I love the plays being run coming out of timeouts. It's a big improvement over last year and it has led to a lot of good scoring opportunities. But overall there needs to be a better offensive "system" set in place.
Why was Brooks able to penetrate and Harden/Lin for the most part, not able to with their usual effectiveness? That's one thing they need to look at. For me, when Brooks got the ball he just started moving and dribbling. Harden holds, does the jab step and Lin just stands there and surveys while the team doesn't start moving off the ball. I think you're going in the same direction with the team that movement, both player and ball movement will help the team's offensive productivity and flow.
Yes I see improvement, I think our main problem is no movement from harden, if he's having a off night on offense his defense can dig us a hole real quick, against elite teams it's no coming out of it. when harden put up those bricks & selfosha hit those 2 threes we were down 12-0 quick, of his shots not falling he has to bring it on D
Morey deserves blame because he's the one who encourages the team to NOT take midrange jumpers. He's the GM, so he's responsible for the lack of depth of at PF. Assuming Casspi & Garcia could play PF was just stupid, neither are big enough and both cancel each other out. Not trading Asik this offseason and holding on to him was stupid. Now we have no PF's other than T.Jones and a disgruntled Center we can't get rid of. Morey deserves plenty of blame, especially when it's HIS idea how the offense should be ran. First off, you're way to defensive. My criticism is strictly constructive. We dont need a offensive overhaul. The coaching staff needs to incorporate more plays to keep the defense off balance. We need more off the ball screens, more backdoor plays for better shots. Under the current system, everything is predicated off shots falling. There is no in between. Harden gets the ball, Dwight sets the pick, Harden chucks (or drives and flops). Parsons gets the ball, Dwight sets pick, Parsons pump fakes, then chucks. Lin get's the ball, Dwight sets pick, Lin turns the ball over What I'm simply saying is there needs to be more off the ball movement. Especially on the weakside of the offense. Players like T.Jones or PB should be the benificiary of this because the defense is so focused on Dwight & Harden. We might win 50+ games every season. But our current offense is fools gold and will NOT WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP. Adjustments need to be made
Brooks has that lil high right side hook shot going away from the basket, harden & Lin go more right to the rim and ibaka Perkins where taking away that
Yeah I think decisiveness too is something they struggle with at times as well instead of just going for it earlier in the shot clock. When that happens, I think they are trying a little too hard to read the defense, and should really just get in a better habit of automatically getting 3 passes at the minimum from the perimeter on every play unless there is a clear open break in the defense they can attack. Brooks is a veteran guy and probably just came into the game with a much clearer head and was aggressive to just act and not over think the attack as much which is probably why he looked like the only one who could get to the paint on offense.
It's not mutually exclusive for the team to have one of the best offenses and for it to still be one-dimensional. I think all the clambering for "more plays" is really a symptom of the real issue - it's that the team seems to focus mainly on two kinds of plays: 1) ball-handler drives into the paint and either gets the foul, lay-up, or passes to the open man, 2) fast-break offense. Outside of those two scenarios, there doesn't seem to be much experimentation, save the occasional Dwight post-up or some nice plays run out of a time-out. It would be nice to see the team open things up a bit more, especially if the original game plan isn't working. Like, if guys can't drive into the paint, why not run some PNRs? If the PNR isn't working, try dumping the ball to Howard and letting him work his game. If that doesn't work, then maybe start running some more elaborate off-ball screens beforehand so that you can at least work with some mismatches. Or change the lineup to see if other guys can get something going. Then, once you find what works, you go into Madden mode and just spam that crap until the other team figures out how to stop it. Honestly if all they did was just run a couple of Howard PNRs to see if they worked (and had a willingness to hammer the other team with it if it does), that would open up the game significantly, because it would force the other team to account for something more than just packing the paint and forcing the outside shooters to make their threes.
1. The Rockets do run plays. 2. The Rockets are number three in the league in offensive efficiency. Most games offense is not the problem.
