Since I posted the original A Few Simple Plays last year, I've gotten quite a few E-Mails asking for a follow up. I apologize for having taken so long, but I felt it would have been premature to suggest plays for the team without seeing how they were working under JVG, as some plays wouldn't work with different rotations, etc. Despite the recent progress shown byt the Rockets, there are clearly still things that need work, and the primary focus should still be on offensive role definition, IMO. Others may disagree, but long term I feel that this team will only get as far as Steve and Yao take us. Had Griffin ever built on the initial promise he showed it could have been a 3-star base, but as is it's a 2-star set, with everyone else, even Cat finding their roles and getting theirs off of what Yao and Francis bring. I have decided on these plays with that in mind, with 2 of the 5 utilizing Steve's strenghts, 2 with Yao as the primary option, and 1 for another player, probably Mobley or Pike. These are fairly simple plays, with multiple variations, and I feel they exploit our strenghts. Whether or not you agree with them, I would encourage others to respond with their own plays, or even improvements on mine...in basketball there are no property rights, and frankly a couple of theses are already stolen and tinkered with from other NBA teams. Either way, I hope this promotes a discussion of basketball X's and O's which would, IMO, be great if found here more often. ( For all of these, I wish I had the computer acumen to draw up and add chalkboard drawings on a computer. If anyone knows how to do so, please E-Mail me, as illustrations greatly aid in communicating how a play works. Play One Designed to get Steve the ball with an open path to the hoop or in a position to take the open J. This play is essentially one the Sixers run a lot for Iverson, and which expoits the strengths he and Steve have in common; the combination of great quickness with/without the ball, and the ability to hit the pull up J if open. I added a couple of wrinkles to take advantage of Steve's ability to explode to the rim. Initial Set: Start off with Yao and Cato each occupying a high post position, with JJ on the left wing and Steve on the right, Cat at the top with the ball. Play: JJ cuts under ( on the basket side) of Cato and Yao while SF fakes under and goes hard on top of the double high screen set by the big men. As he clears the second screener, Cat delivers the ( 5-7 ft) pass to Francis on the run. WHat Steve does now depends on whether his man has followed through the hp screen, or gone under. When playing AI, teams usually follow, about 3/4 of the time. If the defender follows, Steve turns the corner off the second screener and should have a step or two to get to the basket. JJ can even cut back under to set a thrid trailing pick, or to the corner for the dish if Steve gets slowed. If the defender goes under the screens, Steve should have plenty of time for either an open 15-18 foot pull up, or a step back and set 3. A simple play the Sixers use often, and quite effectively. Some times Steve will have to take the initial under and cross-screen off JJ, which itslef might get him open, but which also helps him sell the initial fake for the over. The variations I've added for Steve would be to occassionally take the pass Cat as he passes the 1st big man ( only if followed) and cut between the two hp screens, splitting the defense, with the ability to therein go hard to the hole and/or draw a reach-in foul from one of the opposing big men. Another is, if his man goes under, for both Steve and JJ to hit mid point in their cuts and reverse, which should end up with 2 men on JJ, and Steve opn on the right wing, or at least with a couple of steps. Options are then same as in initial play. Play Two Designed to get Steve ( and occassionally Cat) the ball on the low wing with a couple of options, n open 15-20 footer, or a drive and dish. This is a play the Raptors run for Carter, but it's hardly just them, as it's among the most used 'star' plays in the league, for a reason; it works. I think Steve would really benefit from this play, but so could Cat. Initial Set : JJ on top with the ball, Yao and Cato mid-low post positions ( each side), Cat on one wing Steve on another. Play: JJ fakes a pass into either post, and as both big men move towards the low post, Steve and Cato cut hard towards the baseline and then head in. Taylor and Yao set screens 3 feet short of the baseline, and Steve and Cat cross under them. Usually Cat sets a 3rd screen for Steve, sometimes the reverse, or they can see who comes off of the natural scrape. JJ can deliver the ball to Steve as soon as he clears the baseline screen, or wait till he gets to shooting position. If he gets it immediately, he can hit the turnaround 5 footer, take it out or curl up to the top of the key. Play Three Designed to make teams pay for trying to deny Yao with a sift double, or get him an open look if they adjust. Initial Set Steve up high with the ball, Cato low left post, Cat left wing, JJ left corner. Yao is at the high right post. Play: Cat comes across the top and sets a pick for Steve to go left. Cato moves to high post to set a second screen,which Francis can take if it opens up for him. Meanwhile JJ heads to right corner along baseline ( Francis can hit him with a backdoor if the defense falls asleep.) If SF hasn't taken his pick, Cato heads to the high right post while Yao moves into the low left post, and Cat fans out to the left wing. Steve gives up his dribble, and looks inside to Yao. Meanwhile Taylor is at the high post or elbow, JJ is in the right corner, Cat is on the right wing, and Steve, with the ball, is on the left wing. Yao is alone down low. If they try to deny here, they had to come off sooner, as Mo just moved away, opening himself up for a 15 footer. If they stayed with him, the deny doulbe has to come a looong way, off of JJ in the corner or Cat on the wing, each