Mike D'Antoni's extreme small-ball experiment
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- čas přidán 30. 08. 2020
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The Houston Rockets have gone to extreme small ball, or Micro Ball, playing no big men since trading for Robert Covington in January. How has the experiment worked out? And is Micro Ball a flash in the pan, or is it here to stay? This scouting report for James Harden, Russell Westbrook and the 2020 Rockets uses analytics & stats to assess the overall success of the team.
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You've gotta show me where you get those mini player pics. I really want them.
As you say at the end, the shell is there but the parts aren't perfect.
The problem for micro ball might be that it is incredibly difficult, maybe impossible, to find those perfect pieces. How many elite, seitchy defenders are there in the entire league that are also knockdown shooters that can attack closeouts? I'd say you can probably count them all on your hands.
Covington is a great example I think. It's hard to find someone as good as he is at help defense, who's also a great shooter, and also a good man defender, and also a good decision maker attacking a close out. Covington can do maybe 2 of those things, but not all of them.
I think it becomes perpetually more difficult to find guys that fit this roster structure than it is to find guys that fit a more conventional style, so while it's not impossible to find ~this Houston teams level of success with this kind of micro ball, it could be incredibly difficult to build one that's any better.
Btw Ben. Do you think the Rockets should make a play at Kevin Love? His shooting and passing would be great if they utilized him as a pure stretch 5.
@Kfir Shoham he has a lot of his own stats that he's made, especially for his like all time ranking related stuff.
Then he gets the advanced stats like PIPM, RAPTOR etc off of the internet, a quick Google search will give you those.
Then there are websites like nylon calculus that have great tracking stats and numbers that exclude garbage time (the end of a game during a blowout).
Those are good places to start. Obviously basketball reference is a great resource as well.
the rockets are missing a serge ibaka
Its cool seeing Jeff Green playing well again
He was really good for Cleveland a few years ago
He's always good in the playoffs
Ryan Russilo? Is that you?
I think he has good match ups especially against OKC. Adams is pretty much taken out of the series and Green just gets to feast.
@@t4d0W Adams had 9 offensive boards last game. You may not notice it through the box score but his impact on the game is part of the reason why its tied right now.
I love how you gave a quick shout out to Coach Daniel. Respect.
Lakers vs Rockets gonna be real interesting
Size vs speed, inside vs outside, James vs James
Alex Caruso vs Bruno Caboclo
I think James has the edge over James, to be honest.
@@hectorandem2944 Bold of you to assume James would lose.
@@TheSlithice James actually has a 100% chance of losing
@@hectorandem2944 you serious, no way james loses. You are just a james stan
I’m kinda stoned and I saw the thumbnail and legit assumed Micro was one of the Ball brothers nickname, or maybe there was a new one.
The fact that the Rockets are a bad shooting team really blew my mind.
Sam Lim he’s not a 3 point shooter and they need to stop tryna turn him into one
The Black Mamba he basically stopped shooting 3s after the turn of the decade. He’s just 5 out spacing, getting to the rack now which is what the thunder should have tried to do for him to years.
Chaitanya Krishna never said it was the best basketball move lol but a guy like russ can be at his best when he has shooting all around him like any player but especially with his ability to get in the lane.
This!
Sam Lim they’re shooting about 35% from 3 as a team, which is slightly below average, but their volume makes it high variance and that hurts them. EG and RoCo also flat out aren’t good.
People tend to forget the rockets didn’t have that much talent as a normal championship team with deep and explosive bench, also the owner didn’t want to play extra taxes. Their main newly signed players were Meclmore and Jeff green which were all bets with low price. If they have a talented big like ad they would definitely use him but with this lineup I feel like small ball is the most effective way of playing to keep them as a championship contender.
The point is that if you go micro-ball you also take advantage of that spacing with better shooters. As the video showed, McLemore is shooting above average while the guys who are the heavy part of the rotation like Tucker/RoCo are average 3-ball shooters while Gordon/Harden/Russ are below league average (and also happen to take a lot of 3-ball shots per volume). So the offensive potential is hampered by not having amazing 3-ball shooters.
