This is an interesting article & makes the upcoming season even more exciting. Could it be that the NBA actually helped the Rockets, without realizing it? I guess they'll change the rules again next year, but during the mean time..... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1078428 Oct. 6, 2001, 11:48PM Rockets hope to use rules they helped inspire By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle AUSTIN -- Kenny Thomas and Glen Rice sat against the wall just beyond the practice court talking about the NBA's rule changes. More specifically, they spoke about how the rule changes would help the Rockets. They talked about first steps and quick forwards, weakside help and spacing. But when the conversation drifted to the subject of isolating guards on the perimeter, Thomas revealed a secret to his new teammate that many Rockets fans might have suspected. "We're the reason they changed the rules," Thomas said. "Steve (Francis) and Cuttino (Mobley) would be iso-ing and the big men had to come and help. You couldn't leave them out there so they had to send big men and leave us open. You would have loved it." Thomas might be exaggerating a bit. The Rockets were far from the only team to come up with the defense-punishing tactic of isolating a strong offensive player against an overmatched defender. But few teams used the method as wantonly or consistently. And when the NBA illegal defense rules were scrapped, ostensibly to remove the tendency of reducing the game to one-on-one with four well-paid spectators, the Rockets generally considered the culprits caught and punished. But as the Rockets have gone through training camp's two-a-days, there has been almost universal praise of the defensive rule changes and more specifically how they would help the Rockets. Told how much he would have loved being left unguarded in the Rockets' isolation offense, Rice quickly said he loves this, too. "It's an advantage for me," Rice said. "If they get on me too close, I can go around because now, by the time the defense gets there, it will be too late. A lot of the taller big men can't react that quickly. It's definitely going to be a big advantage for guys like Kenny, smaller power forwards who can use their quickness or shoot outside. "I think it helps this team a lot. We have a lot of guys with the quickness to get to the lane before the weakside can get there." The change that the Rockets believe will help them prohibits teams from stationing defenders in the lane for three seconds unless guarding a man. That rule existed before, but applied to the college lane. Now, defenders must stay out of the NBA lane, giving the quickest offensive players a foot-and-a-half more of a head start before help can arrive. "I love it," Francis said. "I remember so many times last year, that baseline guy who is always in the corner could always come over to draw a charge or cut off a guy driving. Now, he can't get there. You still have to be aware of who's open, always have your head up. But there's one less guy that you might have to worry about." The rule changes will likely remove much of the perimeter isolation game. Rather then sending double-team help as teams often had to against Francis and Mobley last season, they can sag a strong-side defender into driving lanes to cut a penetrator off before he reaches the open lane. "That's good," Francis said of removing the dependence on the perimeter isolation game. "We'll have more rotation of the ball and have to use more of our scorers. If you have more than one (scorer) that's great. They're not going to be able to just shut down one guy." Attacking the revised defenses has been a point of emphasis of several days of practices. As much as Tomjanovich became a high-profile opponent of the rule changes and remains concerned with how they would limit the game's marquee stars, he said he is happy with how they could help his team. "I just think my motivation (for the objections) through all the rule changes was that the players are our biggest asset," Tomjanovich said. "Rules that promote the players showing what they can do are the rules I've always been for. "This is not a Rocket deal. This is not a Rudy deal. It's an NBA deal. I know people say, `Oh, Rudy wants that because of those isolations.' That's not what it's about. I want to be a part of an exciting league. Our players have been our biggest asset." Because he wants the league to protect its most exciting plays, Tomjanovich remains utterly opposed to a zone. But without a center to roam the middle, he said teams would not really be playing a zone. And because the Rockets are loaded with players whose strength is getting their own shots off the dribble -- Mobley, Francis, Thomas, Rice and they hope, unsigned Moochie Norris -- the defensive rule changes so far appear to be helpful to the team thought to have inspired them. "There is no zone," Tomjanovich said. "There is more man-to-man now than there was with the old rules. You have a chance to do it (play zone,) but you can't have a guy in the paint. That's what a zone is all about. A better way to say it is you can play any defense provided you are (within) six feet from your man and not in the three-second lane (without defending an opposing player.) "Because of the defensive rules, you have to get out of the whole lane now, not to come across and help from the weakside. It's harder to contain and to get help there. "It could help us, very much so."
The Rockets can convince themselves that it help their offense if they want, but they are fooling themselves. Example. Thomas and Francis runs a high pick and roll on the left side. Before the rules, Duncan would have to honor that, now all he has to do is back off to help and they can send big Dave to that side off the shoeblock to kill the drive, thus leaving Kenny open at the 3pt line. If you're the Spurs which would you want? A Francis drive or a Thomas long range shot? I know which they'll want. Anytime the Rockets iso high, the teams will roll their center or pf to that side and chill outside the paint, but still killing any action to the goal.
I honestly don't believe Rudy is that stupid. He is an expert at using players at their strengths and I doubt he see's KT's 3's as a strength.
leebigez: In that case, you have Francis and Thomas on the strong side with AD guarding the ball and D-Rob and Duncan on the strong side of the lane. Two crisp passes will put the ball in Marc Jackson's hands on the other side of the lane with no big man between him and the goal. Sounds like a good opportunity to me. If you do that enough, D-Rob will have to honor Jackson and stay at home, thus freeing up Francis to score.
I agree with some of the points, but it just makes a good defensive team better. A team like the spurs will be very difficult to score on with the zone
