Rockets' Adelman to install his offense in second season
Team learned coach's read-and-move style last year, will run it this year
By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 1, 2008, 8:27PM
Rick Adelman made himself a promise.
The season ended and before all the analysis that would come, before the trade for Ron Artest or free agent pick up of Brent Barry, before the Rockets left Salt Lake City and another promising but also disappointing season behind, Adelman knew the change he wanted.
In his second season as Rockets coach, the Rockets would run his offense.
“It’s totally different this year,” Adelman said. “That’s what I told them in the meeting (Monday). They’re familiar with what we’d like to do; now we have to do it better.
“We’re going to demand a little bit differently now that they understand what we want to do.”
In the first season, they had to abandon much of his planned offense, running the standard NBA play calls, returning to the well-practiced offensive strengths of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.
He went to that because that was the adjustment he needed to win through the growing pains that came with learning an offense very different from most. But as with the season as a whole, with the adjustment to his read-and-move offensive style behind them, Adelman will demand something greater.
“Last year we found out very quickly these guys weren’t very used to doing it and we had to make calls,” Adelman said. “When you make calls in this league, as soon as you make the call, everybody in the world knows it. It’s harder to run anything.
“Our offense, if we don’t have to make calls and we’re just running the right pass, right cut, the defense can’t set up and gear up for what you’re going to do because they don’t know what’s coming. That’s what I expect this year, we’re going to be able to do those things a lot better than we did last year.”
The Rockets learned the offense last season, but ran it as if running plays. They were hesitant, often deliberate in going through the levels of improvisation within the offense that can make it its most effective.
This season, they said they have grown to the point that they can more instinctively and ultimately, more effectively make the cuts and bring the rapid ball movement the offense demands.
“We’re far ahead (of last season),” point guard Rafer Alston said. “It’s just review for us. I think it’s fine-tuning some things, getting some spacing and some timing. I think most of us know the offense. Us veterans can bring the new guys along. Ron (Artest) has picked it up quick. Guys in the second year know it and some had the opportunity to play summer league.
“What we’re trying to get to is just (be) instinctive. We can come down and get to where we’re running by a guy’s movement, where he goes with the ball and where he goes with his body. Getting everyone on the same page, that’s going to be the key.”
Yao said he is eager to move more often from the low post to the high post, and to create more from the perimeter for his teammates. The Rockets quickly discarded that part of the offense when Yao was more efficient in the low blocks than anything they created with him away from the low post. But Yao said the greater diversity will make things easier for him, too.
“I think perimeter jumpers, perimeter passes and cuts to the basket and more movement from inside to outside,” Yao said. “I don’t mean ball movement, I mean myself moving from inside to out makes it harder for the defense to come catch me. Last year, I think because it was the first year, it should be better now.”
The change does now, however, deemphasize Yao and McGrady. Rather, Adelman said it will make it more difficult for teams to lock in on them as they did when he was forced to call their plays. Beyond that, he thought the improved movement would benefit players working around the Rockets’ top scorers.
“Out of necessity we had to do that last year,” Adelman said. “Then, it really puts the onus on Tracy and Yao. We can always go to those guys. I don’t care if the whole world knows they’re getting the ball, they’re going to have a hard time guarding them. It’s the other guys that can benefit from the offense if we don’t have to make calls and just play.
“I think it’s just going to be (a matter of) time. These guys have to be a little bit more obedient and they have to execute a little bit better. We don’t want to make a ton of calls. We want to play (with) movement on the pass.
“I feel really good about what we’re going to do offensively.”
Please Rick, if you want to experiment then TELL YOUR WIFE!!!!! Stop trying to force this "if the downscreener's defender goes over the top then the cutter pivots and curls while the pg pulls the pressure off and makes the high post entry and the center hits the wing on a baseline cut while his man is covering the cutter" nonsense onto our players. We have a traditional big man and good wing players. That's how the Spurs and Lakers did it and they have 7 out of the last 10 championships. Put Yao in the low post where he belongs.
