I am growing increasingly frustrated with the way the Rockets play...Not how well, not even how smart, but just HOW...They are being used incorrectly. I suppose that means I am bashing Rudy, and that's hardly original, but this stuff seems so obvious to me I am amazed that it isn't being done yesterday... The primary purpose of setting up an offense is to maximize your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses, as a whole, but with particular emphasis on those strengths and weaknesses of your primary players. The Rockets, quite simply, do not do this. Steve Francis' primary strengths are his ability to break his man down and get to the rim, his mid range pull up shooting, his rebounding, and general quickness and athletic ability. His weaknesses include his court awareness, his ball protection, his man on defense, and his consitency...So in our offense we look to him to always bring the ball up, and initiate the team's sets from the perimeter...why, exactly? Now there are many, and they are growing, who will say the solution is to get a 'real' pont guard, and move Steve to the 2 spot..I am not among them. As a 2 many of Steve's current strengths would be diminished, while many of his weaknesses, defense in particular, would be exaggerated. The solution is not to change his position, but his role. The problem is that we are having a non-conventional point guard try and assume a conventional point guard role : bring the ball up, call the set, initiate the set, be the hinge on the break, etc...These are not what Steve is best at...He is proficient enough to do it often, but when he is asked to do it exclusively, it presents him with a delima...How does he initiate the offense, when he is often the best offensive option? How does he get others involved when his strengths and weaknesses make doing just that his worst available play? Yao Ming's greatest strengths are his court sense, his passing, his height/size, his offensive variety, his hands, and his jumper...His weaknesses are his lateral mobility, his endurance, and his occasional lack of assertivness...We currently use him as a post only option who usually either gets the ball with his back to the basket, frequently with the other Rockets voiding the side he is on, or coming around him for a screen pass...This is not terrible, but it's limited, and it makes some of his greater abilities moot. I particularly am frustrated with the clearing out and the post only aspects... Taking advantage of his passing would be best accomplished by even spacing around him rather than clearing the weakside...Keep his options open and the defense guessing...and, as someone else has pointed out elsewhere, get him the ball more often, and in a greater variety of areas..most notably the elbow, from which he could present a defense with a deadly triple threat. I still think that the block is his main office, but he shouldn't be chained there..as is, if he's not there, he doesn't get the rock...and too often that's the case even when he's at his desk... Solution? Well, it's overly simple, but I'd say these things... 1) Eliminate the need for Steve to always initiate the offense, or even bring up the ball..Create a system, kind of like the old Celtics, where there are always a few options, and the perimeter guys are flexible..This keeps the defense on it's heels, and allows Steve to assume differing roles in the set/break depending upon who is on him, where he is, and so forth. He'll still be option 1, but it'll be 1A... 2) Cuttino is not, I am afraid, the backcourt partner with which we can accomplish this. His strengths and weaknesses mirror those of Steve's, hence the problems we have are usually compounded..What we need from our 2 alongside Steve are the following: Court sense, defense, handle, and athleticism...Cuttino offers one of the above... Also, whether it is the 2 guard or someone else, we are in desperate need of a proficient entry passer..We may be the worst entry passing team I have ever seen...Every game, good or bad, is a graveyard of wasted halfcourt sets due mainly to the fact that our entry passes are usually deliverd too late. too early, too high, too low, too hard, too soft, or just not at all...The only guys we have who are any good are Rice and Yao Ming himself, and Rice doesn't do enough else to keep him out there, and Yao Ming can't, for all his wonderful talent, pass to himself. 3) In the half court set, RUN THE OFFENSE THROUGH MING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't overstate this...except when he is exhausted, Yao has easily been the best offensive quarterback we have had this year...Steve is more of a running back, Cuttino and JP are wide receivers, and Eddie's a Tight End...okay, I got a little carried away there, but you get my point. The offense should almost always be run through Yao...In fact, I can see more justification for that than there was to run it through Dream...Yao isn't as talented as Olajuwon in terms of individual offensive ability, but is probably already a superior team-oriented offensive player. Yao should be the hub our offense revolves around in the half-court...And removing Steve's need to get the ball off of almost every defensive board would allow Yao to start the break as the amazing outlet passer he has shown flashes of being, and let Steve be the ultimate lane breaker and/or finisher... It seems very simple to me...use the players we are building around to the best of their abilities, and stop making them consitently do things they cannot do well...
once again, you have said it. though, I do think Mobes can contribute on this team if you vary the point of attack enough...see this weekend's games against Minnesota and Sac town...he was effective in a role where he is agetting feeds from the block and is wide open....
