Yeah, no team in NBA history has shot 34.8% on 3's in a 3-heavy offense and won a championship, so idk what he's saying. I think the OP is saying that the offense can't be fixed and this as good as it gets, and that's just lazy to me. There are always ways to improve.
I'd like to see the stats then. Because maybe I'm wrong. But from what I have seen via eye test - and it seems to be a common opinion on Clutchfans this season - Ariza has not been a good dribble penetrator. There are times when he does slash and finish, but it is not his strength. Certainly not something I would want to see him doing on a regular basis unless he has a wide open lane. Ariza is luckily a pretty smart player and has only been doing what he is capable of. Are you telling me your stats show that Ariza is a good dribble-drive guy? Does anyone else agree with him about Trevor? Maybe we don't need another playmaker after all?
One thing to keep in mind is that comparisons to history when it comes to volume of threes current teams are taking is always going to be misleading. We are in a TOTALLY different era now. Nearly all teams are shooting more threes, and at a alarming rate. The poster that made the point about the teams taking a lot of threes even said that the trend would break this season because GSW or ATL or SAS would probably win. I think this tweet was a cool insight into this trend: Bill Simmons @BillSimmons · Feb 15 NBA All-Star Game: 60 combined threes in 2011, 66 in 2012, 71 in 2013, 100 in 2014, 113 with less than 9 mins to go in 2015.
Lol I was that poster dude. I said that the trend would break this season, but guess what? All of those teams shoot better than the Rockets. I totally understand the trends of the NBA towards high volume 3 point shooting, but out all teams in history we have the worst percentages.
You're very good at being condescending, congrats. The reason I'm the only even talking to you at this point is because I have patience, but your argumentative style of debating is seriously annoying. You're a new poster on CF, so hopefully you'll chill out over time. <PRE> 2-Pt % of FG% Dunk Season Age Tm Lg FG% Dist. 2P 0-3 2P 0-3 %Astd %FGA Md. 2004-05 19 NYK NBA .442 8.5 .967 .481 .449 .578 .621 .149 56 2005-06 20 TOT NBA .412 6.0 .978 .606 .416 .540 .511 .133 26 2006-07 21 ORL NBA .539 6.3 .981 .633 .549 .677 .585 .124 46 2007-08 22 TOT NBA .507 7.9 .868 .544 .542 .703 .734 .154 21 2008-09 23 LAL NBA .460 12.3 .680 .435 .526 .625 .549 .122 67 2009-10 24 HOU NBA .394 14.3 .593 .329 .436 .571 .457 .074 68 2010-11 25 NOH NBA .398 13.5 .644 .286 .450 .674 .557 .064 47 2011-12 26 NOH NBA .417 11.7 .784 .340 .440 .591 .554 .045 18 2012-13 27 WAS NBA .417 15.9 .537 .273 .463 .593 .634 .038 17 2013-14 28 WAS NBA .456 16.6 .482 .254 .509 .650 .589 .050 42 2014-15 29 HOU NBA .377 17.3 .397 .234 .447 .570 .566 .055 31 Career NBA .428 13.2 .651 .355 .472 .615 .564 .080 439 2 seasons WAS NBA .442 16.3 .501 .261 .492 .629 .604 .046 59 2 seasons HOU NBA .388 15.4 .517 .292 .439 .571 .491 .067 99 2 seasons NOH NBA .404 12.9 .693 .305 .446 .642 .556 .058 65 2 seasons NYK NBA .436 7.9 .970 .507 .441 .568 .603 .150 76 2 seasons LAL NBA .469 11.6 .706 .451 .531 .642 .582 .128 84 3 seasons ORL NBA .510 6.2 .975 .633 .523 .649 .577 .120 56 </PRE> If you want to look at it a little more organized then feel free to click the link, here http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/arizatr01.html?sr&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool#shooting::none Before coming to Houston, he used to take majority of his shots at the rim and he converted a pretty good amount of it. He used to be able to slash and finish but he moved away from and started to focus on shooting but he definitely has it in him to slash. BTW: "% of" indicates how many of his overall FGA were in those distances. FG% indicates his FGM from his FGA in that distance.
And that'll only change with a better and more even roster. We need to bring in people who are exclusively slashers. Stretch 4s and 5s too. And the exclusive point guard. I really don't a big issue with Ariza as much I have an issue with Bev. Bev is really the weakest link of this team.
As the OP said, that strategy (with our current roster) would be more layups and points in the paint..... Which we already emphasize heavily.... That's not what the OP is suggesting or what Morey wants. Then why do we get so many open 3's? We've had the same strategy, more or less, for the last several years yet before this season we were a top offensive team that took only 3 pters and points in the paint. We are just hitting the 3pt at a worse percentage. And we 3rd in the toughest conference ever.
Agreed on all fronts. I think Ariza is necessary to our defense and you need a player like him if you have Harden on the team.
