He could answer this better, but I don't think that's what he (or Knight) were saying at all. "Combo guard" is a made-up label for people who defy labels.
I don't think that it's best for our team for mobley to shoot a 22 footer every time he's open. Even if he was making them, the other players play harder and better if they get to participate in the offense.
Like Christie, the Barry's, Wesley, Terry, AI, Ginobilli, lots of guys playing both guard slots. I do believe this team would be better with a similar philosophy with Stevie, Cat, JJax (and less of Mooch).
they basiclly run a combo role with Cat and Steve now when they are on the floor together. I think Mobly should sit first then when its time for steve to take a break use mobly as the back up poit. that would clear minutes for Pike and A griff at 2 and back up 3
I can definately see that happening when Erick comes back...Or at least I would like to have that happen.
SamFisher, "combo guard" = jack of 2 trades, master of neither. with, of course, some very notable exceptions. is steve in that echelon? can he be one of the exceptions? i don't think so, and i'll mention why later in this post.... because his court vision is far below average for someone who possesses the ball probably 75% of every possession. as for your assertion of steve matching up against 1s v 2s, i disagree. i think he's a more potent matchup against 2s than 1s. his quickness is his greatest asset, even against 1s. he rarely uses a height advantage or a strength advantage to exploit a matchup. it's always penetration or dribble, juke, pullup. those same things can be done against taller players. his dribble, juke, pullup will be even more effective against taller players, because they will have to back off him more (respecting the drive). even so, he would be that much quicker than his opponent that if he chose to drive, he'd probably still beat his man to the bucket. as i said earlier, zeke was an exception. zeke was phenomenal. steve is not zeke-phenomenal... is steve a very good player? absolutely. but do you want the ball in the hands of a person with poor ball instincts for 75% of every possession? seriously, SamC, do you? this is a person who runs terrible fast breaks, throws terrible entry passes, and frequently over dribbles. he is extraordinarily talented, yes, but those detriments scare the hell out of me, if you're asking that person to be your primary ballhandler and - more importantly - decision maker. that's also why i say he is not the exception to the rule of "combo guards". here's a good example that, i hope, will provide some perspective on steve francis: how much better is steve francis than, say, gilbert arenas? do you think gilbert arenas is a franchise point guard? is an arenas, plus increased turnovers and slightly worse decision making, the person you want handling the ball 75% of the time?
I don't really see the difference. When Mobley & Francis are on the court, I don't think the team will play any differently just because you call one the PG and the other the SG. Just call 'em guards or, as some people prefer, the backcourt.
reminds of me of dumb and dumber ... they are great players, but not exactly smart. If you compare either to Ming, they are both dumb, although amazingly athletic and talented gym rats, with good insticts, character and love for the game ... all around loveable guys, just not smart with good training in the fundamentals of the game. If you compare SF to Cat, SF is smarter, so IMHO it would be stupid to move Cat to PG, over Francis.
Agreed Sam. This is a HUGE change in the offense I have noticed which has been a pleasant surprise. The big issue I had with Steve and the gameplan last yr was that Rudy would allow him to be the first initiator of the offense majority of times down the floor, usually though a high pnr. This was a big reason the team needed a true distributor as Steve would dribble into the teeth of the defense over and over again making poor decision after poor decision. The key I felt was to get the ball out of his hands early in the offense, let him run through picks and get the ball later in the set when the defense has broken down somewhat. Ofcourse many Steve haters kept on about how Steve can only play with the ball in his hands and nonsense like that. It merely took some good coaching which JVG has provided to help Steve become much better off the ball. JVG imo is doing in an excellent job of making sure that after the ball crosses the mid court stripe it is not in Steves hands initially for an extended period of time. I think the offense will really take off once Pike and Mo return b/c Pike can setup on the leftside and throw in the entry pass to Yao much like what Jim Jackson does. Boki I agree simply cannot do it consistently enough. In addition, Mo will be able to setup on the right block so that the PF cannot cheat over so much on Yao making the entry pass difficult.
Familiar enough to know that if you asked him if he needed "combo guards" to run it that he would probably laugh in your face.
you're right he would. but do you know why? i suspect not. the bobby knight offense, which is a staple in indiana junior high and high schools, is not predicated on having true guards. the offense does require that almost every player be able to a) handle the ball b) shoot; and c) pass all to an adequate degree. it isn't set up on dribble penetration, nor on dump in it sets. it's motion in a "true" sense. so yea, you could have an isaiah thomas run knight's system. or you could have a damon bailey run knight's system. he'd laugh because neither type makes a difference in his system. tell me again...what does this have to do with the rockets or what we implement offensively???
i wish heypee were here to chime in on this one. he's well versed on the bobby knight offense. no matter. i know it well enough to refute these claims...