Houston doesn’t actually hate big men. They just don’t like big men who can’t do anything but catch lobs which was Capela’s problem. They do great with a shooting big or even a good scoring inside big like Harrell.
@@margotc6207 or even dwight when he was there they didn't mind. they just got rid of him when he declined even further
What you mean? They just got the mvp Westbrook, they cant afford another stars. Their bench were all valuable rotation starters from their respective teams. Not the deepest team like clips and Lakers but deeper than bucks and celtics. They at most top 3 talent wise
Blud arvark , your forgetting that not only do we need 3pt shooters they have to be quick defensively for steals and deflections that’s why we don’t go for sharp shooters like korver or even Kevin love, they too slow on defence, the shooters we have now are quick and they can pop 3s. An ideal C for us would be ibaka and another quick shooter could be Thompson but he’s injury could make him a liability defensively.
5:06
"and then kick it out for a high percentage shot"
*airball*
It's nice to see the rockets using the New Zealand national basketball team model. We've done this in the last few tournaments out of need because our best Center Steven Adams is busy with okc. We played so well small that greece and serbia had to bench their really good bigs in fear of exploitation
Just an fyi, when I heard the "40 is a big number" opening line I thought; I've seen this video before and nearly closed it before I realised it was the ad. Not sure what you can do with that info but just thought I should say.
If the Rockets somehow finnesse a championship this year, I will legitimately be scared that big men will go extinct in this league
its a copy cat league after all. Although, lineups have been getting smaller throughout the years. Rockets vs Lakers will be very interesting, its either gonna be the birth of a micro ball revolution or another D'antoni failed experiment.
I don’t think big men will ever go away forever, there just going to have to be a lot more skilled then they were in the past. I wouldn’t be surprised if porzingis type players became a lot more common in the future
@@lexisbeato2444 i think his experiment is already 25% success : the defense isnt too bad.
A shooting rim protector will be very valuable still. That's what the rockets lack(and better shooters). Their shooters get open shots all game and miss so much and they still usually make it close of they ever lose(but when they're hot, its a blowout). The probability is working
I don't think that is the case. Guys like Bam Adebayo are amazing assets as your 4th/5th best player especially if the rest of the roster has shooters or can play with hand offs. And he is switchable to boot! Some of the elite big men like Jokic and Embiid are great on their own but have flaws in the details of their game that limit their ability to be part of a championship team as the 1st/2nd option. KAT/Porizingis are a similar boat as they look to be amazing face up slingshot stretch big men on offense and generally athletic defenders at the rim but they too are lacking things that could put them over the top. JJJ has a promise similar to Bam where his defensive instincts lets him excel on switches and still play help defense and so far he's just turning into a foul heavy 6'11" 3-and-D wing player. But hey even some micro ball lineups are pretty employing strong 3-and-D guys at the front anyway so JJJ can sharpen his skills he'll be just as desireable for many teams.
On that take about a ferrari with a prius engine
The Warriors are pretty much the ferrari engine, but they dont play that microball so aggressively as the Rockets
I wonder if steve kerr will try the small ball. Small ball with curry and thompson honestly looks terrifying
@@jijmotorp3079 they did, its called the death lineup and it dominated for stretches in the game. Usually when they used it they pulled away so quickly with Curry and Klay's fastbreak 3 point bombs, essentially ending the game in the 3rd in nost games, that's why Curry sat out the 4th alot during his historic 2016 run
@@devvv4616 yea but we cant expect that kind of efficiency he had in 2016 and to do it in a full game, it would still be really interesting to watch
@@devvv4616 Oh yeah, but I mean, they always had someone to essentially play the Center role on Bogut or Pachulia
Correct me if Im wrong, but has they ever got a Center that could shoot?
Thats why I said they didnt went as aggressively as the Rockets
Also, sorry for any bad english, not my mother tongue :/
@@w6rst729 they never had a true center that could shoot. If they had a karl Anthony Towns or Jokic in the lineup, that would be scary.
