hand-off with the inbounder, like the Rockets do in the last clip. I haven't watched a ton of Grizzlies games this year, but I believe they run this very same set as well.
HM, I very much appreciate your insightful input. The strategic part is the very reason I'm so into this game. I believe you answered my question with the observation that the preceding screen to free Garcia in that video was weak. Comparing that with the standard same play Utah Jazz executed under Sloan, particular with Malone/Stockton doing it though I hated them for flopping and cheap shots along the way, let's say with good coaching and right personnel it is doable. Peace.
I would love seeing more of these plays posted during the off-season to be more knowledgable and help keep our eyes open for the fall. :grin: Keep up the great work!
