The Five Man Offense, who gets it who doesn’t and why?

It is weird...instead of getting better, the new offense seems to have gotten worse, and, coincidentally, you don't hear anymore quotes about it from Rudy or any of the players. Let's pray they are still working on it.

 

they probably had too many turnovers and didn't pass the ball around too well...

 

In the latter games they started trying more of the bubble players and Yao Ming. They went to basic sets when those players were in. I wouldn't say they went to "ISO", they just went with far more basic offensive sets. I would think that now that they have the team and the rotation more set, they are working on the offense and getting Yao Ming up to speed.

 

Doesn't everybody in the team practice the same offense? Of course they do...

 

Maybe they are taught and practice, but haven't grasped or applied it. Yao Ming didn't have time to practice it.

 

It all starts with Steve Francis. If Steve Francis doesnt get it, it doesnt matter who else accepts it. The last two games Steve Francis has dominated the ball. Over dribbling, refusing to pass on fastbreaks, tunnel vison, quick shots, wild drives to the rim, or when hes feeling really generous he'll control the ball and create a one pass and shoot possession getting him an assist. When it seems your point guard acts like its a sign of weakness if he passes you the ball and you dont shoot it but pass it quickly to someone else, the extra good pass becomes less attractive, because you may never see the ball again the whole game, or if you do not hit your first few shots it doesnt matter how wide open you are cause your point guard will freeze your ass out if your names not Mobley. That is the type of selfishness and lack of trust that makes his teamates lose faith in any motion offense. So when looking for the source of the motion meltdown, i say look no furthur than the point guard with the ball -- Steve Francis.

Just to give you an idea of were Francis head is at right now. Here is his comments on Yao Mings home debut:

"Offensively he was more assertive. He made more of a conscious effort to pass the ball. He passed the ball real well tonight which i thought was good."

earth to Francis, you're the point guard who just took 21 shots, had 6 turnovers and 3 assists, and you think Yao had a good game becuase he made a conscious effort to PASS the ball, which you think was GOOD?

Francis please tell me your head is not that far up your ass. c'mon dude, show us once the regular season starts that you say what you mean and mean what you say.

 

Don't underestimate the effect of all the distractions. I say we will be fine. Everybody is on board with the new offense and it wil be more evident as stablity comes back. The next five days will help also.

Today, I went over some of the games from last year and I feel confident than Steve will be a better setup man and KT will be a major asset even with Ming, Rice, EG, Mobley and MoT. Just get your league pass and get ready.

 

that's what i think too. having a little more depth and harder cuts has made for more playing time with the bubble players and that's when there's more iso. give them this week to practice together and we'll see if the offense is run better with ming,etc. more acclimated. with the regular starters playing it was very smooth and yes that was with steve leading them.

as far as that quote he made about ming, talk about reading into things. last time i checked a huge asset of yao's is his ability to see over the defense and make the pass to the open man. could that be what he's talking about? is that maybe something that rudy wanted to look for in a game situation? i don't think steve's saying "yeah he passed me the ball so that's all that matters."

 

I read that Rudy made it clear he was unhappy with the offense after Thursday's game. I would like to think he is seeing the same problems we are talking about here. Rudy even cancelled the day off on Friday and had practice probably to work more on the offensive sets. Also of course, getting Yao Ming more practice time was another reason too.

 

Did he mention the low (verylow) number of assists? The Rockets musst play team ball and not be concerned with SF being named a candidate for MVP!!!! Its no use for him to be the top scorer and us loose the game.

 

crash,

the first Q of the Philly game was nice, imo. I watched the game again. They are definitely utilizing a 5 man. imo, there is nothing that says it is an ISO offense outside of what Francis's reads are.

JayZ,

"gotten worse" is somewhat harsh if you are basing it on the last game. Mobley shooting 48% in a less that primary option capacity is great to me. And what do you mean they are not talking about it. In todays Chronicle, Rudy and Francis both said they suck. Neither one is happy with the progress of the offense....that doesn't sound to me like they are considering moving back to ISO, rather they are criticizing their execution of the new offense.

there is a new offense....the deal is...there isn't a new offense for a lot of what Francis does...is that an oxymoron????

 

Shouldn't you use the first few games to evaluate "bubble" players and the last few games of the preseason to get your new offense ready? Why is it the reverse?

 

Easy,

The first quarter was not ISO. The 2nd Q was a lot Yao Ming.

What do you mean, "reverse?" I don't see it in watching the game again. I see Francis in the 2nd half frustrating me for sure with his lame attempt at running 24 high, but I don't see a lack of a new offense.

imo, so far,,,,and this could indeed change to the worse in the regular season (no promises here), the lack of seeing a 5man game all the time is in Francis's style in running 24 High...that may not be a 5man game, but it isn't really ISO either....it is a read. It is all on Francis's decision making.

Am I happy in the last game...NO. Are Rudy and Francis...NO....that is what they said in the paper today.

 

it's all about deadlines. the roster must be set at 18 players on ??? and cut to 15 before the regular season starts. they like to use every possible second before they make a decision on a player to take/cut, and there is a "gap" of time between the start of the season & the "final roster of 15 day" (i don't know the actual dates) for the actual team to get there **** together.

 

HP,

I was not talking about 1st half 2nd half of a game. I was talking about the reverse of priority in terms of the preseason. They should play a lot of the bubble guys at the BEGINNING of the preseason and make the decision of cut early. The last few games should be used to play as much the regular rotation as possible in order to get the kinks of the new offense worked out. That's what the NFL teams do in preseason. I have put up the question after the first preseason game about why Francis and Mobley were played 35+ min.

BTW, someone mentioned in another thread that Ming might be a distraction in the last two games. I laughed at it as some lame excuse. But come to think of it, that might have some truth to it. Hopefully, when the Ming hoopla dies down, they can really get the offense going.

 

Well said. Someone pointed out before preseason (heyP?) that it's better to
struggle with our new offense than to abandon it for the ISO for quick results/wins.

So when someone says that our offense has gotten "worse" I ask,
is it regressing back to the ISO-worse, or are we using the 5-man,
but struggling-worse?

The later is good. Because that means that we are really trying to
learn the new offense, even if it means that we lose some games
because of it.

But, if we regress to the ISO, just to get a win. Now that's a bad
idea.

I know it sounds silly to sacrifice wins to learn an offense.
But, it really will pay off LATER; more wins. Rather than the immediate
satisfaction of wining a few NOW.