Adelman runs the Princeton, which is one of the hardest system offenses to learn. Triangle requires a dominant post-up 5 as the first option, which Asik isn't.
Suns did a pretty good job of packing the paint last night, and also rotated out to the shooters fairly well. I don't know what our 3pt% was last night, but we didn't exactly punish them for clogging it up down low.
Run 1 set from the Triangle? The triangle is so hard to run the Lakers bought a dleague team just to help players learn it, and we're just going to pick one play out of it? Smh. Clueless.
This article is really worth a read, but definitely dampens expectations for the Rockets in the playoffs. The Miami Heat completely revamped their offense in 18 months, yet people still think Spolestra cannot coach. But we have a coach that's still running simple high PnRs after 5 and a half months with the team. Our defense is still as simple as pack the paint and don't give up corner 3s? Are we running 'fake actions' designed to confuse defenders or get their momentum moving in the wrong direction? 'Predictable offenses just aren't good enough anymore against elite competition; that's why Miami no longer runs simple LeBron James–Chris Bosh pick-and-rolls while the other three Heat players just stand around' ... seems like what the Rockets still do with both Harden and Lin's PnRs ... 'The percentage of offensive possessions that end with isolation plays and post-up shots has declined every season for the last five years, per Synergy Sports. ' ... because they are less efficient ... and hence the cries for less Harden iso-ball isn't directed at Harden, but directed at playing style (at least for me). Iso-ball isn't the most efficient way to run an offense, the defenses are in general too good nowadays. "Players are penetrating now with no intention to score," ... I think this does describe Lin and how he is effective without getting a lot of assists. Lin will probe until he gets the defense out of balance, and unless he can make a assist pass at the rim, he'll pass it when the defense is off balance, and let his teammates make the right reads on shoot, drive or pass (and Parsons is great at this). Harden on the other hand, makes more direct assists for scoring shots. In a sense, it isn't Lin being passive not taking the shot, it is him trying to create a better shot through his probing. And yes ... the Knicks (though I really don't care for that team) and most of the other NBA teams have better PnR sets than the Rockets, even though we have the better PnR players in Harden and Lin. Hopefully this gets addressed next year. The only fortunate thing for the Rockets is that Morey keeps getting us players with "brains, versatility, shooting and passing" ... Parsons is that, Chase also, our PFs (relative to their position) have been that. In fact, our PFs have been called tweeners where in fact they are versatile, and nobody had collected as many 3pt shooting capable PFs as the Rockets have had (2Pat, Morris, DMo and Jones). Hopefully we can see what McHale can do next season without the excuses of only having Harden two days before the first game. Our offense is really too simplistic compared to the competition, and our defense too reliant on just Asik patrolling the paint and bailing his teammates out.
McSuccess for COTY! Also to guys who vehemently denied that, against all evidence, the Roxs run a small number of simplistic set plays(if at all), just give up. And yet some posters were comparing McSuccess's "sets" with D'Antoni's playbook. Laughable.
But pick and rolls in general are becoming less effective since it requires misdirection to remove the congestion in the paint. The article points out penetration is becoming key in modern offenses. Sometimes you penetrate without even expecting to score. You just want to get everyone out of position. That's why, I believe, Morey was so high on Lin. Lin isn't a complete player to be sure but he can definitely penetrate better than all but a few point guards.
If you watched the game last night you could see the Suns kept running those curl screens and double screens along the baseline for Dragic which paid dividends. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that run for Harden or Lin. It's always high pick-and-roll or iso. I hope Rockets can implement stuff like this in the offseason and training camp.
1. If our offense is really so simple as the OP article claims, it says something about the NBA that our offense ranks as it does. 2. People complaining about our offense should check the same ranking. Sheesh. This is the most high-octane offense we've had in decades. 3. last but not least, I agree this offense is in no way built for grind-em-out playoff games. I fear we're going to just see a lot of dribble-dribble 1-on-5 heroics from Harden.
If you think regular season offensive excellence = an offense built for the playoffs, I could introduce you to the Steve Nash Phoenix suns. That's all I'm saying. But I hope we're much more than the Phoenix Suns, eventually at least.
The first down marker had been moved.... First it was that the Rockets ran no plays at all, which was just ignornant, the Rockets ran and still do a number of plays. Second, McHale did not design the Rockets offense, and is not even the one that adds new play sets to the offense. Third, the Rockets have added new plays as the season has progressed and has also added stunts and other movement to mask the plays. So there have been changes made. So let me get this right..... it took the Heat 18 months to make the changes sufficient and to execute them..... but the Rockets without veterans like LBJ, Wade, Bosh, Miller and Battier are supposed to in less than 6 months with the least experienced team in the NBA? Concerning Mike D'Antoni's offense, it lacks EXACTLY what the article says the NBA is turning to! His offense is very simple and straight forward, it does not rely on deception or wrinkles which are becoming the norm to mask defenders.... it relies on personnel!
To be honest, I think the Rockets sort of do this sort of offense naturally. It's just not a 'set' play but a factor of the 'randomness' that Lin and Parsons keeps on talking about; which means that it's harder for other teams to gameplan against the Rockets because it's partially based on what the team is in the mood for on any particular day. Watch how in good games the Rockets keeps distorting the defense with a series of drives, screens, passing, and pnr. HOWEVER, the 'randomness' of read-and-react makes it much more likely that you don't see the same 'team' from game to game AND it's much more susceptible to young players making stupid mistakes because they're not focused; it's not a set play, so it requires each player making a lot of decisions at every step.
The article talks about fakes and deception. I don't think the Rockets do this very much. It seems the Rockets are all about options when guys are moving. Everything is real, but it depends on how the defense contorts itself on which movements decide where the Rockets attack.
Read and React = Princeton Offense It's not a set of plays, but basic principles for movement and spacing. It's not randomness either, when one person starts an action (like drive to the basket) everyone else has a place to go, hence the name. What you saw with Adelman was how the princeton (or read and react) offense works with a big man with good passing abilities. And you got to see a lot more layers to it as we had more veterans and no single aspect was as dominant as a Harden pnr. What you see now is how the same offense works with an elite pnr ballhandler. And more of an emphasis on transition.
You're right (I'm used to the Lakers brand of triangle), but Chicago stuck their guards on the block to counter their crappy 5's. Wing pass first option is always the block who's expected to score on a mismatch. If not the ball swings back out. I can't picture the low post option working with Asik or anyone else on the roster. None of the guards are good at posting up. Smith and D-Mo would be better used on the weakside
U need a dominant post scorer regardless of position. Kobe played an mj type role in the post Shaq era along with gasol. The problem there is that it further diminished Lin's playmaking role and would potentially make him useless. Also mj posted up only in the 2nd 3 peat because they had competent post scorers in grant a d Cartwright earlier. Jordan's post up game was also a consequence of his decline in athleticism and also to avoid getting hacked. Interestingly if mj had played in this era he might not have ever developed a post game. Certainly not one as efficient and effective.as what he had.
