I think this is a fair point. Our game plan was neither here not there. It was tailored to the squad we had because we had no real inside presence apart from Asik and he hasn't been a great finisher a lot of the time. I think an argument can be made for having more structure to our offense or at least having it as an OPTION to go to when plan A fails. But you can give the coaching staff a certain amount of leeway because the team was thrown together at the last second. IMO their cardinal sin was the over-reliance on harden and the seeming lack of accountability where he was concerned. Harden holding the ball till 3 seconds left in the shot clock and then throwing it to someone for THEM to jack up a bad shot, or taking a bad contested shot himself, or simply running in 1 on 5 when they've had a chance to get set for him and turning the ball over, is not a good offensive move in any playbook in any kind of offense, and it happened far too much late in games for my liking. But I agree, with a proper off season and a decent inside presence, we should be a lot better next year.
no, they didn't have to and that's not the point. he flew into houston expecting a different offer, one that was leaked to the press. it was the only real offer he got, and if he hadn't accepted it, it might not have been presented to him again and the only real offer would've been the 1.2mil qualifying offer from nyc. the bigger point is, he needed to negotiate in good faith. no point for houston to give him an offer sheet if they didn't believe he was negotiating in good faith. what that means is that he can't go back and tell new york what the amount is. he cannot say to houston "oh let me think about it" and then go back and tell nyc what it is. that would not be negotiating in good faith. new york needed an actual signed contract to match. they can't match a hypothetical contract.
Except that isn't true. The Rockets have about 20 million dollars to spend to fit just under the luxury tax threshold which is realistically the ideal spot to be as a contender. PF is our biggest position of need, followed by PG. Either spending that 20 million on a max caliber PF and keeping Lin, or spending the extra 10 to get Paul and adding a 10 million dollar PF (Milsap?) is the best use of that money.
If you've ever played organized basketball on any level or even pick up games at the playground, what I said wouldn't seem odd... Heck, Sam Mitchell says it every other day on the NBA channel... And I got more shocking news for you also, teams are less likely to win a championship running their offense completely through their point guard. Once you get past Magic and Thomas the pickings are slim. Parker had Manu so it's hard to count him. Rondo got hot during the playoffs and you can throw in Billups if you want... But it's more great ball dominating point guards without rings than there are with _ Nash, Payton, Tim and Penny Hardaway, Stockton, Iverson, Kidd, etc (not counting the rings a couple of these guys got when they weren't the center piece of the team)...
Other NBA teams better be worried because I expect these boys to have their 5h!t together next season. And I expect McHale to manage the game better as well... He has to get better also..
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You can't structure an offense that comes into a season with virtually no identity in terms of skills and the way they play the game. We'd have been left with a much less productive offense and a lot more awkwardly ended plays. We have to remember that this was a brand new team. Not just in terms of the starting lineup but the bench as well.
First, I wasn't being sarcastic, I was agreeing with you...second, it;s not about great guards, it's about having an offense run by the right players. Let's take a look at teams that have won. 5 lakers and 6 bull teams running the triangle, 3 spurs teams with a very efficient set, Mavericks, Heat, Celtics...go right down the list...offenses with a purpose. NONE of them played ISO ball as the primary play during crunch time..
No doubt...but still the fact remains, we had no offensive set. I fully expect it to get better next season.
wow people really dont like Lin LOL you want to trade a player with limited nba experience who has shown flashes of being a good point guard for an over the hill PG in hinrich? is he the missing piece to Moreys Championship puzzle?
I am wondering what kind of offense McHale installed during training camp. How much did the Harden signing change that?
I made this point earlier, we can't blame James Harden for Lin giving up the ball. They were blaming Mchale too but like I said I don't think we were really running a lot of set plays which means Lin could have been more aggresive no one was stopping him. I simply defered to Harden and sometimes Parsons.
actually if u watch the playoff games. Harden was stinking it on the 4th (as usual) with his isos. Finally he smarten out and started team balling to garcia and delfino and we won. go check the post interviews on Mchale on those games. it shines a light on that Mchale had been trying all season to contain Harden from doing all-iso on the 4th. - frankly i was surpised by this insight. Guys As much as we love Harden , and find myself praying for him to go all god mode during clutch. We have to admit that he is still growing as a player and leader.
