If you could sit down with the Rockets coaching staff and make suggestions and point out trends based off of what you saw this year what would they be? Three of mine would be: 1) My basic game strategy: a) Dump the ball inside to Yao Ming. b) Wait for the double team. c) Profit. 2) Don't forget what makes you successful. Way too often the Rockets will run up a 12 or 14 point lead by pounding the ball inside the paint and opening up the perimeter, only to suddenly undergo a brain fart. It's like they get a little cocky when they get into double digits and they take that as an open license to start bombing away from the outside. It's usually a lot easier to open up shooters on the perimeter by establishing the paint rather than the other way around. The result is that instead of running the lead up to 20 points or more and putting a dagger into the other team's heart they let the other guys stick around, or even worse pull even again. 3) Move the damn ball. Keep passing the ball. Keep moving without the ball. No ball stoppers and no heat checks. Keep the motion in the motion offense.
Your 1) sounds like JVG-era ball. The key is don't force-feed Yao, if he has good position, give him the ball, otherwise just move it.
I would say the trick is that Yao shouldn't be shooting out of the double team, he should be passing it to the open guy who is hopefully standing unguarded underneath the basket.
Points 1 and 3 seem contradictory, but I think I see where you are going. That said, I don't think winning is going to be as simple as just "dumping the ball down to Yao." If it was we would've won a championship in 04-05 and 06-07 (or at least advanced). Too often, the Rocket try to force it into Yao, and bad things happen.
If Yao gets doubled he can't put it down on the floor. He's got to hold the ball over his head and pass or shoot immediately, preferably pass. When Yao gets doubled that should be a net advantage to the Rockets. Yao's probably not going to score, but somewhere on the floor there's a Rocket with nobody guarding him. I think a big, big part of the Rockets improved play this year was that they figured that out and they started cutting hard to the basket. Sadly enough, I think one of the Rockets who really understood that the most was Bonzi. Scola's pretty good at getting to an open spot on the floor though.
First, I would have some hard questions: 1. Why in the world do you people think Alston is what you need at PG? Don't you need more size and shooting? How many coaches and GM's in this league would think Alston is starting material? That's right, not many. So why do you? 2. Why in the world would you start Hayes last season for most of the year? Would any other team in the NBA have started him at PF? That's right, so why did you? 3. Would Battier really start on any other team in the West? That's right, not likely, so why are you starting him? 4. Since, Yao and TMac are so injury prone and have never completed a season without missing substantial games, why are their backups so marginal? Doesn't that seem unwise? Sure it does. 5. Why does this team miss so many free throws, open shots, and easy lay ups? Isn't that about basics? What are you doing about it? 6. Why does this team seem to have so many medical issues, and never quite get the immediate and extensive attention they need? Conditioning, competence, or what? 7. And are you willing to take a lie detector test and address the question of whether or not you really believe in your heart of hearts that this team is a serious contender in the West? I didn't think so.
you need to watch more on how teams double yao. and you also need to know how yao handles double teams. we pound the ball into yao dude. he gets as much touches as any post player in the L and has one of the highest usage ratings.
apparently, he forgot how we played the 7-8 games after yao went out, only to have landry injured. our offensive efficiency and output were ridiculous. pounding the ball into yao is fine for stretches, but not all the time. adelman's offense is predicated on ball movement from the high post and guys cut. yao cannot play at the high post. and yao can't really pass that well out of double teams. but i do agree with him that in certain stretches, we need to feature yao, esp. if teams single cover him. i just hope he can somehow regain that 15ft mid-range jumper touch that eluded him last yr. if he can knock down that shot, my god, we'd be so scary offensively.
1. Did you even watch the playoffs? See what a difference Rafer makes. He's a decent enough NBA point guard. 2. Well they've already fixed that by starting Scola instead. Why hold them accountable when they've already spotted their mistake and corrected it without it costing the team a great deal. 3. Geez, Battier is one of the best defenders in the league. He's the glue that holds the team together. Can't believe you think he wouldn't start on another team in the West. You're clueless. 4. I'll give you that one, but when those 2 guys cost so much money it's hard to spend more money backing them up when the rest of the team also needs attention. 5. We miss free throws because we have a lot of poor free throw shooters on the team. Simple really. As for easy layups and open shots, I'm not sure we miss as many of them as is made out. We missed lots of layups during the Jazz series but think most of them weren't as easy as they looked and was more a case of us not being big enough inside. 6. Examples? Not sure where you're coming from here. 7. What a douche
I don't call names, I suggest you don't either. I don't think that Hayes, or even Scola, Battier, or Alston start on any other team in the West. Compare them team by team, player by player. Bench players all. I am coming from the obvious standpoint that the Rockets lack the talent to play with the big boys, an indisputable fact when a team can't get out of the first round. Our supporting cast is small, relatively unathletic, and lacking in basic skills like free throw shooting, lay ups, and jumpers. I don't think TMac and Yao are durable. Need evidence? Given this other indisputable fact, their back ups are pathetic. Patently unwise. The Rockets are not serious contenders with or without Yao in the lineup. Conclusion, big changes have to be made IF you want to challenge for the championship. If regular season wins do it for you and Les. You are set.
We need to think about all of these factors: We need players:- Taller. Faster, More athletic, good hands and good foootwork good passers. Able to shoot and put the ball in the basket Who can play on both ends of the court. With so many midget players on our team we need to make changes. I would move Bobby Jackson,Head, Brooks and Battier , followed by Hayes and Alston. It's all upto the Wizard to make it work. .
This is the year that it's all going to come together. Write it down now. I am predicting BIG THINGS and small rings for the Rockets next year. The only question will be if we can get past the Lakers.
I would say that the biggest factor in the Rockets improved record was Scola moving into the starting lineup, because suddenly the Rockets had a player who could exploit the double team on Yao. It doesn't matter if Yao touches the ball every single time down the floor if he's drawing a double team and he's passing out of the double team to the open guy. That in a nutshell is what makes guys like Scola and Landry so dangerous--you really can't leave them to double Yao. And it's what made the Rockets so successful while they still had Yao.
I always thought it would be cool for a college time to run their offense all year long but also practice a completely different offense each week of practice. Imagine Texas Tech busting out the option out of nowhere against UT. It would work for awhile simply because the opponent was unprepared. Now imagine the Rockets with the ability to utilize two different styles of offense. The primary being dump it into Yao and look for shooters, with some Yao/McGrady pick and roll action. The 2nd being Adelman's motion hybrid assuming the Rockets can actually run the damn thing without watching McGrady dribble. Maybe putting Yao in the HP, or Scola, perhaps running this style when Yao rests. That dual philosophy would take the Rockets from a decent but predictable offensive team to one that is nearly impossible to gameplan against. Of course I haven't really thought it out but you get the premise.