Wow i legit just logged on youtube after months and THIS IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED
Where have you been, the pen??
Finding forwards/wings who can defend bigs and protect the rim as well as Covington and Tucker AND are good 3-point shooters seems like a major challenge.
And....they got unsurprisingly blown away by the first team with a competent frontcourt...
The Celtics play a pretty small ball as well. The starting center Theis is 6’8. And the 6th man Smart is 6’3
Also clippers finishing line up with trezz as 5 is pretty small ball oriented, if you think about it, with much better shooters, if u leave out pg poor form
Theis is listed at 6’8 but he looks taller to me
this man so shameless and smooth w his sponsor plug it make me geek every time bruh lmfao
Weve already seen the Warriors start lineups in finals with the tallest player (Barnes) being 6'8 so people shouldnt be suprised by the rockets doing this now
Fr. It seemed like everytime they used the death lineup they just ran teams off the building within like 5 mins with a 3pt barrage and fastbreaks the entire time. And then they sub out their main guys lol
Draymond is big body he’s not built like a Covington or tucker. Green ain’t some tubby
They always had a legit starting center like Bogut and even Pachulia :):)
@@droppingstreaks2095 oh so tuckers a tubby? dude takes elbows every game and doesnt give a fuck
Diego Velazquez Not when they ran the death lineup to close games
I'm salivating as i read this title. Looking forward to this video. Love your work!
Such a great video man, love em
Talk about how the rockets have the best defense in the playoffs LMAO
That’s more so OKC’s offense than anything lol.
@@margotc6207 yeah its always anything but credit to the rockets huh? rockets took SGA, Gallinari out of the series and made the "Harden Stopper" unplayable. give some credit
Mississipi Sherman Cp3 would like to have a word with you :):):)
@@margotc6207 I wasnt talking about cp3, i know what he could do and it didnt surprise me at all.
Do they really hace tye best defence? Advance metrics say Houston is 5th in terms of defense in the playoffs tho🤔
This channel is so helpful
Great video, really insightful and good research.
By far the best basketball channel on youtube 🙏🏿
very nice analysis, good job, sub
I see think basketball, I click and like. Amazing video man, can you also make an analysis on either Murray, Mitchell or Luka this playoffs? It will be amazing to know what you think.
the only channel on yt that excites me
Hey Thinking Basketball! When will we get more videos in the NBA Dtats 101 Series. That one is my favorite on your channel and I'd love to see more of those videos! Thank you!
Thinking basketball is great!!! So much love from the Philippines!!! 😍
been waiting for this
This kinda reminds me of OKC when they had Harden, Westbrook, and Durant. That fixes a lot of problems with small ball(rim protection, rebounding, and shooting)
The Houston Rockets are a dark horse 2019-2020 NBA Championship Contender. And in my opinion they are also a fun team to watch.
In the relatively early years of roundball, players were usually 6' and under as teams favored more coordinated, quicker players. Big men were largely used to hack and bully the opposition rather than get buckets. Then George Mikan came along as the first successful center and hoops changed forever.
80 years and a three point line later, we find ourselves moving back to where we started. Crazy how things work
Amazing centers don't grow on trees. For every HoF/Legendary centers like Olajuwon, Shaq, Kareem, Wilt you have pretenders who have a solid career or fizzle because they aren't skilled enough to keep up beyond their prime.
Honestly if the paint was still 6 feet like back when Mikan played, most guards playing right now would be role players.
I think he's making the videos just under 10 minutes just to spite me at this point.
Monetization changed man, it’s 8 minutes now
Daniel Chan i didn't know
NBA has an unwritten rule that they'll go after accounts that post over 10 mins. If you ignore it you're playing with fire.
@@danielchan9165
That makes sense. It would explain why trash channels like MrBossFTW are posting 8 minute long videos lol
That staggered lane clearout for the Harden layup was cold as hell!
