RA, it is time to start coaching. By coaching, I mean drawing up a game plan that doesn't revolve around "having the players figure it out for themselves". Get a chalkboard, gather up your assistants, brew some coffee, and start devising some creative set plays for the offense. You are regarded as an offensive guru. A guru like yourself should be able to come up with a book of set plays, as voluminous as the tax code. This group cannot run a motion offense based on player reactions. Maybe for 15 minutes they can, but not a whole game. For whatever reason, whether its a lack of basketball IQ, laziness, stubborness, etc..., it is not working. So what do you do? Take the horse by the reins and start coaching. Next time you call a timeout, I don't want to see you just standing there talking to your assistants. I want you to take a pen and that little "white board" and draw up a play your effing team can follow. Is that too much to ask?
This team isn't going to get anywhere if they depend on their coach to script everything they do on offense.
I don't know what the first two responders are thinking, but I think you're dead on. And I think you're list of why a motion offense doesn't work for this team is dead on. He has no clue what he's doing with his rotation. Any momentum that's built up is erased because the stretches they're playing leave them gassed. I'm sick of seeing the team come of out timeoutes absolutely clueless. I'm sick of seeing the team playing like dog poo and the coach just sit there. This team's not mentally strong enough to not have a coach that's part-dictator. That's another discussion because obviously, they're professionals. But this team isn't smart or motivated enough on its own for a coach that does nothing.
True, but scripting *someone* once in a blue moon, perhaps. What if the coaches see something that the other team is doing? Shouldn't we take advantage of it?
That's part of the problem, yes. A swing of a couple of points here and there is the difference between winning and losing in the NBA. We cannot afford to throw away possessions, fail to be efficient, etc. Just look at the average point differential for teams on the cusp of the playoffs and tell me that a couple of possessions here and there don't make a difference.
I do NOT mean run set plays for every possession. I am talking about designing a system that is more structured. With the offense we are running now, there is no accountability. Often times there is no gameplan, at least none that I can see as a casual viewer. There is no consistency game to game in the system we are running.
Every time I saw RA was just talking to his assistants in the timeouts, I wanted to kick his balls. I guess it were his assistants who possessed the the players and were actually playing on court.
It's hard to say what they should do. Certainly running set plays will help in the short term, but certainly won't improve their performance in the motion offense for the future. The question is, what is a reasonable time frame for the team to learn this offense? Jon Barry said it took 2-3 years before the core group of Kings players really had all the options down... But certainly they had the basics down much faster. So do you want them to go for every win now and abandon ever trying to implement Rick's motion offense, or keep struggling thru and hopefully improve in the future? (the goal being that the future is this year's playoffs).
Several set plays against different opponent game is always good. BUt then I think our guys have been robotised by JVG. No program or instruction no play and looked lost in will.
I think JVG and his coaching staffs were not only setting up game plan for the guys but also helping our two stars prepared mentally. JVG might be stubborn at times. But I can see they helped Yao being more confidence about his own game. I also read that they also helped T-Mac being mentally stronger during games. It is sad that I don't see it right now from RA.
how about the whole team running hard up the floor once or twice a game after a defensive rebound, in an attempt to get some "fastbreak" points. The first 3-4 games of the season the team got up and down the floor a lot faster than they are now, what the hell happened?
Both of you are dead on! The coaching staff has NO CLUE! And like another poster said...it's sad when Dikembe is the one making the plays up on the clipboards. Start the fire Rick hire Calvin chants please! (okay, give him till the Allstar Break. )
