I agree completely. Dallas runs essentially what it seems like Rudy wants to do. Have some penetration by Nash/Francis, some one-on-one posts ups with Nowitski/Yao, mix int eh pick and rolls, let your other very solid player, Finley/Mobley, have some one on one plays, etc. Whereas the Kings seem to run more of your traditional motion offense. I've had no problems with the Rockets "play calling" this year. Rudy has done a much better job this year than last at having a balance between the pick and roll, low post threat, guard penetration, double high post play, Yao as the wing picker/passer play, etc. The problem has been, as has been pointed out over and over int his thread, is that the players, when put in those situations don't make simple, fundamentally basic decisions that would lead to more success in those situations. They don't hit the open guy on the roll. They fail to swing the ball properly at times, will often force their way between double and triple teams, take ill advised shots, etc. Defensively, there are some similar basic flaws that can be found. As for teh 4th quarter playoff stand around play. I think this really isn't that common. Sure, last second plays involve one player eseentially beating another. But the Bulls and Lakers both ran/run the triangle, and continued to do so into 4th quarters. The Jazz will run the pick and roll to death if its working. Of course, if you have a player like Shaq, or Hakeem, or Duncan, or soon to be Yao, the throw it into the post and wait for the defense to react works well, as a reacting defense will laed to open lanes etc, whereas forcing it will lead to more turnovers, which are oh so much more harmful in the playoffs. In regards to last nights game in particular, it reflects badly on the teams training that twice in a row Yao got the ball stolen blindside without seemingly a teammate to yell in time for him to protect the ball or to cut to get open under the basket.
I guess Rudy either didn't want to overstate/overpromise on the new offensive scheme by calling it a motion offense, or he just wanted to be clear about the distinction and definitions. But I'm confused with the terminology. I know the Kings run the Princeton offense, which focuses on cutting, high-post play, and going backdoor, while de-emphasizing dribbling, screening, and rigid adherence to traditional player roles -- 4 interchangeable guys plus a post player. (yeah, straight from the SI article). The fundamental thing is that they really don't run set plays -- they mainly just read and react to the defense according to some basic principles. They can run set plays, but that's not as important as reading and reacting. Clearly, Dallas doesn't run their offense this way. Some questions: Is the Princeton offense a type of 4-out 1-in motion offense? And are Bobby Knight's passing game and the Triangle also types of motion offenses? Then what exactly is a 5-man offense? Are 5-man offenses a superset of motion offenses? If so, what's an example of a 5-man offense that isn't a motion offense? Anyway, I know the Rockets don't run a motion offense, nor do they aspire to. But the thing is, I don't see that the Rockets run a 5-man game, at least not on a consistent basis. It just seems too often that we see a single player dominate the ball while the other guys stand around. Or they do it some of the time, but then degenerate back into 1-on-1 play. During crunch time in the post-season, when teams are really playing defense, working to deny the ball, playing the passing lanes, pressuring the ball, working to disrupt set plays, etc., there are reasons to simplify things, play it safe, give the big guy room to go to work, and make it easier for him to read where the double team is coming from. But why the lack of movement early and throughout the game? Crunch time is fine for 1-on-1 play, but why do we have to work so hard for baskets a good chunk of the game? Movement -- whether that's from an unstructured motion offense, or set plays -- puts the defense under constant pressure. As for cutting and post play, one question. When teams are trying to deny Yao the ball by fronting him, everyone always wonders why we don't make the lob pass. Do we ever try to have a weakside player flash to the elbow to accept the entry pass, then have him feed the ball high-low to Yao, who can seal the defender who has fronted him? Sh*t, I don't know what the hell I'm doing up wondering about this crap when I have an early meeting tomorrow...
I'm at a friend's house who has NBALP, and I'm watching Dallas vs Memphis right now, and after barely getting settled in my seat I can already see huge differences in Dallas' offense and Houston's. The single most important difference? Movement away from the ball. Granted, on their post up plays to Dirk, there isn't much movement, though it's still more than you'll ever see watching a Houston post up play. However, on their guard penetrations, their movement away from the ball is something yo unever see from Rudy. On penetration, off-the-ball players make hard cuts to open spaces, giving them wide open shots. When Houston penetrates, off-the-ball players stand in one spot waiting for a desperation pass from the hapless penetrator. Rudy's strategy: give the ball to a player that can go one-on-one, and either make the defense double team, or make the one-on-one player make the defense pay for not bringing the double team by beating the defense one-on-one. This forces the defense to make one decsion, but that's just it, it is only ONE DECISION. Nelly's strategy (and probably just about every other NBA coach): give the ball to a player that can go one-on-one and make the defense decide if they are goind to double team or not, but at the same time, have off-the-ball players set screens and make cuts to open spaces to give the player with the ball more options. This forces the defense to make MULTIPLE DECISIONS, NOT JUST ONE.