MacBeth, you nailed...except for the part about mobley. cuttino mobley has proven that he is the most malleable player on the houston rockets. his role has changed no less than 4 times since he has been on the team, and not once has he b****ed, whined or complained about it. he has been (in order): a point guard/distributor/defender a backup shooting guard a supporting, starting 2 guard a main emphasis, starting 2 guard and now is back to being a supporting, starting 2 guard. there is no reason to believe that if rudy, or van gundy (oops, where'd that come from), or whomever, requested for cat's role to change, that he would even meow about it. he never has meowed about his role. no other player on the houston rockets roster can say that.
Oh, I agree that he's never complained...This isn't about attitude, but about ability...Cat simply doesn't have the court sense or handle to compensate for diminishing Steve's ball carrying duties, and asking him to adapt that much would be minimizing his own considerable scoring abilites. But I do agree that, when asked, he has shown remarkable willingness to try and adapt.
Shakespeare couldn't have said it better. Utterly insighful. But, alas, the obvious is an unfathomable mystery to this team, organization, and many posters on this board. I absolutely love Rudy, but I am beginning to believe that he is not the coach for this particular cast of characters. It really pains me to admit it. Currently, this team. and I use the word loosely, is a tragic misapplication of talent, and that is a "coaching" issue. I keep hoping that he will weld these folks into a team but it just isn't happening.
Once again, MacBeth puts forth solid points. This is all I can add: Running the offensive through Yao may not be enough. When Yao does receive the ball in the post as the first option, the next movement is that the passer (somewhat leisurely) crosses through the paint to the weakside. What's up with this? Occassionally, the entry passer (SF or CM) will move quickly (or PnR) but not often. The play is slow in developing and allows a double team on Yao. Why is there no one coming from the weakside to criss cross with the post entry passer? This current play stalls with the Rockets standing around the arc expecting Yao to go one on one (often late in the shot clock). This takes away from Yao's considerable passing skills. How about having Mobley or Francis rub off MoT in the paint (or weakside low block) and continue on for some weakside screens as Mo move moves up to FT line? Mo is money from here and also very good at a post entry (re-post in this instance) pass from this area. If I totally understand MacBeth, the plays currently being run don't emphasize the individual skills of the team...and I 100% agree.
Very good piece in my opinion (and I have not finished it yet). Very convincing arguements and points. Strengths and weaknesses - if we can somehow maximize the former and minimize the later we will be more consistent rather than waiting for our to get that ever ellusive "experience". Now let me go back and finish it
MacBeth, I like what you propose. Posey fits that description perfectly. If Rice, as you said, is the best entry passer, then starting Posey (as a 2) alongside with Rice should be good. Unfortunately, Rice's health renders him a very unreliable starter, without even considering his inconsistent shooting when he's healthy. I also feel that Francis, as good as a rebounder he is, should not go for the defensive rebound. There are some good rebounding guards, such as Magic and Kidd, who can get the rebound and dribble out to initiate the break. Francis is far from having the same court sense to do that. Yao's outlet passing, on the other hand, is very good. Francis should be ready to run out (instead of to hit the defensive board) once the opponent's shot is release. Think about it, if the roles of Francis and Yao were reversed in last night's ill-fated turnover at the end, what would it be like!
Solid...I am withya...this is a painful time, but the proof keeps popping up. I love Rudy for contribution to this organization, but it is coming apparent that he is not the coach for this team.. notice I did not say he is not a good coach, just not suited for this team I believe. you can even see it on his face in the games...he looks utterly disgusted with his situation, the team and himself. he almost looks like he is having a conversation that goes like this: Outside Rudy: "Come on guys, did we not talk about this a million times in practice, on the bus and in the lockerroom..aren't you listening" Inside Rudy: "Maybe it is just you....maybe you cannot relate...or sound like a recorder" Outside Rudy: "I am getting tired of repeating myself and sounding like a freakin school teacher" Inside Rudy: "This is what you get paid for...maybe it is time to move to the front office and hang out for while" Outside Rudy: "That is admitting failure...at least we hustled" Inside Rudy: "How many times are we using that excuse" Outside Rudy: "Maybe I should trade Steve" Inside Rudy: "Maybe should you hire real assistants!" Outside Rudy: "Maybe we ought to hire Macbeth : )"
MacBeth, ah...i see what you're saying. and i agree. mobley is not physically talented enough to compensate in the areas where steve is weakest.....and vice versa.
