ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Rockets @ Timberwolves 12/21/2002

As to offensive execution, I see many valid points to Heech's arguments as well. Fact is, many things with this game IS probability related. Sure, it's easy to peal off Yao's FG% from the stat sheet and say, "Look, he shoots the highest %, so naturally, he should get TO SHOOT the ball more." But there is more to be seen here with our team. The devil is in the details and on this note, I think there maybe somewhat of a misunderstanding btw Heech and Dr of Dunk.

TRUTH IS, BOTH OF YOU ARE CORRECT

Dr of Dunk is correct in saying that Yao essentially "got his fair share" of touches, in a offense, correctly oriented around our big man. However, Heech's point that Yao should get more SHOTS does not preclude the fact that he got more touches. Perhaps, the answer here is that Yao SHOULD BE MORE SELFISH and look to carry the team when our offense sputters. I mean, if we ALL agree (and that's an assumption on my part) that good things happen "through" Yao and that Yao has a knack to get to the FT line PLUS Yao is a good FT shooter, then why shouldn't Yao look to shoot more during crunch time?

Heech has a valid point here and one that doesn't make him any more biased to Yao than anyone who recognizes that "someone, some franchise or dynasty player" needs to come through, albeit SELFISHLY, in the clutch. That guy (or woman if we're talkin' WNBA) is a key ingredient to a championship caliber team. While I won't sit here and draft up statistics or boxscores for all of you, just think about this for a second...

Anecdotally (i.e. by YOUR experience), don't u feel that Yao seems to turn it up a notch in the fourth quarter? I think our short history has shown that Yao CAN carry the load - for a quarter, or for a game. Right now, it's a good thing and a necessary evil that he work within the Rudy system and kick out those passes for others to shoot open Js. This offensive system, as Dr of Dunk correctly points out, is the RIGHT one, and the one that even the loudest of "GIVE YAO THE DAMN BALL" fanatics should be pleased with. However, if the Js aren't falling, and Yao keeps getting doubled up, we have a TEAM problem. Never, in my history of falling basketball have I seen a good center "find" an ideal complement in consistent perimeter shooters. This solution can only be as consistent as the most consistent shooters this league can present... and i'm sure all of you that great shooters tend to shoot 50% from the field + or - 3%. Which at the end of the day, amounts to coin toss.

Yet this problem of surrounding a good center with consistent shooters is a recurring one. So what is the answer?

Well, IMO, the answer lies in having that "savvy guard" who:

1. gets to the line
2. feeds the big man
3. seizes control of a game.

We potentially have that man in Stevie Francis AND Cuttino Mobley. and that is something worth cheering about.



...to be continued

 

Very good points again SageHare6.

I think the part of the problem with looking at stats in Yao's situation is that you do not see what's actually happening on the court.

More often than not in this game, Yao was 15 feet and out near the elbows or the FT line. When he tried to find his favorite spots like along the blocks so he can do his turnarounds and spins, he was instantly double-teamed or had someone like Garnett shading over to double team him. This led to 2 different results, neither of which really show up in the stats :

1) Yao passes the ball because he doesn't have a shot he thinks he can make.
2) Yao never gets the ball because of the double-team.

Neither of these are wrong, but the next step needs is the failure point. Yao has attracted defensive attention, but the offense fails because the next option is shooting bricks. This is why I'm saying it's not Yao and it's not the offense - it's the execution. Compounds that with the fact that we were giving up easy layups inside all night and well, we had no business being close to winning this game.

 

We should have played more Posey because

1) He is the most well-rested person on the team (Boki doesn't count )
2) He is a good FT shooter (84%), so I believe he will have a good FG% if he was given some wide open shoots courtesy of double-teamed Yao's passes.
3) If he is there, maybe Hudson wouldn't hit that many 3s

But anyway, this loss isn't surprising at all. Twolves is a .500 to .600 team and they are playing at home. We are no Dallas. There is nothing to be ashamed of losing to them.

This is still a good week for the Rox. You guys should spend more energy to call for people's heads when we lost to Clippers instead.

