Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! I agree most with this: And if ANY coach is to be as good (including Rudy T, or JVG) they must do likewise.
Ah ha ! Thank you, i had missed that...i actually suggested rating the posters in the Forum Guideline thread but this is a better idea...
Since we're on the topic of coachign styles... isn't it interesting that Riley/JVG's style of coaching hasn't won a ring for a heck of a long time now? Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, and Rudy T are the last 11 rings I believe. Do you guys think it's a pattern or is it just coincidence?
So macbeth, inside-out is the way to play basketball, huh? Is the sun gonna rise from the east as well?
This thread is just another drawn out,not cutting to the chase novel that can just simply be summarized into about two sentences. Trade Steve and Mobley and Cuttino and Cato and replace them with smart spot up shooters and then we can FINALLY play inside out instead of iso street ball. Off the top of my head,but Id trade steve for rashard,then cat+cato for redd. And go from there. Sign a MArc Jackson out of retirement.Get griffin back off drugs and allow him to shoot threes like hes supposed to do (he is not a banger ,and never will be).Signing Travis Best like Dallas did is something I would have done,but nobody would care since iM not the Gm. best/jackson/wilks redd/pike/jim jackson rashard/jackson/boki griffin/taylor/padgett ming/braggs/ameechi ON paper doesnt look like equal talent,but in chemistry is works much better with Mings game instead of this confusion we see now.
Right, which would mean the strategy doesn't always work. Specifically when you're team isn't good enough or is getting called for fouls they're not normally called for.
Sane, Winning a championship takes a lot of things (in order of importance): Owner/GM (I love Les's attitude about winning. He hates to lose). Coach/Staff (JVG is no nonsense) Star (Up in the air; a leader should lead by example; set the standard) 2nd Star/maybe a 3rd (Who is the 2nd "banana?") Key role players (strong) Chemistry (You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have chemistry you will never win). Luck (Last but necessarily not least; you need a little luck to win the big one; but if all the things above are strong, then you can make your own luck). By the way, "Chemistry" doesn't just mean that they "get along." It means that they are on the same page, they know each others tendencies, and their styles mesh well; they complement each others styles.
If, as Macbeth says, we're forced to succumb to more physical defenses, and so put up fewer points than we would have otherwise been able, where do we stand when our defense fails (a la Mavericks)? In that Mavs game for example, our defense was demolished not by any fault of our own, but by the simple fact that the opposing team made baskets . What do we do in a situation like this? We have to have an offensive strategy to beat our own defense. I think I have a solution...everyone rummage through your old SI's for the "Jordan's Birthday" edition of last year. Found it? Great. Now go read the article on the Princeton Offense. For those of you who don't save SI's (gasp) or those who don't subscribe to it at all (double gasp), here's a basic rundown of the Princeton Offense: 1: There is no distinction between the four non-post players. ie: other than your one center, the other positions are indistinguishable in thier intent. 2: The center plays much higher than usual, about halfway between the free-throw line and the basket. 3: The other 4 players are arranged near the perimeter, but constantly moving. 4: The offense is run inside-out, going first to the center. 5: The offense demands a center capable of hitting mid-range jump shots fairly accurately and more importantly, capable of crisp, accurate passing. 6: The offense requires four very quick{/B] players, who can catch and shoot. The Concept: Once the ball is given to the center at high post, the other four players make cuts to the basket at varying intervals (really the plays can have a lot of variation, with picks and such). The center must look for either an open 3-point shooter or a cutter who has gotten by his man. This works well against zone defenses because it forces the zone to fade from one side to another rapidly, and defenses tend to leave the blind side open to backdoor cutters. More important is the fact that after a cutter has gone to the basket and NOT received the ball, the zone defense will more often than not forget about him. New Jersey and Sacromento bothuse it to an extent, and the Rockets could benefit from this immensly. Think about it, we're a young, quick team, with a Center than can shoot (sometimes startlingly) well and make great passes (think last year with Rice). It doesn't hurt either that our center is also our most unselfish player. Also, it takes the ball out of Francis' hands, and opens him up to unleash his ability to make those layups that boggle the mind. The rest of our team is sufficiently quick to run this offense, and it doesn't take long to teach. This will beat any physical defense, because its so difficult to defend in the first place, and thusly more tiring. I've actually seen the Rockets do this a few times this season but mostly on accident. You see those plays when the ball gets swung either through Ming or from Ming to one corner, around the key to the other? The Princeton Offense encourages that every time. So what do you guys think?
