I think the point is not so much about pick n roll, it's about making the shots. Rockets are just on fire tonight.
reptilexcq, they go hand in hand. Hiting shots are a lot harder if you go one-on-one most of the time. The fact that we at least play within a system is a good thing. Sometimes the Rox do NOT excute the pick and roll, because of impatience/habit, thus they go into a panic state; forcing shots. And that's a good way to "start missing shots."
It actually is somewhat of an unstoppable play. Nonetheless, I'd much rather have this team this year, than last year's team, who couldn't play defense or rebound worth a crap. Offense is more likely to come around than defense, so I'm not too worried. If the offense sucks in April, then maybe you have a point.
I was thinking about this a lot yesterday. Before the game last night, I watched the first half of Rockets/Lakers Game 5 in 1986, which I'd TiVO'ed off of ESPN classic. I saw Ralph Sampson score like 8 points in the first half off of pick and rolls with Allen Leavell (who I don't think of a great distributing PG). Here's the thing. Ralph would set the pick and actually roll to the basket. Result: dunk, baby hook, 8 foot jumper, dunk, etc. Now, I know that Yao will never be able to get to the basket as quickly as Ralph, but I'd like to see him actually roll to the basket some times on a pick and roll. More often than not, he could probably gete easier shots than the 18 footer. Look, when I play street ball I always set up for the long range jumper after setting a pick. But I'm 5'10". Yao's 7'6". I'd like to see him mix it up more after he sets a pick -- rolling to the basket sometimes, and stroking the J other times. p.s. Man, that team could have brought home so many titles if it hadn't been for Ralph's knees and the drug problems of our guards. They're so much fun to watch.
