No counter for the KD blitz

The variance is higher for the latter because plays the most minutes in the league…

a better metric is starter vs starter stats

 

Ime's totally incompetent and needs to be gone yesterday.
I guess nothing will happen until the offseason...if then.(probably not, as FVV will save us...and Ime..RIGHT!)
Just a sad situation.
C'mon Tilman!

 

The problem is that the Rockets roster is set up to NOT play that kind of style. It's set up to be a blunt instrument. There's no pivoting out of this bully ball style they want to play because their roster is built for this. Not only do they have no real PG, they also just lack smart passers in general. The FAs they brought in DFS, Okogie, Capela, these are not good passers even in a connective role. Even KD is a below average passer/ballhandler for a star player.

The issue isn't that the current Rockets don't play "beautiful" basketball. The Harden era Rockets were never going to play like the Warriors either. But they still found at least WCFs level success Harden-centric style, and could've won a title after bringing in CP3, who played similarly to Harden and utilized his role players in similar ways. The difference is, those Rockets team was Harden was an Iron Man and he was a superstar, a flawed superstar but still superstar. Whereas the current Rockets team was built around the strengths of Steven Adams and Fred VanVleet... towards the end of their careers.

 

our guys dont move to the ball...

they send the double... front our two closest guys to receive the pass... and leave one guy playing deep safety to intercept a long pass...

so theyre jumping all the close passing lanes - meaning he has to make a cross court pass out of the double team....

if he's gotta pick up his dribble - somebody needs to go get the damn ball.

 

KD likes to iso and routinely tries to shoot, dribble with 3 defenders. He also gets pissed when he doesn’t get room to operate . He’s the issue and it’s not even remotely in question

guys should move you’re right, but then he should have the intention of passing. He hesitates so long when he sees the double because he’s always trying to still score/dribble out of it

 

Yeah i really didn’t understand why he kept bringing the ball up. At this stage of his career he isn’t much of a play maker. They should be getting him the ball at the elbow and putting him in easier positions to score. I’m no coach and my x and o’s knowledge is not good but that’s my two cents..

 

I wouldn't mind non-ugly basketball. The blunt instrument can still have 1 or 2 sharp edges. I'm not looking for a miracle, just functional play.

 

id say its a bit of both...

when he's dribbling and loses the ball - thats on him...

but when hes getting doubled and he picks up the ball just across mid court - then guys oughta b running at him for the outlet...

 

Picking up the ball situation... Another detail gets me frustrated like crazy.

Call it the lack of ball handling skills, bad decision making, disorganization, double-teams, whatever. Reed, Jabari, KD, Alpi pick up the ball prematurely. Fair enough; it happens. The rest of fellas just stand where they are, totally relaxed - preparing for the upcoming Cancun trip. Why is the team keep his team mates alone in a situation with this disadvantage?

Is it so hard for Ime to teach 'If X (ball pick up) happens we do Y, Z, or anything other letter in the alphabet but never stand still. Is this so hard to fix for a coach who supposedly values possessions?

 

He shouldn’t be bringing the ball up at all. Double teams closer to the basket should open up the court for other players. Double teams at the half court line with a player that is not decisive and throws soft passes will never work and causes hordes of transition buckets. It is an offensive design flaw, not a player issue. Ime is lost as an offensive coach.

 

i dont want KD bringing the ball up - just like i didnt like harden bringing it up.... not wild about Amen or Tari doing so either... it should be Reed or Okogie or JD or even Holiday.... but the fact remains, even if KD gets stood up and has to pick up his dribble on the perimeter - somebody should be cutting to the basket (for if the pass there can be made) and somebody should be racing to the ball to take it out of KDs hands....
Basically, too much ball watching and not enough movement.

 

Amen has been fine bringing the ball up and when in the game should be initiating the offense virtually every possession. That was a concern voiced early in the season and has rarely manifested in reality all year. He has rarely turned the ball over when bringing it up the court and his assist to turnover ratio is near the same as FVV with about a third of the usage. Amen hasn’t been handed the pg duties. He is playing that role maybe 20-30% of the time, with Sengun and Durant primarily handling that role in the halfcourt, which is a travesty.

 

He can bring the ball up - but his lack of shooting lets the d sag off of him and crowd the passing lanes... i prefer Amen roaming.... playing the dunker spot... running around and wreaking havoc... i like him more as a slasher than an initiator....

 

Bringing the ball up is NOT the problem it is KD standing at the top of the circle gumming it up for everyone demanding the ball.

DD

 

Did anyone notice how Luka reacts to being blitzed vs. KD? The contrast is telling.