I wish. But we don't have the players that can learn that type of offense. Even if they wanted to, they would fail miserably. Ivy League baseball is in direct opposition to playground basketball. And we have a few players that "enjoy" the later. Anyways, I wouldn't want to run that pure offense anyways. I just want efficient Rocket ball with the players/system we have (if that can be done). I mean, HELL! If we can't run the pick and roll with any assemblance of order or cohesion, how do you think a Princeton Offense would do? Talk about a bunch of confused players!
No EDIT!!! Ivy League basketball is in direct opposition to playground basketball. And we have a few players that "enjoy" the later.
If we can turn a pretty deplorable defensive unit into the league's #1 (I'm being a fan here) defense, why can't we teach them a new offense? We have the scoring ability...
Of the two, which is more difficult to learn? Anways, "Why can't we...?" will be the biggest question of the year. We better, or we'll be out of the play-offs as fast as you can say, "air ball."
Sane, I think answer here is that it's NOT by coincidence. Rather.... Each of these aforementioned coaches, including RudyT, had/has some superstar caliber players, not least of which, at the Small Forward/Center positions. Shaq/Kobe, Duncan/Parker/Robinson, Hakeem, for Jackson, Popovich and RudyT respectively. Riley and JVG teams of the 90s have not been nearly as blessed with such talent. Houston represents the best team insofar as talent, IMHO, that JVG has yet to coach. The JVG system of tough D works, IMHO. It keeps us close in games, and thus, gives us a chance to win. Whether it's about getting that critical stop, or keeping the score w/in reason, there is absolutely no game, to date, that I can remember when we were truly blown out of the water. The challenge, IMHO, will be how to optimize our offense for such low scoring games. On offense, 100 pt+ scoring games will be the exception, not the rule for our Rockets. On defense, I hope we can keep our opponents consistently under the 85 pt mark. Given Cat and SF's ability to draw fouls, I think it's only a matter of time before they start to understand how to milk the clock and get to the line when it really counts. The ability to get to the line is a huge PLUS when it comes to winning tight, low scoring games. As of today, I think the Rox are still trying to figure this stuff out, esp. who to go to during crunch time and how to pull out the win using intelligent play. theSAGE
Well I would argue that there isn't one that's more difficult than the other...the only major problem with instituting a PO that I can see is that our defensive scheme is very tiring... Running the PO would mean running a faster, harder, offense, which might deplete our players too soon...hmmm maybe this is the reason the Rockets have been falling apart late in games, JVG's Defensive scheme?
That's gonna take at least a year for the rockets to master. My feeling is: if YaoMing can draw double team consistently, we are going to be fine. No matter how quick the opponent team's rotation is, we will always find a way to swing the ball to the open man (we are not there yet). When Yao had an off night and the opponent covers him with one man, it looks to me that JVG's 2nd option was to iso either Francis or Mobley, sometimes JJ. They tried to run pick and roll with Yao and Steve/Cat. But the guards have no clue how to take advantage of that.
this may be a little O/T. as a team, what strategies are available to the Rox to counteract the all-too-frequent double-team defense against Yao. my BB knowledge is modest; but this is my strategy. once a D team is committed, ---have the unguarded man run to the free-throw line. ---have the trapped man (usually Yao) jump pass to the open man at the F/T line. ---have all other mates ready to run to an open spot ( toward the basket) should a defender try to pick up the open man at the F/T line. this expose the liability of a Double team D---there is always an open man.
