ya'll worried about the wrong side of the court. if the rockets lose to the warriors it will be because of defense, not offense.
Yes, this is the point. Thank you daywalker. Both Iso and Post Ups have been ostracized over the last few years. But both skill sets are coming back as most teams force a switch vs a mismatch. Teams now use them to their advantage. Yes, Durant is still there. How many weapons do you have to offset the stress applied to the focal point of the spear. Catch and Shoot-Spot Up shooters help allow those play sets to work by providing spacing. Ariza, Tucker, Gordon, Green, Ryno and Luc help offset the PnR/Iso attack involving Harden/CP3. Warriors use spacing provided by Klay, Durant, Draymond, Curry to help make PnR/Iso/Post Ups/Cutters work. What makes the Warriors tough are that Klay and Curry are good Catch and Shoot players. (17/18) stats.nba.com-Tracking-Catch and Shoot regular season: Klay Thompson (pg 7) 5.8 (3PA-C&S/gm) at 44.3% (3P%) on those shots. Curry (pg 10) 5.3 (3PA-C&S/gm) at 43.9% (3P%) on those shots. Of course Curry has been out the entire playoffs. Don’t sell the Warriors short just yet. We (Rockets) have to go out there a beat them. My original post on this thread, I stated the Rockets need to continue with what they do best and that is Isolation. To go with PnR.
When a championship is at stake, it is a zero sum game. The Rockets rode Dream's unmatched post game with a cadre of no-nonsense players to back to back rings. The Rockets are now riding the ruthlessly efficient Beard/CP3 iso game with a cadre of no-nonsense players to a similar trajectory in 2018. Aesthetics begone!
They pass more if no one is hitting the open shot. You'll also see 2nd or 3rd passes more often when Harden sits. I don't think those moments have been wildly successful enough for me to remember and pick apart off of memory, so I feel like they have to commit to it for the offense to look like it hasn't stalled (panic mode), but I'm not sure how that would work out in a much larger volume. There might be an argument for player rhythm if they pass around more often 20 minutes more, but it seems like an extra layer of plays and effort when the shot Harden creates on the pass is mostly open in the first place. All that time in the iso is given to Harden or Chris in order to destroy defensive sets and force them to adjust in an non-optimal state. It really is like Russian Roulette to trust them to make perfect plays against sophisticated defenses for 48+ minutes, so it's understandable for people watching to feel the pressure. Lately, Chris has been more aggressive finishing in the paint. Unlike Harden, he doesn't look for contact and can finish with a pull up. The difference to me is that he's committing more to his shot rather than looking to pass first, and that helps against Pop-like strategy of gifting us the midrange. For the Rockets to play like the dubs, they'd also have to cut and work off the ball which doesn't seem realistic at this point in time... I guess they can revert to their faster pace earlier this season, but doing that often also creates predictability for defenses to adjust and more unforced errors when you have the ball away from the 2 HoF guards. Of course it sounds stupid to ISO all the time. Fine, do it most of the time and trick defenses enough to make the exceptions painful for them.
I think mix and match is good. Whatever is working is what we should do. There is no right answer. You hear them say all the time it is what the defense gives us.
So true. Last season LeBron was posting up a forced mismatch named Isaiah Thomas as Cleveland cut thru Boston. The year Cleveland beat the Warriors (in 15/16), LeBron was taking advantage of Curry much the same way. Team 3-Point shooting creates spacing. In 15/16 people forget that the Cavaliers were killing it from 3 before the NBA finals: 184 (3PM) - 450 (3PA) = 40.9% (3P%) vs Pistons/Hawks/Raptors. Not so much last year. Good 3-Point shooting begets greater efficiency with iso or post ups. Actually every play type. Something the Rockets lacked last year....and the year before.
I've been stating since the Regular Season that the Rockets would beat the Warriors in a series (given health) en route to a championship. I don't know about Sweeping them....but hey.....it's not impossible. A sweep implies dominance. Believe it or not, the Rockets COULD dominate the Warriors. The likelihood of them dominating the Worriers in 4 straight games...well.....even I will concede that it's slim. However, as long as their healthy, I'm confident to find out. Rockets will "get up" big time for that match up. This is their year as Harden stated early on and they are on a mission. I can see them in a radical scenario just being completely LOCKED in to take down the Worriers. Tire steph out...make him work.....same with Klay. KD...well he's gonna get his regardless. Draymond......man...we have Tucker. Ryno and Ego...if they show up in that series (which I believe they "magically" will), Worriers really will be worrying.
I'd like to see the success rate when Harden iso on KD and Klay... too much of iso = 1 on 5 basketball.
So why is it that when it comes to the topic of playoffs, warriors seems to be the only one to have the ability to change or step it up while we always remain stagnant?
The argument is that for the Warriors they didn't take the regular season seriously while other teams, like the Rockets did. We went out trying to win every night, wanting the best record while the Warriors just kind of gave 75% effort throughout the season. It's probably true by the way.
I doubt you'll see much of that at all. Why would he iso with either of them defending him? The goal is to attack the weakest defenders, not the strongest ones.
hardens going to attack anyone that guards him. would they prefer certain cross matches and are they going to get them. sure but that's not going to limit him from not isoing any gs player kd/klay included
KD doesnt switch out on Harden because he's scared of picking up a foul. Harden Roasts Klay routinely
Will Iso definitely needs more minutes - I'm not sure why MDA is being so stubborn with his rotation.
Where is that argument coming from? The warriors themselves did not abandon the idea of getting first place until it was over.
