Gotta say that the most impressive thing to watch with this current version of the Rockets, especially yesterday against the Lakers, is how quickly the ball makes it around the perimeter. Specifically, the additions of Jon Barry, David Wesley, and Bobby Sura. On the other hand, watching Francis, Mobley, and JJ move the ball was a excercise in frustration and seemed so forced when it did happen. I would wager that it even occured more in the last 5 games than it did under the last two years Francis was here. Van Gundy, though with the ubiquitous frown, must be internally swooning when T-Mac attacks the rim, draws the defense, hits Wesley (or Barry/Sura), who in one motion swings the ball to Jon Barry (or Wesley/Sura) for an open three. How many times did this happen yesterday? It's simply beautiful to watch. There's no thinking involved, it's one natural movement, they WANT to pass the ball. These guys know how to play basketball the right way and are the real catalysts behind the Rocket's recent success. Yeah, Yao and McGrady get the ink and triple teams, but when it comes down to it, these three hit the shots and send the defenses scurrying around. Stuart
I liked Steve and Cat, but they definitely tended to dribble too much aka Dribblemania. With our current roster, the ball movement is much better and we seem to get many more open looks.
Although Sura, Wesley and Barry is not athletically talented like Francis, Mobley and JJ, they are unselfish, have good court vision, and can shoot the rock which leads to fundamentals. Isn't fundamentals great?
agreed I mentioned in a different thread that I am delighted with the ball movement. I dont see the ball hit the floor as often and I think its great. J
The ball moevement is so much better, but they also move without the ball. The last few years Rudy was here, nobody freaking moved unless they had the ball. And Steve would bring it up, dribble until the clock was almost gone, and then try to pull something out of his a$$. He was just such an incredible athlete that he often could do it. Maybe JVG could do a better job than he is, but I like the way this team plays a heck of a lot better than the '02 and '03 squads.
No Doubt! I think that 35 assists game says it all. I think you have to include T-Mac in that group as well, though. This team passes quicker and is much better at no-look/head fake/shot fake type passes. With last year's lineup you could see the pass coming a mile away, but I am continually surprised by passes this year.
I just absolutely love to watch our games now. They are soooo much more exciting. I love Sura's toughness and Barry's amazing touch passes and even Wesley is playing well. I think we have the kind of role players that could position us for a playoff run. The play of these three, Padgett and Juwon Howard's outside shooting has been whats helped Yao and Tracy get the space they need to dominate. Our passing is much better, and its killing our opponents when they double team.
Obviously, Tracy deserves a lot of credit but it's what the aforementiond three do with it afterwards is what I am trying to give notice to. Especially when compared to what JJ and Mobley would've done in those same situations (not trying to bash them, but it's pretty obvious). T-Mac is normally the guy that starts it all off - driving to the hole, drawing a couple defenders, then kicking it out. But you are right, as i mentioned in some thread earlier in the year comparing Francis and McGrady's passing, T-Mac's passes are so much more smoother, so much more within his natural movements. Stuart
Amen! This has been a HUGE component to our team's success and the rise in our offensive performance.
Yeah, unfortunately he is so smooth that he fakes our own guys out. I can hardly wait until Yao and some of the other inside players start looking for some of those sick inside passes off the very top of his jump shot or drive that currently bounce off of their hands or backs.
You said it quite well, sabonis. To me, the biggest difference between the way our players pass on the perimeter now and before is something else you alluded to in your first post. Barry, Sura, Wesley, even Padgett don't have to THINK about what they are going to do next. They see, process and act. Very little hesitation. Francis and Mobley and crew were quite the opposite. I wouldn't go as far as to say they didn't want to pass, but the decision to do so for them happened a split second slower than our current guards. That split second made all the difference. And Francis in particular had this tremendously infuriating habit of getting a kickout from Yao or any driving guard, fake a pass or shot, then hold the ball while he formulated his next offensive move. It gave the defense time to reset and resulted in us losing any advantage we had from the previous defensive rotation. Watching the game last night was almost orgasmic with the crisp ball movement. I was just watching, no, marveling at how different our offense looks with this current roster. I love it.
You are so right, I don't live in Houston or in Texas for that matter, so I don't get the luxury of seeing all the Houston games (just the nationally televised ones), but from the games i have seen, there have been 7-10 tmes in which McGrady made a spectacular pass to Yao, only for him to fumble it, lose it out of bounds, miss the shot or not even know it was coming. Unfortunately, the majority of the league plays at 80mph, while Yao, because of his size, plays at 55mph. Stuart
It's not just the passing, but also the transition game. I haven't seen the Rockets run so much since Clyde was around. Rod Strickland is also helping out in the passing department. The guy still can't shoot, but some of his passes are awesome.
Yeah they are still used to dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble, shot clock expire, pass TO on Yao J/k.
It's amazing what a difference having a halfway competent transition game makes. These guys certainly know how to run (and when to pass instead of run). I love seeing those breaks where there's very little running with the ball, just two or three lightning quick pinpoint passes up the court for the slam.
I'm thinking this is something that will gradually improve the longer they are together. Yao may not need to go 80mph if he can learn to anticpate the pass. Most of those fumbles were very catchable if he had just peeked that way a split second earlier. In time, I think these will become near automatic like the Francis to Cato alley oops used to be.
Indeed, the ball movement has been unreal. You don't need tons of athleticism on offense if eveyone passes like those guys. Beautiful to watch.
The good passing is starting to show up in the stats, in the past 5 games we lead the league in assists per game at 27.4 http://www.nba.com/statistics/sortable_team_statistics/sortable1.html#top
