It's funny seeing folks try and explain this current team with extreme analytical data... This team ain't built for it... Maybe next year , it'll make sense.. But for now.... Nah lol
I think we will rely on our defense to create for our offense until everything gels. I don't have any numbers but from the eye test it seems like we are going after the offensive boards from all positions pretty agressively for second chance since Harden left. So I suppose we are trending to creating more possessions off our poor shooting, and creating easy shots in the restricted area from both o-rebounds and created turnovers.
the offense and defensive systems feature multiple different looks in order to reduce oppositions ability to react well. the defense flashes zones and man the offense focuses more on movement and shots at the basket when removing execution - while both have overlapping elements, I see them as quite different. case in point - harden was off ball when here.
So I watched portions of the MIA vs BRKLYN game and it was stunning how bad both teams played. The Nets pulled it out in the 4th Qtr, but these guys looked terrible. I replay our DAL game and we looked a helluva more organized and in sync on both ends of the court.
The whole point of this thread is the polar opposite of analytics. It's the eye test. What improvements do you think we've made?
Let's see how it looks at the end of the year, not that it matters any - Harden left - none of this matters........were we a better OFFENSIVE scoring machine - YES - were we going to win with Harden as our top player - NO. And, he LEFT - after building the team FOR him..... So, why are we pissing and moaning about a guy who left with 2 years left on his deal - this is who we are - looking forward to a more diversified offense that will get better as time goes by and chemistry develops. More diversity of shots - teams can't just lock in and double Harden - and guard the 3, we have more flexibility......still need to develop chemistry. DD
So are you saying that we are doing the same thing except different people are taking the shots? If not, then what are the new things we are doing?
new isn’t fair. Every guitar chord has been played. How you out the chord progressions together is on the coach.
That's interesting. I saw the game too. Neither team could throw it in the ocean in the first half. Durant rarely ever shoots that badly. So are you more concerned about a team playing a particular way or are the results the most important?
There are much better more explosive athletes on this team this year. Not nearly as experienced or as proven, but their energy and effort has been big help on offense as well as defense.
Yeah, but there's plenty of things that we didn't do in our offense the past few years. If we started shooting lots of midrange ( we haven't) then that would be a new addition to our offense.
I don't dive into analytics much, so this only my eye test. I see a lot more players attempting to drive to the rim. It's nice to be aggressive, however, I am annoyed when Boogie, PJ, and BMac attempt this. It usually leads to turnovers which means less points on the board. I rather have Boogie operating from the top of the key or high post where he has been excellent initiating offense since he has good court vision and has making good decisions on players cutting. Usually when he attempts to drive, he does his stupid spin move and spins further away from the basket which leads to a short shot or a block since he has zero lift. BMac, be just has zero ability to do anything of the dribble, same for PJ, please just keep them parked at the corner unless they cut and are open for a layup (PJ has been great at this using his floater, definitely much more than I ever seen him use and it's usually a high percentage shot). I'm tired of mid range shots. The whole ****ing team is awful at it. I'll let Christian get a pass, but everyone else, just please stop it. I rather be "efficient" taking volume threes than allowing Wall/Dipo/BMac/Wood take another mid range shot. Ugh. I do love seeing more players attack the rim. I feel we are definitely generating more paint points this year because of it.
I think that we are doing a lot of the same thing, but I am not sure what people expected? Silas ran the Dallas offense which is very close to last year's Rocket one. And we have the same players who still are doing the same roles as last year, House, PJ, EGo, and then you add in Wood - in the Capela role and you have a pretty close offense....to what we had. However, there are subtle differences, there are more midrange jumpers - there is more movement on offense off the ball. We shall see what it looks like in 2 months or so. DD
From the 1st post-Harden trade game till now? Not much to get overly excited about.. But I like the grit that they show... I don't think individually, there's a player that should be overly praised.. There's some good young talent that can fill vital roles around a star or 2.. If they make a playoff spot, then that'll be dope.. But if they hit the lottery with a 6-14 slot, it'll be like adding a role player to a team of role players.. So I'm not overly joyous of the immediate future whatsoever
Our offense is more fluid. as some others mentioned b4. Everyone is involved as a screener, ballhandler or cutter, passer or shooter. i like our ball and player movement. defense has to adjust all the time because there is so much movement on the court. i think we are harder to defend because defenses hast to communicate all the time. But best is...With Wall-Dipo- EG- Tate- Wood lineup..everyone is a triple treat!
Thanks to everyone who posted their perceptions. It's very interesting how we all can watch the same thing and see it differently Here's mine. The biggest improvement I've seen is Wood's ability to score near the rim. He's very good with both hands and he plays through contact well. We were good at scoring near the rim before but Wood gives us a whole new dimension that we haven't had in a long time. If he develops a post up game and can start to pass the ball then he can become an even bigger weapon. It seems that the most common response in this thread was more movement on offense (ball and player). I wasn't thinking in those terms as movement alone doesn't get you points. That movement has to create some type of opportunities in order to be useful. If that movement led to scores off of cuts or screens then that's what I was focusing on. So far I haven't seen much screening or cuts. I will say that based on watching the games, I would have also agreed that there was more movement but the inspiration for creating this thread was jordannn's post showing that we actually have less movement on offense this year over last year. I would have been incorrect about that one. I'd also say that our use of pick and roll was much higher. That one is a pretty easy guess for a couple of reasons 1) after Capela was traded, Harden pretty much stopped running much PnR and ran ISO instead 2) Wood is a really good PnR roll man, though his opportunites have gone down since Harden was traded. There were several mentions of more drives. Harden and WB drove a bunch so I don't imagine that we're driving more. I guess it's a surprise that our drives haven't fallen off as much as I would have expected. For me the biggest surprise is just how little or offense has changed. We still try to score from 3, at the rim and from the FT line. Our primary offense is still based on guys trying to drive (whether off iso or PnR) and throw it out to the 3 point shooters. It's just different guys doing it. Anyway, thanks again for the responses. As I said in the original posts, I asked for your perception so there are no wrong answers (unless you said "midrange"...that's never the right answer )
Tough question, because my experience is that system and/or style of play usually will produce certain results. Results are obviously how teams, players and coaches are measured and there are a myriad of ways to get those results. In respect to our team, I LOVE the ball movement/team oriented "way" that we're playing vs the ISO ball of MDA. Add in the hustling/pesky defense and this team is a lot of fun to watch. The Mavs game was a total surprise and something we can build on. Not sure I answered your question directly, but hopefully I hit the perspective you were looking for.
