So i'm reading posts about how the issue is lack of scorers, we need more scoring, not as much D......yet the team shot 51% overall last night. All the stats were almost identical to LA's with the exception of 2. Shot attempts and turnovers. They turn the ball over 10 less times than we did and they got 10 more shot attempts than we did. That was the game right there. 1:40 into this clip. Yao doesnt seal off Pau, who steals the ball. Now Aaron is partly at fault for passing him the ball when Pau is at Yao's side, not behind him, and therefore can get around him easily, but Yao seemed content with having Pau there. He didn't make an effort to completely seal off Pau before asking for the ball. If Yao can't move Pau back, then he needs to step in front of him, then get the ball and back him down, not settle for having Pau on his shoulder just because he it gets him deeper position. This went on throughout the entire game. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oqtEVQXSgR8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oqtEVQXSgR8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> We've been over Battier several times. Do i still think Shane will be back to his old self? Yes. Do i think his minutes should be cut back while he gets out of his slump, if the rest of the team is doing well and he's the causing them to lose? Yes. Do i think Shane is causing Houston to lose and Ron's defense makes up for shane's defense, so having Ron and Wafer in there for extended minutes is better and will result in more wins? No. Here's why: Just because the opponent is scoring doesnt meant he defense is bad. Kobe is going to make his move on anyone, get considerable amount of points on anyone, the key is to make those points as tough as possible. Ron did a good job of pushing him and keeping a body on him, but once Kobe makde his move ron wasnt doing much. -at 1:17 and 1:21, Kobe shoots on Battier, Battier contests both shots. -at 1:51, Kobe shoots a 3, Ron doesn't jump, he barely lifts his hand up. -At 2:30 of the same clip, Kobe goes by, Ron tries to poke it from behind, but stops there, doesnt try to catch up to him or go for a board. -At 2:45 is where he gambled and left Kobe open for a 3. Its possible Kobe baited him into it as well, since Kobe seems to wait until the last possible second to pick up the ball and spins around like he had everythingunder control. -at 3:04, Kobe getting open for a shot, Ron's trying hard prior to the move, one kobe pulls up though, Ron doesnt get a hand up or try to cover the shot, the slo motion replay shows this clearly. -the final shot is where Kobe gets the and1 on shane, you can argue Shane didn't get his hand up, but I wouldn't even expect Ron to get a hand up either as kobe created the contact here and he was still threatening to drive. <object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oNZOPL4XSgA&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oNZOPL4XSgA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object> Don't get me wrong, Ron does contest some shots, but he's not doing it everytime, which should be the case when a guy is pulling up in front of you. That's where his defense efficiency drops (and Shane's doesn't). Since ron is more of a physical defender, he's more likely to hold back some on d if he's tired, while shane isn't using up as much energy on offense so he can keep up his effort on D longer and give that extra effort. Ron's mistakes are also more costly. While shane's man may get by him and score eventually, Shane's still shadowing him and and making him work for the shot. Ron gambles and sometimes leaves them with easy shots. This is why you can't trade one's d for the other and just say "well ron makes up for shane's D so shane doesn't have to be in there as much". Now, I'm in not saying that shane is a better defender or that Ron isn't a good defender, lets get that straight. They're different defenders and Ron has dual responsabilities, offense and defensive, so it's understandable that he cant give 100% all the time on D like Battier. So my my point is last night's loss had more to do with turnovers than anything. Fix that and you win. Tweaking with the swingman rotation (switching Wafer's and Shane's minutes) is going have a great impact on defense than than what you're hoping for on offense. Are a few extra points worth that when offense isn't the problem to begin with? Also remember Wafer gets his share of turnovers and bad shots, so giving him more minutes doesn't help. Keeping his minutes to about 20 is actually best, because since he scores instantly, he still scores in 15-20 mins what some guys take 30 mins to score, but you keep his turnovers and bad shots down. Dont think just because he scores 15 point in 15 minutes he's going to score 30 pts in 30 mins. His scoring rate is going to drop the longer he's in the game, so he may get 15 pts the first 15, but he may only get 5-7 the other 15, 5 points isn't worth it when you're givign up more than that with the drop in defense and extra turnovers. You have to fix the bigger problems before the smaller problems affect you much, that's why despite shane's poor shooting houston still won 11 of 13. Yes, i know it's still a problem, yes i know it could possibly cost us later on, but what's the easiest thing to fix here? Is it Yao becoming better at holding on to the ball, sealing his man, better entry passes, less turnovers from the team as a whole or shane making a tweak on his jumper and changing his distribution of shot attempts? (His shot chart shows his shooting more from a lot more from his cold spots this season and shooting worse, but not terribly from his hot spots) Worry about the team-wide issues and the issues of your main guy, none of which can be fixed by just shooting more (by playing wafer more). Those things are going to take more practice, more time and more games to fix than shane's issues, which he can probably fix on his own by season's end. Even if he doesn't, at least THEN you can bench him since he's just one guy and the rest of the team will be alright. But if you worry only about him, or more than the other issues, at season's end he may still not be back AND you're still going to have those other issues. Or even if shane is back, you're still going to have those other issues...