Benchmark for quality NBA content 💯
Small ball is NOT the answer... you need size AND spacing. Size will ALWAYS matter in basketball.
So get yourself a big who can shoot!
I always feel a big like Marc Gasol could contemplate this team well.
@@jetroeribal1539 Gasol is definitely one of the few players that will be available to the Rockets either by signing or trade for next season. Morey should really consider him or another big that can either shoot or defend, preferably both but those are in limited supply.
Coming back to this realizing microball was actually the opposite of what the nba is today. Crazy evolution.
Can you make a video on the evolution of defending and how it requires so much more skill to be a better defender today. Also about the tradeoff from hand checking to zone defense
There was no semi circle in the paint until 1997 meaning defensive players could set charges at any time during the 90’s. Freedom of movement rules, protecting shooters landing spaces, etc., all favor offenses. Even more minor rules like Offensive rebounding shot clock being reset to 14 instead of 24 discourage bigs , rim protectors and rebounders.
You have to be more versatile but you don’t even have to be a decent post defender today lol.
I couldn't really understand how the Rockets defense passed the eye test and their offense should be a huge mismatch, yet they were struggling. You really broke it down and I was so surprised to see the rockets as a middling offensive team with micro ball.
I wonder if part of the reason the Rockets have low shooting percentages from 3 is because they aren't selective. Given the option of taking a wide-open 15-footer or a contested 3, they're going to take the 3. I feel like if they occasionally took some mid-range shots just to keep defenses more honest, and took away some of the toughest threes they attempt, their percentages would be more robust.
Fantastic, didactic stuff as ever...
Just repeating what a lot of people have said, but none of us would complain if you stretched out your vids past 10 minutes to get more revenue. Love your work as always!
He has said that he doesn't do it because the nba tends to copyright strike videos that are over ten minutes lonh
Dang that's unfortunate
Please do a video on the Bubble Suns!
great vid
The reason their percentage is so low is because of volume. People act like harden is a mediocre 3 point shooter. When you take 12 threes a game and they’re all contested stepbacks and you still shoot 35% it’s saying something.
if you actually look at the chart in the video (which displays the 3PA/75 as well) you'll see that most houston players are taking average number of attempts and have bad percentages. and in the end high volume doesn't mean low percentages, it means percentages closer to actual shooting capability.
as for harden, he's not amazing at catch and shoot either. and him taking difficult shots is not justification for bad percentages.
*chef kiss* I love this system
i'm glad the attention of detail shows how dantoni isn't so one minded n just makes harden score all game, off ball motions are key and it's not like you want tucker or jeff green being point if they can get open and cut or shoot
I don't think the micro ball will replace big men, but it does points out how unnecessary unskilled big men are. If the big guy can only rebound, screen and catch lobs, wouldn't you rather have someone who's more versatile on defense, provide spacing, and can handle/make decisions? There won't be many super small lineups like this b/c the tucker+Roco combo is hard to find.
Which is where a jokic comes from that shatters any attempt of not having a decent center at least on your bench
@@coreygolphenee9633 so much has changed since that micro ball rockets team. Three mvp calibre players are all big men, unique in their own way. During the 3 KD warriors years, actually no good centres.
@@Mike-tb9rk I think its like the money ball As tho the concept is here to stay and I see it evolving into just play all solid wings if you can't afford or find a top tier offensive engine or are in a big enough market to attract a super team it's a solid option to forgo an overpaid position and seek value in in different places.
8:52 I mean... these days a Ferrari with a Prius engine is just a Ferrari.
Pyrovile42 *Sebastian Vettel enters the chat to agree*
Rip sainz
Rip sainz
I doubt it but I guarantee we'll be seeing more often in the near future.
Good points! People will miss the details about the rockets 3-ball shooting when they don't consider the quality of the their shooters on the roster. And the limit of that micro-ball succeeding as shown with the blueprint of GSW's death lineup was only as good as the consistency and quality of the shooters. At their best they had KD/Steph/Klay to amount for that shooting offense whereas the Rockets have Harden for sheer volume and the other average percentage 3-ball shooters who aren't used to consistent high volume. Conceptually it should make sense but the talent on paper is just not it in terms of pushing that kind of punishing offense.
