I see criticism's of the ISO after every loss. Clutch put Elvis Costello's anti-ISO quote on the front page: "[The Rockets] have blown 4th quarter leads against most of the better Western Conference teams and Rudy's ISO-love is the main reason why, in my opinion." For the moment, forget the we didn't run many ISO's last night, forget that almost all our plays last night were pick-and-rolls, forget all that. I hear ISO-bashing after every loss. I never hear ISO-praising after a win. Has anyone ever praised the ISO after a win? Has anyone said, "Boy our offense was rotten last night, without that ISO, we never would have scored."? I've never heard it. The ISO gets bashed for costing us the game after every loss (EVEN WHEN WE RUN PICK-AND-ROLLS ALL NIGHT), yet never gets a shred of credit after a win. HOW CAN THE ISO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY LOSS, BUT NEVER A FACTOR IN A WIN?!?
If the ISO is the way Houston plays best, they should run it, period. When examining win-loss record, playing pretty just doesn't enter the picture. RUN TMC was interesting, but they didn't get any rings. Hakeem posted his way to the championship in 94 with his merry band of 3pt bombers. I find HP's statistics on this pretty telling... concerning the % of times Mobley ISO's with Two Shakes and gets either points or a foul. hard to argue with hard facts and success. If we're going to win because Mobley and Francis can't be stopped one on one... that's just fine with me. "Good basketball" is winning basketball. And Houston is winning. ------------------ Boston College - Big East -East Division Regular Season Champs Worst to First in 2001! [This message has been edited by haven (edited March 12, 2001).]
I don't mind the iso as long as the ball is passed off when the defense collapses on the drive. Give the ISO man some cutters, like Los or Cato. DaDakota- whatever wins baby !! ------------------ If you like RTS games, check out this one. www.frontierwars.com coming soon to a PC near you.
Because the ISOs are Fool's gold. With the mental make-up of this team, you cannot consistently win games against the better teams by running ISOs. When running the ISOs, the mentality of this team is to create for yourself not others. Consequently, we have head first drives into the teeth of the defense, no teamwork, turnovers and over confident players thinking they can take everyone off the dribble. We discuss whether Steve and/or Cuttino is the leader and who should take the last shot. How many times did Horry, Cassel, Smith or Maxwell take the last shot on a kickout from Hakeem? With the quickness of today's players, ISO's can be a great weapon. Unfortunately, against teams with equal or greater talent, you cannot make it your base offense. Its bad basketball and bad coaching. ------------------ Respect Hakeem's legacy. A championship in the hand is worth two in the bush!! [This message has been edited by 3Rings (edited March 12, 2001).]
I don't like ISO, as they are described in the media. They sound like one man and 4 waiting for something to happen, and just winging it. Everyone knows many teams rely on ISOs and nearly every team does down the stretch. I really don't understand why Utah's offense is considered a great coaching masterpiece, when it is equally plodding. Our ISO isn't like the other's I've seen. It is much more structured and produces much more weakside cutting and Shandon-esque drives from a swing pass. A lot of that is because of the personnel can pull it off. Our guard ISOs rox, and our pnr is even better. It is killing this league, especially when we have a center. But note, we simply are not doing the guard ISO as much as we have in the early season. Although I'd say the Mo' ISO is happening at the same clip. We are excelling for other reasons. Those reasons are why I love what Rudy is doing. It is all happening one step at a time. He is building a ball movement perimeter game...which most resembles a 4 out 1 Flex. You may hate the ISO, like I do, but I have great confidence in what this offense system can do in time. Francis is running better plays, and Mobley has added a pick n roll. It is happening, and we are winning. Especially WHEN WE HAVE A CENTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Because folx listen to the media and then parrot it in the Forums The Iso is fine . . . It is bread and butter Rocket River ------------------
I agree, Mobley did his 13pt carnage primarily via a pick. The last two were ISOs. What is up with refs not calling that illegal defense on Googs when Mobley ran the top of the key play and swung it to Walt who threw into zone coverage trying to get Kenny under the block? Without an illegal, somone is open on that play. btw, Jonathan Feigan has praised the ISO after a win, last year devoting an entire recap to it. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited March 12, 2001).]
It probably has something to do w/ Cuttino having the ball in his hands during the 4th qtr. ------------------ "We've never been very comfortable with praising ourselves, but we're so proud of our new album, The Great Eastern, that we've got no problem telling people it's an absolutely fantastic record." EMMA POLLOCK of the delgados.
Actually, I think the iso sucks even when it does work. It isn't team basketball, and I think it doesn't work in the long run, especially against top quality teams who will just lock down in crunch time. The iso supposedly works 55-60% of the time for the Rockets. That may be true, but it doesn't seem to work when it matters most, and I think that's why people complain about it. Pick and roll - okay, fine - why not do that instead of a pure isolation where there is one guy with the ball while the other four huddle up on the opposite side of the floor? It's a probable illegal offense call, in fact. And of course, if you actually keep your eyes open while driving on an iso and find someone else open, then suddenly you're playing an inside-out game, which is often effective when you have shooters on the team. THIS is what I would hope to see instead of knowing that whoever gets the iso is going to shoot it no matter what. The media may complain about the iso, but they also point out that in today's NBA, very few players can truly shoot, and thus the iso is a valid option under the rules. And the iso still sucks. ------------------
Actually, I think the iso sucks even when it does work. It isn't team basketball, and I think it doesn't work in the long run, especially against top quality teams who will just lock down in crunch time. The iso supposedly works 55-60% of the time for the Rockets. That may be true, but it doesn't seem to work when it matters most, and I think that's why people complain about it. Pick and roll - okay, fine - why not do that instead of a pure isolation where there is one guy with the ball while the other four huddle up on the opposite side of the floor? It's a probable illegal offense call, in fact. And of course, if you actually keep your eyes open while driving on an iso and find someone else open, then suddenly you're playing an inside-out game, which is often effective when you have shooters on the team. THIS is what I would hope to see instead of knowing that whoever gets the iso is going to shoot it no matter what. The media may complain about the iso, but they also point out that in today's NBA, very few players can truly shoot, and thus the iso is a valid option under the rules. And the iso still sucks. ------------------
Actually, I think the iso sucks even when it does work. It isn't team basketball, and I think it doesn't work in the long run, especially against top quality teams who will just lock down in crunch time. The iso supposedly works 55-60% of the time for the Rockets. That may be true, but it doesn't seem to work when it matters most, and I think that's why people complain about it. Pick and roll - okay, fine - why not do that instead of a pure isolation where there is one guy with the ball while the other four huddle up on the opposite side of the floor? It's a probable illegal offense call, in fact. And of course, if you actually keep your eyes open while driving on an iso and find someone else open, then suddenly you're playing an inside-out game, which is often effective when you have shooters on the team. THIS is what I would hope to see instead of knowing that whoever gets the iso is going to shoot it no matter what. The media may complain about the iso, but they also point out that in today's NBA, very few players can truly shoot, and thus the iso is a valid option under the rules. And the iso still sucks. ------------------
