Volume shooters - who can't shoot

We have the offense, we just dont have the right person to play the hot person. We also let too many teams score easy buckets.

Our problem is who to play and defense.

Offense has never been a problem.

 

I beg to differ. If you don't score, you don't win. If you don't play defense, you don't win. You have to play well on both sides of the floor.

When you have so many players shoot so badly, that points to bad offensive execution.

 

On those possessions, I agree with you. There are good shooters and bad shooters.

Artest is actually a good shooter; he simply takes too many bad shots. Alston is a bad shooter and he makes bad decisions. McGrady is a mediocre shooter who also takes too many bad shots. I can't tell if Brooks is a good shooter or a bad shooter. Battier was a good shooter; the reason he shoots under 40% is because almost all his shots are from three where he seems to be less efficient this year.

 

We have personnel that can shoot the ball. The major problem is shot selection. To many isos. When this team moves the ball they can be effective. To me the bigger drop off has been defense. I miss the days of JVG when we would routinely shut teams down. Offense is something that can come and go, but great teams play good defense every night.

 

How many times have you seen in this thread "why is coach taking him out, he is shooting well" or "if coach didnt take out so and so we would have won".

Every player one day or another , more times or some times will have a off day. Shouldnt it be coaches job to play the 'ON' days characters. Instead of the highest paid player or the 'we need to see if your gonna get resigned player'.

We do not have a problem with offense. We have a problem with whom is on the floor thanks to coach. We have a problem with whom get touches thanks to Tmac and Artest and more so often but with exception on blue moon days Brooks and Rafer. If Yao is hot why does he only have 20 touches or Scola for that matter. If Battier is shooting 0 for 6 and we're down by 1 with so little time why is it he is on the floor. If Rafer is 1 for 7 of the night and its a close game while Tmac and Landry are having a good game why is it he has the green light to shoot a 2 for one with a tad bit too early for a two for one? There is too many if's. TOO MANY.

We see this hot pattern with Brooks and Wafer so much since the guard position is a battle for. When will players be held for their actions by demoting playing time. Everyone says the team is soft and needs Artest. I say this damn coach is soft and I held in as long as I could with him.

More so ever I value defense higher then offense. If you can make more buckets then allow the other team to do so then by simple calculations you win.

 

It isn't a issue of talent it's an issue of coaching and chemistry. The Rockets as a whole have horrible shot selection. We have players that can shoot and should shoot that are looking to pass and we have players that take shots they shouldn't.

Ron has a tendency to defer to Yao and Tracy when in the starting line-up. That helps his shot selection but takes away from his aggression. With the way he is shooting and both he and Battier being a step slow on D I don't think it would be a bad idea to try him starting for a few games. Battier isn't the defensive stopper he has been in the past due to his recovering from surgery. Ron has mostly been money on his open looks from 3. It is the ones that he takes off the dribble and/or rushed that are bad.

Brooks is a shooter at the point. Check out the 4 game stretch of games that he started while Rafer dealt with an injury. All wins and by decent margins (108-96, 107-96, 109-102, and 114-91). Why? He can hit the shots that Rafer can't. He actually finishes most of his lay-ups and hits most of his open 3s even the ones with range (2-3 feet beyond the arc). He isn't the defensive liability that people make him out to be, and he creates transition baskets even if he is a one-man-fast break.

The team has plenty of offense. It is about shot selection and putting the right players on the floor together.

 

he is our most effective three point shooter DD, with the exception to Carl Landry that is. Actually I think last night put him under .4.

Yeah, now BB and VW are above him by a small dose.

 

DD how many times will you say the same thing over and over again? We need a PG, we need a PG, henrich, henrich... the same stuff over and over again, it's not like Morey and Les read these boards, we're speaking to the wall. Getting pretty redundant here at bbs.

 

And, and - to Run. The. Fourth. Quarter.

JKidd has little left in the tank, but he is still Te Man to run their 4Q.
C-Bill, Dre - these guys are the Genrals for their squads.

Get. Steve. Nash. Rafer and Battier for the No D Suns? Kerr and DM the GM need to do this for the benefit of both of their franchises.

The Rox are a quality PG from a deep run this very year.

 

Last night there were quite a few open threes that were missed, but that is going to happen some nights. What makes me more frustrated is the fact that we don't get any easy buckets. I don't consider kick out threes easy buckets. We should be getting more easy looks than we are getting right now. On the bright side Yao looked very aggressive at the end of the game last night. You could feel his intensity. He wanted the rock. The Rockets let the game get away with poor defense for too long. The Grizzlies confidence must have been at an all time high.

 

Not only that but the team went on to lose 3 of the next 4 games upon Rafer's return. The team went from scoring 100+ in all the games he missed to being held to 90, 79, and 87 in the three loses. That isn't a coincidence.

Also, teams adjusting to Brooks is what you want. You want guys on the floor that the other team respects. It helps to spread the floor and keep the defense honest. The more teams are forced to defend Yao one on one the better. Once they double and get caught rotating we need players in the game that can make the OPEN shot. Tracy, Ron, and Scola have all been fairly decent at hitting OPEN shots. The bad shots kill their percentages, and those bad shots are partially do to being on the floor with a guy like Rafer who teams don't rotate to and double off of. When Rafer is on the court teams rotate out of the double team faster because the ignore Rafer usually resulting in Rafer taking a open 3 that he misses front iron.

 

DD, thats what I have been saying!!! We have the offensive capabilities. Its not even a dangon thought! Its how they are played.

Artest? I know this. Thats why I get mad if he goes for the two instead of the three like he has done. But you cant say trade him because of this? Battier? He has only had 1 good game and that good game wasnt as effective (defensive end) so really Artest is the only solutionable perimeter player.