No, we run basic stuff that gets beat by good defensive teams. Things to defend against Houston. 1. Pick N Roll 2. Post ups 3. Perimeter isos 4. Dribble hand off 5. Fast Break 6. 3's.
Seriously, there are guys saying the only reason the offense sucks is because of Harden holding the ball? When he does move, what plays do we run? The same ****. Too many of you only see the small picture. It is easy to blame 1 person for a team problem.
Nice MSPaint skills. You're right that the Rockets have done so many times. That's because it's one of the ways for the Rockets to initiate their read and react system. It's part of it, really. But yeah, the Rockets do run plays. They've installed various post-up wrinkles for Dwight, including a few that start out with a lob option. Some down screen plays. A few pick&roll plays. A few Horns wrinkles. A few floppy wrinkles. Some Iverson (Loop) Cut wrinkles and some other stuff that I can't think of right now.
McHale apologists would just say, we do, and live and die with, R&R. If it's predictable and easy to defend once in the PO, so be it. We have no ambition other than looking good in regular seasons, which we do as the record proves.
Basicly, we don't do any of these simple stuffs well enough, as long as it involves more than one person in the half court set. They don't create good spacing after a pick, due to no shared understanding of involved players how the play best evolves. Ultimately, it's up to the individual skills and defense lapses that they can make something out of it. And skills they have aplenty on the roster, as well as opponent defensive lapses in the regular season. You thus see a lot of pump fake and drive from all of them, JH, CP, JL, TJ, FG, OC, TMo, AB, you name it. Too often of this makes the offense too predictable in Defino's comment. They just get by on talent in this no-play system called R&R.
Actually, it's contested threes and getting clobbered on layups..... (The latter item is also why we have no energy in the 4th game in 5 nights.) The open midrange shots are available but we don't take them. Parsons, Harden, and Lin have all been getting clobbered driving for layups..... These players should shoot the floaters/short jumpers when the defense is bent on guarding the rim. Otherwise, one of these players might end up big-time hurt . And maybe, with a few midrange shots, then the layups will become easier and the threes will become more open. An offense is efficient when it's unpredictable. For an "efficient" shot that's contested is not as efficient as an "inefficient" shot that's open.
McHale's favorite play seems to be the Harden ISO, where we get to watch Harden dribble the air out of the ball only to take a low percentage, contested shot. Under the best of circumstances, your only hope on this play is that Harden is able to sell the flop and get to the line.
No, those simple things are done well. The problem is opposing teams just have to focus on stopping those easy things. Those simple things are easy to stop when the defense is good enough.
With r&r the players need to be constantly adjusting. As soon as the ball handler initializes, it's up to the others to improvise by cutting and moving off the ball, and it looks great when they do. If they don't, we end up with Harden forcing his own shot, or Lin dribbling circles, doing a panic abort/eject into the air for a great pass to the nearest opponent. Players need to move, and Mchale needs to be more vocal if they don't. Instead of a "constant flow of next possible next best actions" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g22S0Z2WA2o we end up with only 2 options, drive or a three. (Who knows if this is exactly what Morey wanted) Excessive iso's are a result of FIVE guys on the floor with no movement and little initiative, and a coach who needs to yell more. The system allows for plenty of movement, it's up to the players to follow suit and create opportunities for themselves. And not many of them know how to...why is Parsons the only guy on this team who knows how to cut? Maybe the system is just too soon for an inexperienced group. R&r suits vets and familiarized players best. Right now, it needs more cowbell.
I agree with everything you said here, but when u do the roll eyes thing I wanna punch you in one of them. The Phil Jackson line was for the people who think HOF coaches are the standard and not the exception
McHale is not a coach to be taken seriously on the court. He may be a role model or influential but he's not a game changing coach.
If r&r is the only thing we do, why call a time out at all? What's McHale talking about in the huddle? I thought you run set plays in a timeout based on what the coach sees as an advantage.
This is the true read and react offense under Rick Adelman. Mchale's version is a poor pirated version. Made in China. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dwhaW2nVVcg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
When Adelman achieved the historic 22 game winning streak, there was no 3 games in 4 nights. or back to back....the team was getting the same good looks running the true read and react offense of Rick Adelman. And it was the same 22 game winning streak. Under Mchale, you cannot possibly fathom a 22 game winning streak, I don't know the longest winning streak Mchale has achieved because when you rely on players individual talent, the team will not look the same every night. The only reason fatigue is a factor is because the players expend more energy on isolation, individual plays, which have nothing to do with coaching but more with a player's talent.
