Breaking Down the systems of the most successful NBA teams

You've solved it! Quick, fax this to the Rockets front office!

 

34 assist by Spurs tonight

14 assists by Rockets tonight

Spurs/Warriors run a system

JB run ISOHARDEN

 

I agree with your premise but having players like Curry and Leonard make a difference.

That said ball movement does lead to easier shots which leads to better offense. SA and GS are #1 and #2 in FG%.

Both teams are elite on defense as well. Which makes the biggest difference.

 

The Rockets were some of the leaders in ball movement back when we had Rick Adelman, too bad Morey ran him out of town because he wasn't going to be a yes man for Morey and his analytics movement.

 

Tonight, GS feeding Klay.... we had games with Ariza and Thorton on fire, but then we dont run plays for them... they dont see the ball.... because unless Harden going for triple double... he will start trying to get his.

Draymond went the whole 1st half and 4 minutes of the 3rd before taking his 1st SHOT!

 

Cleverly disguised McHale sucks thread.

 

Draymond takes 4 shots

Curry takes 11 shots


Thompson started hot and they let him start hot because they kept feeding him.

They don't have a "ahem" player that has to "get his"

 

Sadly, the only time we win is when he gets his.

 

Not true, because he takes away opportunities from others to put up numbers. Look at our record: harden contributes to L's as much as W's. Fg% when he isos? When u need a stop? When u need the whole team feel involved and play together? There's been many articles and posts around here detailing how Harden has a relatively negative impact (teammates complaints abt defense), as compared to other stars.

Ok, when the step backs drop, u get "clutch" performance... But is it more frequent than not? How about he freezes out everyone else so they don't even get a chance?

Remember, the clippers series was won by the bench and support players, after harden sit down for good in the elimination game.

Everyone play below their normal career level when teamed up with Harden, hence he is far from mvp territory. Even last year he didn't really make others better, but he wasn't lazy like this year.

 

He was ran out of town because he was old and didn't really give **** anymore. Despite naming yourself the realist it seems like you don't have a firm grasp of reality. If he was so amazing what happened when he went to Minny? Oh right, they didn't even make the playoffs!

I understand JB is lacking, in fact you can definitely argue RA would've done better job right now. But please don't distort the past if RA was a coaching god then he wouldn't have been replaced. Also, Morey wasn't the guy that fired him it was Les' decision, IIRC all coach firings have always been Les' decisions.

 

Those teams have UNSELFISH players.

Players who don't care about their personal stats or personal glory. All that matters to them is the W. Sum of their parts is greater than the whole. Curry had a total of 11 shots and 13 points but he didn't care since they got the WIN

I feel like we have selfish players (Harden) who care about their numbers way too much. If Thornton or Howard are hot, it seems like Harden goes insecure and stops feeding them, Instead proceeds to ISO and jack up shots to get his numbers up

 

No he was let go because he wouldn't be a yes man. Remember the players LOVED playing for Rick. Everybody touched the ball and there wasn't any iso plays. There wasn't any selfishness. Morey got greedy and wanted more control over rotations & coaching staff decisions, then we witnessed the birth of Moreyball

 

I'm not sure how many slowdown/pure Harden Iso's the Rockets ran last night - I'm not sure if they ran a single one in the first half. .

Serious question - do you people even watch the games?

Serious question - do you people even watch the games?

Serious question - do you people even watch the games?

 

The best part about Adelman was that he was brought in to play "more Phoenix like" because Les refused to believe that a team built around Yao Ming wasn't a great fit for Pringles man ball.

Rockets Pace:

2006/07 (Van Gundy) 90.7
2007/08 (Adelman) 90.4
2008/09 (Adleman) 90.2

 

I agree to a certain extent. The ultimate goal of every organization/head coach/GM/owner is to WIN GAMES (unless you're the 76ers). Wins bring in fans and revenue. So as a head coach, you're trying to do "whatever" it takes to win games.

Now in the NBA, coaches are at the mercy of their players (unless you're Phil Jackson or Pop). You can preach a good preach but if you don't have the talent to run that system, it's not going anywhere. And a lot of that however has to do with GMs and the history of the team (draft picks) and what kind of players they draft.

The problem with a lot of GMs nowadays, and Morey is no exception, is that they sometimes put too much emphasis on raw talent and not enough on character. Many a times GMs gamble on players with "great upside" but have some off-court issues and/or personal issues. Royce White is a great example of that. Morey gambled and he lost.

Look at some of the most successful players in the league now and ask yourself could we have drafted or traded for them in the past? Sure! Morey could've figured out a way to acquire the Porzingis, Curry, Ginobili, Parker, Thompson, Green, Iggy, Leonard of the NBA, etc. Basically players that are not only good but also have good character and work ethic.

Which brings me to the central topic of this thread, the system. It's not McHale or JB's fault that we run iso-ball. Any head coach with an inkling of basketball knowledge knows that team ball wins games. It's that our two leaders, Harden and Howard, are ball dominant players. They need to have touches in order to score and win games. The fundamental issue is that our leaders ARE NOT GREAT OFF BALL PLAYERS. And due to this issue, the supporting cast can only adjust their game to the leaders. Stand around and wait for them to pass the ball. It doesn't help that our defense has stagnated, which is a carryover from the offense, in my opinion.

Does it suck? YES! Can we do anything about it? Not immediately as long as you have Harden and Howard running the show.

The two best teams in the league (Spurs and Warriors) have leaders that are great off-ball players - Curry, Thompson, Leonard, Ginobili, Parker, and Duncan (he wasn't always this way, but he changed his game to adapt). This way, role players have more room to do their thing and be integrated into the system.

In sum, our system is not conducive to running team ball because of what we have at the top. Coaches need to win games to keep their jobs and the fans happy and so they will run whatever works in order to win. But it's at the detriment of the long-term success of a team. We know this. Morey knows this. JB knows this. Nobody is stupid and oblivious to this.

 

That was only after McGrady and Yao were gone. The players determine the style of play, like Harden determines how the Rockets play. Harden under Adelman or anyone else probably wouldn't look much different. No smart coach would try to turn him into something he isn't. The Rockets are 7th in offense though without any good shooters or consistent bigs, so whatever they're doing is pretty effective.

 

Learn how to make moving picks with out getting called for it
Get uber love from all Refs

and you got it

Rocket River

 

Did u mean no smart coach would try to turn him into not lazy?

At least harden would occasionally show effort in spurts, or after his D being humiliated on YouTube. But only in spurts.. Like at most a season. Then he got complacent after having achieved the status "the best player in the world", therefore hard work no more.

So again, no smart coach would try to demand consistent effort?

 

No, actually. More like a smart coach wouldn't try to turn him into a move off the ball, catch and shoot type player. That's not his game.