[chron] Post-Yao offense continues to be a work in progress

Honestly, I'm scared.

So far, from what I've seen, our half-court offense looks very stiff and sloppy.
I think I've been most impressed with how Chase Budinger moves without the ball.
The rest of the team has surely been lacking in this area, although there have been periodic stints with some of our players. Isn't movement a staple of RA's offense? This is going to be crucial, considering we have limited playmakers...
Half the time, a player will go one-on-one and typically fail.

Aaron Brooks looks promising, as he is very comfortable and effective in making a play for himself.

Thank God it's still preseason, and we still have time to develop some chemistry and execution.

The assist/turnover ratio so far for us is not a pretty sight..
But there's definitely optimism there as we all know, certain players won't be playing come regular season.

Also, I remember reading about how the team is under heavy conditioning this year, leading me to believe that a lot of our team could be quite fatigued.

Lastly, I noticed Battier going back to his corner and remaining there
I wonder if the coaches tell him to do this, giving the playmaker a sense of security knowing that if he drives and is limited to a pass, Battier will be in the corner.
This also saves him energy to play defense.

Personally, I'd like to see Battier post up and cut along the baseline more, but if it's gonna cost him effort on the defensive end, I'm not so sure...
But I also have to consider that he won't be playing as many minutes this season (Assuming we don't suffer any injuries to our guards/SF and Tracy comes back healthy).

 

so far my only hope for this season sits with Tracy coming back healthy...

 

I think an important element in our offense will be Adleman finding the right combinations on the court.

I don't think Landry and Andersen work well together. Ariza starts shooting too often when he feels the offense isn't working (very Artest-like). Budinger can shoot the ball great off of solid screens so pairing him with Hayes is great. Brooks will shoot it early and often, no need to keep our best scorers on the court with him the whole time. Those combinations are going to be key because it isn't going to be as easy as watching Yao get double teamed and reacting anymore.

 

I agree with RMGEEGEE.

Did anyone see that play in the Bucks game where Lowry dropped it off to Cook and bobbled the ball like an idiot without even attmepting to take it back up? Unbelievable.

We need something else if anyone here plans on us making it to the playoffs.

 

All good points, but I've still seen little in the offense thus far that's been encouraging. I have to say, at this point Ariza looks exactly like he did last year. I'm not too confident he's going to make a big leap forward in terms of offensive production.

His ball-handling...yikes!

 

Even healthy, he won't determine whether or not we make the playoffs...

In my opinion, our defense is the biggest concern for us this season...
We have a pretty gaping hole in the middle..
I don't see Hayes stopping all of the penetration and holding down the likes of Dwight/Shaq/Etc. anything close to how Yao did.

People say how our offense was sometimes stagnant in the past because with Yao in the middle, there wasn't much room to penetrate and make a play...
I haven't noticed a difference.

This season will be rough. But I am an optimistic person and retain faith in the Rockets, knowing how hard they're gonna bring it every night.
I thank God for Battier and Scola.
You can't ask for better leaders/captains. Yeah, they might not have all-star prowess or talent anywhere near the likes of Lebron/Bryant/etc., but they're gonna lead by example with the best of em.

McGrady will be a big boost to our offense though, assuming he comes back healthy.
Defenses will have to pay a lot of attention to him, and knowing that he's our only BIG threat, they will probably close in on him, allowing him to make passes to open shooters.

 

What Chuck is saying is that the players only focus on execution when Yao is gone. It's very discouraging and shows why we were never able to implement Adelman's offense.

When Rick was first hired he talked a lot about sacrifice, specifically in regards to the scoring load on Tmac and Yao. Yao was supposed to move away from the low post and find easier ways to score within the flow of the offense. When training camp came around EVERYONE was still stuck in JVG mode: dump it in to Yao play after play. Is it any wonder why it's still difficult to get Yao the ball? That our offense stagnates?

Most likely, if Tmac comes back they'll use him as a crutch too. He'll have to create for everybody while being the bailout option at the same time.

 

I think Chuck and Andersen would be a good combination. They each do a pretty decent job of making up for the other's shortcomings.

Andersen + Landry looks like death to our defense.

 

tracy was the ONLY player who ran adelman's offense when he was first hired here and scored a ton in the first 7 games b/c he rarely handled the ball.

yao and others couldn't adjust fast enough so they resorted back to JVG's style for a while, and eventually used yao and tracy as crutches again.

when tracy went out that year, the only difference is players started to cut a little more but we still used yao down low (not in the high post that adelman intended).

and it was the same case last year. that's why our offense struggled so badly at times in the playoffs. it was too predictable.

the ONLY time we run adelman's offense is when the 2nd unit comes in.

so chuck is correct. i think adelman wanted to install his offense but when his best player (yao) is unable to adjust (as adelman tried earlier in 07-08) to his offense, you then have to adjust to your best player. that's why we still don't have a clue when teams front yao, just like when we were under JVG.

 

Yao going out could be a blessing in disguise
Sure we'll miss his scoring but now we can run the real motion offence without someone clogging up the lane all the time.. Brooks, Ariza, Tmac can all get to the hole instead of standing and wait for the opposing team to double Yao.
I don't think not having Yao will make huge a difference..
We still have the makeup of a great defensive team, and not having Yao only makes us quicker.
Won't be surprised if this team, with a healthy Tmac, get back to the 2nd round in the playoffs... if healthy that is

 

Way to go. Second Post.

 

Who's coming out of the 2010 draft?

 

i think will be ok right now were just finding out what guys can and cant do.Adleman know's what he's doing.

 

Without doubt, major offensive changes will come with some major adjustments. Hopefully, it happens quickly. My best guess would be that we'll see what we're going to get after 20 games or so.

 

this year might be similar to the year the Spurs had when David Robinson was out for the year...

which means we get Tim Duncan the next year!

 

D is the key, but I have faith in these guys to pull that together over time.

 

Is Yao retired? I just hate the title!!

 

Way too optimistic.

Without a healthy Tmac coming back, this team is going nowhere. No matter who is the coach, no matter what system is. Just not enough talent here. Nobody on this team escept healthy Yao/Tmac is good enough to be a first or even 2nd option on any legit contender.

By the end of the season, you shall see that Yao does make a huge difference.

 

Agreed and both guys are excellent passers. Chuck is able to roam offensively and pick up garbage buckets while Andersen can pop that jumper. Most importantly, neither guy needs to be near the rim making the lane wide open for Brooks to get to the bucket. I always thought Yao and Brooks was a bad combo because AB can get to the rim almost 100% of the time but Yao being in the post clogged the lane making it tough for Brooks to finish.

I really don't have a problem with a large part of the offense being a clear out for Brooks. He's that good at getting to the rim and he apparently has worked on finishing once he gets there.