I thought this was a good little analysis of what was successful in last night's game. Also one of my favorite blogs (though I hate those Better Basketball Ads) that I wanted to share. Link
One of my favorite blogs. Thanks Hayesfan. Here are links to all the Rockets entries this season: Shane Battier: Hard Charge Taker McGrady and Yao PnR Rockets Stack Screen for McGrady Rockets Hi-Lo Flex Baseline Play Yao as a High Post Passer Rockets Go Spread without Yao
I don't see why though Rockets would have less space with Yao. I think the picture shows Landry standing on the weak side in the low post (maybe it was Dikembe?) Yao could be standing right there, too and the spacing would be the same, no?
The opportunity has always been there with Yao in the lineup. People just find it easier to believe myths.
Yeah, I'm not sure about that either. It's not like Yao is literally a giant and occupies the entire paint with his girth alone. We're not posting up Yao on the strong side or in the paint, so I suppose that might create a wider lane to the basket for penetration. But I would think the attention Yao draws also helps penetrators.
this all boils down to mindset... with Yao in the game... Tmac feels he dosent have to try as hard...so he takes those jumpers... and cruises along...
In my opinion, that play is working specifically because we are putting a more athletic player on the floor in Landry than Yao. Landry is quick, quick, quick. The defender has to stay with him, because if he doesn't Landry gets the little dipsy doodle pass from McGrady and flushes it at 70%. You put Yao down there and we're still effective. However, the dropoff is simple. The defense fades off Yao to cover Tracy forcing the pass. Yao is too slow to finish with the dunk. He gets the little 5-7 faceup jumper. And the defense is able to recover and contest a little bit. You go from a 70% dunk to a 50% jump shot. Landry standing down there for the finish makes a huge difference. It gives McGrady the lane to finish.
they are referring to less space in the lane because Yao needs to be the focus of attack...being the best player. All help defense is watching Yao, when he's on the strong side or at either elbow, in particular. The entire defense watching Yao prevents spacing for TMac to drive. The defense has less ground to cover to help on a driving TMac when Yao's man and help is already in the lane or a step away. How does that not make sense? I mean, if Yao is the focus of attack, and Scolandry aren't, there are less defenders in the lane. bottomline: The difficulty in TMac getting spacing when Yao is the focus of attack is the whole reason Adelman went away from Yao/TMac PnR's to a more versatile offense requiring cuts and picks and passing from everyone. Adelman didn't create more spacing for drives; Adelman is forcing the defense to move, which leads to defensive mistakes that Landry flushes home.
That's what I thought. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember ever seeing us run this play w/ Yao & Tmac on the floor. Usually Tmac and Yao are always on the same side of the floor (weak side or strong side).
that was true under jvg. but off the top of my head, i can remember adelman has run plays similar to this one at times before yao went down.
Yeah, it's because that's a better offense. Adelman, JVG and Rudy all three agree that Yao should be on the strong side (or weak high post) as much as possible. sure hiding Yao in the weakside, low post area might allow us to run the spacing play for TMac...but is that a better offense that Adelman's cutting/flex game or JVG/Rudy's standard inside-game. Hell, the Triangle put Kobe and Shaq on the same side too.
They do put Yao on the strong side more in the traditional post-up than they do with either Scola or Landry. In that sense, yes, there is less space when they post him on the strong side. However, on the same exact play, Yao sitting on the weak side doesn't clog the lane more than Landry (hell, you can even stick him in the high post like Scola was in that picture). And the opponents keep just as much attention on him as they do Landry-- if not more. He doesnt' elevate quickly to dunk, but I'd bet his efficiency in catching/finishing dump-off passes is very high, especially considering his conversion rate when he gets fouled. Also, Landry didn't just start getting a bunch of easy dunks after Yao went down. A lot of times, Yao would be involved in a pick'n'roll, and as he roll toward the basket, the opposing PF would have to react and that opens up things for our own PF. Overall, I think the Rockets have just been rolling well since January due to better understanding of the offense and better chemistry. Back in December, nothing was really working no matter who was on the court. Later on, the team's played good offense no matter who is on the court.
I think they do run this play, will have to look for footage... but more often, when they want to give TMac room to drive, they open up the low post by using Yao in a Pick and roll.
While this spread offense worked well yesterday, that doesn't mean it's a better offense than our usual set of Yao posting the strong side. With Deke in, there's no question our offense is worse. However, bringing Landry in gives TMac a very strong drive and dish option that might be as good as a Yao post set. IMO, the reasons we have been able to keep scoring are the awesome perimeter passing and Scola's incredibly high Bball IQ and efficiency. In fact, if you consider Scola's defense and hustle as well, I'd argue he contributes more to team winning than Amare Stoudemire does to the Suns.
