With the advent of the 8-second half-court rule, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to press the other team every so often. Or at the very least, have Stevie harrass the other team's PG full court. This slows down the PG advancing the ball up court, which not only creates chances to get a 8-second violation, but it also burns off a couple seconds on the 24-second shot-clock. A couple seconds can mean the difference between allowing a wide-open shot, and a last second heave. I realize that we would need some more backcourt depth to pull this off, preferably having 4 guards who can play decent minutes(Francis/Mobley/Moochie/?). We do have enough depth at SF/PF/C to do this. I know it'd be something completely new, but that's the beauty of it. Teams will shat in their pants when they see the Rockets pressing for the first time in a while. Pressing also pushes the tempo up. With our backcourt, to go with Rice, isn't that what we WANT to do anyway? Also, it neutralizes any disadvantage we have in the paint. Cato would be perfect in this system. His ability to block shots could make him a suitable "goalie" in case the full court defense cracks. Cat and Francis have extremely quick hands and arms and could cause their opponents fits. Also, I can really see Griffin running around the court helping on traps, ala Horace Grant from his days with the Bulls.\ This move would go a long way in making our "small" and quick team use their traits to their advantage. Ideally, I'd like to see the Rockets get in a track meet with most teams, because we can run with just about anyone. If the Rockets are well conditioned, I think this would be a great wrinkle to add to the team.
This is the NBA, not the NCAA. NBA teams are WAY too good to be surprised by a press and they not very likely to make any mistakes that turns the ball over. I doubt that it will even slow them down. I mean, after all, I'd be pretty pissed if I were paying these guys millions in green each year and they're not able to beat a press. Plus, do we really want Francis only being able to play like 30 minutes a game if we pressed too often?
You must not remember the Bulls in their first 3-peat. They pressed a lot with Pippen, Jordan, and Grant. It's able to work when you force the other team's SF/PF/C to handle the ball near half-court.
Not a game goes by where one team doesn't press at some point. It works all the time. That is not a very informed opinion.
Yeah, it doesn't work all the time, but in stretches it does. Look what Boston did to us in Boston. They trapped Steve, got the ball out of his hands and they wind up beating our asses. Maybe not half the game, but some teams only have 1 maybe 2 good ball handlers.
One of the oldest adages in basketball is, "live by the press, die by the press". If a team beats a press, it results in a layup or a dunk on the other end almost every time. Pressing is good, but not on a frequent basis. That's why Pitino isn't in the NBA anymore, because he pressed on almost every posession. If an NBA team beats a press one time, expect them to beat it every other time down the court, thus rendering it useless for the rest of the game. The best time to press is either when you are down big, or in the middle of a run. If you've made a few baskets in a row, the other team will be too occupied just trying to score, and a full court press could work. Now a trap, on the other hand, is a different matter. Have your point guard force the opposing point guard to the sideline around the half court mark, then bring your SG or SF over to use the sideline as an extra defender, forcing the PG to give up the ball and burn a couple of seconds. Teams do this against Houston all the time. If you're lucky, you can get the PG to put too much air into his pass out of the trap and play the passing lanes to get a quick steal
This group of Rockets players should be able to run the full court press pretty well with their long arms and quickness: C: Cato PF: Griffin SF: Morris SG: Mobley PG: Francis
