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The Rockets and the Use of Screens

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by torocan, Apr 6, 2014.

  1. ind0fo0

    ind0fo0 Contributing Member

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    You are assuming that there is an offensive system being coached...
     
  2. yummyhawtsauce

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    might be because they have lebron though...lol
     
  3. crimmy88

    crimmy88 Member

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    Apparently James Harden is the whole Rockets team. :rolleyes:
     
  4. WaitForIt

    WaitForIt Member

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    Not surprised. The only screen they seem to run is with Howard (less so) and Asik (a lot). Obviously the stat about not throwing to the roller is low because throwing it to Asik is just not a high percentage play. There are almost no off ball screens. I think part of that is because of the discouragement of mid range jumpers. I always think of Rip Hamilton when talking about off ball screens. He scored a lot off those jumpers. Would he be probably utilized on our team given the Rockets philosophy?
     
  5. gambingo

    gambingo Member

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    Awesome, appreciate the time and effort you spent looking into this. This pretty much confirms the eye test that we don't utilize much screens in the half court offense. Not only that, more often than not, we set really poor screens.

    For comparsion, just look at the Spurs' games. They are so discipline in their system, that it doesn't matter who's on the floor, they usually get quality shots off their screens. You'll notice that they will even set multiple screens to get those quality shots. In contrast, our half court offense looks like a bunch of headless chickens running amok recently with guys filling in, reminiscent of the early part of the season.

    I really hope the team is working on this like they did with the post entry pass to Dwight, which has definitely seen improvement, but could be better still. This is a weakness that may very well get us bounced in the 1st round because any major weakness will be magnified.
     
  6. Play07

    Play07 Member

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    I agree, that's why I have the importance of pick & pop in my sig.

    - I think morey ball does have an effect of the lack up midrange shots, but it's also because of the personnel at the PF spot. Mchale has the plays but he went away from them when Patrick Patterson left. When we bring in a high % midrange PF guy, we will see mchale go back to these sets & numbers will increase.

    But for right now we have to count on Howards post ups, harden, and 3 pointers which is not bad for now
     
  7. Nook

    Nook Member

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    Appears to be very little correlation between the quality of team and the number of screens they run. I would also rely on something SVG said, take these #'s with a grain of salt, they are only as good as the people compiling the information.
     
  8. WinkFan

    WinkFan Contributing Member

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    There seems to be a correlation between screens and outside shooting(midrange + 3pointers). We set fewer screens because we are minimizing outside shots, and are attempting to get to the basket
     
  9. haydenfisher342

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    Princeton offense would be amazing with this team
     
  10. jocar

    jocar Member

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    This and our emphasis on the 3 pt shot. We don't need as many screens to get open 3's, we need a slasher or a big to collapse their perimeter and draw double teams. Low use of screens could be by Morey's design (3's and layups/dunks), coaching (spread the floor), or by players' choice (I see screens happen when the ball handler motions for one). Who the heck knows.?
     
  11. jtr

    jtr Contributing Member

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    Asik sets the most solid screens on the team. Howard uses the brush screen much to often. Jones does not set screens often. D-Mo's screens are also pretty solid, but he has not played a lot of minutes this season.

    The Rockets use screens as part of multiple P&Rs. The first one many times is just a feint, when Howard brush screens an opponent and then rolls to the basket hoping to force a defensive switch to a smaller player. A second screen (or just a quick pick by a moving player) then may free up the ball handler long enough to get a good entry pass or lob into Howard. The Rockets offense is not evolved enough to frequently run players around multiple screens in order to free up a player for a wide open shot.

    It does not surprise me that OKC and SAS set the most effective screens in the league. They have very fast shifty point guards who handle the ball well in traffic. Great offenses (bad offenses can set a lot of purposeless screens) that set a lot of screens generally roster players who have played in the system together for years. It takes years of roster stability to gain the understanding of teammates and the system to be able to function like a well oiled machine. However in rare instances a team can gather all-star fully developed players who fit into an offense and defense immediately (Garnett and Allen).

    The Rockets offense leans more on spacing than screens. There generally is not a lot of motion compared to some other NBA teams.
     
  12. torocan

    torocan Member

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    Just for reference, for those arguing that the low number of screens is due to our emphasis on 3 pointers, here is our actual percentage of 3 point attempts vs our total shots.