The defensive rebounding seems like a flaw on paper as well going small but it is offset if you have strength inside to box out and stronger perimeter players who have a nose for the ball. In the Rockets case if the defensive rebound goes to Harden or Russ they are booking it and at least a shooter or two is already down the court in position for a easy transition bucket. Those easy looks also start to count for more as the game progresses and if the opposing team can't make up ground to close the gap in the lead, they are toast. The Celtics also do very well without a proper big man inside and despite losing out on rebounds in the Sixers series, they ran offense better than they did.
Defensively I feel they are fine because against most team line ups they have long armed wing type forwards who are strong. There aren't many bigs who are good at posting up against stronger match ups so usually they default to a jumper which Covington with his 7'3" wingspan is down to defend. Tucker can hang with smaller guards and put his hands up against them with his 7 foot wingspan. The Lakers matchup though in the playoffs may be the outlier that can take them out so that series will be interesting to see if that defense holds up. Because the offense comes in spurts and for the Lakers, they can count on Lebron/AD having monster games.
We (GSW) also had great shooters off the bench too, guys like barbosa and speights were money.
best basketball channel
I think Warriors Hamptons 5 lineup pretty much proved "micro ball" was a thing.
While people will always mention their outstanding talent, I find it beautiful how old criticized concepts like run and gun, switching all pick and rolls and 5 out spacing could be used together in a team that won it all.
Personally I think 2020 Rockets and Mavs are kind of proving that you can add a bunch of average (or slightly above average) shooters around a single playmaker star and still compete with the best teams.
Awesome video, man. Keep up the great work.
The rockets and Mavs both have two stars.
How open are the looks the rockets are getting? from what ive seen it seems we get a lot of wide open spot up 3s save for harden and gordon isos and the occasional roco pump fake pull in face 3
Best bball channel by a mile
Oh c'mon I wanted 5 thoughts on the playoffs
"a Ferrari with a prius engine", damn... For any F1 Ferrari fans, that hurt 😞
Nice video
Why not just keep a Stretch at that 5 position who can not only provide fitting in their system but also can still provide that length and defense so other teams can’t take advantage of being small. Capela obviously couldn’t really stretch the floor which is why they got rid of him because of the system they are trying to run but losing him hurts you in other places that can take advantage of especially playoff time because they won’t have an answer for plays such as AD who is a big guard. Great Video interesting topics keep me coming!
DAntoni would want a stretch 5 that is also a versitaille defender, like what JJJ is about to be. Those are just very to find, I can only think of AD and Jackson. But it would absolutly be a total cheatcode to have on of them
@@rotciv4ever116 Kevin Love
@@hEaDShoT2934 is he really a switchable perimeter defender like Jackson? I dont think so
@@rotciv4ever116 Legit STretch bigs who are switchable are VERY rare in the league. JJJ is just a big 3-and-D wing at this point. Bam isn't as stretchy as he is versatile enough on offense to be a ball handler and operate off ball. But he is very switchable and can defend and help at every point of attack like Giannis. Jonathan Isaac is still raw and not strong enough to put against bigger match ups despite his length. After that the quality goes down with guys like Draymond, Simmons and lesser variant of those type of players who have way too many flaws for their defensive ceiling.
@@t4d0W thats what im saying a well rounded 3nD wing, that can defend 1-4 like RoCo is much easier to find than a switchable stretch big that can defend Centers as well. Especally in todays leage where there only half a dozen big man that can decide a game for you, having a good matchup for all those versataille wings is way mor important than a good matchup for like 6 players.
So would you think that the warriors would benefit from doing this in the next season?
That green pick up was a pretty smart move.
I wish that wasn’t the last we saw of micro ball but alas
to answer the question: It could very well be. Unless we get a sudden influx of highly skilled big men in the draft or somewhere else.
