Nows the tough part - what happens when you've been figured out

Um, if this team was the best we could field given our salary cap and other systems then you would have a reason to be worried. We are playing with house money this season. The fact that a team with no stud is 6-5 against our schedule says a whole heck of a lot about what kind of team we will have next year when Yao comes back.


The jubilation after big time wins this year is great, because we are supposed to be a 30ish win lottery team. The down after losses to teams that are supposed to be better than us shouldnt be that bad. Our roster this year is pretty young, so we will only be getting better for next year. Chill folks!

 

you're right, a jump shooting team doesn't go far. and right now, we're a jump shooting team. sort of.

the question is, how to use the players we have and make them "scoring inside consistently"? it's hard for me to see.

 

Landry and Scola are solid post players, but their pass ability out of a double team is spotty at best. Perhaps Landry can get better, but then again these players werent selected to do what they are being asked to do this season. They were chosen to play along side T-Mac and Yao. The fact that we are scoring options 1 and 2 down and are still competitive says alot about these guys we do have.

 

Bulls were primarily a jump shooting team. They won a lot of rings.

Same could be said of Boston & post-Shaq Lakers.

Hitting a 15 foot jump shot is as basic as making a layup.

 

Bulls had arguably the greatest player ever.

Boston has Garnett, Pierce, and Allen. Along with an excellent pg in Rondo.

Lakers have one of, if not, the best player in the game in Kobe along with Gasol. And when he wants to be Odom is an excellent player as well.

We have a bunch of VERY good supporting cast players. Our stars cant seem to stay healthy

 

this i agree. but the trend now seems to be either a 3 bomb or a layup/dunk. 15 footer jumpers are becoming an extinguished art. fewer and fewer players master that skill; and among the ones who do, international players are like half of them. bball sure is different today.

as to the teams you've mentioned, the other poster has already answered. right now, we don't even have a brad miller.

 

My point has nothing to do with stars - it's the idea that jump-shooting teams can't go far. That's not true. Offenses are designed to get an open jump-shot.

Defenses work hard to not give up that shot.

Yes we need our stars, but that doesn't mean we need to abandon the princeton offense.

People forget why we are having so much success. Credit Rick Adelman. He is doing a lot to work to players strengths and get those jump shots.

 

To some degree it's what the Defenses will allow. It's much easier to pressure a shot 15 feet from the basket than 22 feet. That's just a reality of spacing.

The reason it's a lost art is because it's not an easy shot to get off - it requires a very good point guard or running a fairly complex offense.

 

Depending on what kind of mid-range shot you are looking for depends on the position (PG, PF, etc) and the type of player/play (turn around, catch and shoot, off the dribble, etc).

The Rockets seem to have Budinger who shows a nice stroke off the run, catch and shoot. Brooks at times can pull up off the drible and shoot the J. I think Ariza and Budinger could shoot off a screen. Landry and Scola have the ability to be good outlet shooters, catch and shoot and for Landry w/ a face up game similar to Dirk and Carmelo.

I'm sure Adleman is working the mid-range into the offensive scheme but it will take some time considering that Housotn does not have a strong starting center, or a go to player at the moment.

 

When we've been figured more, we shall get back Tmac.... then, teams won't be able to figure us out again..... as we'll have to figure out oursleves first.... :grin:

 

It's been a long time so my memory could be hazy, but are you sure the Bulls were a jumpshooting team? They may have no post presence, but they get A LOT OF transition buckets due to their sick defense. Just scanned their 91 team. Their top 3 scorers, Jordan, Pippen, and Grant all shot way above 50%. That just looks impossible if most of them were jumpshots.

But that's besides the point. Considering that the Rockets biggest difference with those teams(especially the Bulls/Celtics) is that we don't have one of the best defenses in the league.

 

The Bulls had two post presences: Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan. Scottie scored on jump hooks and layups while Jordan torched defenders with his fadeaway. Their attack isn't a traditional post attack but it was damn effective. That coupled with their tremendous defense explains their 6 rings without having a center.

 

All that just to still say that Scola is by far this teams best rebounder. Didnt realize rebounding titles were given based on size or technique . Oh and by the way, thebest rebounder of the last 20 years, used a technique of punching the ball or tapping it to himself .

Hayes is good in limited mineutes. Big mins over a full season would not equate to any significant bump in rebounding numbers.