    NBA Team Three Point Rate

    Rank Team 2013 Last 3 Last 1 Home Away 2012
    1 Houston 32.9% 36.9% 39.7% 34.2% 31.6% 35.4%
    2 Atlanta 31.5% 35.3% 35.4% 30.8% 32.3% 28.3%
    3 Phoenix 30.2% 32.0% 21.6% 29.6% 30.9% 21.0%
    4 New York 30.1% 39.4% 40.8% 30.8% 29.4% 34.6%
    5 Brooklyn 29.8% 35.3% 26.2% 29.9% 29.7% 26.6%
    6 Portland 29.2% 25.5% 25.9% 28.8% 29.6% 28.4%
    7 LA Clippers 29.1% 32.9% 29.7% 28.9% 29.2% 26.4%
    8 LA Lakers 28.9% 29.9% 33.7% 29.4% 28.3% 30.0%
    9 Golden State 28.8% 30.5% 32.3% 28.1% 29.6% 24.2%
    10 Miami 28.7% 36.0% 36.4% 27.3% 30.1% 28.0%
    11 Toronto 28.1% 30.8% 33.3% 28.8% 27.4% 24.9%
    12 Denver 27.5% 28.6% 28.7% 27.4% 27.5% 22.1%
    13 Dallas 27.3% 29.6% 22.8% 27.8% 26.8% 23.6%
    14 Okla City 26.9% 27.9% 36.5% 25.8% 28.1% 25.1%
    15 Philadelphia 26.0% 25.1% 29.1% 26.2% 25.8% 20.9%
    16 San Antonio 25.5% 23.1% 25.0% 25.8% 25.1% 26.2%
    17 Minnesota 24.9% 25.1% 19.5% 23.9% 25.8% 22.0%
    18 Boston 24.7% 34.4% 35.2% 25.8% 23.6% 22.0%
    19 Washington 24.6% 22.9% 18.6% 23.3% 25.8% 22.3%
    20 Utah 24.0% 23.8% 17.2% 23.5% 24.6% 20.6%
    21 Cleveland 23.6% 23.0% 22.9% 23.0% 24.1% 22.9%
    22 Orlando 23.5% 22.9% 21.5% 23.2% 23.8% 22.2%
    23 Milwaukee 23.4% 15.9% 11.4% 23.2% 23.6% 23.5%
    24 Indiana 23.3% 19.0% 14.1% 22.5% 24.1% 24.7%
    25 Sacramento 22.1% 14.8% 12.8% 23.1% 21.2% 24.3%
    26 Detroit 22.1% 25.4% 29.1% 21.9% 22.4% 21.7%
    27 Chicago 22.0% 29.0% 29.1% 21.2% 23.0% 19.2%
    28 Charlotte 21.6% 25.8% 28.6% 21.1% 22.0% 21.0%
    29 New Orleans 19.1% 19.1% 26.0% 18.9% 19.3% 22.4%
    30 Memphis 16.9% 11.8% 13.3% 17.8% 16.0% 16.8%

    http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/three-point-rate

    For additional reference, here is the breakdown on FGA per game basis, teams sorted by distance of 10-15 feet in ascending order.

    http://stats.nba.com/leagueTeamShot...GA5ft3&sortOrder=ASC&PerMode=PerGame&filters=

    You'll notice that the 76ers have a similar philosophy in terms of mid range and 3 point shooting. The 76ers set approximately 6% more screens.

    More stuff to think on.
     
  13. WinkFan

    WinkFan Contributing Member

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    The Sixers are near the bottom, though.
     
  14. PositivityDome

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    The Rockets are running their system strictly by "the analytical book." Morey says 3's and shots at the rim are king, and so everything they do within their system follows that philosophy to get these shots, (even despite matchups or personnel.) I think it really is that simple.

    This commitment to the system despite all else can be seen in the fact that Terrance Jones and DMo shoot 3's regularly despite the fact they clearly are not good 3 point shooters. It's also why when PPat was here last year, he was shooting 3s despite the fact that his midrange 2 was extremely good. The philosophy and system rule all, despite strengths in other areas, or weaknesses in the selected areas of the system.

    As for the lack of screens in the system, a very educated guess based on their standing would be based off of the philosophy of the organization once again. I'm really too damn lazy to dig up quotes specifically, but it's been said at times by Morey/McHale that the Rockets system is primarily based on pace/spacing/dribble drives. The pace equates for why the Rockets run so much and don't have many half court possessions, and the space and dribble drives work in tandem to create the foundation of the sets the Rockets run; essentially, you can't dribble drive (and get a shot at the rim/drive + kick for a 3/pass off to a big near the rim) effectively with a screen clogging up your spacing, so there aren't going to be many screens in the system.

    So... does this hurt the perimeter players? Theoretically, not if they can all dribble drive, spot up at the 3 point line or handle passes at the rim effectively. Problem is, not all the perimeter players have all three skillsets, so there's a bit of a "square peg in a round hole," syndrome going on in the system because it is a very rigid institution. This is why the Beverly lineup has a better OFF rating than the Lin lineup, despite Lin clearly being a better/more well rounded offensive player, because Beverly is a better spot-up shooter than Lin and therefore fits in tandem with Harden better, while Lin's dribble drive skills are marginalized because he's not the primary playmaker (and rightfully so.)

    So in closing, the system is very rigid and determines very specific fits. However, imo, the system could be better if it was tailored to accommodate the strengths of all of it's players that lie outside of the system. I don't believe Morey is of that belief though. Analyitics!
     
  15. WinkFan

    WinkFan Contributing Member

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    Patterson was far more effective from 3 than midrange. So is Jones. Dmo is the only one who is worse from 3 than midrange.

    You've got to get some spacing from the PF. Is it better to get it shooting 30% from 3, or 40% from midrange?
     
  16. torocan

    torocan Member

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    I was referring more to them avoiding the mid range jumper. They shoot few shots in the mid range and focus on attacking the rim and 3 pointers (though differently distributed of course).
     
  17. WinkFan

    WinkFan Contributing Member

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    Right. I was saying that although they use more screen than us, they are still near the bottom in terms of screen use.
     
  18. jtr

    jtr Contributing Member

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  19. torocan

    torocan Member

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    Towards the bottom in ranking, but much further from the bottom in terms of differential.

    The difference in screen use between the 76ers and the Rockets is 6.1% ... that's the same gap as between the 76ers and Orlando (18 teams above them).

    The Washington Wizards (the 15th), uses screens 33.80% of the time, or just 4.4% more often than the 76ers. Even though the 76ers are only 4 spots above us, the 76ers are actually closer to the team median than we are to the 76ers in terms of screen use.

    In fact, Memphis (the 2nd worst team in terms of screens at 27.60%), is only 6.2% from the Washington Wizards. In other words, from the 29th to the 30th spot, we are about as far away from Memphis as Memphis is from the 15th ranked Wizards.
     
  20. WinkFan

    WinkFan Contributing Member

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    Not quite right. The gap between us and Memphis is 4.3%, not 6.2%. 4.3% above Memphis is between Charlotte and Indiana, 18-19. Still, your point is valid. We are last by a fair margin.
     
    #40 WinkFan, Apr 6, 2014
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2014

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