Jabari isn't an offensive creator or playmaker that is known and there isn't much dispute. He's best as a catch and shoot guy on the 3 or when he gets to his spots which is the elbows for a pull up, mid post for a turnaround or faceup one dribble pull up, or in that 14-15 ft FT line area. He understand the flow of the game and superior on defense. Cam really just can't play team defense at this point. doesn't mean he can't improve he just isn't good at it right now.
Rockets often run this play but often miss open players. They run this with Amen, Tari and Whitmore as well. Green is coming off a Jabari screen getting the pass from Jock. He pulls 2 guys with him. He has Jock on a mismatch and a 2 on 1 on either side with Fred open strong side and Jabari weak side. The players decided to sag off now Green has a wide open 3 but didn't take it opting to pass it out.
I believe The reason why this offense stalls is on the sets we run and player recognition. @heypartner showed us some issues with player recognition but one of the clips also showed how our screens or lack of just doesn’t shift defenses or free open players.
Perfectly said! Ime benched Jalen and Sengun many times last season and look how well they're playing! Difference between a Silas and a Udoka type of coach...the Silas years really hurt the development of our young talent.
Maybe it did. But, it also provided a boatload of talent and assets. Enough, to make us contenders for the next decade..if we play our cards right.
The video you picked to talk about slips and cuts is the video I chose to show a defense packing the paint to take away slips / cuts. I mean, we are in a 5-out shape and they still have 3 guys in the paint or touching the paint. do you think all 5-out sets can create successful slips and cuts? btw: since that is the 1st play of 2nd half, I’m pretty confident the first 21 action was merely used to check what defense they are playing. Often times the initial action is just a fake probe. The real action was the weak side stagger away.
Jabari has a little bit of shot creation with fadeaways, turn-around jimmies, etc. He's flashed a little bit of a driving game, but his handles are still pretty bad so unless he makes dramatic improvements in that area I don't know how often he'll be able to use it. He basically tries to play like a (very, very) poor man's version of KD. It's true he has very little playmaking ability. His absolute ceiling as a scorer would probably be something like prime Khris Middleton. Jumpers sprinkled all over the court, the occasional drive/cut to the hoop. If he can eventually couple that with Al Horford-esque rebounding and defense he could sneak into a couple all-star games.
My point is the Rockets either run a lot of screens that are ineffective in shifting defenses or don’t run enough screens to shift defenses. Note how those teams we always struggle against run multiple off ball screens each set to free up shooters (Warriors, Heat, Kings). You want your offense to keep defenses on their heels and scrambling. The only way to do this is thru screens and ball movement. Something we don’t do well. We have implemented a few things but overall this offense just goes no where with high screens or double drags that simply go no where.
Yeah, Lewis is a good one. Jabari is a better rebounder/shotblocker though. In any case it's very clear at this point that he's not going to be a perennial all-star type of guy. He's a roleplayer, albeit possibly a very high-end roleplayer if he shows significant improvement.
Here is a great example of Rockets go nowhere offense. Sadly we see too much of this: Poor Spacing. Look at how close Fred is allowing a double team/ball stop on Green while murray plays zone. Ball gets rotated to FVV. They load up strong side leaving corner open. Fred completely missed Brooks in the corner. Fred dumps down to Sengun for a 1-1 matchup. Sengun passed out to Brooks. Brooks had no where to go. Look at how bad the spacing is with Fred bunched up near the wing. Brooks dumped to Sengun. Sengun passed back out to Fred. No movement on the perimeter. Sengun comes out on a screen on Monk and set ends with Fred hoisting a 3-missed.
Basic Rockets Set. No movement. Sengun 1-1 at FT line. The set is about exploiting other bigs with Sengun 1-1 and Amen in short corner waiting to cut in case of a double. Amen in short corner only allows more defense around the paint. Look at how stacked the defense is around the paint and driving lanes. Sengun usually shoots FT line one handed shot or drives the lane. When he misses that FT line shot, very few chances for offensive rebounds with that shot. No one in the paint. No driving lanes. Just a stagnant watch Sengun operate set.