Our offense would suffer a lot if we started Rice and Posey together. Our deefnse would suffer too. I've been saying it forever. Do what you can to get Odom. Don't make him the main distributor, don't make him the main offensive cog. Make him some of everything. Oh, and tell Steve that he doesn't need to rebound anymore with Ming, Griffin, Odom and Cato in our frontcourt. Of course, there are health issues. But with a player like odom at the 3, I'd be comfortable with Posey at the 2. We also need to replace Moochie with a VERY smart backup PG. The Rockets like Rudy T, but they don't take him seriously anymore. It's like, you'd screw around in front of your own father, whom you love, but wouldn't do anythign stupid in front of your girlfriend's parents, even though you don't give a crap about them. It's time for a change. But we can't do it midseason, so we keep our patience, get swept in the playoffs, and begin re-tooling to make this Yao and Francis' team.
Isn't it obvious? When your best passer is a 22 year old 7'5" rookie center who's lived in this country for 4 months, you have a major problem. That's it in a nutshell.
verse, I think that if Mobley had a higher IQ, or could bring the ball up, it would be OK. What Francis needs is someone to bring the ball up, whom the offense will not pressure as a scorer AND a passer. I read somewhere that Posey brought the ball up in Denver while he was there, and he's done it few few times here. What do you guys think about that?
oh, and james posey does not have the handle at the 2 spot to compensate for steve's deficiencies, either.... the reality is that if you're willing to change the 2 guard to compensate for francis' deficiencies, you might as well just trade steve for a legitimate pure point guard and a legitimate power forward...
I agree with Sane....now is not the time to panic and make wholesale changes...let's keep it together....get in to the playoffs and see if we can make a run..that is our goal this year. who knows maybe we can get hot, because lord knows we tend to play up to teams....my only concern is when we get in panic mode, we tend to revert to no passing....no assists....and poor shot selection....knowing this we have to learn to counteract this before it happens....see Minnesota and Sac game as proof....
Some of the great teams of 'ago', the Rox West champ year of 86 included, had a 'point forward' who changed the 'look' of the 'O'. There aren't many Larry Birds or Jamal Mashburns or even Rodney MacCreas running around. There is FA-to be Lamar Odom, the underappreciated Michael Finley (more of a 2 than 3, but) who is not available to Rox, but no one else I can immediately access. The Rox have reportedly asked about Odom in the past and might have gotten him in the Yao-pick-package had they been unable to work with China, and very possibly this man represents a terrific option for the good guys if they could do a 'sterling deal'. (It's a shame I just cannot decree Odom/Brand for KC and EG.) Before Moochie got paid the Rox had success with the three guard offense, but it no longer works because MooNo isn't effective. The answer is at the '3', is in LA, and needs a ticket hemi-semi-demi cross country.
the more i think about this, the more i am convinced... if you don't think we can win with the way steve francis plays ball right now, you might as well trade him. steve francis is not going to change his style of ball. hell, it's what he's done his entire life. and as long as he's on the court, be it at the 1, 2, or 3 spots, he's going to dominate the ball. he's just that freakin' talented. but talent without wisdom is a gun with no safety mechanism...you never know when it'll go off, or who it'll shoot. i digress... fiddling around with the 2 spot and talking about getting someone that compliments francis, as opposed to mirroring him, is spinning your wheels. imagine putting lamar odom next to him. as soon as steve gets the ball, it's the same thing you see now. brent barry? same thing. nevermind the defensive nightmares... i'll say it again: if you don't think we can win with the way steve francis plays ball right now, you might as well trade him.
I really like Odom too, but he's injured FAR too often. That's something to consider. It's been mentioned before that Brent Barry is a good compliment. I don't know if I would give Mobley up for him though. Micheal Redd may be a nice piece.
If, and that's a HUGE IF, Rice could stay healthy I don't think he woud be a defensive liabilty against every team. IMHO, he can defend the likes of Christie or Stojakovic, Raja Bell, Bowen, Ferry or Fox. But back to MacBeth's point - if we're not running plays now emphasizing player skills, what do you run for Posey at SG and Rice at SF? I know Rice can still post up. This is all surreal considering MacBeth and I were among the biggest Rice detractors 2 summers ago.
Typical PG's and typical PF's don't win NBA championships anymore verse. I'd rather have Francis and Odom than Andre Miller and Elton Brand. There's only so much a Miller/Brand tandem can do, and we've seen that this year. But Odom and Francis would make each other brilliant players.
