Clutch what are your thoughts on the lack of screens/picks that are being set (only Asik/Morris try but theres aren't very good). Seems odd to me that such a basic skill isn't being consistently stressed in practice. I know that that will open things so much for the back court & give them a step against there defender so that they can finish effectively or pass to a teammate. Last night it was particularly glaring how bad the big man are at this particular skill because there was only one ball handler out there having to out run the jazz players.
It's not just setting the pick/screen, it's what happens next. Asik can set some mean screens but what else? He can't catch a pass to save his life nor can he finish strong inside. Same goes for every single big man we have, they are big but they play small. Ppat camps at midrange, he's in love with that 15 footer. Morris is a tweener and Royce White is still crazy. The only guy who's probably capable of finishing strong is TJ, but he doesnt play enough minutes to get going. It's called Pick n Roll for a reason, with the way rockets are playing, we might as well call it Pick n Pop, there's no friggin roll in it.
Getting your shot blocked 4 times in one game is something Terrence Jones definitely needs to try to avoid in the future. Glen Davis-esque.
Harden has indeed usurped Lin's PG duties. And has arguably made the team worse thereby: he is nowhere near as good a playmaker as the Harvard guy. The outcome in Utah was predicatable: what happened when Harden went down is what usually happens when a team short of depth -- like ours, for instance -- loses a starter: it gets worse. The hit is moderate when Parsons is the missing starter, and is huge when Lin or Harden goes down. Understand me now? You seem to think that people here are screaming for a team without James Harden. You are wrong about that; I doubt anyone is suggesting it. What we want is for the best passer, namely Lin, to make the plays and the best scorer, namely Harden, to score. What an amazing concept. smh
Interesting... I hadn't noticed that specifically, but I'll re-watch the game later today and look for that. One thing that is hurting Jeremy Lin on the screens though is his struggles with his shot. The defender is going under the screen at times because they're not respecting Lin from 18-out. Once Lin starts knocking that down, things could open up more. I also agree with Akim523 to a point... Asik is a terrific screen-setter, but he does not have good hands (though he is getting better). This is one of the big reasons that I think the #1 need for the team is a top-flight power forward... someone who is deady setting the pick and offensively gifted to finish on the roll. Of course, that's not that easy to find.
Flu is very contagious. They need to quarantine Harden. Have him wear a mask... so that he doesn't infect other players. We have important games: vs Bulls, vs Knicks coming up!
Thanks for the reply Clutch & Akim. I think in the game against the bulls I will have to make a concentrated effort to focus on Omer's screen setting. I know he definitely tries, I thought he was alright but could be a lot better. I don't think any of the other big man try to set screens aside from Omer. Agreed on the what happens next is severely lacking on the roster as well. A PF is really the biggest need on the roster. I am not a big fan of Josh Smith to be honest not really interested in him. I question his decision making & maturity & don't think he is the kind of player that can carry a team all the way to a title. A roster of Lin harden Smith parsons Asik doesn't really scream title. Amare is an interesting prospect but he can't stay healthy (bad knees, bad back, bad eyes) & his contract is really bad. But a player of his skill set is what we need. Low post threat, PNR big man who attracts enough defensive attention so that the guards can do there thing. For those who aren't familiar with Amare here is some information on him. The issue with Amare that is kind of similar with Patterson is rebounding. As someone who has watched Amare since his Pheonix days he has games where he can be out rebounded by guards. Patterson averages 4 RPG (pathetic) & Amare averages 8 (could be better). There were games last year where Amare was out rebounded by Mike Bibby! Amare's defense is also really bad but Omer could cover up for it in some aspects but still. Ever since Amare came into the NBA the Spurs entire game plan when they play his team is to exploit his bad pnr defense & Spurs have been consistently successful at it. The guards, the big men, the back ups all bully Amare when ever he plays the Spurs it is kind of sad to see.
Personally, I wouldn't want either at this point, though I could see where Josh Smith might be a target. Smith likes it in Houston and Atlanta owns Houston's first round pick IF the Rockets make the playoffs. In my opinion though -- Smith is special because of his elite athleticism... he'll be 27 in a few weeks, and while that's not old, it will start to decline soon. It will cost assets to get him and he's a free agent at the end of the year. If you re-sign him, you're pretty much done for awhile and you're banking on that athleticism. If you don't re-sign him, you still have the cap room (presumably), but you've lost the young players you traded for him and probably weakened your draft pick in the process (if you didn't trade it away altogether). In my opinion, if the Rockets are going to make a big trade for a max-level PF, it needs to be the guy, because your avenues to improve after that are weakened. I'm willing to wait on this. The Rockets could be in a great spot to make a trade at the 2013 draft if they are holding a top ten pick and have a good amount of cap room.
I think THE guy would be someone like Demarcus Cousins, LMA, Bosh or Kevin Love. Those calibre of PF's are the ideal players. Clearly those calibre of players are hard to attain but it would be wiser to wait it out than settle on a Milsap, Jefferson, Smith type.
Exactly. It just depends on where those teams are... I could see Cousins or LMA being possible if the Kings or Blazers like where the Rockets are in the draft and possibly want to unload salary. My view is to be patient on that ... developing Jones, Motiejunas and White (if that's still possible) is the best course for now as their growth could pay dividends in this pursuit by way of a trade.
We need THE guy who can bang down low but also has a solid midrange game, Josh Smith is pretty far from being that guy. LMA/Kevin Love or bust, there's no other way around it --- There's no point settling for any lesser target while we already have other pieces ready, this will be a one and done deal and we can only look forward from that point on.
http://www.mysynergysports.com/synergystats/?away=rockets&home=rockets Click on "Go To Plays" - as we've noticed, 2% of our plays are off screens.
What you'll discover is that Asik, after setting the screen, always rolls slightly late after he sets the screen, because he's afraid of getting a moving screen call. Because of this, he doesn't seal his man, and the pass becomes much harder to make. He also needs to roll hard, with a purpose, instead of hesitating. A quick strong move to the bucket will solve his problems.
OMG. I love you Arthur. I have never seen this side of Synergy before. So cool how did you get there? Do i have to pay to have access to this? Usually what I always check is players stats. For Clutch & Akim: Chris Bosh is currently the 2nd best player of the Heat. Maybe he decides that he wants to show he can lead a team to a title as the man & comes to Houston? LOL a girl can dream.
I'm letting LOF fans know that they need to shape up or GTFO. Sometimes an "iron fist" is necessary to maintain order. This means banning posters, deleting threads, merging threads, locking threads, and taking away forum privileges.
