Is our biggest problem and has been for the last few years. The shots and fouls that this offense generates in the regular season just go away in the playoffs when you play better teams that lock in on defense. We cannot continue to just run pick and roll and then allow Harden/Paul/Gordon to either drive wildly or take a contested three. I'd love to think that we will come back this series but I find it VERY hard to envision. MDA can stay but we have to move to a Bzdelik for the offensive side that can install some sort of motion or set plays to generate easy shots. I'd just have 3-4 ADDITIONAL actions for Gordon, Harden, CP3 to generate open looks. Golden State has better shooters but also they just generate way better shots. We need to find an additional player and diversify our offense to take the championship step in 2019-2020. Thanks, DD
LOL. QUESTION: If we get all that motion and plays and everything but the players still brick the open shot Will you be satisfied or happier? Rocket River
i dont want motion and set plays.... it would be like watching Denver play.. its so freaking ugly and boring basketball... i want iso! iso is a mark of the true greatness
Good idea, DD. I agree they need to add some wrinkles. It's too predictable. How about having CP3 bring the ball up and getting the ball you harden in an easier position to score?
The Rockets spend 20 seconds of the shot clock just trying to find a switch to a defender they like. It's a waste of time and only encourages GSW to trap Harden and make him ineffective.
The Rockets were hitting their open shots last night at a efficient rate. The problem yesterday was not enough offensive possessions that ended in a shot attempt from turnovers, rebounding and wasting 20 seconds on the shot clock to start a play.
Hard to win a game when you can't secure defensive rebounds and turn the ball over at a ridiculous clip. Rockets played well enough on offense to win in Game 2. They played well enough on defense to win Game 1. They have to find a way to put it all together. Hopefully, the home crowd can get us an energy/hustle edge.
If they have better shooters, and they generate better shots, why are we shooting better than them? And scoring more per shot attempt? We are losing because they get more attempts than us due to turnovers and offensive rebounds. If you think they are generating better, higher quality shots than us, you are mistaken.
My intuition was telling me this and open shot is and open shot Klay and Steph . . the definition of open is a little different but .. . Rocket River
Rebound better and take care of the ball better, and we win g2. Don't go away from what's been working all season. Why let doubt creep in. The warriors are getting to you. Win the games at home and we are back in this series.
That the offense is VERY HARD to watch, predictable, and "wastes time" doesn't make for fun basketball, but the offense overall is super effective generally. The problem last night was turnovers and rebounding. The problem ALL SEASON LONG has been rebounding. The Rockets are 29th in defensive rebounding and 28th in rebounding overall. Some of that is pace impact. BUt their 15th in DREB% in the playoffs (so pace adjusted). They're 14th in TOV% (so third worst). If you change it to the regular season they were 29th in DREB%, but only 9th in turnover %. So they still suck at rebounding, but now also suck at turnovers. Now... if you want to say the shots contribute to this problem?? Meh... I'd probably disagree. It's the players that contribute to the problem. If you have a legit rebounder at SF and PF, you'd be much better at rebounding. On the turnover front in the playoffs, I'd agree that the system contributes, because when a great defensive team like the GSW can gameplan against it, you don't have many or any counters. They desperately need some slashing. I don't want off-ball backpick motion offense like the Warriors. But I do want slashing in the worst way. There's of course absolutely no way to add that at this point. Strangely, you saw Ennis do a bit of this in his limited time. But you need an entire offseason and training camp to add that.... because right now their passing is so dependent on passing to an "area" as much as an open player. This contributes to the problem, imo, in the playoffs, against good teams. GSW defenders are playing likelihoods.
