Not true. We cant run with Dallas but there are plenty of opportunities to run with man advantage in any game. We intentionally slow it up. This is after Jeff was hired after telling Les that he would run an up tempo style of game with the players that we had. (Of course, this was when we had SF3 and Cat.) I have to say that I think Steve was probably telling the truth when he said they never practiced running the break because I have never seen one thing on the court to make me think that JVG has ANY desire to run a break ever with any team he has ever coached.
You may be right, but that doesn't mean we have to use the whole shot clock on every single possession. I don't think anyone thinks we should run uptempo all the time, but pushing the ball up the court and going to the hole every once in a while can only benefit this team.
I agree..draw fouls..let Yao face the basket..he's not that bad at taking it to the hole Yeah..and we can take shots earlier..don't have to wait til the shot clock is under 10 seconds
Run Yao up the court for an early post 5-7 possessions a game before the defense is completely set. He has the stamina now. Take advantage of his momentum into the lane. He can't be stopped 1-on-1.
Yes, this team is too slow. But really, how can you solve that? We start running in the open court, up tempo, how long do you think Yao is going to last? Barkley was right. The only player on this team that is really a half-court player is Yao Ming. But, unfortunately, you can't change Yao into anything other than a half-court player.
Yao doesnt need to run on fast break. He can throw an outlet pass, take a break and let others run. Shaq did that a lot
Why is everyone assuming that Yao has to be involved in a fast break? It doesn't take 5 players to run a fast break, it only takes 2 or 3. All Yao has to do is grab a rebound, make a good outlet pass and just hang back and watch. Like all big guys do. If we miss the layup, then Yao is already back on defense to stop the other teams fast break. Again, I'm not saying this should be our primary offense and we should scrap the 1/2 court set completely, just trying it 2 or 3 times a quarter would be nice.
Actually, it is just poor shooting that is responsible. If you had guys like Alex English, Dell Curry, Vinnie Johnson and other playing today, NO ONE would run a zone because they would get KILLED by open shots. That's why they call them "zone busters." As for this team being too slow to run, I think you guys are making the mistake of thinking that you either run or you play in the half court. You can have both. The Lakers in the 80's were never the fastest team on the floor, but they were efficient in the break mainly because of Magic. The thing they did, and you don't see many teams do this today, is they ran what is referred to as a "secondary" break. This is when you bring the ball up the floor on a rebound and you probably don't have numbers (no 3 on 2 or 2 on 1 advantage) so you bring it to half court and, before the defense can set, you attack the basket. The Lakers did that better than probably anyone has ever done it. Of course, they had probably the greatest multi-dimensional player at the point ever to play the game too. But, there are weaknesses to be exploited even if you can't hit open jumperrs with consistency. You don't have to only run a fast break or only slow it down in the half court. You need a balanced game. And, by the way, with Yao's soft hands and passing skills, he would make one of the best trailers on the break the league has seen since probably Kevin McHale.
I see everyone is raggin on our slow down offense. In my opinion, low possessions should be the way for our team to go, at least for the moment. There is a very good reason to do so if your 2 best players can both connect at a high clip, while outside of them, nobody else can do much, which is exactly the case for us. You don't want to burn your best players out (mainly Yao Ming) by running through them too much, so you keep the possesions low. This system can conviniently hide that fact that your role player can't do jack sh#t with the ball, so even if you got them extra possessions it would be like getting a turnover. In theory, if your defense can keep the other team shooting somewhat difficult shots all night, while you do nothing but run set plays through your stars, your possesion will always yield a better shot then your opponent every time down the floor. I think so far, McGraddy and Yao have proven that as long as they have the ball, more good things happen then bad. What is wrong with our team right now is we have players like JJ, Howard, and Taylor who think that after 3 possesions of Yao and Tmac, they need to get a touch on their own, whether it be a quick jumper or an isolation play. Couple this with the horrible minute distribution where neither of our stars are in the game and role players are forced to create, and you can see easily why our system is doomed to fail. The high-chance possessions of tmac and Yao are averaged out with the pitiful success rate of our role players, and we are left with these mediocre offensive numbers.