I am not even going to read your thread but I agree with your main point about not needed a scorer. We play fine for the most part of the game until down the stretch. Our game plan changes and we try to force feed Yao which is not going to work. We need to run plays through our guards and look for Yao when he is in good position.
I want less minutes for Shane and more for Wafer. When Wafer starts he seems to pass more, I guess he is less worried about getting pulled out the game. I love Shane but his slump is hurting us atm so Wafer should be getting more minutes in the meantime especially against fast pace teams.
What your clip shows is Yao having decent position on Pau and an entry pass so terrible that it looks like it was thrown by Luther Head. Brooks telegraphs the pass...he's looking at Yao the whole time. Not to mention that Brooks throws the pass from about 4 feet behind the 3 point line. AND he's trying to bounce it in to Yao's right side. Basically, at that angle and distance, if Brooks wants to bounce it, he will either throw it too hard and Yao can't control it, or he'll throw it too soft and it'll get stolen. Looks like he went for the latter. You think Brooks was only partly at fault? Try totally at fault (for this particular possession).
I really like that first post. I'd love for more of the discussion to include supplemental video (though it would be even better without the shaky cam). It adds a lot, I think.
everything has to be on point and perfect for yao to catch a pass. no wonder it's so damn hard. let's make our passers into robots and instill in them the ONLY way to pass yao so yao will catch it all the time.
Just pass the ball at Yao's head.....every time....if he misses it, he gets konked in the noggin, my guess is, after a few black eyes and such he will get the message. DD
Kudos also to the OP for doing this. I've been asking Kwame and Leebigez to do something like this for Battier, but as usual, they are all talk.
Make our passers into robots? You're acting like that was a decent pass. It was terrible. Its like something you'd see in junior high.
5 stars post. Thanks for the effort. However, it is pretty frustrated to watch the dark side of rockets.(maybe used to watching r2k's little clip ) I just wonder how come yao uses one hand to tip the rebound instead of using both of his hands to grab the ball. Besides that, brooks really needs to learn how to get yao the ball appropriately. Do not let yao pick the ball at such low height which is obvious to hard for a 7 foot 6 guy. Be smarter, little Aaron. I do think brooks has the potential to be an elite PG in the near future, but I just have no idea if he would turn the potential into the reality eventually.
yes, this has happened for 7 years. it's always been due to our passers making terrible passes that yao can't catch.
It was one pass, Yao is not easy to pass to so they take risk. Bounce passes are hard bc of his height, he hardly seals off quicker players and he horrible at catching passes. Its recipe for disaster if your going to try and force feed him. I am not saying we don't make stupid passes to him but Yao is the main problem.
There have been plenty of Rockets in years past who were able to properly throw an entry pass consistently. Brooks is not one of them. From what I've seen thus far, Lowry is better than Brooks at the entry pass. I know you think you're being smart, but when I reference one play, and you twist my words to encompass the past 7 years, you look ignorant.
getting the ball to yao has been a problem since he's been a rocket. a BIG problem. why do you think we talk about it EVERY year? every 2-3 games?
Not quite, because Ron's going to be affected differently by each of them, so you have to consider that as well and i think that effect is less noticeable. Shane vs wafer is pretty clear cut, i dont think thin i would be adding any great insight by comparing them because its basically giving up defense for offense and it's well known what those two guys bring since they're limited to one side of the ball. Wafer gets some steals from paying passing lanes, but i dont think i can add that as a consistent defensive plus because it's mostly due to him not sticking to his man.
Yeah, but how do you compensate? Look at last night's game. I bet you that the coaching staff drew up a game plan where Battier would feed Yao in the post. The problem is that every time the ball swung around the perimeter to Battier everybody knew exactly what was going to happen next: the ball was going into Yao. Guess what? The Lakers mugged him as soon as he caught the ball. Yao never reposted. The Rockets never tried to swing the ball around the perimeter and let Yao cut across the paint. They became completely predictable because they were nervous and they just wanted to do the same thing over and over again. In any sport if you're predictable you are going to lose. My advice to the Rockets? Keep moving. The ball moves, Yao moves, the ball gets to Yao deep in the paint. And don't be afraid to drive even when Yao's posting up. Don't be afraid to use the big guy as a decoy. Don't become passive, stay aggressive and don't just try to feed the ball to Yao over and over. Don't be predictable. And for Christ's sake, relax.
it's hard to when this problem has persists for 7 years. and it has no hope in sight. hopefully tmac will get us something this summer or next yr. we really need another perimeter player.
Pau was on his left side, you cant have someone like Pau hanging around there. He's mobile and long enough to dive for the ball, just like he did. Aaron was only partly at fault because he had the option to wait for Yao to get better position, but Aaron's pass was still low and away from Pau, it wasn't such a bad location, but Pau got a hand on it because he didn't have to go all the way around Yao, he was already halfway around him and Yao was set there, he didn't try to keep him back.
