[ClutchFans] Rockets to begin season with Beverley, Asik as starters; Jeremy Lin off bench

yeah any coach of any nba team complain about that from time to time.. would anyone say that when harden held on to the ball majority of the time he just wasted the possession? definitely no be cause majority of the time he either scored efficiently or assited his teammate

is Harden an "ISO" player? for me, dwight, and KD, NO?

BTW in the NBA, who you think is an ISO player?

 

Linsanity is the epitome of ball stickness. The Rockets want to play like the Spurs where PG is more of a concept than position, ie moving the ball side to side to create.

 

Thanks and agreed.

 

In case of interest, here are some excerpts from a Jason Friedman interview with Chris Finch (Rockets' offensive coordinator) just before training camp began this year.

For the record, I don't think Harden is a selfish player; he was just forced to carry a very heavy load last year. Also, he's good at iso, and it's quite likely his time at OKC encouraged reliance on this. (OKC: usually among most efficient offenses while also ranking among bottom at assist ratio)

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/offensive

JCF: To that end, I think there are still a lot of misconceptions surrounding how the offense works and is supposed to run. Last year, for example, some criticized the late-game offense because it had a tendency to get too iso-heavy and used that as an indictment of what happens when you don’t have an encyclopedic playbook to draw from when the game slows down as it so often does late in games or in the playoffs.

CF: I would counter this by saying that our late-game situation was the antithesis of our offense; it wasn’t a byproduct of our offense. We actually abandoned our offense too much to go to late-game isolation situations and you see what happens when you have players in isolation or in simple NBA sets where the defenses, which are at heightened intensity at that point in time, are locked-in on game plan and taking away what you do best: they’re forcing your best players into hard shots and then when you have other players who aren’t able to create their own offense the way a James Harden can, it becomes even tougher.

So the key for us this season is staying with that fluidity later, keeping that unpredictability as well as mixing in sets that emphasize Dwight’s touches, James’ touches, and whoever else has it going that we feel has a mismatch or is playing well in that game.

…

JCF: This a team that ranked 6th in offensive efficiency last year so obviously we’re talking about attempting to improve upon what’s already an area of strength. Putting points on the board is not an issue. The biggest area for offensive improvement seems to lie in those late-game situations.

CF: We’ve got to become a better late-game team, there’s no doubt about it. We’ve got to have better execution there, stay with our flow a little bit longer. I think we’ve got to get James on the move and in more creative situations rather than just handing him the ball and expecting him to make a play all the time – that gets hard for anybody, even superstars. Then we obviously have Dwight as well to include in what we’re doing in late-game situations.

 

Dude if you watched any of the Linsanity games, you would know that Linsanity was the epitome of team basketball. That's why Linsanity died once Melo came back.

 

lolol. If you are the average Rockets fan then I finally understand why some fans dont believe in Jeremy!

 

Not really.

Lin's usage rate during Linsanity is the same as Harden's last season. Linsanity was about the ball being in Lin's hands and having him create something either through isolation or PnR in order to find the open player.

 

This.

 

So in other words he played like a point guard? I guess most teams don't play team ball.

 

A PG controlled flowing offense, good pick N roll, good team hustle basketball, and team effort on D, with no real iso plays was what Linsanity was about. There was no "stickiness" with the ball, because if you were open, Lin would find you. It was all kinda crazy and unreal if you saw every game. Don't just look at stats. Watch the game.

 

That Knick team didn't have a single player who could create shots, besides Jeremy. All other PGs were either injured or terrible.

MDA's system is PG centric and he trusted Lin, gave him a lot of freedom and tolerated a lot of his mistakes. It was a perfect storm.

Lin seriously need a reliable jumper though. During Linsanity days, besides his penetration, he hit all kind of jumpers. I think that is why he was so successful and that is what is separating him with elite PG.

 

No, in other words the ball was sticky, and there is nothing wrong with that if the ball is sticky with your best wing ball handling player once in a while.

Hence, for those who keep screaming HARDEN ISO. That's basically what Linsanity was.

No, the ball was sticky. A high usage rate means a high percentage of the team's possessions are used by a player when he is on the floor.

The fact that the ball is in a "Point Guard's" hands doesn't somehow mean the ball is not sticky and that it's all of a sudden a super duper epic best friend team ball. The position doesn't matter, the job is all the same.

Linsanity was the epitome of what happens when you let a good player have all the freedom in the world and go to work.

 

I respectfully disagree. Sticky is when you pass the guy the ball and you know you are never going to get it back, even if you are open (ie. Melo). Why? Because that guy has sticky hands. So if you ISO a lot, you are being sticky. I agree with you its not about position. During Linsanity, Lin passed the ball a lot to open teammates in plays he helped to set up. The ball was definitely not sticky in his hands. In fact, everyone was passing the ball, and it was unselfish basketball at its best. That's why all his teammates were both winning and having fun! You didn't need to look at stats. All you needed to see was how well the ball moved.

 

No, that's called being a ball hog.

Okay, it doesn't matter the definition. The point is the Jeremy Lin had the ball most of the time, and he was using up the majority of the team's possession. It doesn't mean he wasn't passing, just that the ball is in his hands a lot.

 

What are you talking about? That was Lin's coming out party where he basically held the ball and controlled everything in the offense. That is the definition of 'sticky'. The opposite would be players having the ball with them for 5 seconds max

 

It might be a matter of semantics, because sticky to me is when the ball is not moving well on the floor. It just sticks to one person, who's not passing it around.

 

That's a lot of words for BS. DA's offense and iso/hero ball are not even close to being the same thing. Are you really trying to convince anyone that Nash ran ISOs all game long in PHX? If you are then u need to brush up on your basketball.

 

thats more ball hog

 

Well if all five players were ball hogs, it would be real sticky!

 

That's exactly what it means, the ball is not only in one persons hands but also everyone is standing around watching. That could not be more different from how Lin plays with the ball in his hands. Lin is constantly probing and getting his teammates involved and not just with time running down on the shot clock. Love Harden but he is at his most dangerous when is moving and involving his teammates. But he is so efficient that he can get away with Hero ball.

We are lucky to have both players. I love the entire team, especially when they are clicking, unstoppable beautiful basketball.