RA "I just felt when Tracy (McGrady) went out those 2 ½ games and came back the last two games, we were so stagnant offensively, We were giving it to Yao (Ming) and giving it to him and everyone was standing. I just felt if we were going to move on and get better and help those guys, we need to have more motion. The other team has to be more aware of who else is on the floor. And I believe Tracy and Yao will both get their offensive opportunities if we run our stuff. "We were going through certain things, by the end of the last two games, both teams just locked in on us. We're going to stay with it.'' "I need to know where we are and what (others) can do, We were losing close games, but we were struggling. So going into this game, I made the decision to try other people, other combinations to see if that would work, especially when we took the starters out.'' TMac： "The way we played tonight is the way we played the first six, seven games, After the game last night, Yao and I talked on the plane ride back home. Also, me and coach talked. And a couple of the players, we talked. We said we have to get back to playing the type of offense we played in the beginning of the season and that's what we did. "In this losing streak, when I got back, we went back to how we played last year and that's me handling the ball all the time, and posting up and defenses locking in on me and Yao. Tonight showed how good we can be offensively.'' James： "We came out and stuck to our game plan for 48 minutes, We played the way we're supposed to play.'' Battier： "This is going to be a very educational year, It's going to be like a Master's course in the NBA. Because it's going to take a long time for this team to really, really understand who we are. That doesn't mean we can't win along the way. But we're going to be learning well past the All-Star break. We have to improve. That's the most important thing." "You must have trust, That's what we're trying to build. It's something you can talk about all day. But until you really do it and you see the positive results, it takes a while to get there. "We have to understand that probably won't serve us well in the long run. Look, we all revert to bad habits, easy habits. It's easy. Not really a bad habit. But if we want to get to the next level, it's a habit we'll have to break. "When this offense is really run well...look at the old Sacramento teams. It was really beautiful basketball. Magically the ball seemed to always end up in Peja Stojakovic's hands or Mike Bibby's hands or Chris Webber's hands in areas where they could make some magic and make the plays. That's what good offense does."
I love this point. I think the Rockets can really become an upgraded old Sac team. Just gotta be patient.
Maybe upgraded defensively, but I don't see us ever being as good on the other side of the ball as those Kings. That team had these players in the rotation: Bibby, Christie, Peja, Webber, Divac, Bobby Jackson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Scot Pollard. The ONLY substandard offensive player there was Pollard, and Christie was only average (perhaps even slightly above-average). The other 6 in the 8-man were dynamite, consistent scorers, as well as great passers.
I liked the offensive explosion, too, but still fail to see any sort of RA offensive scheme. There were still tons and tons of Tracy post-up, Yao post-up, then the double high post play where Yao gets the ball. The differences tonight that lead to more scoring: 1. Mentality. Nothing to do with the offense being run, but the mentality of how they are running it. Everyone was aggressive from the get-go. 2. Opponent. Denver is horrible defensively. And they also played last night. 3. Shooting percentage. Probably because of #2 above. They made shots they've been missing. Can't think of any other reason why. 4. Fast break. Don't have any statistical back-up, but they certainly seemed like they were pushing the ball a lot more. Maybe I should put this as #1, because I think it is pretty important. The team still plays too often scarred of the turnover, which was definitely a JVG issue. Sometimes you have to take the turnover risk if it means better offense overall. Again, great win tonight. But I'm not jumping on the offensive bandwagon just yet. Lakers, Spurs, Mavs, Heat are all better defensive teams, and we didn't play as well. Against Memphis and Phoenix we scored enough (99, 105) but forgot to play defense. We should be able to beat the Clips. Can we keep up the good offense but play defense against Phoenix & Golden State?
It had everything to do with trusting the coach and his system, and going out there and running it. And nothing builds more confidence then running it well. They were stagnated on offense which makes them easy to defend. Keep it up boys ! DD
The main thing I am seeing is alot of cutting to the basket. How many guys got layups tonight that was in the half court set??
Listen to what Battier said. Habits, easy habits. JVG's offense is simple and easy, that is, easy for everybody except T-Mac who shouldered all the play making.
He could be referring to any of the other systems that he's played in. Of course, we can't let a stabb at JVG pass us by. I hope JVG's defensive habits stay with this team.
It's partly Rick Adelman's fault that players were falling into old habits. This team is used to having JVG get on their case within 0.5 seconds when they fail to execute an offensive or defensive set correctly. Adelman's more laid back, let-them-work-it-out approach is new to this team, and because they are new to the system, they just find it much easier to fall back to old habits on the court. That's why I said previously that Adelman has to spend some more energy and do a lot of in-game coaching, at least during these early stages. The offense last night definitely looked a lot more like what we had seen in the first six games. Just keep doing it over, and eventually it will start to become habit, and shooting will improve. (The other hypothesis about the dismal shooting is that our range shooters are not in rhythm because they're spending so much mental energy trying to figure out offensive sets -- this should correct itself over time.)
I'm not convinced. The main problem is defense. Had we held opponents to below 40% shooting like last night instead of 50%, we'd have won all those 6 games. Somehow nobody mentioned defense here.
I am interested in seeing the stats on 82games.com but my feeling is Stevie helped improve the defense as well. Rafer is a matador.
