Prediction: would McHale still running Harden ISO?

Yeah, I was. I was trying to show that iso works, and Jeremy did a lot of his damage in NY being an iso ballhog hero

 

These threads are starting to parody themselves.

 

1) "Iso" is short for "isolation play". It is not an acronym. It should not be in all capital letters unless you are yelling on the internet. "ISO" the acronym is widely associated with the International Organization for Standardization, a.k.a. the group that standardizes measurements like the meter and the gram.

2) An iso play is an actual play that is called up. The players practice it. They go to specific spots on the floor and practice when and where they should be when the player with the ball moves to particular spots. In general, as Codman pointed out in his fantastic post in this thread, an iso play puts the ball handler on one side of the key while the other four players spread out along the opposing half. A true iso play also looks very much like any other PG play in today's NBA that isn't initiated with screens/picks. Basically, the PG finds a way to penetrate and drive, and then either kicks it out to an open man or takes it in himself. Notice that this play is dependent upon an actual drive in order to collapse the defense. The instant a defender is drawn off his man, the iso play allows the guard to pass to an open man for the shot. Otherwise, the assumption is that the guard is quick/skilled enough to beat his man one-on-one and will get the high-percentage shot at the rim. Very, very rarely should this play result in a 3-point or long-2 attempt by the ball handler, as unlike with a screener you don't necessarily have the guarantee that your defender isn't going to catch up to you in time or at least put a hand in your face. According to McHale, this was very rarely actually called up as a play at the end of a game.

3) "Harden hero ball" is basically Harden ball hogging at the end of the game and dribbling in place while the other guys stand around and wait for him to move. This can look a lot like a called isolation play, but given we don't see what is being drawn up on the board it's hard to know whether McHale is calling for the iso play or Harden is simply refusing to run the set play.

4) I'm betting it's a combination of both. McHale calls for a play that starts off with Harden having the ball, for whatever reason the play doesn't work out or Harden calls it off after a few seconds of dribbling, and the team is left doing the only smart thing at that point - waiting out the clock and spreading out to give Harden as much room as possible to operate.

5) You cannot evaluate the efficiency of a given play with publicly-available stats. Plays are highly dependent upon the players and their decision-making. For an extreme example, Harden could have a 100% FG%, but does that mean he should always have the ball? Not necessarily - it could mean that he refuses to take any shots that aren't wide open and passes the ball in all other instances. Does this make him a good player to handle the ball in the last seconds of a one-shot game? That is hugely dependent upon how good his teammates are at making the shots he passes off, if the defense can easily read when he will pass vs. shoot, etc. etc. etc.

 

Speed kills. If you are going to isolate one player to beat another, it should be Jeremy Lin. That dude is explosive getting to the basket.

I'm hoping the pick and roll becomes our go to play at the end of games. Even if you have to adjust the personnel for foul shooting. If we get LMA, we run it all day!

 

How do you know McHale was pissed at Harden? I'm actually surprised to hear this. I've never seen him yelling or getting angry with him.

 

I'm all for Harden taking control of the ball, but when he's not making his shots or doing too many ISO plays and they're not working, just please have someone else take over. Harden was getting used so much and ran out of energy and had his injuries. The coach relied on him too much and it didn't work all of the time. I mean the guy was playing almost the entire game at times. That was pretty frustrating. He's a very talented player and deserves most of the credit he gets, but he needs to trust his teammates more. Well, we'll see how it goes this season.

 

You going to beat that D.E.A.D horse even when its in the grave huh pimpn. We understand you dont like ISO ball. lol

 

Both Harden and Lin are explosive getting to the rim. Difference is Harden will draw more fouls than Lin. lol

 

What dead horse? That's my only post in this thread.

 

Yes yes yes! We need to utilize PnR ALOT more this next season, now that we have Howard. Hell Omer is getting damn good at it too.

 

I predict the Rockets will run one of the most efficient offenses next year given their talent. Just like they ran the 6th best offense despite having brand new players, no chemistry, only one star.

 

go look at the last NBA finals . Even the KING james couldn't iso himself out in the BIG time CRUNCH time 4th quarter - 2 late turnovers , missed the 3 to tie and some how the ball bounced off and when to Ray Allen . and hoo Ray Allen scores! saving King James's arse.

 

Im in agreement with you on that meh. I think we will have either the #1 offense or #2.

 

Hey thats part of basketball, the lucky bounce. The Lakers won a Chip like that. The ball went straight to Robet Big Shot Horry with time running out and bam he hits a 3 pointer..LOL That is one of the many reasons I love this game.

 

Sorry, I should have qualified this. Lin running the pick and roll only during the last play of the game. You know, when the refs swallow whistles.

 

Good point! Tired of people saying it like that. I don't know if it's because they're poor at grammar or know nothing of basketball, but it's annoying.

 

Except he can't make a layup. Hopefully Dwight can take some pressure off of him around the hoop, or clean up his blown layups with DAT PUTBACK DUNK.

 

You have brought this up in other threads before.

 

in a team atmosphere, iso is ugly no matter who is running it. I cringed just as much when lin iso'd and waved off omer against the spurs. On the perimeter, when you're not getting the calls and the other team has a defensive reputation, it's easy for them to double and force you into what they want.

Some like to think what dream did was iso. but it's completely different. there was the lost art of an entry pass involved, he was decisive..score or pass. it was never dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble 22 seconds gone, pass or shoot 27 ft fade shot.

Some people will say, well, harden was carrying a load of the offense, which is complete horse crap. Our team was high scoring before the arrival of a superstar. that's just the way we roll. Infact, that 2011-2012 team gets to the seventh seed just by having Asik. That year, being out rebounded on the other end killed us.

We play our best basketball when the ball is moving, and that's something that mchale preaches. Unfortunately, he feared the beard and just allowed him to do whatever, until late in the season.

I'd rather have harden score 21pts a game and try on D.