well i think the philosophy is more than just 3's. its ft's and points in the paint (which is commonly referred to by media as layups, but should include all high % shots close to the rim). now in theory this spreads the defense because we want to attack from close and from far. its near impossible to pack the paint defensively AND protect the 3 point line. but here's where the system is breaking down for us this season: 1) ft's and points in the paint rely on driving into the paint and posting up - aside from james, dwight, dmo, and maybe brewer, no one else on the roster can do this. (i'd list smith here but he becomes a worse player when asked to do too much)... and then even brewer isn't consistently able to drive into the paint and dwight isn't always able to convert on the ft's. the rest of the roster are standstill shooters. 2) we don't have great shooters - beverley, ariza, brewer, dmo, jones, and papa can all hit the 3. however, none can do it at a high level. all are best from the corner. i love when we get another guy who is best at hitting the 3 from the corners. there are only 2 corners and half our team needs to shoot from there! the problem here is its damn hard to find elite shooters who can also play defense (and are role players). how many kyle korvers and danny greens are there? 3) many teams decide to pack the paint against us - this cuts off driving lanes for harden, and crowds the post for dmo and dwight. now we can't get to the line or get points in the paint. so, we shoot 40 threes... BUT, we don't have great 3 point shooters. *sigh* 4) The answer is not to simply get better shooters - our system actually makes guys look worse because they are taking BAD 3 point shots. if you find a guy coming from a system where they only shoot the good shots, that guy will have a high % and look like a good shooter. come here and shoot every shot from 3, even when completely guarded, and you increase the level of difficulty on that shot making you look like a worse shooter. this is the case with ariza. im sure in another system beverley would go back to his high % shooting that we saw early in the season because he'd only be taking the good looks, instead of ALWAYS shooting the 3. what we need is guys who can create off the dribble and get into the paint no matter what. james is the only one who can do this. if you get 2 or 3 more perimeter players who can get into the paint, it will open up good looks for our shooters (and make them look like better shooters) and it will give us more weapons than just shooting the 3 (they might actually score in the paint or get fouled!). the trick is finding wing players that can (in no order): A) get into the plaint B) hit the 3 C) play defense right now we only get players who can do B and C. parsons and lin could do (A) and their replacements can't, which is why our offense is now so one-sided and relies so heavily on the 3. it also explains why we had such a drop off in our offensive rating this season. this is also why i thought canaan should've been playing more (and was upset when we was traded). going into next year we will have to use our exceptions to resign our own players, so free agency won't help us fix this problem. we will have to rely on trades and drafting. some under the radar perimeter players that can do all 3 skills listed above that i'd target over the summer are: Jarret Jack mo williams* although he's a FA gerald henderson aaron brooks* also a FA brandon jennings george hill jarred bayless oj mayo luol deng tony wroten kevin martin* although he doesn't want to come back darren collison not all of those guys are great shooters. that's ok. the emphasis should be on getting into the paint and kicking it out for an open shot. you don't have to be a great shooter to knock down a high % of open shots (see ariza in Washington). what we have been doing is trying to get high % shooters to make difficult shots, what we need is guys who can get in the paint to get easy shots for decent shooters (or finish in the paint themselves).
There is a dynamic balance between ideal shots (Morey's threes) vs dispreferred shots (mid-ranges). If Rockets shot tons of threes as it is now, no doubt the opponents will try their best to limit the Rockets from shoot threes effectively, therefore the drop of Rockets over-all three point shots efficiency. I'm not surprised at all that the Rockets are not shooting the three among the best in the league. I don't know if Morey has the following numbers, but I believe by eye test that the Rockets have the most percent of contested three-point shots. And I am strongly in doubt with the success rate of those contested threes. I know once you hit it, it is worth 3 points. But are they really efficient shots, Morey? I believe average players can make >50% of their mid-range OPEN looks. Without considering the offensive rebounding rate for this argument, making 50% of two-pointers are equivalent to making 33% of three-pointers. Question is: Can the Rockets make 33% of contested threes? Or 50% of open mid-range twos? If the Rockets can shot more open twos with >50% made and less contested threes, this will diversify the shot selection too, making the offense more unpredictable. I guess my point here is that do not "disprefer" open mid-range shots. Not sure if it can be backed up by numbers though with everything, such as offensive rebounding, considered. I miss Adelman's offense with a lot of movement too. At least that system creates a lot of open looks, be it three, mid-range, or cuts to the basket.
It's horrid and overall costs the Rox big games than helps them. It's better to have cutters to the rim at all times. The pick and roll is the staple of good basketball more than ever these days. It's just very powerful play that can be implemented at several different angles on the court.
Just watched the Rockets - Wolves and again: early shot clock threes, threes shot when catching the pass around the ankles, transition threes, contested threes with no flow etc. As long as our coaches allow that freedom, nothing's going to change. Our only hope is our veterans locking heads in on not shooting so many freaking dumb threes, but when even Terry shoots a lot of dumb ones, you know you're in trouble.
How does this Rockets team 3 point shooting compare to that Magic team that made the Finals with Dwight?