I think it is a good idea to shift as much of regular decision making from SF as possible. He has shown he is lacking in discipline or mental toughness or floor sense--something, to both be the lead scorer and lead set man at the same time--a la Thomas, Payton, Magic, Davis or Marbury--and he would be more effective focusing on the former. So simplify SFs role by increasing Mobley's time with the ball in hands whether you call Mobley the PG or Combo guard or whatever. I do think Mobley probably has a better chance to learn how to run a good fast break and make the routine steady plays for teamates a set offense needs without totally giving up his offense than Steve does. Steve is the superior scorer however, let Steve more focus on doing what he does best. As for why not trade Mobley for a PG? How many PGs can cover SGs (because Francis sure can't), shoot well enough to keep the opponents honest, and handle the ball adequately. That is a short and expensive list, it is much more realistic to transfer some traditonal PG duties from Francis to Mobley (or even try to get an SG with even greater PG abilities than either Mobes or Francis has like Barry or Allen from Sea) than to expect to trade Mobley for an equal quality big PG.
verse, I'm sure you don't mean to come off as smug and condescending. I mentioned Knight because he's got the right philisophy in terms of labels. They serve no purpose other than to hinder creative thought. I agree with the notion that a great offensive system has players who can handle, pass, shoot, and rebound. Guess what - that's not limited to Bobby K. The Kings run a similar system in which every player handles the rock and passes the ball, and that system was derived from the Princeton offense. The championship Rockets started 5 players who could all pass and at least 3 who shared ballhandling duties. Who was really the point guard on those teams? Kenny Smith or Vernon/Clyde? The Rockets today start 4 players who can all handle and pass the ball. They didn't need a pure point guard or a combo-guard to run the offense in 1994-1995, and they don't need one now. The backcourt pieces needed are all here, right now, save maybe a solid backup guard to ease the wear and tear on our starters. I don't think we need to lean on Steve Francis to handle the ball 75% of the time, and he doesn't. He does need the ball to be effective. He's no Reggie Miller or Ray Allen, scoring points by shooting Js coming off screens. Instead, he creates his own shots, and consistantly shoots a solid FG%. Further, he's too small to defend the 2 guards in today's NBA. I understand the statistical comparison to Arenas, but I don't know Arenas's game enough to rebut it. I do know that the Rockets are off to a 7-3 start, so something must be going well.
The biggest difference is how much each player has control over the ball. Right now, I would say Francis has 75-80% control at the start of each play. Francis initiates the offense and sets the tone of the offense. Sometimes he make good decisions, sometimes he doesn't. Francis is highly inconsistent, as a result, we get some games scoring 100+ points, some games going 70 points. The player having control of the ball should always execute the offense and find the man with the easiest shot before he looks for the shot himself. Francis is a scorer and usually looks for his own shot first. I saw hundreds of times when there's a player around that is completely open but would still take it himself even though the degree of difficulty is ten times that if he passed to the open man. Francis can drive the ball and attract 3 - 4 defenders, but he doesn't know where the open men are because he has his head down and only thinking of the rim. Mobley is also a scorer but with a better adaptability than Francis. He has played point guard before the NBA and in the NBA. Mobes has the athleticism and ability to be our Snow. Keeping Mobes constantly involved in the offense may change the outlook of our offense since 80% of the plays would be initiated by him. Francis will continue to score but he has to do it without the ball. This can save us from his dribblemania. Don't get me wrong, Mobley is guilty of dribblemania just as much as Steve, but Mobley is more accepting of a role than steve will ever be. If Mobley can change his mentality from score first to pass first, this might just work. If Cato can move to the PF position, then Mobes can move to PG. You can talk all you want, but you'll never know until you tried.
What am I claiming that you are trying to refute? Look, "combo guard", as I said before (in my opinion) is a silly made up category which just illustrates the silliness of rigidly defining players as a whole according to 1-2-3-4-5. Who among this list is a "combo" guard? For what reasons?: 1. Magic Johnson; 2. Isaiah Thomas; 3. Vinnie Johnson; 4. Kevin Johnson; 5. Allen Iverson 6. Gilbert Arenas 7. Doug Christie 8. Tony Parker; 9. LeBron James 10. Hal Greer; 11. Calvin Murphy 12. Ron Harper 13. Jason Terry 14. Vernon Maxwell 15. Chauncey Billups 16. Troy Hudson 17. Bobby Jackson 18. Mike Bibby 19. Scottie Pippen 20. Nick Van Exel 21. Joe Dumars Thats a list of 21 guys, all of which can fit a definition of "combo guard," yet their respective games are completely different. What's the point of defining people as combo guards? You agree that Knight wouldn't, and I don't believe Van Gundy would either. What does this have to do with the BObby Knight offense?
Sorry, No edit: verse: You brought bobby knight up (actually somebody else did) but you interpreted that he required "combo guards" to run it. I disagree with that statement, both because he wouldn't and because I think "combo guards" is a fake category.