on the opposite side of the basket. Either way, if the deny is there, a player is open for an easy jumper, and the passing lanes from Steve are open. If they try to double down with the entry pass, they again have to come a long way. If they doulbe after the entry, Yao has several options, number one being ain inital hard move to the basket knowing the doulbe is going to take a while. If his defender fronts, Steve puts it up towards the basket, as Yao is alone with the rim, and no other defenders are withion range to contest the oops. If he plays back, standard post moves. If, however, he doesn't get the inital move off in time, he's got passing lanes open to at least 2 other players, probably more. Another variation to run here is for Steve and Yao to run that little hand off, or fake it. As the other players are all wide right, Yao can read if their men come off it to prevent Steve from laying it up off the handoff. If anyopne leaves, Yao keeps and passes to the open man. For this play it is essential that the 4 is Mo, not Cato, as the 4 has to be able to hit the 15-18 footer enough to make defense have to adjust. Once they adjust, Yao should get the ball with the ability to take his man 1-1. There are enough initial options open to disguise this as being a standard post entry play, and because of the movement defenses will have to show their hand ( re: fronting/denying, etc.) earlier, so we'll know what to exploit. IMO Yao has the ability to read and react IF he has the time, and this gives him that time. Play Four Designed to get Yao the ball down low in excellent position, without the defense having the time to adjust with the double or 3/4. Initial Set: JJ in right low post, Cat in left lp, Yao right high post, 4 ( Mo or Cato) in left hp, Steve on top with ball. Play: Cat fakes baseline and cuts back to left wing ( called a v-cut), where he gets the pass from Steve. 4 sets a pick for Yao who comes across the ft line, on top of the pick, and heads to the left block while Cat passes back to Steve at home on top. Cato comes down and sets a pick for JJ who comes off it and heads towards right wing, where he gets the pass from SF. After JJ comes off his pick, Cato reverses and sets a pick for Yao who comes underneath it along the baseline,. and gets the pass in from JJ. The defense never has time to double or set up a 3/4, and Yao gets the ball in the right block with a man at worst behind him, and at best caught under the net. The key is for the pass from JJ to come almost as soon as he gets the ball, and a bounce-in would be advised most times. Play Five Designed to get a shooter an open corner look, with pass options off to the $ or Yao in great position. Celtics used to run this for Bird back in the day, and it's still used for players like Nowitzki, Allen ( or was on the Bucks), and Pierce. Initial Set: Standard set, with Steve at the point, JJ on the left wing, the Shooter ( Cat or Pike) on the right wing, and Yao and Cato each occupying a block ( l & r respectively.) Play: Shooter heads for the baseline wide of the key, while JJ heads towards baseline and cuts inside of the 4. Meanwhile Steve dribbles to his right and sets up around JJ's inital position, possibly deeper. Shooter cuts along baseline through successive screens set by 1) Yao 2) JJ 3) Cato or Mo. and comes out on the other side for the pass from Steve. He should be wide open for the jumper. Incase he's not, as soon as he the defender passes JJ, he turns and sets a screen allowing Yao to pop out towards the ft line, and after he screens the 4 turns and faces Shooter. This leaves Shooter with the option of taking the shot, passing to the 4 underneath, or hitting Yao for the open 5-10 footer or the inside pass. Additionally Yao and Cato are in great position to boards Shooter's miss. Well guys, as I said I wish I could draw these for you, but I hope I've explained them so that you can see them. If I've used terminology you do not recognize, please just ask for a carification. Most importantly, please offer your own plays or variations. I have more I will post later, but I really wanted to get an Xs and Os discussion going as it pertains to the Rockets, and best using the strenghts of our best players. I look forward to reading anyone's ideas, and if you've never coached or played yourself, feel free to experiment; new perspectives often offer new ideas, and it's the best way to learn. Peace JAG
Thanks you Macbeth. Love the plays as they should help our most glaring offensive deficiency. I would like your input on fast breaks and early offense, probably the #1 offensive concern for the rockets today. We are supposed to be an inside out team but the numbers suggest we are more an outside team still, much too reliant on the jumpshot. We are essentially like the Kings and the Mav in terms of the reliance on the jumpshot. The Lakers on the other hand and Denver have a much reduced reliance on the jumpshot. Yes I know the point guard may be the difference but it may be a system or attitude thing. How do you get the fast break and early offense going.
It's been a while MacBeth... take a break from posting? Do you do any coaching? You should try to put some of these plays to work. Meanwhile, the Raptors are nasty now, so that shows how wrong I was about the Vince Carter thing.
Aside from the obvious causes for aour break problems ( Steve staying back, not being a pass ahead kind pf point, trailers coming up in clumps, etc.) I think what's killing us most is our complete lack of secondary breaks. This might be by design, but we seem to try for the first break option, and then completely settle into a half court set. To me we have some players with excellent secondary break attributes...God, if we could get Roy Williams in for a clinic... Yeah, we're perim oriented. To be fair, most teams are these days, but in that we hve one of exactly two legit low post centers in the game right now, it's amazing that we are in with everyone else in this regard.