The whole point of this thread isn't to make the Rockets an uptempo team. It's mostly to suggest that the Rockets shouldn't purposely run plays that take up the whole shot clock, and to selectively run if given the chance. And BTW JJ, Mo, Juwan, and Ward are definitely half court players. Even T-Mac seems to only selectively run if he happens to be upcourt when the Rox get the ball. And Kenny made a good point the other day when he said that Yao could still be part of the running game by being the trailer at the end of the play who spots up at the top of the key for jumpers. Granted Yao's perimeter shooting has been off of late, but that's the general idea. And like I said, running the break is secondary to just running plays that don't take up so much time.
Let's say we change the offense so that 30% of the time we push the ball up the court and run. So, in that 30% of the time, all Yao will be doing is throwing the outlet pass on offense? You would definitely relegate him to a roleplayer position at that point.
How? 1) Run at least 1 guy out for medium to long outlets. 2-3 guys if/when our rebounding improves. Yao at 7'6" can hit them. Right now he doesn't even look. Charlie Ward basically takes a handoff after any defensive rebound. 2) The secondary break, without Yao. I actually think Sura will help here. TMac is the only guy who can penetrate even when the lane is unclogged by big men. 3) The secondary break, WITH Yao. This is FULL of possibilities. a) As Yao breaks the top of the key, the dribbler breaks around him to create space and penetrate. Basically a moving pick, but is never called in transition. b) QUICK POST YAO. As he rolls into the lane, the ball meets him at a spot. Shaq perfected it with the Lakers. Yao even did a little of it under Rudy when he was a weakling. I don't see us hardly ever attempt it. Those are easy baskets waiting to be made.
No one runs 30 percent of the time, not anymore. And besides, it isn't about running just to run. It is just a matter of testing the opposing defense and seeing if opportunities exist to run. If they don't you still can fall back on your half court game.
What needs to happen is we need to board and look for the outlet man on the break quickly. Let TMac, Ward, and JJ run the break and see if an opportunity presents itself. If it doesnt, those 3 players are veteran players that are smart enough to know when to back it out or when they should pursue the play further. If they feel they do not have the advantage, then back it out and wait for Yao and Mo to come running down and run the half court set, with an eye towards getting to the rim, no matter what play is called. It is really very simple. We need to emphasize Yao and the PF BOXING OUT (fundamental basketball), they both need to learn to hold up their hands to capture any short shots off the rim and cut down on the number of long rebounds, and then throw the outlet pass to whomever (JJ, TMAC, Charlie, Lue, Boki), who then in turns gets the ball to the middle of the floor. Then we run down and see what develops. TMac runnin down the middle of the floor, with Boki/JJ and Charlie/Lue on the wings, are you kidding me? We could come up with some very good shots that way, and also put a lot of pressure on the defense at the same time. We get the ball up the floor and into the offense quickly, and then Big Boy comes thundering down into the paint for the post up with MoT trailing for the jumper at the top of the key. Geez Louise. You think the players would want to play that way? Or would they prefer the slow Van Gundy trot/stroll across halfcourt and the pass to the wing who holds and waits for a screen? 2 small problems: 1. Jeff Van Gundy 2. Boxing out and getting the defensive rebound without having all 5 guys in the box, attacking the glass. Frankly, I am beginning to wonder if some of our rebounding problems are because we have too many players in the paint trying to board. I am beginning to wonder if it limits Yaos and Mo/Juwons space and their ability to box out. Yao is so big, he has to be able to get more boards, and I think we should put the pressure on him to do so along with Mo/Juwon instead of running the guards down there all the time.
JVG is the kind of coach never thinkin or trying to coach in order to bring the best out of his players. He just want all the players to play his style of basketball. That's why francis suffered last year now i guess is tmac's turn!!!
Its kinda hard to run a fast break with only one person going for the rebound, and four guys running back to play defense-On NO ONE!
