The Grizz Debacle...

Might take more than one practice for the new coach to turn it around

 

PNR is hard to run when no one on the outside can hit a shot

At one point in the game they werent even guarding brewer anymore. Actually they were leaving him open on purpose and this team is dumb enough to fall for it.

You might as let Dwight shoot some 3's at this rate

 

Also something I have suspected for a while. There is no read and react going on.

When KJ came in dude was as lost as a lab rat. Doing things he had no business doing. Lawson another example and Brewer who shoots way too many 3's for a sub 30% shooter

This team may say they run read and react, but its become quite clear they are basically playing street ball for the most part and have been beating teams for the past years on pure talent.

 

I tried to rep you David but I had repped you before. I feel your pain and I wanted to post something similar. This season sucks to watch.

 

We had a hard time against the Grizz last year too

 

This team has no direction on offense or defense. Totally lost. JB is running the same system because obviously it is the one he taught McHale. We all know that McHale didn't have a system. So we are just seeing JB run his own system already, the same one that has gotten us to where we are this year already. It's not going to work, the league has figured out how to exploit this system on offense and defense.

 

Comparing last year to this year seems misguided at this point.

 

1 - grizzlies are off their slow start
2 - rockets aren't gonna do a 180 in two games
3 - PASS THE ***** ******** BALL TO DWIGHT!

 

Very true on all points, especially Dwight, offense and the assistants being promoted.

Repped and hope the kids are well.

 

It's impossible to coach up players who don't want in more than the other guy. Our stars are too content being rich and celebrities. Does anyone honestly think that Harden or Howard want it more than Curry, Duncan, Kobe, or Jordan? You can't coach heart.

 

anyone know anything about meth? i think its the new hot drug.
maybe they made the wcf and were like "we just made the west finals. lets do some meth"

makes perfect sense

 

I can't, for the life of me, figure out what words have 5 letters and 8 letters between "Pass the...." and "...ball to Dwight!"

Round leathery?

 

Well said. +1

 

we have a predictable offense dictated by a guy that hasn't played enough of the game to preach it.

Morey needs to get his head out of his ass.

 

YES! PASS THE ROUND LEATHERY BALL TO DWIGHT! HURRY UP!

 

brown globular

 

Why don't the Rockets players feed Howard the ball in the post more...

Because Howard doesn't do any of these post up basics correctly:
1. fight for, claim, and hold his position
2. show his hands, and make a clear target for a passing angle

and most importantly:
3. he DOESN'T DEMAND the ball (show the players he's intent on wanting it)

He jostles around and starts to post up once in a while, but then he doesn't claim a position, seal his defender off, and hold that position long enough for his teammates to clearly see the opening.

Instead, he settles for weak positioning, and then bails out on that spot and runs out to start setting screens... which opens up a whole different set of problems. For one, he cannot, and will not shoot the open shot... so why does he even bother setting screens and rolling to spot up positions. All that does is set him up to receive a pass, only for him to have to start looking around and wasting time trying to find someone else to pass to. All the while his defender is sitting back at least 6 feet away from him playing zone on other Rockets.

And what about when he does get the ball in the post, hmm, let's see:
1. he's usually not in prime post position, so he ends up having to try to dribble and back his way closer in, which more times than not results in a turnover or an off balance, contested fling of the ball.

2. he doesn't have any shooting touch, so he can't finesse shots to the rim. He only has 2 options outside of 4ft, a left handed mini-hook, and a right handed running sweeping hook. (and the sweeping hook is totally useless)

With all of that being the case, what other options are there? Howard simply does not have the requisite skills nor fundamentals to be an effective post player.

Think about these things:
1. with all of the big man coaching he's received over the years, how come he does not use any of these basic fundamentals:
a. a pump fake
b. a drop step (every big man's basic core fundamental)
c. a right handed jump hook (since he's right handed)
d. basic positioning technique

And I've seen him working on all of these skills in videos with Hakeem and Mchale, so it's not like he physically cannot do them. He just doesn't care to try harder to practice on them.

And that says it all, he just DOESN'T CARE enough about his own basketball skills, or winning and losing. He's being paid superstar money, but in reality he's just an all-star player. And there's a big difference between those 2 things.

So it's one thing to ask how come the other Rockets don't pass Howard the ball in the post, which they should be more proficient at, since they are NBA players.

But the real problem is that the player in the post has to WANT THE BALL. And that means fighting for the position, making a clear target, and SHOWING his teammates that he wants it.

And then actually DO SOMETHING positive with it once he receives it. Stop making half ass attempts at everything.

This is all really moot anyway, because in truth, if Howard had the desire to be better... he would have worked on improving his skills 7-8 years ago. The fact that he hasn't done so by now means it's not that important to him.

The only answer is to use him in the ways that best maximize the few things that he can do well, which are:

1. flashes and pick n rolls to the basket for layups and dunks
2. defensive anchor, protecting the paint
3. rebounding (offensive and defensive)

And maximizing those things from him may take a new coach, someone who can light a fire in him or at least make him work harder.

 

Ditto every word of it.... Ditto

If things don't change soon (which I'm really having doubts they can based of their history), Harden is gonna be banished into my Tracy Mcgrady territory. That is not a place that players come out off in my book.

If you put lipstick on a pig it is still just a pig. While Harden is a great scorer he might not be conductive to a winning culture or teammate. And Bickerstaff doesn't look like he has the balls to make the real changes we need. Bummer.......

Maybe we'll see how big Morey balls are. Or Les is gonna show'em his on their way out the door.

 

solid rant; would rep again.

you forgot: the sorriest display of basketball i have ever witnessed from a professional team.