 

Poor Defensive Efforts are Inexcusable
While offense is more difficult to establish consistency in, defense is not. Defense is about effort and understanding, more so than skill and accuracy. The Rocket zone D gives each player an opportunity to leverage one another provided they WORK TOGETHER. The "comfort range" for the Rox is to hold opponents at or below 85 points, IMO. If they achieve this, I don't care HOW bad the offense sputters, we will ALWAYS have a chance to win the game. However, whether it's due to lethargy or inertia, the Rocket D tonite, as it was in the first half the Atlanta game, suffered many spells of porousness. 25 pt/quarter for our opponents is not a pace that we can comfortably keep up with on the offensive end. Yet somehow we keep getting suckered into a game of sheer "scoring", instead of a game of "stops" AND "scoring."

The other variable one might consider w/ respect to our lackluster D, is perhaps simple lack of homework. Maybe the Rox didn't have enough time to study their opponent given the lack of time. However, all things being equal, the effort tonite was lackluster on the defensive end, and that alone, IMO is inexcusable.

Biased Officiating is a Moot Point
As to refs, I think that's a moot point. Anytime you're away from home, it's like a statistical certainty that the calls will be biased "against" you. Yet b/c of the balance of home with away games, this "bias" is effectively neutralized.

The Offensive Schema is Exactly where it Should Be
The last point I'd like to raise, continues with what I think Dr. of Dunk was alluding to w/ respect to our ever-improving offense. The offense we're seeing is exactly what works to our strengths. Granted, it's not always firing on all six cylinders, but give it time. This is the offense that will carry us to more consistent games with more consistent offensive output. We've already got a sneak peak of what this offense can do for us. After our engine is set, Francis, Yao, and Cuttino will become THAT MUCH MORE EMPOWEREDto make those tough, on-court decisions in the 4th quarter... where we won't always have to live and die by the jumpers.



theSAGE

P.S. Thx to both Dr. of Dunk AND heech for the informative and thorough analyses.

 

Three point shoots

Rocket 2/19

T-wolf 5/10

The shooters have the opportunities created by the double team on Yao, but they did not deliver.

Therefore, they lose.

 

I did indeed watch the game. I don't have the benefit of a VCR here (in Shenzhen now), but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on your recap.

But uh, for you (and derrock, who mysteriously consents to your point), what relevance do half of the plays you mentioned present? Yes, Yao Ming did touch the ball when rebounding. Yes, he was fouled trying to get in position. Yes, he did touch the ball when it was being passed around in the high post.

My god, if he didn't actually touch the ball for 7 minutes this wouldn't be offensive impatience, it'd be an absolute conspiracy by the rest of the Rockets team. I wouldn't simply be pointing out some strategic tweaking is needed on offense; I'd be calling for a trade!

But the question is how often the ball went into him in the low post. You list two ATTEMPTED passes to Yao, for god's sakes. You also list a play where Yao didn't even touch the ball, but simply was in the area distracting the defense. (Wow.)

Based on a very (very) liberal interpretation of your lists, I see four plays where Yao was given the ball in the low post. At 6:00, 5:25, 3:25, 2:37. This, is, not, enough. When I said touches, I didn't literally mean the number of times Yao's palms touched leather. I mean the number of times the ball went into him as an offensive threat.

Anyways, let me just try to end the nitpicking and post the link from someone else who also apparently didn't watch the game, the columnists for the Minneapolis Star Tribune (how embarassing for him):

"Yao learns Rockets don't share the ball well"
http://www.startribune.com/stories/506/3549002.html

(By the way, the writer lists Yao as taking 13 shots... uh, I guess he means 9 field-goal attempts + 4 free-throw attempts.)

 

I think the coaching staff aside from asking the backcourt to stop taking too many outside shot specially when its not going in at a acceptable %, is that they need to set more screens inside for Yao . More often then not when they give him the ball its just a isolation play where they just clear out for him to take his man 1 on 1 or 1 on 2. Mix it up, sometimes clear out, other times set him up for a easy shot with picks and screen.

 

Mysterious is my middle name

I think for the next game, me, you, DoD, SageHare6, and anybody else who cares will have a VCR, a pad of paper, and a pen to help us diagram Yao's fourth quarter positioning, touches, teammates position, defense alignment, and pass-to-Yao time. I'll be ready!

