I cannot help but wonder how good a team the Rockets are when the guards (Francis & Mobley) take charge of the offense and become extra aggressive (like the Knicks' game) instead of slowing down the pace and dumping the ball into Yao everytime down the court. Just think about it, when does the Rockets' offense suddenly come alive? It is when the Rockets stop playing slow ball and dump the ball in to Yao and instead become aggressive in taking shots and attacking the defense mercilessly. With this format, the Rockets will up their average at least +10 while their defense won't suffer much if any. By speeding up the game, the Rockets get to use their incredibly athletic guards and their mobile small forwards and will get to the free throw line more often. Yao should only become the focal point of the offense when he is ready for it, which is another 2-3 years down the road, NOT NOW!! In that respect, I disagree with what Van Gundy is doing now, while I am sure his idea is genuinly trying to pressure Yao into becoming an Olajuwon or Ewing-caliber player, which he is not now. And treating him like he is can only serve to hurt the Rockets in the short run. While our record is respectable in the tough Western Conference, I do believe that we should have been at least 2-4 games better. Most of the games we lost were due to our inability to match offensively the opposition, not because of our lack of defense or Yao getting touches. Let me know what y'all think
our offense is inside-out, not outside-in. The back court has been the focus of the offense for years it hasnt worked out. Very little ball movement and too much dribbling. The inside out allows for open shots for the back court with double teams and is much easier than having players to create a shot for themself with little ball movement.
Have you noticed that Steve Francis seems to play really well when he goes against good point guards? He has the skills. He just needs to work on the game mentallity. But I still think that they should go to Yao as much as possible and let Yao create shots for other players when he cannot score.
When... they're playing a mediocre EC team giving up 92 ppg anchored by a 37 yo Center and having new personnel.... as oppossed to.... an elite EC team giving up 84 ppg, which was built by excellent defensive coaches (Rick Carlisle, Kevin O'Neal), coached by one of the most recognized defensive coaches ever (Larry Brown) and anchored by the defending Defensive Player of the Year (Ben Wallace). Do not under any circumstances confuse what the Rockets were able to do offensively versus the Knicks with what will work against playoff caliber, elite teams. A nice win, but Marbury, Allan Houston and Van Horn aren't getting many votes for the All Defensive Team.
Given that inside-out dominates statistically in the number of championships won, is 35 games enough of a sample to draw a conclusion? The alternative was given 4 years.
The guards certainly were fantastic last night. Our offense runs so smoothly when the guys can hit their open shots. This season that has been the only real downside to our offense. Our guys were getting open, Stevie was finding them with the pass but when the shot the open jumper there was nothing but a CLANK. Last night was a great win, even though it was the Knicks. A win is a win and last night they did it in fashion. I wish our offense would show up like this every night. There is nearly no doubt that our defense will always be there but our offense needs to follow. I love this line from NBA.com :Francis lit up Marbury for 14 points in the third quarter, including a jumper off a crossover dribble that had Marbury grasping for air.
The Knicks game: 1st quarter: ... (5:27) [HOU 23-2] Francis Driving Dunk: Made (2 PTS) ... (1:47) [HOU 28-8] Mobley Layup Shot: Made (2 PTS) Assist: Francis (3 AST) Any other question?
Check the OUT part of those Championships then Check the IN part of the last four years w/ the Rockets Rocket Rver
The problem is, that playing the perimeter game tends to isolate the interior players. However, playing inside-out tends to involve everyone more, especially since Yao is a good passer. Look no further than San Antonio.
Call it being selfish but Steve was going out of his way to score on Marbury. Every play he made had confidence written all over it and he tried to dunk on moochie too.
All you heard on TV was Marbury Marbury Marbury i think Steve wanted every1 to remember who the All Star PG really is!
I think that we need to get Yao to face the basket more. I think letting the guards drive in and then kick it out to Yao for a 15footer is a good thing. Yao does not have the ability to work the low post with enough consistency to make an huge impact. But he can work the high post and pass and hit shots out there. Besides that opens the middle up more for the guards who can drive and finish.
I wonder if Yao has a eye sight problem, i.e. he can see and hit from 8+ but gets blurry within 8? Maybe it's those other 7 footers in his way....
It always amazes me when people start comparing our offense to that of San Antonio's. SA has Tim Duncan, the best player in the league. Is Yao of TD's caliber yet? Not even close. So get your stories straight. When Yao dominates like TD then we can talk about passing inside everytime down the court. Until then, letting the guards play more freely offensively will make our team more mobile and will certainly get us easier baskets.
Did you see francis last night dribble the ball a whole possession? even fratello commented that we have to stay away from that kind of offense. make our team more mobile how exactly? get us easier baskets or get the person who's dribbling an easier basket for themself?
Exactly ... That is the problem. You all are right .. Inside-out does win championships. The problem is that you can't just say I'm going to run the inside-out game and expect it to work when you don't have an inside. I think most can agree that Yao is not ready to take over on the inside and we need to stop focusing on that every game. There is even a thread about how Yao should be facing players up more often and many people agree with this. I think they should move to more of an outside-in game because the inside-out is not working. I think we should involve Yao MORE in the outside game. Not only does this give Yao an opportunity to rest a little bit on the offensive end .. It clears the middle out for SF and Cat who can create for themselves as good as anyone in the league when the middle is not clogged up. I think Yao's offensive numbers will go up in this situation. I can see it now. All they have to do is run plays for Francis to drive the ball into the middle with Cat at the 3 pt line and Yao at about 16 ft and he can kick it to either player who have proven they can hit those shots. And for those that say we are only 35 games into the season and its too early .. I hope you are not the ones calling for trades of every guard on this team.
The enitire second half of last year we started 75% of all possessions by trying to post Yao or MoT. So last year counts as a strike against inside out with this team. Also, I hear a lot of talk about hard double teams, Yao actually has seen very few HARD doubles. Look at tape from Dream's years and you'll see four guys sprinting down to grab and push him. These Rockets don't have a consistent low post game. Also remember that penetration and then dishing is inside out too. No matter if you get the ball inside by a pass or by driving to the bucket. You get inside and then pass back out. So our perimeter players do actually initiate an inside out offense.
