This is one of the biggest problems with this Rockets team. One of the main objectives in the game is to create open looks for your team. There are couple of ways of doing it. 1) Dominant post player who commands double team. 2) Dominant wing player who you have to double. 3) Dribble penetration which breaks down the defense. We have first two which will work as long as the opposing team decides to double. Sloan has decided not to constantly double so our role players are struggling. We do not have Option 3 which could have taken a LOT of pressure off of Tmac/Yao to create shots every possession. Look at the top teams in the league and look at how many players they have who can break down defenses on their own with dribble penetration alone. Spurs - Manu and Parker, and sometimes Finley. This is in addition to a dominating post presence they have. Suns - Nash (who is best in the business), and Barbosa. Dallas - Harris, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, and Jerry Stackhouse. Detroit - Billups and Hamilton. Prince to a lesser extent. Bulls - Heinrich, Deng, and Gordon. Our team SERIOUSLY lacks dribble penetration (and finishing)and because of this we lack the ability to... 1)Put the other team in foul trouble 2)Get higher % shots 3)Relieve pressure off of our superstars.
Snyder is a guy that cuts to the basket, not a dribble penetrator. Vspan is the only guy that can do it effectively.
When the ball swings around to Snyder at the 3pt line he dribble penetrates.... He is not the typical dribble penetration guy, but in this offense he will be left all alone and can accomplish a lot by dribble penetrating. DD
Yes and no. Snyder can and does do it but it's not pretty. He will take a quick step and head straight to the basket strong. But don't expect too many crossovers, shake and bake kinda stuff. Problem with Snyder is that once he does get there, teams will foul him and send him to the line for brickfest.
I've been watching this Rafer Alston: FG%: 37.5 3FG%: 36.3 Three-pointers are worth 50% more than twos, and they also lead to more offensive rebounds than missed two-point attempts. If you want Rafer to try and be something he's not and try to dribble his way into the defense more often than he already does, then I guess I disagree. If a lane arises in the flow of the offense, he should take advantage of it. However, it's also important that he take the open shot when he gets it. I never said that dribble penetration wasn't something the Rockets could take more advantage of, just that I don't think the problem is that Rafer is being too timid. In a half-court offense, the ball needs to go to McGrady or Yao as much as possible.
If you cannot score or draw the foul in a fastbreak, there is no meaning of penetrating. Well Skip can't. Especially in this tough round.
From what i see VSpan protects the ball well, most of his turnovers are because of his rockets-liked passing and charging fouls due to penetrating like chicken without its head!
But being able to pass efficiently and avoiding offensive fouls are a big part of effective dribble penetration, no?
THis is the real reason which I don't know why no one seems to notice.. why Rafer does not go to the paint. RAFER AVOIDS CONTACT IN THE PAINT
