lipoli390 wrote:OKC tied their series with Houston tonight. And Houston set a new record for missed threes. Isiah Thomas commented on the outcome of the game and I though he nailed it. He said that "Houston continues to want to win their way instead of just winning the basketball game." He added that it's almost as if they're trying to prove a point that their system works. Then he talked about how you need to focus on getting your points any way you can, including mid-range field goals and layups. He emphasized how long perimeter shots get tougher to make late in games as players legs get tired.
The Rockets loss tonight and those insightful comments from I. Thomas triggered the bad feeling I've had from the beginning about the decision to hire Gersson Rosas. I always through of him as that career lieutenant or bureaucrat who isn't an independent, original or creative thinker. I think he came here intending to establish the Houston Rockets North even though he said he wasn't doing that. But in the short time, he's repeatedly, emphatically and annoyingly emphasized their vision of a system. And in the first season of the Rosas regime, the Wolves were third in the League in 3-point attempts. Both of Gersson's to signature trade-deadline deals brought in players known for their three-point shooting but also for their poor defense.
Isiah Thomas is right. And we had better hope that Gersson comes to his senses and realizes that it's hard enough to win in the NBA without limiting yourself to your favorite style or system. To paraphrase Isiah Thomas, it's not how you win, but whether you win that matters. And winning in the NBA is tough, which means you have to use have a multifaceted approach that gives you the best opportunity to win -- threes, mid-range, layups, and of course DEFENSE.
That seems to be Dantoni to a T. His ego is so wrapped up in his coaching, its a bit sad in my opinion.
I didn't watch the game but I also just looked at the box score. Houston shot nearly 40% from 3. That sounds fine to me. No talk about how OKC was smart taking on Dennis Schoder a couple years ago and has been handsomely rewarded especially in these last 2 wins. I actually kinda dislike D'Antoni but he has actually changed his style somewhat to fit with Harden.
Personally I'm not going to take anything too solid from any of this bubble basketball. It's not like a regular season it's basically a warm up and a tournament. If you told me A team like OKC won the championship this year I honestly wouldn't be THAT shocked.
Monster - Good point about OKC picking up Dennis Schroder. Smart move that's paying dividends now. And yes, the bubble situation definitely makes this different.
lipoli390 wrote:OKC tied their series with Houston tonight. And Houston set a new record for missed threes. Isiah Thomas commented on the outcome of the game and I though he nailed it. He said that "Houston continues to want to win their way instead of just winning the basketball game." He added that it's almost as if they're trying to prove a point that their system works. Then he talked about how you need to focus on getting your points any way you can, including mid-range field goals and layups. He emphasized how long perimeter shots get tougher to make late in games as players legs get tired.
The Rockets loss tonight and those insightful comments from I. Thomas triggered the bad feeling I've had from the beginning about the decision to hire Gersson Rosas. I always through of him as that career lieutenant or bureaucrat who isn't an independent, original or creative thinker. I think he came here intending to establish the Houston Rockets North even though he said he wasn't doing that. But in the short time, he's repeatedly, emphatically and annoyingly emphasized their vision of a system. And in the first season of the Rosas regime, the Wolves were third in the League in 3-point attempts. Both of Gersson's to signature trade-deadline deals brought in players known for their three-point shooting but also for their poor defense.
Isiah Thomas is right. And we had better hope that Gersson comes to his senses and realizes that it's hard enough to win in the NBA without limiting yourself to your favorite style or system. To paraphrase Isiah Thomas, it's not how you win, but whether you win that matters. And winning in the NBA is tough, which means you have to use have a multifaceted approach that gives you the best opportunity to win -- threes, mid-range, layups, and of course DEFENSE.
That seems to be Dantoni to a T. His ego is so wrapped up in his coaching, its a bit sad in my opinion.
I didn't watch the game but I also just looked at the box score. Houston shot nearly 40% from 3. That sounds fine to me. No talk about how OKC was smart taking on Dennis Schoder a couple years ago and has been handsomely rewarded especially in these last 2 wins. I actually kinda dislike D'Antoni but he has actually changed his style somewhat to fit with Harden.
Personally I'm not going to take anything too solid from any of this bubble basketball. It's not like a regular season it's basically a warm up and a tournament. If you told me A team like OKC won the championship this year I honestly wouldn't be THAT shocked.
Monster - Good point about OKC picking up Dennis Schroder. Smart move that's paying dividends now. And yes, the bubble situation definitely makes this different.
And as kekgeek wrote... Houston doesn't have Westbrook.
