21st on offense? Didn't realize the efficiency had dropped so much. Guess it makes sense-- given an 11 game sample size, 3 straight REALLY crappy games on offense can lower your ranking by a whole lot. Still, it is ridiculous that the Rockets are currently ranked lower on offense than the friggin Lakers-- and the Rockets have played a MUCH easier schedule than the Lakers have played (27th toughest vs. 1st toughest for LAL). One thing that Parsons did last year was really to fill a bunch of roles on offense-- the team struggled winning games that he missed. Parsons would finish on the break or handle the ball himself, shoot, dribble penetrate, pass, and finish at the rim. Ariza is more of a one dimensional shooter who does the other stuff less well than Parsons did. Lin was a guy who could generate some baskets for himself and for teammates than the guys taking these minutes now (Terry primarily?). Canaan can be a dribble creator and I think we may well need him to beat out Terry and provide these skills.
You really think the main reason we didn't win against Portland was because Dwight's post up game was too weak? I'm not saying our number one offensive play should be to feed Dwight in the post, but I'm saying it should be one option, especially if Harden is having a rough night or say someone like Kawhi Leonard is guarding him while Splitter has been manhandled by Dwight all night. The whole "Dwight won't change then we should question whether or not he's a winner" speech is going a little too far. Plenty of teams cater to their superstar's preferences. Nobody questioned Shaq's unwillingness to set screens. The Lakers never said "Kobe, please shoot the ball less." What's the alternative? Chase Dwight out of town and just assume we'll get Kevin Durant?
I don't think that Howard posting up occasionally is a bad thing. You can't run PNR continuously and throwing the ball to Howard in the post is a good option to have. The problem is that the Rockets roster is garbage with no secondary ballhandlers. So defenses key in on Harden to get the ball out of his hand, pack the paint and then dare the other players to put the ball on the floor and create or beat them from 3pt land. Expect more of this going forward.
The team started playing a totally different way in the Portland series than they had for large portions of last session. They force feed Dwight and everyone else started watching. Then Harden was jacking shots and was off, no real ball movement, etc. Daniels saved their asses in game three with his shooting but by then the series had been pretty much lost with Portland coming and winning two on our home court. More movement and activity on offense would have been a good start to have done differently. I remember a lot of posters on here were complaining that the team totally changed their offensive philosophy once the Portland series began by force feeding Dwight. He went off but no body else was able to.
The starting unit is okay, but the bench depth is severely lacking and I agree about the ball handlers. This was a huge issue we knew we'd having coming into the season when we signed the Jet and let Lin go.
Howard post ups are a problem, but the real issue is that Morey thinks we can force feed the ball down low or chuck up 3s...and that negates having a good coach.
Kobe and Shaq won multiple championships and will go down as better players than Dwight so that's not really a good comparison. Anyway, Dwight needs to again play to his strengths and he would still be a very productive player and the Rox offense would be more consistent. Shots are not going to fall every single game but when the team sees Dwight doesn't have it down low for that game, PnRs, more movement, better spacing, etc, needs to start taking place instead of stubbornly forcing to Dwight. The Rox can be quit easy to stop at times. This goes for the repeated Harden isos too. That's why along with the Howard post ups being a problem like the title of this thread suggest, the team also needs an adequate floor general/pg to direct the offense more efficiently. The high TOs and low efficiency come from not have a consistent play maker. Harden and KPap have good play making skills but turn the ball over too much and they take too many chances with passes.
The problem with Dwight's postups is that he is consistently getting the ball at 12-14 feet, and then everyone is standing around. This can't work with a guy like Dwight who has no shooting ability, touch, or passing ability. In order to score, Dwight's only option is to drive to the basket. He simply can't take 8-10 foot jump shot. His limited options make it much easier for the defense to contain him. Dwight has to get deep position to be effective. If that's not possible, then the team has to go to something else, such as pick and roll.
The point was not that the Rockets won. The points was that Howard's post game was successful in that series. We lost not because of our offense. It was because of our defense. The loss has nothing to do with the discussion in this thread.
I agree. But if Dwight struggles against a player or team, "give up" sounds like the worst coaching I ever heard. "Get better" sounds like a good idea to me. The regular season is preparation for the playoffs. Improving the post game is more important than jockeying for seeding: we'll make the playoffs. Defend Lin and Parsons if you like, but I don't see how Howard's "dominating" post-up play in the Portland series justifies giving up on his post-up game against any other team team.
I've been saying this since last season. The post up game will never be the go-to play for Howard because he has no shooting touch outside of 4 feet from the basket. The only guy who could get away with no shooting touch and still be a dominant post player was Shaq. But Dwight is no Shaq. Shaq could bully his way to the basket any time he wanted. (Notice Shaq had some trouble with bigger centers like Yao.) Howard doesn't have that kind of strength and he can only bully weaker defenders. Like many people already having pointed out, Dwight should just admit his weakness and play to his own strengths rather than insisting on being the classic back to the basket center. It's an ego thing.
Who cares if Dwight's post ups were successful if we didn't win the series. My point was the Rox totally changed their philosophy in that series and it wasn't successful or helpful in the Rox coming out on top in that series. I agree defense was a problem in that series as well as all of last year, but the team totally changed their offensive philosophy in that series and I feel that change had a big part in the Rox not coming out on top as well. The point of the thread is that force feeding to Dwight in the post doesn't appear to be the most efficient way to run the offense a lot of the times which is truthful.
So by your logic, if we won the series but Howard kept coughing up the ball posting up and seldom scored, you'd say that his post up game was good? If you look at my post, I am one of the most adamant critics at Howard's post up game. I wish he could admit that it's not his bread and butter. But that doesn't mean he can't be successful posting up against some defenders. That's why I agree with some posters who say that while posting up Howard should not be the go to offense, but neither should we totally abandon it.
Say what you want about Bosh's game after spurning us, but that's one guy who never had any problems setting picks for teammates. Even these days, he's setting pick after pick for no-names like Chalmers and Napier. Best of all he can shoot the jumper and finish at the rim. Aldridge and Horford are the other guys who come to mind. But in any event, the biggest upgrade right now would be obtaining a second or third tier playmaker without losing any of our starters.
The real problem is Rockets have no clue what to do if Harden and Howard dont do something. Seems to be Harden Freelance, Howard Post Up, Then your left with everybody else just watching those 2. It showed when Rockets came out a timeout Harden had the ball, Dwight posted but Zbo ignoring black just Double Dwight and Rockets still tried to force it to Dwight while Everybody else just watched.
Last night Dwight was ugly in the post, brick, brick, brick. His touch around the rim is not very good...
Here's an interesting analysis of how often players turn it over: http://nyloncalculus.com/2014/11/18/early-returns-true-usage-true-turnover-percentage/ Motiejunas and Black are pretty high up (Black probably not much of a sample size), Dwight is easily the highest really high usage player on there.
I don't like that we can't, don't do PNR. I cringe when someone is about to entry pass the ball to Dwight, i get mad when they don't clear the side so he can work the post. I get furious when i see Dwight pinning someone deep in the paint and we don't feed him asap for an easy dunk, or foul called. Then i get frustrated when i don't see Dwight get upset about it or voice it to his teammates
