I view the "long term offensive fix" as most likely coming during the offseason due to trade and having a training camp. I hope we can make FVV more off ball and reduce his minutes this season which I feel is possible. I just think the result won't be as drastic as folks think.
The Rockets offensive rating is currently better than the Suns. Even with Durant missing half the time, there is no player reason for the Rockets to have a better offensive rating than the Suns. I really don't think this will last, but I find it hilarious that every team with a better offense so far 36 games deep into the season has better offensive personnel while a lot of fans are complaining about the offensive coaching.
Well there is one reason, and it's the only reason we're a good offensive team at all, it's because of offensive rebounding. We're the #1 offensive rebounding team in the league and we've got a pretty good lead over #2. We are 28th in eFG and 28th in TS. We're really bad at scoring per attempt, we just get a lot more attempts than other teams. The only reason our offense grades well is because we're really good at getting extra shots, even though we're bad at making them. Credit to Ime for getting our guys to buy into this strategy because it's very physically demanding to ask all your players to crash the glass.
I don't think Udoka is doing a bad job of coaching the offense, but I think the people who are complaining about coaching are looking more at why our group of highly touted lottery picks not playing up to their draft pedigree on offense. I put this more on Rockets developmental staff personally. Not sure how much of that is Ime and how much on Stone. But 4+ years of not developing anyone who can shoot at a league average level is definitely a concern.
I'd put the shooting almost all on Stone. Stone's put together a great team that is basically missing a consistent on ball scoring threat and guys that can shoot. I wouldn't say Stone has had a bad job as this team is still developing and it is hard to predict the future (i.e., who will develop what).
What limiting turnovers, creating a lot of turnovers and offensive rebounding does to a offense lol. The Rockets are winning the possession game.
I think Ime and Co knew we'd struggle offensively so they intentionally came up with a plan to maximize possessions through rebounding and limiting turnovers.
Aside from Green and Jabari, I don't see a bunch of highly touted offensive lottery players. Both those players split time between the Silas era of tanking and the Ime Phase 2 era. Technically Jabari did shoot over league average on 3pt last season though. It's definitely a bit concerning, but we still need to see how the season plays out. Reed was brought in for shooting and intangibles but hasn't gotten it going on a Rockets team that isn't giving anytime for on court development. Good to see he knows how to shoot in the G League.
Yeah I agree, that's why I said credit to Ime for the strategy. It's very smart. If we weren't a great offensive rebounding team we'd be one of the worst offenses in the league.
Hopefully they can remain as intense on those elements through this month. Tari being back next game is encouraging, We need him. If Jalen sustains this recent offensive surge, and Alpi starts hitting his shots, We're going to plow through this difficult stretch without losing much in the standings. And even though I like his presence on the team and he finally started moving like he used to, I would look to move on from Adams. Keep him as a situational big for matchups with Jokic/Embiid etc. We need a more switchable big off the bench though. A guy like Williams III would fit the back up 4/5 like a glove. Hopefully We get him at the deadline.
We can hire an assistant to design offensive strategies. Also, keeping the players fresh is important for an all-hustling team. I wasn't aware that Morant, JJJ, and Bane all play less than 30 mpg. Playing your best players such a low number of minutes is unheard of.
In football, all screens are moving. The offensive linemen (those huge dudes lining up at the front) shove the defensive players aside to open a lane for their ball carrier.
11th overall in Offensive Rating. If Alpy could get more consistent (and Jalen doesn't turn back into a pumpkin) we'd really be cooking with gas.
