https://fivethirtyeight.com/feature...king-two-guys-in-the-corners/?ex_cid=538email If we had a center that could actually set a pick, we could unleash our offense. This article is more about how teams are using two guys in the corner, but the statistics sited also indicate why PnR is so important to a 4 out or 5 out offense.
I read something yesterday about Wood, coming out of UNLV, that is still a good description of who he is as a basketball player: he operates and tries to play like a guard when he should be playing like a big.
The article linked talks about putting two shooters in the corners. Green needs to work to shorten his shot to improve his ability to get off his shot in a catch and shoot. KPJ and Tate aren't accurate enough. Theis is Theis. I don't see PnR or much else working for this team offensively except when they have at least a couple of shooters on the floor at least. When the Rockets looked their best (still usually not great), typically two of Gordon, Mathews, and Brooks are on the court.
There are so many issues with this team. I wouldn’t be surprised if only two of the players on this roster currently are starters in 18 months. They are not executing many things well and the pieces don’t fit on top of it.
I'm not sure it even needs an article to be honest. Pick and Roll has been fundamental basketball for decades, regardless of how many people are stood behind the 3pt line. Anybody with half a brain (so obviously not Wood) knows and can see that setting a proper pick enables you to create mismatches, get space on your defender, opens up easy buckets for both ball handler and roll man and when executed properly can be very difficult to defend. Wood slips 99.9% of all the "picks" he sets, he spends more time finishing through traffic than anything else inside; if he set an ACTUAL pick, he'd likely have a clear path to the rim more often than not.
I agree that the pieces on the Rockets don't fit. I'm not confident the Rockets add three starters from off the current roster in 18 months (by end of next season).
Well I figure Wood, Gordon, Wall, Nwaba and Augustin will all be gone for sure. There is a pretty good chance that Tate, Theis, Brooks and Porter are gone. Green will be locked in as a starter and that is about it. Whoever we draft this lottery will be a starter as well. That leaves three spots. There is a reasonable chance Sengun is a starter unless we draft a big. I don’t think Christopher is a good fit with Green long term.
I would say there is a good chance each of those players are gone, but not all of them. Of the ones that are gone, I'd give Wood a more likely chance of being a starter for another team than not. I'd guess Green and Sengun are starting. I think the Rockets play the top pick as a starter. I'd expect at least one current Rocket to be a starter in one of the other two spots with Mathews being the favorite (but not more likely than not). I would be very surprised if the Rockets got three starters from the draft/FA/trade and Wood was not starting elsewhere if not a Rocket. I'm not sure Stone worries about fit much until next year's trade deadline other than as possibly a tie breaker in the draft.
This team is a complete mess in terms of strategy. KPJ is not a starting PG material, hell not a PG at all. Sengun should be starting but do not know wth is happening there. Green probably needs 2-3 years more to develop and mature as he only looks for his shots and does pretty much nothing else on the court and even there he struggles. The only consistent one that gives points and rebounding is Wood but he is surrounded by scrubs at the moment. Wood is better fit for a winning team with superstars, not a rebuilding team. Wood, KPJ, Wall, Gordon, Nwaba will most likely be gone while the Rockets aim to pick a potential star in the draft. Should try to rebuild around Sengun more than Green in my opinion with retaining potential good pieces in Garrison, KMJ, Tate & Josh.
are you sure silas would play the guy that can set a pick? wood actually can set great picks its a matter of coaching to teach him how and motivate him to do it.... and you know why he wont set decent picks? because the player who actually does it MAGNIFICIENTY is benched and not appreciated... SENGUN so why would he ? COOOOOAAAAACHIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGG!!! silas is not a guy to unleash anything... unleash silas instead
If the rockets actually had guards that could even run pnr. that's actually the bigger problem. It's glaring actually. The ability to read and make the actual pass is a skill. None of the rockets guards have the ability to do so. That's why they're turnover machines
Yes, I think Christopher will be a 6th man for the Rockets.... I just don't think he passes well enough to play point guard. He reminds me a lot of Marcus Smart.
I think Christopher has more offensive tools in his bag relative to when Smart was a rookie. But JC turning into prime Marcus Smart would be fine by me. That's a solid above average rotational player on a winning team.
Christopher has a higher offensive ceiling than Smart..... he just isn't really a point guard offensively, but defensively can cover three spots at a high level. He also has some dog in him like Smart. The thing about Smart is that we all know he isn't someone that can really create for himself or others, but when he was drafted, a lot of people felt he would become a typical scoring guard that would get you 20 a night. There are times that Christopher shoots too often, but for the most part the Rockets young guards have good discipline.
And you cannot have a guy that looks like the second coming and brother of Scottie Quitten to be the secondary face of the franchise.