The answer is that a player just as skilled but taller is always going to be superior in basketball.
In depth bubble coverage of every team 🧐
Man Do I love that the best NBA CZcamsr respects the second best NBA CZcamsr.
he said "even without a championship run" at 9:18 with so much confidence when the series vs the lakers hasn't even started -
lol
I use adblock, but I disable it and watch both of the ads when I see a Thinking Basketball's video.
Thanks
Houston definitely doesn’t do enough off ball with harden, but they definitely have some smart sets, with occupying help defenders
This bodes well for the Warriors of their off-season works well
we gonna win the chip
Its amazing that in a league where shooting is the most important thing you’d think there would be more shooters.
Despite all the hype on 3-ball and the eras before it, the type of scorers championship (most) teams had were great mid range scorers. When jumpers don't want to go in the basket, the value of the the more difficult consistent mid range game and trying to get aggressive FT shots from it become even more apparent.
It’s simple just clone 4 Klay Thompson’s
Aaaaand they just got destroyed by LA
If Rockets got an elite 3-D PF. It would help them a lot to sure you boards and limit the opposing big
Houston has set the mold for Micro Ball for the 2020s I won't be surprised if a team wins a title using it
do you think that they are not a good shooting team bc they prioritize filling their rotation with guys that are good, switchable defenders, as opposed to marksmen, to make sure they do not get exposed on the defensive end? their offensive game-planing makes it so they can still score bc they get off so many good looks from three, but their defense requires a certain skill set so they don't get killed
please do a video about the perfect role players today
I have a lot of doubts for the rockets OKC has risen expectations but also if OKC can take them to 7 games how do they have a chance against more stacked teams like the clippers, Lakers, and nuggets?
Until the next 'Shaq' (7 foot, athletic big man playing block-to-block) appears, small ball is the way to go. The reason you can switch on defense now is because post players just doesn't punish defenses like they used to. Switching a SG/SF onto Olajuwon, Shaq, Robinson, etc. was a death sentence. Same thing with "power" PFs like Barkley, Malone, Thorpe, etc.
Here's a scenario: Imagine the 2020 Rockets playing the 2002 Lakers. LA comes down, throws the ball to Rick Fox on the strong-side wing, Kobe on top, & Shaq on the weak-side elbow. Fox reverses back to Kobe to play the two-man game with Shaq. Houston wouldn't be able to switch PJ Tucker onto Kobe, because that'll leave Eric Gordon guarding Shaq. Houston will obviously send help right away, but unlike big men today like Embiid, KAT, Davis, etc. Shaq can literally drop step & elevate for a one-handed dunk over 3-4 smaller players (see 2002 NBA Finals dunk over entire Nets team). Shaq also for some reason doesn't get stripped a lot, despite bringing the ball down to elevate. He was just that strong.
So until the next Shaq appears, it's hopeless down low. And he may never appear again, with the way kids are brought up nowadays.
This aged BAAAAD LOOOL
i agree with the scenario but rockets will never make it to the finals with having only small ball option. They limit themselves on being able to make adjustments. This is why the 2020 Lakers are sticking it to them. Lakers made adjustments and Rockets are just stuck playing small ball. Losing the battle on the boards and in the paint.
Looks cool in the regular season tho
You can look at the big picture here as well: the number of basketball players at this height or shorter is ten, maybe a hundred, times greater than the number of guys tall enough to play in an NBA frontcourt. Just get five guys who play well together, shoot, handle, and pass well, and are solid starters on their own and another 7-10 guys like that, maybe with 1-3 of them being traditional NBA frontcourt guys, on the bench and you'll go far. Maybe four combo guard types (i.e., 6'2" to 6'6" and nimble) and a combo or true power forward cleaning up down low. Tall guys shouldn't get a pass for being tall unless they're truly special (Giannis, Embiid, etc.).
And the answer is "nope."
You need rebounding and rim protection to win.
REKT
So they got Micro Ball defense right but Micro Ball offense wrong...
