As we go into game #15 of this season, we must now create the offense and set the tone to push to the playoffs. We all know that Francis is not a pure point/playmaker and the question still remains on whether he will ever truly be one. This is far from a Francis bashing thread, but more a "take advantage of his strengths" thread and the shift of some of the power to Yao. From the 15 games that I have seen, Yao seems to be the Rocket with the highest basketball IQ and the most willing to pass or defer. I can't even recall how many times I have seen a Hawkins, Taylor or Thomas drop beautiful under the basket passes from Yao, or miss amazing cross court passes for open shots. With his size, Yao can properly see over the defense and truly should be the focal point in the offense. He can hit the slashers, the jump shooters or take it himself. I think this will allow Francis to play off the ball and take advantage of his athleticism and shooting/driving ability. Yao, though, is far from being in 82-Game NBA shape, so this is only when he is in the game, defering to Francis as the playmaker during his stints on the bench. Before the season Rudy incorporated a motion offense which would thrive with Yao running it. With jump shooters like Rice, Cat, Francis, Boki and Mo Taylor along with the slashing ability of Morris, Kenny, Francis and Cat; Yao can help the rockets to reach their potential.
Someone please merge my Dear Rudy thread with this one. My point exactly. We need to run our offense through Yao Ming. Our chemistry would improve if he got touches every time down the floor.
Well now I know there are others out there! This doesn't even mean that Yao will shoot it 20 times a game, just that he will dictate the flow of the offense. Until Steve truly learns to control and create within an offense, we are stagnant. How many of you are sick of seeing Francis look around, then start some playground dribbling routine as the zone collapses and then Rice or Taylor or Cat takes a fadeaway jumper with three guys in their face. And please don't ever let the offense run through Moochie, this guy is just a street player in the NBA with no true skills except for his hair. Having Yao run the offense, not necessarily be a focal point, will increase the efficiency of the team and break the zone when the Rocks get used to hitting wide open shots like Yao has been feeding them. Even before this though, Rudy needs to work with the guys to make them aware that they will get crisp passes when they are open whenever Yao has the ball. He is just incredibely unselfish and probably one of the best passing centers i've ever seen.
F.D. Khan- Here's the plan. We email this thread to Tim in marketing, who slips it to Rudy and when the change happens we all act surprised!
I definitely think the offense flows more smoothly when it's run through him. Either he ends up scoring or somebody else gets a wide open shot. The problem is the players have to make those wide open shots. Another problem is he's getting the ball slapped out of his hands far too often. He needs to protect the ball better.
Agree. Not just agree, but &$%!, NO KIDDING. My dog can see that, and he's been dead for 5 years. I'd swear I heard him say "Woof Woof" last nite through the car radio. My dog's name was Dammit, and I was calling him all night long. What'd you think of that play, Dammit ? "Ruff". Got any ideas, Dammit? "RRayao!" I think everyone in the league except Rudi and SF can see IT. Run the #$%! offense through Yao! This makes all our players better. It draws the double and opens the floor for a shooter. Steve can get the ball back from Yao and score or create. Cat can use his quickness or create off the pass. Ditto Taylor, etc. What's stupid is skipping up the court and dribbling, dribbling, dribbling till the dribble runs down your chin, the shot clock runs down, and we force an off-balance fadeaway against two defenders. Yao is our smartest player and can pick the most profitable scoring option better than Steve or, for Pete's sake!, Moochie. On the contrary, when Steve is our playmaker, all our players are weaker - Rice is creaky and slow, Cuttino is unconscious, KT is a happy feet ballerina ballhog. All because they don't get the ball in time, or in profitable spots, or the WRONG guy gets the ball. Ugh.
you guys make it sound so simple. is it really that simple. is running zones really simple. If running zones are simple, and offenses are simple...something has to give when a defense meets an offense, right? the thesis of this longwinded (baking at home) reply is: How'd you like that devasting offensive powerhouse Portland is fielding with the best passing center in the world with the best Point Forward who ever played. Talk about high basketball IQ. They spanked us and ran us silly...really!!!??? <hr> sheesh, paso2x....chill out. this is not like you. In the Summer, I suggested a high post offense to run through Yao. Many on this board said, "but how long will that take to develop...I'm not holding my breath." Of course, they asked that in disbelief that Rudy could or would even install. So, the question still remain...well, how long does it take to install one with a 22 yr old center who has never run one and 20 yr PF who seems really lost in any motion? How long??? 2 weeks,,,,3 weeks??? How long??? And please don't say, "Well, we should have been running this with Cato and Collier last year if it took so long to learn." <hr> <b>Motion is a Dance for 5, not doble</b> Motion is like dancing paso2x. But not a Paso Doble or a strictly, choreographed Pas de Deux with many "hit your mark" X's and O's (imagine gender symbols replacing the Xs and Os). Imagine 5 people dancing together. You either mark their spots and their time like a strict ballet, or you teach them all to be leaders following a rhythm of 5....a paso5x If two go to the same spot--like I saw last night when Hawkins inexplicably followed Kenny through the lane--the motion is busted for at least a 3 count. There are many other small things that bust motion for 3 counts. <hr> <b>Was Portland with Sabonis Impressive</b> I am just glad to see the Rockets try to learn even a contrived motion,,,and I expect sputtering as they are being hit with NBA defenses that are much further along than NBA offenses. Many, MANY teams are struggling. Surely, no one was not too impressed with Portland last night, even with the fact they had the best passing center in the world playing for them. Do we just fixate on the Rockets and don't notice that Portland with Pippen and Sabonis couldn't achieve something to be proud of either. Many teams are sputtering. When we sputter, we can really look bad. Bad motion produces 21 assist in 27 FGs made (like last night), but it also produces many turnovers, and player frustration from busted possessions. <blockquote><hr> Before the season Rudy incorporated a motion offense which would thrive with Yao running it. With jump shooters like Rice, Cat, Francis, Boki and Mo Taylor along with the slashing ability of Morris, Kenny, Francis and Cat; Yao can help the rockets to reach their potential.