What you say sounds true, but don't forget that teams also adapt their defense for three-point shooters, which too can open opportunities for the Rockets offense, in the paint for example. I think it's pretty complicated to quantify to what extent a three-heavy offense affects the opposing defense. Rebounds and assists both are affected, for example, which means that everything is significantly different.
I grew up on Rudy T's Rockets. People act like our offense is something radical and new. To me, it's pretty darn similar to the offense Rudy T ran and I'm sure tons of other teams before that one. You have your superstar murder single coverage. When they double team, you kick it out to the open man. The only difference is that 20 years ago, the offense was created in the post by Hakeem. Now, the offense is primarily created by Harden's drives. It's simple. The championship Rockets did not have a plethora of cutters - people used to call for that at the time. We had a guy who shot threes at less than 33% (Maxwell - this is by memory) breaking records for 3PA's. Spacing, drawing double teams - it's not scary, revolutionary stuff. It's just frustrating this season, because we aren't heavy on guys who can hit the open shot (looking at you, Ariza). I called that though. I knew that 40% 3P% last year was an outlier contract year, and Morey should have as well.
This is the dumbest thread of all time. 33% on 3's is way worse than 50% on 2's. 1) 2's near the rim/in the paint are usually in the 60-70% range. 2) Because they're such efficient shots, and because the paint tends to get a lot of contact, it leads to drawing fouls. Opponents with fouls tend to play less aggressively, opening you up for better/less contested shots and passes. 3) 3 point shooters rarely draw fouls. 4) Missed 3's leave less rebound opportunities. Usually the shot taker is already heading back on defense, and with the unpredictability of the bounce trajectory of a missed 3 the defense will usually get the rebound. On a close 2, it's much easier for someone to get an O-reb or tip-in. In conclusion, shooting 33% from 3's on which you are usually open is horribad, stop making excuses for poor shooting.
I don't think anyone is making the case to replace our 3 pointers with 2 pointers 1 step in from the 3 point line. It surely couldn't hurt for us to give the opposition defense something to think about by adding in some more shots between the FT line to the paint. I'm not an expert but I honestly would believe it's a mistake to only take a 3 point shot when we can't get a layup/dunk which seems to be what we are doing a lot of. And this often ends up being "hoisting it up" instead of ready and set 3 pointers.
You clearly didn't read this thread as this has all been discussed. Also no one says we should take less inside shots and in fact - that's a cornerstone of our philosophy. The point is to prefer threes to midrange shots
How about this for a statistic: a contested three, a three early in the shot clock, a three on the fast break, a three when you're in a 2-1 / 3-1 situation, a three when you have to catch it at your feet and a three when you decide you're not going to shoot it the first time with a man on you and then decide to shoot it anyway drop your percentages and are statistically bad shots. These are shots that our beloved players take way too much of, particularly Ariza. If we had a good coach, he would've identified these flaws and tried to get rid of them. Now it's too late, they've been doing it for the whole year so it's a habit you cannot just undo. I'm especially tired of the 2-1 / 3-1 fast break three when you get a freaking lay-up and the early shot clock three, out of a time-out even more!
i think you hit on the crux of the entire argument here. If we can't get a lay up or and open three, our offense goes to *****. Most people agree that: 1) Plan A should be Harden lay ups and dunks 2) Plan B should be Howard, DMo, Smith layups and dunks (probably caused by Harden penetration) 3) Plan C should be open 3s (probably caused by Harden penetration) All of those shots are high efficiency. When we can do that, we win ball games. But what happens when Harden can't get to the rim, can't create for big men, and can't get us wide open 3s? The deadline is passed so no point crying over a second play maker. This is when we've seen Pat Bev PnR (eh), Ariza PnR (eh), Howard post ups (eh), DMo post ups (more please), Josh Smith as a play maker (mixed bag), and transition baskets (always good). What i hope we will see in the future as team chemistry increases? DMo post ups, Josh Smith as play maker, transition baskets AND... Cutters to the rim. Brewer gave us a taste of it the other night. As one poster mentioned - a "motion" offense that allows our guys to get a step on their man (either by off ball screens or behind the back cuts) heading to the basket. DMo or Smith in the high post sending accurate passes to guys cutting to the rim. If Plans A-C are working, our defense is good enough to win most games. But Plan D (Dmo), E (Josh Smith against slower Big Men), F (transition baskets), and G (Motion offense with cutters) are what will get us to the second round.
thanks. and i get your point - 33% from 3 is fine. we just need more options. I think McHale should take the band of brothers (and Kpap and McDaniels) and isolate them for every practice like some Soviet 1984 olympic team. All day just practice setting devastating back screens, alley oop passes, accurate outlet passes - just screens, cuts, and passes all damn day. Turn out the lights and make them pass to each other in the dark. Turn them into a selfless, unconscious, whirling ball of destruction. Then they can come teach the starters how to do it.
