Something that really stands out about the Western Conf. play off teams is they all- Have offensive continuity Defined offensive roles Go to players with go to moves The Rockets are very weak in this area and I believe would have been embarrassed in the play offs. We do not know what our offense is or at least we do not execute like we know it. The starting five seems to be looking for what might work on a given night instead of strongly buying into an offensive scheme. And Steve seems to have not shown this year the ability to take over a game or be a go to scoring option that draws consistant double teams. Yao did draw double teams at times but struggled some due to in-experience and the fact that the offensive scheme changed from time to time. I remember when we believed in a system, new who the go to guys were and everyone had a defined role of involvment in the offense. Role players passed unless they were in a spot they could be successful. I hope Yao becomes a go to guy that can take his guy most every night. And I hope Steve finds a way to get to the basket and score. Cat just doesn't seem to be able to flow in our offense and only is effective when he is hitting lights out from the outside. How many times did Cat beat his man off the dribble this season and get to the rack?
although I did add one word to your list, imo, you just described the 3 most difficult things to achieve in the NBA. btw: one could argue that Portland still doesn't have the goto department covered, yet. But in the East, they would. Notice that there are Eastern playoff teams that don't qualify by your criteria. Detroit has no continuity or go to player. Indiana and Milw have a little bit of trouble with defined roles. NJ has no goto guy. Boston and NO have problems with continuity, and Orlando can slip into the area, too. Philly seems like the one team that might have all 3 covered.
Many. I don't think anyone gets as many wide open layups off the dribble as Cat, except maybe Iverson. The reason he got less this year, is they went to him less. His role on the team has changed to more of a spot up shooter, which he seems to have accepted. I don't agree that that is the best way to use him, but for some reason Steve needs to make sure he gets his 20 points, win or lose.
Eastern Conference = B team. Cliche but very true. I really don't think any team (besides Philly) would make it out of the first round in the West no matter who they played. I think our 8 seed would beat their 1 seed. Hell, THEIR 8 seed is about to beat their 1 seed, but you get the point. It is very disheartening to see how far ahead the playoff teams are of the Rockets. (did that sentence work?) Teams like the Magic, Smelltics, Twolves, Suns are no better than us on paper IMHO but are playing with a lot of heart and giving their fans hope. Very disappointing...
Here's why I'm down on Cuttino. When the zone rules were approved 2 years ago, they took his dribble-penetration game away. It took him 2 years to understand that his role on the team had shifted to defending the opposing 2 guard and hitting jumpshots. Instead of working on improving his shooting to become a consistent outside threat, early in the season he continued (as did the "Franchise") to attempt to force the ball into the teeth of the zone where he either turned over the ball (and consequently committed a stupid foul) or got his shot attempt blocked. As the season wore on, Cuttino stopped moving without the ball and started hanging out around the 3-point line where he'd jack up brick after brick after brick. By the end of the season, his effectiveness as a starter was so totally diminished, he really had no reason to be starter. As things now stand, he is too streaky a shooter to be a starting 2 guard and would be better coming off the bench where his one-on-one dribble penetrating game would work better ala say a Bobby Jackson at Sacremento. When paired against the opposing 2 starting guard, Cuttino had far too many low scoring games to be considered effective.
