That Point-Forward Guy Should be Shot or...

its a shame this is ignored. i haven't watched much basketball but even clyde and bull mentioned how this changed the rockets. now obviously this is also the where we had a good rafer sighting. but tmac can not drive on this guys and if that option isn't there its no point.

great thread title btw

 

If the Rockets struggle getting a low-post entry pass to a 7'6" guy, what makes it easier to a 6'8" guy who at any point could be guarded by a taller defender (AK47), a stronger defender (Harpring) or a defender nearly as athletic and tall (Brewer)?

Plus, if McGrady is in the low box, Deke and Hayes are virtually worthless on the court.

 

because the athletic, speed gap is not as pronounced with McGrady as it is with Yao

 

Jordan did this alot later in his career. Seemed to work out OK for the Bulls...

 

McGrady does a slightly better job of sealing off his defender than Yao. Deke and Hayes would either be open from their man helping out, or TMac gets that "hockey assist" when he passes the ball to the guy open from the help defender, who passes it along because of the defense rotating.

At least that's the idea...haha

 

Three problems with this:

1. We still lack good post entry passers. So getting good passes in will be troublesome.

2. McGrady is careless with the ball. He has posted up sporadically throughout the series and both Harpring and AK have stolen the ball from him a few times in key situations. If he is not lackadaisical with the ball, then it could work, but how often does that happen.

3. This works will when the floor is spaced properly, meaning you need shooters on the court. However, every lineup we currently use has 2 of Scola, Landry, Hayes, or Deke at the same time, and none of them can shoot a three, so the Jazz defense would sag off of them. You could potentially put in Novak for small amounts of time to help with this spacing, but he would give up so much on defense.

 

I really wish he would post-up more. He's way more effective that way, especially at the clip he's shooting.

 

I agree. From the post he doesn't lose too much energy because he doesn't have to dribble the ball, he doesn't have to deal with all those stupid double-triple teams.

1) He can drive to the basket and it is simply easy from the post.
2) He can pull up over his defender
3) If you double him that leaves Battier, Rafer on the outside, or Deke, Hayes, Scola, Landry inside and those are usually easy baskets
4) He can drive and if you bring help you can be sure he will make the right pass to an open teammate

So I also would like to see more post ups and actually now since Rafer came back he has been posting up more. BTW, I'd also like to see him taking those 16 foot jumpers comming off the screans.

 

No. What I'm saying is what I've been saying from the moment Yao Ming donned a Rockets' ball cap at draft night. They have too many standstill, spot up shooters and not enough creators who can finish. Where you put McGrady on the floor is irrelevant with a diminished/narrow skill set of teammates.

What makes matter worse...those players who MIGHT be able to get off some semblance of a drive...Alston, Head, BJax, Brooks...now have a clogged painted area. And further, instead of having a full head of steam (a running start) like he'd have in a PnR, McGrady is starting a move totally standstill.

Look at it this way. How often over the course of a game do the Cavs post up LeBron?

There are some minor pluses to having McGrady around the paint. But not enough to build an entire offense around. At least not with the current roster.

 

I think this could be a side-effect of what JVG set up on our roster. All fine and dandy while Yao is playing. Not so much if he's hurt.....

 

I'm thinking we can probably come to one agreement very easily. It's a little too late in the "game" to install a lot of changes. Can we agree that what gets done is going to have to be subtle?

What I thought was a good option at the start of the series was to run everyone out there...a revolving door so to speak of constantly forcing the Jazz to adjust. Especially in transition. Keep fresh players on the court at all times and try to look for any player that has their "A" game on that night.

If you have a set with McGrady in the post, send some cutters past him. And I don't mean Battier in cruise mode...I mean a full bore dash to the basket.

A player that benefits from McGrady in a post up is Novak. Novak would be a defensive transition risk but having him at the top of the arc means having a realtive tall player swinging the ball from side to side of the court. Even good defensive teams are weak against ball movement.

Again, it's a little late for major changes...but I still think a revolving door of fresh players could have been an advantage.

 

i have yet to see a sick pass from McGrady to either Scola or Landry in the entire first round...

that was the staple of how the offense would originally open up earlier in the year...

 

OT but... couldn't resist... Ever get a new ride?

Dude... I just found this on my hard drive...

 

Man,

I am in total agreement.

By the way, I think posting up McGrady obviously leads us to Scola and Landry being at the 4/5 slots, which is what we are gonna have to have to beat these guys. Then switch out Novak with one of them to provide an entirely different look for the defense when they bring in the bang brothers. Or, if we have to, go to Deke or Chuck for a couple minutes if Utah gets on any kind of run. One thing that sticks out to me about Landry this series is defensively he has been very effective against Boozer on the high pick and roll. He's got the quicks to disturb DWill and get back and cut off the passing angle to Booz. So, I'm okay with running him out there with Scola until Utah goes back to trying to post up Boozer.

And I've said it all season. You can't leave Rafer/BJax or Luther in the game if they ain't knocking down shots. It's that simple. If they miss three shots, it's time to sit down and go to something else. For all Rafer's ability to "set up the offense" and "get everybody in the right place" it don't mean a thang if he's taking 'em and miss'n 'em. Everything else he does is just provide the TV commentators with something good to say about him as he dribbles up and shuffles everybody around.........so he can throw it off to McGrady.

Oh, and as long as McGrady is shooting so poorly from outside facing up, HE HAS TO go to the high/mid post and establish himself. If he can't hit over 40% from outside, he's way more efficient in the post.