Very well stated. One of the commentators during half time, who used to be a star player but I forgot his name, stated that the kind of offense that the Rockets run with KD and Sengun dominating the ball while everyone stands around will not be helped by a PG, no matter who. It is just so stagnant and predictable for the defense. Add the fact that KD hardly passes the ball quickly when the double team comes, and Alpi starts his "post-up" moves very far from the painted area. Both KD and Alpi have been much better when they are on the move to the basket when they get the pass, instead of initiating the offense and playing iso ball. They need to keep passing the ball and constantly move. This current offense is putrid, and it is on Ime and the players to sort this out.
Playing within the offense and not trying to do to much means making the right reads taking what the defense gives him and not rush shots or taking things into his own hands. It means to cut and move and be in the right space to receive a pass. He does get ball screens. The Rockets often screen with a 5 or 4 on the wings or up top for him off ball to free him. Sometimes they run a skip pass to him this way. He also gets down screens to free him up. He’s best playing within the simple high screen driving or passing to roll man or making the right pass to the perimeter from a drive. He tends to not be in a position where he can get a clear line of sight from the Durant or Sengun in the post and he’s often stagnant or bunched up behind the 3. He also is at his worst Jacking up long running pullup 2s from the corner or FT line. Also not good driving into a congested lane. He needs to simplify his game and play his role. Rotate to open areas, cut and when you get the ball from the post make those shots which he hasn’t been making. No excuses.
That is not the role Ime is asking him to play, he wants him to shoot, shoot, and shoot some more.... DD
Here’s another thing. At the end of the day it’s about odds. And opponents are betting that a bad shooter will end up taking the shot. AND while the Rockets are a good offensive rebounding team, they are only good on the rebounds that fall around the basket. Only 2 shooters on the team have enough arc on their shot to fall around the basket. So bad/flat shots = long rebounds = fast breaks = easy baskets for the opponent. We’re too tall/slow/old to offer any resistance on transition defense. My point in this is the double bigs have become stale and should be abandoned for a more conventional motion offense. Find a wing player at the deadline that can score the ball. Send Bari back to the bench. Spam Sengun post ups from the block.
KD didn't move for Kerr and Curry, he won't change the way he plays now. Sengun on the other hand needs to be used more dynamically. More catching the ball on the move. More 3pters.
I don’t get the reference. I’ve gotten over the shock from last night and have been brainstorming on what a practical approach to our problem could be. Trading Durant this year and probably next year is not an option. Firing Ime this year or next is probably not an option. So maybe our re-build is not over and we were pre-mature on the Durant trade and Ime extension. Your solution is to trade our two best players, because they don’t fit Ime’s scheme. I don’t think you double down on mistakes and bring in more short term vets that are going to build around a 37 year old guy with a defensive minded coach. A better approach is to re-group and trade away the guys with limited potential or injury concerns like Reed, Tari, and FVV for defensive minded vets with expiring contracts and shoot for 27 and 28 when Amen and Sengun are hitting their prime to hire a better coach and re-vamp the line-up. Many of us thought we were ahead of schedule on the re-build. It turns out we are not.
I don't think it is confidence or lack of it, I believe it is lack of direction as to how Ime wants him to play. Reed should literally just say **** IT and play his way. Even at 21 Reed is better as a player than Ime ever was. DD
udonis was the guy talking about spacing and passing on the prime broadcast. I was joking. I said all along its not ime its how this team is constructed. Trade Amen or Sengun. You already know this
Yeah. People act like our offense was very smooth with a "competent" PG. We were not. We stagnated and had scoring draught often.
The offense with FVV was still garbage. People have a whole lot of amnesia about last season and post season
Why do people keep complaining about our isos and lack of offball screens. OKC is one of the top iso teams in the league. Even more than us. Why are the successful? They play great defense, they can get to the rim, get pts off TO’s, and they make 3s. They played a starting group that all could shoot 3. 5 guys. We have 3 starters that cant shoot. When Durant drives he has 2 options for the 3 since Amen and Sengun can shoot. This limits your offense. Or when the ball rotates. 2 guys. That’s 90s basketball. What hurts the Rockets I’ve noticed is our transition offense is terrible. Often we can’t beat guys down the court or we mess up an easy layup—this includes Amen. But again it’s team construction. Jabari isn’t great at handling although he’s improved. Okogie can’t handle and not quick. Tari and Sheppard have their issues as well. The team construction is just awkward to me. Not a lot of guys who can both dribble drive and shoot with good quickness. We don’t have cason wallace or mitchell type guys. That’s why I like JD. I like Tate. They can get to the paint and they hustle. Bench Okogie and Reed
You don’t know that about Sheppard and Udoka’s relationship. You’re conjecturing. What does a coach not being a good pro player has anything to do with coaching? Many great coaches weren’t good players and vice versa. Kerr wasn’t a great player by any means. Phil Jackson wasn’t great. Daigneault never even played in the NBA.
FVV won a regular season game against them scoring 36 pts I believe and JG had a great scoring game against them. All of a sudden, they are only remembering those moments.
A lot of people are saying that we need to trade for a PG as if that will solve our offensive issues. Well unless you get a star PG, most of obtainable PGs out there are about FVV level. Some even say that we miss FVV. They seem to forget that our offense was worse last season than this season. We maybe miss FVV on defense. But offense? just same old movie with different actors.
