My reactions during the game was the same that 'man we should be hitting our 3pt shots more'. That usually come with seeing players missing open shots. 35.x % average is league overall. Open 3 pointers around 38.x% average. The numbers actually say our Role players shot 3 ball well tonight. And normally I don't mind Harden taking more 3 ptr as it's part of his offense; he gets the tough defense assignments. He includes the 3's with passing and driving. Not shooting 3's could make him too predictable on the other two. --- House 2/5 - 40%, (should be 2/4 50% one was an end of quarter heave). Tucker 3/3 - 100% Covington 4/10 - 40% Harden 2/13 - 15.4% Westbrook 1/2 - 50% Bmac - 3/5 - 60% — Rivers 0/2 Thabo 0/2 --- Team - three point shots and field goal pct. UTA 15/38 39.5% HOU 15/42 35.7% The thing is other teams are taking as many 3pts as us. So that advantage isn't always there. That game was really close, but UTA winning 1-3 more baskets on each quarter. Q1 = HOU +8 pts Q2 = HOU -4 pts Q3 = HOU -2 pts Q4 = HOU -3 pts We were at home and should strive to be better. On the UTA game, strangely Harden tried one mid range J last game, and was nothing but net. Out of the half, team tried a couple attempts at lobs again Harden to Russ and one to House, which was good to see. It's a fine line between 'identity' and being too predictable. If we're going to be predictable (like 3's) we better be really really good at it. While today's NBA players are much more skilled at 3's than past eras, I do question if at some point a human being (on avg) plateau at a certain fg% number.
Nope, I'd still say, the Front Court should drive more, it gives them more confidence to go for a slam more than once........go for the strong finish. And layups. Westbrook is treating the area around the rim as his. It's open to everyone.
Something RoCo has never done in any given year. I like the guy but his career numbers suggest he’s an average 3 pt shooter. 36% over 7 years and never higher than 38% for a season.
It’s on the coach to tell Harden to goto midrange when his 3pt shot is off... we lose so many close games because he takes 8-10 bad shots on off nights
I've never understood why as a team who shoots 50 3's a game they never invested in the guys who've shown they can hit that shot better than most. If this team had Reddick or Korver types I would say the true vision of the team could be realized. Investing in "D" guys only for the "D" to be pathetic isnt cutting it. Get the guys who hit 3's at better than 40% and see what that does.
Yep. It's been like that forever, which is why I don't get this approach with just OK shooters, who hesitate too much, and can't do much else but hit and miss 3's offensively. Everyone but Russ and James are just OK. I can't judge RoCo yet. Now we have PJ as center averaging 7 pts and 7 rebounds to Clint's 13 each. I just don't get basing your game around 3's when your best 3 pt shooter is a backup guard ranked 78th in the NBA in percentage from the arc.
A Harden missed 3 is the worst possible shot to miss because there’s a good chance he won’t get back on D.
What are the other possibilities when the player has the ball for a wide open 3? Drive? - There are not too many players on this team I trust on the drive they usually hesitate and we have to reset if they don't take the three Rocket River
What would the game look like if Dantoni put a HARD CAP on threes No more than 45 No one takes more than . . .say 8 Once you hit 8 . .. you don't shoot it no more unless it is under 5 seconds on the clock Rocket River
A lot of it depends on the opponent we're playing. How good their perimeter D, if perimeter D is an emphasis by opponent that game (or quarter). If the Rocket player is on a hot/cold streak. A player may start cold, but may warm up as game goes on. If the role player is decent on three (or if just league avg), they probably should still take the shot. Especially as you say, not all the players can drive. I wish it's as easy as putting a cap, but a lot of factors come in. Our team is famous for having the greenlight. Lastly if a cap, are players then mentally keeping count. If a rule, it's also something you'd never want opponent team to know, since they can game plan against it.
The offense could be better but overall it’s fine. The thing is, we went all out in small ball so we have to improve our perimeter defense. We score enough points to win any game. We just need to slow down the bad guys a bit. If we are going to suck on perimeter defense then we need a shot blocking big waiting in the paint and do away with the switch everything defense.
We have inconsistent streaky shooters - some days we will blow people out, somedays we will go 0-27. Morey is counting on the volume method that not everyone will be off every night - but our shooters are inconsistent....we don't have a 40%+ shooter on the team. Arguably our BEST 3pt shooter is a rookie in Clemons. DD
Some of the defense on the perimeter was stupid. When Clarkson got hot why would you shade a guy on the left hand allow a right hand player to have right handed plays
The morey ball mega strategy of shooting 3s and then having 2 superstars and a team full of below average 3 point shooters is comical. mclemore and house are encouraging but James clearly has lost his touch, Westbrook never had it .... and the rest of the guys between missing wide open threes and then those uncontested free throws(rivers Westbrook) I don’t how someone could cook up a bowl of gumbo with no Cajun spice.
They gave up 33 points in the 4th - their worst defensive quarter. PJ in particular was the "victim" of the last 5. Not sure why he fouled Mitchell on the second to last possession. And while it was generally solid defense on the Bogdan 3... Tucker was still a split second late chasing him out there. BTW, that's exactly what happened on the Bjelica play... Tucker losing track for a split second and being late closing out. This is overworked, overtired, older Tucker. But I get this thread is about offense and open shots. Which is pretty simple, imo, at this point. There are no different players coming. The %s are what they are. The problem is they keep shooting, even if they are "off". Which is ridiculous. MDA is an offensive genius, but doesn't have options for his players to do anything other than shot the open three or pass it along. Plan B. Plan B. Plan B. Plan B. Plan B. It's now been said over and over. They have NO PLAN B if the threes aren't falling.
4/10 is 40% from three. That isn't average especially on high volume. If Covington can sustain that that would be huge for this team.