It's tough to find players that can do both well
When you said about Westbrook and harden sharing the load offensively... how is that supposed to be a negative that is what great players do to adjust to one another’s play styles ( think curry/KD dynamic)
Microball would work a lot better if Harden had maybe one really good shooter like Seth Curry who can shred, while having three more meh 3 but really good wing defenders like Smart or Holiday. The idea being that the wing defenders can shut down super high percentage 3 shooters like Redick, Curry, and Lillard while letting the opposition take plenty of post ups and floaters. An inverse of the Bucks defensive system. The current heliocentric system a lot of teams use runs heavily on the use of three shooters being kickouts, so shutting down the 3s would force the SuperStar to exhaust himself trying to iso constantly giving the Rockets and edge in the 2nd and 4th quarters.
Dallas seem in a good place to have Hardaway and Curry spacing for Luka
If Houston had that calibre of shooter, that would be a solid improvement 😮
I might be wrong but could the subpar 3 point percentage be because they attempt way more threes as well? James Harden does not have the best percentage but I would not call him an average shooter.
They attempt more bad shots, that is why the percentage is lower. The truth is, if they only focused on shooting only good or open shots, they would shot less so the strategy will always result to a percentage being a little bit lower than normal. But there is no 40% 3pt shooter on that team, even if hardzn take less shots he wont get above 40 consistently, hes not that type of player. There is also so little amount of players that take as many shots (when they join a new team) that it is hard to compare.
As someone wrote before the Rockets are playing the math game so higher volumes of 3-ball even from the guys that don't get a lot on average like RoCo, House, Jeff Green, McLemore could be a big blow out if they get hot. This also opens up the Rockets to be ICE COLD and if the other teams feasts on defensive rebounds by being bigger, they can easily make up the scoring margins with their own ways and if they have solid defenders, they try make it hard for Harden/Westbrook to get EZ buckets and force their teammates to carry the scoring load.
can u make a video on lu dort
Its so frustrating as a fan tbh. All them role players miss wide open 3s so much. Russ helps so much in the playoffs tho, when you have guys like Dort who can really hinder Harden by himself. Having someone else capable of playmaking helps a ton
Yeah, I'd sign Dort if I was Houston 😁😁😁
Well its not all about head height you have to realise what's more important is that wingspan.....Covington has a 7" 2 wingspan so he can block most players at the forward position
I wanna know what the music is
The future is quicker and better big guys.
I believe the term Princeton offense is what this is where every player can dribble shoot and pass.
Can someone explain why per 75 is used instead of per 100?
That's just shows you how amazing the GSW small ball line up even before KD joined them.
When Houston plays that team basketball hitting all the 3sand switch on defense they look unstoppable but then you get harden starting to iso and brick 3 after 3 after 3 they look like horrible. Its so frustrating how they get up by a lot then you can see them take they foot if the gas and blow it every time. You'd think you'd learn after so many of those. Being a Houston fan is so damn frustrating 😫
Or until a post scoring big men starts hooking them to death lol.
..or instead of bricks, they just turn it over time and time again like tonight.
Its time to extend the 3 point line a few inches
All good points but the same ideas could be said with the Milwaukee Bucks 35% and all avg shooting besides Middleton and playoff Middleton is a real thing
I think playsoff bmedsoe is even scarier
The real problem with the BUcks is they don't have shot creator threats outside of Giannis. Very evident last year against the Raps and even Bledsoe and those guys played hot potato on the perimeter. Bledsoe even tried to attack the hoop but he was held for paltry numbers. Both him and MIddleton shrunk in that series while the Raps had their way and got baskets in various ways with Vleet's hot shooting, Lowry attacking the hoop, Siakam running the open court and Kawhi murking the Deer consistently on mid range.
if the rockets had better shooters it’d literally be a killer team. when they’re hot its a blowout
klay
let it be definitely could see him fitting nicely
Yes. That's what they were when they had Chris Paul which is why they nearly dethroned the Warriors. A player like Klay is definitely the missing piece to this roster.
Who would have thought this lineup's best aspect was defense