 

Hey heech, not all columnists are Mike Fratello. Have you heard of Fran Blinebury...

And nobody likes a smart a$$

 

Not quite necessary, http://www.************.com has
all the stuff

 

I mean www <dot> ************ <dot> com

 

<a href="http://www.************.com"> here </a>

 

I expect the Rockets to go at least 4-2 on this 6 game homestand. I expect nothing and will accept nothing less. There is no excuse for them not to go 4-2. There is something wrong if they can't.

 

Well, if you have a problem with smart-asses, maybe you'll be more comfortable with the straight-forward analysis offered by Steve Francis:

"You use your energy getting back in the game and it was our execution down the stretch that resulted in us losing. Guys just dribbled up and pulled up and took shots, and that hurt us. "

So, uh, yea, how do you plan on dismissing that comment? Steve Francis isn't Mike Fratello either?

(By the way, take a look at the log... Francis gets credit for driving to the basket, leading to layups and a couple trips to the line in the 4th.)

 

Yaomainia
The T-Wolves' Nesterovic drives the edge of the lane with a running jump shot on Yao, BUT YAO TIMES IT PERFECTLY FOR THE REJECTION!! He also blocks it well enough that the ball comes down to Yao, and he gathers it in to start the Rocket fast break. Francis comes down and shoots a perfect jumper for the score! But as Yao was crashing the boards, this guy who Yao just rejected threw his arm up high enough on the block-out to hit Yao in the throat! Dirty player! That was intentional--no player would unintentionally flail their arm up to the height of Yao's throat (about 7-feet high) to block someone out unless they wanted to hurt the other guy. He obviously wanted to get back at Yao for making him look bad on the rejection a few seconds earlier.

 

Hey heech or whoever, please do us a favor. Just say some crappy thing about the game to piss DoD off and he'll do an in depth game analysis.

DoD, I've always like your analysis. Please do it more offen.

 

When Yao got anywhere near his sweet spots near the paint, he was automatically double-teamed by 2 7 footers. That's why he didn't get the ball down low.

The attempted passes are relevant because it blows away your theory that the Rockets didn't give him touches. They were TRYING to. Six or so of the last 7.5 minutes of the game, the entire offense was run in some way through Yao.

The offense worked, the second and third options did not.

You seem to want to run plays for Yao even when those plays would do nothing but cause problems/turnovers for our offense. Most of his low-block plays were being denied during that 7 minute stretch. If we had the Mo Taylor of 2 years ago, he would've scorched Kevin Garnett everytime he tried to drop back and double Yao. We didn't have that last night.

Team ball... not Yao ball. I'm sure Yao would tell you the same.

 

DAMN!

DoD and Sage, great breakdowns
I dont see how the uninformed can continue to argue the wrong pov against evidence like that.

I bow to your posting greatness.

 

I think it's clear that the offense failed down the stretch. And giving up 98 points to me isn't a defensive collapse -- nor is giving up 21 and 24 in the third and fourth quarters.

What is clear is we have to find ways to counter opposing teams denying Yao the ball and/or his shot. Because other teams are keying on him, and our fallback options aren't going to be consistent. Maybe last night was an aberration -- but even during the glory days of the Rocket's inside-outside game, it's vulnerability was the streakiness of the outside shooters.

And that vulnerability was exposed in the Rocket's second edition of the inside-outside game last night. So you can say that our offensive ineffectiveness was a function of Yao's lack of touches/shots. Because Minnesota was making a huge effort to deny him the ball and/or shot -- and that vulnerability wouldn't have been exposed otherwise.

I just hope that if indeed we tried to run the offense through Yao, the team doesn't start thinking again that because last night's outcome was bad, they shouldn't have Yao initiate the offense.

Because I think now it's painfully obvious that this team is totally beatable if you take away the ball from Yao -- but this team can beat anybody if you don't. (And don't even try to bully me with that Yao-fan-only bullsh*t.)

This is an incremental process -- with Yao learning how to counter defenses keying on him, and the team as a whole coming up with other ways to exploit a dominant post player without relying on the degenerate form of post play: DIT.

 

The Minnesota announcer said something interesting about Cuttino last night. He only had more than 5 assists in one game last year.