First off- -The notion that Morey hates mid-range shots is ridiculous. One of Morey's favorite Rockets of all time was Luis Scola who was a master at the the mid range jumper. Morey obviously like Dirk as well since he called Cuban about him this Summer. I think the obvious answer to this is Morey prefers efficient shots, but if a player shoots the long 2 at the same clip as the 3, you're better off shooting more 3's because.... well more points and more space. However the notion that he doesn't believe in the long 2 is ridiculous. -How do we know that there were ever any deals available better than the crap ones we heard about a week ago? A Doc Rocket tweet maybe about Ryan Anderson? If anything the market for Asik should be and most likely is much better during the season and currently for Asik for many obvious reasons. Not sure why the offers for Asik would have been any better in the Summer or if any GM with half a brain would have believed that it was better for the team to give Asik away for nothing in the Summer rather than wait it out and hold out for a trade later on in the season that actually needs him desperately. Sorry for seeming to be defensive. I'm not trying to be. I just really want it to be illustrated better as to what the critics want him to really do to make the things happen that need to happen to make this system work better, and if its impossible for this system to work, elaborate as to why it wont work for the Rockets when it has worked for other championship caliber teams in the past in a similar system. Like I said earlier, not trying to be sarcastic, I just want more finite illustrations of exactly the changes McHale needs to implement other than just making blanket statements like McHale needs to run more plays.... not even sure what that means in the context of a Rockets argument. Its like arguing about a Mini Cooper's off-road capabilities. Which is a good observation. I think even just one extra pass to the corner and back could help as crazy as it sounds. Miami does this all the time when they make it a conscious effort to pass it over to the weak-side and back again on almost every play. IMO, it looks like the primary ball handlers were being a bit indecisive and the game plan & personnel OKC had to really cover all basis' with the Rockets really played into their hands. A little less over-thinking, and another extra pass or two early in the shot clock could have helped the other night.
OK. So then they need floaters, short fade-aways from the side, something else when playing against rim protectors. H has to notice when either the players aren't fouling or the whistles are swallowed and L doesn't get the call can utilize his fadeaway shot 4 foot arched floater or jumper. Get to near the rim, finish differently.
This team needs some attitude. It's one thing to be blown off the court; it's another to look and act so defeated. That's why OKC was acting like they've won a championship or something. Commit a hard foul. Canaan flattened Fisher. Smile or laugh even. Either show some fight and pride or show that it doesn't bother you so much. We stopped running our plays. Even Harden stopped playing altogether.
I dont think we currently have the talent to compete for a chip. I like T jones and his potential but we need another creater/scorer in his spot. The defense doesnt have to worry about jones creating his own shot. Parsons does it in transition and a little and in half court, but we need another weapon. You can se the offense bog down when the 3s are not falling. That is where we need that other guy who can handle the ball and get something going. t jones is not that guy right now.
So, with all this said... Do you genuinely believe this approach, with these regular season results, will carry over into the playoffs...? Do you believe this kind of offense can net a championship, let alone more than one...? That is the ultimate goal, isn't it? Even if not feasible this season...?
Pretty sure he's just a poster who consistently railed against Adelman so is now defending McHale since he wanted Rick gone.
The Rockets do run plays. One play I can think of off the top of my head that I've seen many times is this: Dwight passes in to Beverley. Beverley takes it up the court and Dwight trails. Beverley stops near the wing and passes to Dwight near the top of the key. Beverley then sets a screen on Harden or Parsons' man in the corner as Dwight dribbles towards him. Dwight then hands the ball off to Harden (or Parsons) and acts as a screen on Harden's man who is trailing behind. (So it's like he is double screened). Harden then curls off of Dwight's screen as Dwight rolls to the basket. I drew a few pictures to illustrate: 1. 2. 3. 4.
The team will run a play and we never see it again the entire game. Either the players are unable to remember plays or the coaching staff doesn't implement any. We have become a jump shot team and jump shooting teams only go so far in the playoffs. When the game slows down and we are forced to score in the half court, the only chance we have is to get hot for 3. A slower pace also means less possessions.