<hr></blockquote> Rudy never said this, btw. As a matter of fact, he told Clutch that he did not install any Yao plays during camp, yet. The motion offense that I'm seeing in some stretches is not one specific to a center...certainly not a high post motion. Let's remember one thing,,,,everyone...please. Yao has never run a motion offense before. What we get excited about is Yao passing from set plays going to the low post, similar plays to Hakeem. Not much different. We have also gotten excited about a simple 5-man motion (without a high-post center) but one still getting Yao loose against Dallas. We haven't reproduced it since...but that was not motion offense "going through Yao" as much as it was Yao being a target we found over and over, until Dallas adjusted. The low post Hakeem offense is a fine offense, but it has it's limitations as all do. Also, we are facing zones that our Hakeem teams didn't. We need more than just simple low post Drop it In offense, and we more than just basic motion. <hr> <b>How long does it take to learn?</b> Did Portland with Sabonis pick apart our zones last night??? Here's another history lesson. The Kings had a 23ppg Mitch Richmond with several other highly tauted players. In 1998, they won only 27 games, and busted up their team. They landed Chris Webber, Vlade Divac and Pedrag as a rookie. They also landed Jason Williams. They also had Princeton's lengendary coach Pete Carrill on staff as an assistant coach. Sabonis, Divac and Webber are the two best big men passers in the league, right? No one really disputes. They had no zones to deal with, but they did have the shortened preseason (like Yao) and a compressed season of 1998-1999. What did Webber and Divac do? They went 17-22 and then launched a 10-1 stetch to close the season and make the playoffs, then losing 2-3 to the Jazz. Those are the two best passing big men who were fully mature players.... <hr> <b>How long did it take them?</b> Not to compare us to the Kings and expect we are going that route (we do have zones to deal with, and we do have a 22yr old Center who never ran a high post offense like Webber and Divac both had); the comparison is that even the most experienced at it cannot flip their offense over to accommodate big men passer and be successful right away. Let's stop disrespecting the NBA defenses. It isn't that easy to sustain simple systems like our Hakeem system or our new sputtering motion system against NBA defenses with teams of Video Coordinator Scouts. get real!!!!!!!
heypartner- I'm not trying to over simplify the motion offense, NBA zone defenses or the Rocket's offensive problems. It is not changing anything we are doing just making the primary offense run through Ming high post or Ming low post. We already have this in the offense. It needs to be the focal point for these reasons: 1. Ming is a fast learner- note his progress from day 1 2. Ming does have a low post game 3. Ming is a good passer and shows the ability to make good decisions 4. He sees the floor well and reads cuts very well. 5. When the ball is in his hands he already is putting loads of pressure on the defenses we faced, (read opposing players and coaches comments) 6. Ming as a first option creates an immediate mismatch, much the way Hakeem did, causing the defense to decide quickly whether to double down or stay in a packed zone. 7. Many more open looks for Steve and Cuttino, how many times do they force their shots against tight coverage? There are many more reasons, BTW Sabonis is not very mobile and he does not draw a double team so their offense doesn't need to run through him because he can no longer dominate a single defender the way I believe Yao will be able to.
rhester, I appreciate what you are saying, but I've also seen the Rockets with Hakeem get bashed severely for tossing it into Hakeem every possession. (And count me as one of those bashers.) Doesn't mean we shouldn't do it, and see how Hakeem's offense runs with Yao's better passing. I also have to reject any notion that we've run any high post motion with Yao, or any high post sets, for that matter. I'd love to see it, and I'm on the edge of my seat looking for any signs of the Kings offense, but no chance...it isn't there. What I have seen in our big men move without the ball and get in position in the high post to help swing the ball....but nothing that I'd call what Sabonis does or Divac. Yao may love to pass, and be a quick learner, but him running a sophisticated Bill Walton high post offense is a little too premature for someone who has never run one, much less, in a situation where very sophisticated NBA defenses are developing rapidly to throw several zones at you. I think and hope Yao can be like Sabonis, but right now, his passing is based on court awareness and his his line of sight. I am not really seeing a guy that is using the pass to run a sophisticated offense. I'd expect to see Yao fake passes and take his man a little more...that is, Yao needs to learn when not to pass, thus, how to use the pass to get him off on offense as well as his teammates. Please let's not say, "Well, he needs more reps to improve." I give him reps running Hakeem's offense all he can handle, but throwing the team into the deep end to try to play Walton's offense on the fly (against zones) in real games is just foolish. baby steps on that part. The baby steps are running that ugly motion we are running in spurts. We are collecting videotape of what NBA defenses are doing, and looks like we have a lot more training to do. But the 5-man game has to get some minutes each game, for sure. Otherwise, I'm perfectly down with your approach, of seeing how well Yao can run the passing aspects of the Dump-it-in offense better than Hakeem.
A very happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, HP. HP is a great cook, if y'all don't know, already. A good day baking has given you some time to think, I sure. I am not so apoplectic, now. Thinks me things will improve. I was POed last nite and still this morn, though.
