To be honest I'm more concerned on how we defend other teams 3 point shooting. Seems the better teams of the NBA have a propensity to shoot the 3 so good against us.
The Rocket shoot a higher percentage of their field goals from inside the paint than any other team in the league. They also shoot midrange shots less frequently than any other team. So, most likely, if we are being more selective on our 3-point shooting, those shots will instead be coming from mid-range. So is that tactically a good decision? Look at it this way. The best mid-range shooting team according to stats.nba.com is the POR, and they shoot an effective FG% of 43.7% on those shots. That's the equivalent of shooting 29.1% on 3's. We're currently shooting 35% from 3. Best case scenario of replacing our "bad" 3s with higher percentage mid-range shots would be to maintain the same level of effective efficiency, while being a more consistent team. But I think its more likely that the strategy would end up hurting us overall.Our overall efficiency would go down from outside the paint IMO, and I think we'd also get less easy shots in the paint by not stretching the floor as much.
Just about 1 blown defensive cover per game. Defensive rotations is actually something the team can work on. Three point shooting % not so much.
i just happened to look at the rockets shot chart on nba.com yesterday. we currently don't have a single zone where we shoot above league average. and we have several where we are below. and yet we have a good offense in large part because we take so many of our "average efficiency" shots from the spots on the floor that are the highest efficiency overall. it shows what shot distribution can do. and plus we get to the line a lot. 2 or 3 points per game works out to 5 to 8 wins over the course of a season. it's a huge deal. given 26.4 3PA per game, every percentage point is worth .792 points per game. which works out to about 2.1 wins over the course of a season. so about 2 wins per percentage point on 3. a pretty big deal to get that percentage up.
A few points: The Rockets do take some mid-ranged shots, generally when they are absolutely wide open, which is generally a very good shot. One of the reasons the three point shot is so efficient is generally the defender is playing much looser coverage out there. And the coverage has gotten looser in part to the NBA teams 2.9 defense developed by coach Thib. Weak side defenders try to stay in the paint for 2.9 seconds. But then if the ball swings around their man is sitting at the three point line, they may still be in the paint. No team will slack off of players that far if they are in the paint or set up for a mid-ranged jumper. NBA teams understand the opponents offensive capabilities. They teach their players the three point shooters must be actively challenged hard in they make more than 32% of their treys. Sometimes this can allow someone like TJones to slip in under the radar for wide open threes early in the season. Defenses have adjusted and Jones no longer has such a wide open look beyond the arc.
Right now? I would say tired legs mostly. On the season as a whole, we aren't taking threes in the flow of the offense. When we have, bam! We hit 10+ threes very efficiently. And we don't have a knock down three point shooter. Everyone on our team is ranging from solid three point shooters (Harden, Parsons, Brooks) to streaky (Garcia, Casspi, Jones, Dmo). Lin and Bev are in the middle of that range. Last year, Delfino was streaky but you could count on him to hit at least hit 3 or so threes a game. Not so much with Garcia and Casspi as at this point of they COMBINE for three threes, we would say they shot well. We don't need a Ray Allen or Kyle Korver but if we can find a three point specialist, we would be great!
Looking at team records and offensive efficiency , rockets don't have good enough shooters to even sniff midrange shots . Teams are staying in games because the offensive is predictable ! Either it's a "pump fake drive" or 3pt attempt. Only person with balls to not hesitate before taking a mid is parsons. Shooting wise rockets aren't talented enough to be compared to Portland and you CAN'T claim 2pt %is equivalent to 3pt% in any way.
I think Garcia when he's on is the best 3 point shooter on the team, problem is he is seemingly never on. In fact he's lucky to be on the damned roster right now
That's my take..... Layups and three point shots are efficient under the flow of a normal offense. In my opinion, this efficiency wanes if we shoot only layups and three point shots, because the defense only has to focus on stopping those two types of shots. I think if the Rockets take what the defense gives them, and use the entire offensive area to shoot, it will open up more shots both at the rim and from 3-pt territory.
I can't tell what you're saying that is in disagreement with what I said. Offensive efficiency is points scored per possession used. So, I would say a mid-range % is "equivalent" to a 3-point % if the points scored per FG attempt is the same.
Morey has constructed the Rockets players and coaching staff so that they will take the minimum mid-ranged two point shots. That is not going to change. As you can see in the table below the Rockets have the second best eFG% in the league. So obviously it is working. Hard to argue against facts.
I think it's definitely a slump. These are bad numbers for Harden and Garcia in particular, not within their normal range.But it's not the whole team; Parsons is hitting at a respectable 39.7%, Brooks is running at around 42%, and of course Lin has made a big improvement in that area and is hitting at 39% right now. We don't have any 3 point specialists, but we do have a bunch of guys who are legit threats from the 3. It would be nice to have a specialist but I am happy with having a team stocked full of guys who on any given night can light it up from 3. That's a huge threat that other teams have to defend against. I expect the team's numbers to improve throughout the season. We had a fantastic 3-shooting team last year. The slump won't last all season. And honestly, I think we got spoiled last season. With the other tools we have in the toolbox now the team doesn't necessarily live or die by the 3 as much as last season. The slump is a concern, but not a huge one, I think.
I don't think anything is wrong. They are in the middle of the pack, not dead last, or even in the bottom ten. I'm sure the Rockets would like to shoot a better percentage, but they aren't very far off from being a top ten team in three point percentage. I think Morey is probably looking to upgrade the roster to provide better shooters, but it's hard to make moves if other teams aren't willing to trade. Lets see how they doing at the end of the season, I bet they improve their percentage.