You remove a 27 / 8 / 7 guy from the lineup... there are going to be problems. One of them is that Westbrook has been the guy to balance out the three point barrage. He leads the team in FGA at 22.5... but only 3.7 three pointers. He's the ONLY guy in the rotation who doesn't primarily shoot three pointers. Check it out:
Percentage of three pointers:
Westbrook - 16%
Harden - 56%
Gordon - 65%
Covington - 74%
Tucker - 71%
Rivers - 54%
McLemore - 83%
Green - 53%
House - 56%
They don't have the personnel to replace Westbrook. Poorly timed injury to a key player.
So it's fine to rip Houston for all the reasons Isiah did... as well as for making basketball uglier to watch... and for being whiny babies and floppers. But you can't do all that without also mentioning that the team created this model in part because they had Westbrook to help balance things out.
[Note: As for Minnesota becoming Houston North. It makes me cringe a bit. Reminds me too much of Rambis forcing principles of the Triangle here when he had Jonny Flynn, a PnR guard running the court.]
Houston has consistently been a top team in the West so the system is fine. We would just need to find the last adjustment they haven't found to put us over the top. Also this is all completely different if CP3 doesn't get hurt and they finish off GS a few years back. They are likely NBA champions that year. The system has been good enough to be a legitimate title contender against one of the greatest teams of all-time at it's peak.
khans2k5 wrote:Houston has consistently been a top team in the West so the system is fine. We would just need to find the last adjustment they haven't found to put us over the top. Also this is all completely different if CP3 doesn't get hurt and they finish off GS a few years back. They are likely NBA champions that year. The system has been good enough to be a legitimate title contender against one of the greatest teams of all-time at it's peak.
It's sort of like those who called the 7 Seconds or Less Suns failures for being the 2nd best team in the league multiple times... with different auxiliary players.
Granted, that team was fun to watch and the current Houston team is insufferable... but... you get my point. I basically agree with you.
khans2k5 wrote:Houston has consistently been a top team in the West so the system is fine. We would just need to find the last adjustment they haven't found to put us over the top. Also this is all completely different if CP3 doesn't get hurt and they finish off GS a few years back. They are likely NBA champions that year. The system has been good enough to be a legitimate title contender against one of the greatest teams of all-time at it's peak.
What I'd say is that Houston's success to date is attributable to their talent, not their system. If you have James Harden and Chris Paul or James Harden and Russell Westbrook you're likely going to have a very good team. But as I. Thomas noted. Relying too much on one aspect of the game, namely 3-point shooting, can hurt you. Balance is important. Westbrook's absence this year had an impact similar to CP3's absence a few years back. As Abe suggested, losing Westbrook meant to Houston than losing one of their two stars. It also meant losing critical balance in their offensive attack, namely an elite player who scores a lot with mid-range jumpers and layups. CPE's absence a few years ago had the same impact. Chris Paul's strength as a scorer is from mid range and driving into the paint.
My concern with Rosas isn't that it's bad to emphasize three-point shooting. My concern is that he's so focused on "the system." He was so focused on the system that the Wolves took the 3rd most threes in the League even though they were a relatively poor 3-point shooting team. That makes no sense and it doesn't bode well down the road.
khans2k5 wrote:Houston has consistently been a top team in the West so the system is fine. We would just need to find the last adjustment they haven't found to put us over the top. Also this is all completely different if CP3 doesn't get hurt and they finish off GS a few years back. They are likely NBA champions that year. The system has been good enough to be a legitimate title contender against one of the greatest teams of all-time at it's peak.
What I'd say is that Houston's success to date is attributable to their talent, not their system. If you have James Harden and Chris Paul or James Harden and Russell Westbrook you're likely going to have a very good team. But as I. Thomas noted. Relying too much on one aspect of the game, namely 3-point shooting, can hurt you. Balance is important. Westbrook's absence this year had an impact similar to CP3's absence a few years back. As Abe suggested, losing Westbrook meant to Houston than losing one of their two stars. It also meant losing critical balance in their offensive attack, namely an elite player who scores a lot with mid-range jumpers and layups. CPE's absence a few years ago had the same impact. Chris Paul's strength as a scorer is from mid range and driving into the paint.
My concern with Rosas isn't that it's bad to emphasize three-point shooting. My concern is that he's so focused on "the system." He was so focused on the system that the Wolves took the 3rd most threes in the League even though they were a relatively poor 3-point shooting team. That makes no sense and it doesn't bode well down the road.
Lip if you had Westbrook on your team how would you build around him?
