OT & Mango, This is a kick Arse Gameplay thread stay on thread or stay out Trolls DrN, Agree it is a High release shot and the ability to lean back makes it a great tough to disturb outside shot. Still it is also a quick release. I don't care if he has lost the ability to get to the hole, I'll be happy with One and two bounce moves that can create his own jumper. On zone's they can guard the outside shot, but can then be penetrated on, my point was playing zone would make a pick n roll redundant- yes or No??? Smeg
A pure pick and roll, perhaps. I think, however, that the proper term in this instance would be 'pick and fade'. In that case, as long as the action occurs at the top of one of one of the wings and you're talking about a 2-3 zone, then the idea is to isolate a defender and make him decide who he is going to defend, and the natural guy to think about is the guy with the ball. Historically, the accepted practice for beating a zone is to overload it on one side of the court, so that there are more offensive players per 'zone' than defensive players. This is the same concept, though perhaps on the much smaller scale of a single 'zone'. This is all assuming, of course, that people are going to be playing a 'traditional' zone, which I don't accept.
High, quick, unstoppable I'd have to agree with Ottoman that the idea would be to play the pick n roll on a wing which means you have a guard and a forward playing D on a guard and forward (effectively man to man there) and run the pick n roll - the only difference is that there could be a center clogging the lane to stop the quick cut. Of course I'd imagine that if the play has run that well 4 times down the court (as presented in the earlier hypothetical) then the guards would double over to Mobley creating 3 defenders to mark the p'n'r - we'll have to trust Mobes to swing it round to the open men here!
True to form ever since Rudy got Walt Williams, I believe he will. The way I look at it is that Phil didn't really take away his ability, rather the success of Kobe and Shaq on the strong-side did. Rice was the counter play option; however, they didn't have as much need to run those like Chicago did. Notice I said "counter play." We can just call that a weakside option, but too many in Houston don't believe a weakside option does anything more than stand there and shoot like Robert Horry. In a team with a dominating center, that can largely be true. But in the world of bball, the weakside has more to do than be Robert Horry. There seems to be a steady progression of counter plays that the Rox are adding as a result of Francis and Mobley being shadowed by two guys. I think, like at LA, if Rice doesn't get many swings to create on the weak side; it is a sign of the success of the strong side plays--which is a good thing. I also believe he'll see many designed plays in the 1st Q, like for Walt. Let's wait and see. I'd go so far to say that Steve has seen it more than Mobley, and Mobley still runs it better. What Stevie has a habit of doing is watching the picker come over and then he will blow it off and go baseline. He also likes to dribble laterally around the arc to see if he can get around a trap. That's fine. He does have the strength to muscle a defender and get around the corner, but his decision-making on doing that versus giving it to the roller are suspect. Both Mobley and Francis seem somewhat premeditated on the times they pass to the picker....like they think about it rather than let reaction to the defense dictate it. The only reasons I say Mobley is better is because (1) he always uses the pick, and (2) he can get around the corner of the trap in a better attacking position (or he can dissolve it) at a higher rate; this is because of his sheer speed. I don't know why you say "bust through it." They both mainly dribble around the trap. By "bust through it," do you mean bust through enough to get the pass to the wide-open roller? Or do you mean split the trap by using the picker to shield the guy who is going over the pick--say when the PF defender blocks Mobley's path as he comes around the pick, and the second guy will come over the pick to trap Mobes from both sides while squeezing the passing lane. That trap can technically be split before it forms if the picker just holds his ground, without releasing. Let's hope that teamwork gets better. Mobley and Francis seem to be told to back away from the trap, and make it come get them, thus allowing the picker to release at will. Francis likes to dribble hard around the arc, while Mobley does this delay thing to let the picker get open and make the trap rethink whether they still want to stay with him or guard against the pass...the moment of indecision in the PF, Mobley attacks him straight at the lane. While Mobley and Francis are known to split double-teams, I don't think they do it at a high enough rate in pnr to talk about it all that much.
I like Francis coming off the pick more than I do Cuttino. IMO, he has a better shot, and is a better passer, therefore opening up other players if he can't get his own shot.
The reason some of us think Mobley is the better pnr is because both get smothered by traps, and Mobley deals with them better. Also, Mobley is faster into the lane after the pick. The point is not to say who is a better passer and who can shoot behind the pick better, which is Francis on both counts, the point is who actually succeeds more against all defenses of the pnr.
I don't know where you're seeing Mobley attack the hole on that play. He rarely to never looks to score on 24-high, and most of the time just takes a jab step at the defender coming over the top, dribbles it back, baiting the double team, and passes. I don't really see that as a sign of him "handling the double teams well" as much as I see it as the Rockets trying to get their streak shooters off through ball movement.
