Maximize our players potential?

[manun]

This team could potentially be a great team and there is so much potential. I still think there is still a lot of potential to get from our players so I was wondering how we can get that?

I wont include D-12, Parson and Harden as I think these players are pretty much playing high level and just have flaws like any human out there. But of course any player can be discussed.

These are the players im interested in:

- Asik: Need to show he wants to play hard the minutes he gets and also be better offensive. His hands are like stones, but his defense is great. Just gotta play more intense, I dont see any emotions from him (also he seem sulking all the time).

- Lin: I saw the documentary Linsanity, I think dude is really an emotional player. If he doesnt have any confidence then hes playing average ball. I want to see more aggressive Lin (draw fouls) and stop doing things complicated, play easy and let the points come (he forces a lot in offense). Im suprised the player he studied this summer was Steve Nash, cause dude plays nothing like Nash.

- Tjones: Need to get his range wider and also learn to slash better/ post moves. If he can do that we have LO lite.
His handles are good and I hope he can regain his form, 14+/9 shouldnt be too much to ask from him.

- Dmo: Playing better, but got to learn and also where is that 3 pointer that he was all about when drafting him?
His defense is better but he need to be able to block shots and rebound better.

- Garcia: I like his personality but he has to stop doing stupid fouls and hit his shots.

- Beverly: Hes playing good level, would love if he could hit the 3 pointer like he is doing the last couple of games.

[Mr. E]

Yeah, we pretty much know what to expect from Howard, Harden & Parsons. We just need consistency from the rest.

Hopefully some of Hamilton's energy gets the rest of the guys going.

[bws94]

Yeah, we pretty much know what to expect from Howard, Harden & Parsons. We just need consistency from the rest.

Hopefully some of Hamilton's energy gets the rest of the guys going.

Do you seriously think Houston has the coaching personnel to make it a priority to develop the non designated star or core players? I personally don't find Parsons better than Lin or Asik in their respective position but he's being promoted as a star which I don't think is fair to Lin or Asik btw. But please, I don't want this to turn into a Lin thread, or an Asik thread. I'm talking about all of the "secondary" guys and I think Lin and Asik can have the most impact yet any player can be an x-factor player.

Hamilton may not sustain his level of play. I hope he does but I have a feeling he won't. McHale is a starter dependent coach and I've come to the conclusion that he doesn't put weight on getting depth and the x-factor and bench guys going. So the first unit looks pretty slick now, when they don't have to face elite teams and the bench guys look off yet in blowout games, he still features the starters rather than take his chances with the bench and let them work out the kinks or develop better chemistry. That's an approach I think won't benefit the Rockets against the better teams and in the playoffs.

[Jammost]

I think they need to be more of a grind it out post up team. Because this suits the best player on the team.
Also they need to teach Howard how to draw the double and triple teams then kick it out so the ball can be swung to the opposite side for a wide open mid range shot or drive and layup.

this is how the Rockets won back to back titles in the 90's.

That was a great team, because no one cared about just getting there numbers. They played as a team and went through Hakeem so he could set the table for the other players.
Way better to shoot a wide open 15 footer than a forced off balance with two defenders there 25 footer.

That was my favorite Finals ever. The 94 Finals. I like that type of basketball 85 to 81.

So really Harden needs to become more of a set up guy and play off the ball and or also feed the post from the sideline ...
the post up player should always be the midpoint in a STRAIGHT line between the entry passer (harden) and the basket.
The only way to do this physically without getting a three seconds in the lane is to make the pass from the where the teams sit. The sideline basically and infact close to the corner even. Not only do you want that straight line, but you also want the offensive post player facing the sideline because you want the foot closest to the baseline to be very close to the key so they will have the angle to drop step baseline around the defender.

Harden is the player that needs to do more if they're going to get to the Finals and win ultimately Because I already know Howard can lead a team to the Finals and even beat Lebron James there, but I don't know if Harden will want to win bad enough to accept passing off and cutting through looking for offensive rebounds, setting screens, playing more defense and only shooting like 15 times an entire game after he's "earned it".

Howard needs 20-25 shots a game.
He needs to be posted about 40-50 times a game.
Sometime even a repost after a pass out. This keeps the defense honest and shows that you're truly trying to get the ball inside and dunk it. So maybe 55 post ups.

[Lorenzomax7]

I think they need to be more of a grind it out post up team. Because this suits the best player on the team.
Also they need to teach Howard how to draw the double and triple teams then kick it out so the ball can be swung to the opposite side for a wide open mid range shot or drive and layup.

Howard needs 20-25 shots a game.
He needs to be posted about 40-50 times a game.
Sometime even a repost after a pass out. This keeps the defense honest and shows that you're truly trying to get the ball inside and dunk it. So maybe 55 post ups.

That's way too many shots for him. His FT rate and turnover rate are so much higher than Hakeem simply because he can't shoot from the mid-range. If he takes 20-25 shots a game, he is supposed to get 15-20 FTA and 7 turnovers also with his style of play. That's too much for him to do. He'd have been gassed right b4 the PO starts, or even injured.

Reminder: The Rox take 80 shots and 38 FTA per game this season.

[texasholdem]

I think they need to be more of a grind it out post up team. Because this suits the best player on the team.
Also they need to teach Howard how to draw the double and triple teams then kick it out so the ball can be swung to the opposite side for a wide open mid range shot or drive and layup.

Howard is only good at posting up when he makes a quick move with the ball. The longer he waits the more likely he'll turn the ball over or miss the shot.

[Tyson48]

I think they need to be more of a grind it out post up team. Because this suits the best player on the team.
Also they need to teach Howard how to draw the double and triple teams then kick it out so the ball can be swung to the opposite side for a wide open mid range shot or drive and layup.

Howard is only good at posting up when he makes a quick move with the ball. The longer he waits the more likely he'll turn the ball over or miss the shot.

This may be true, but he needs to improve in this area.

Also if the pass comes from the side line, then he can dropstep baseline or to the middle. A dropstep is the quickest type of post up move.
So he'd be in his comfort zone of getting the ball in the scoring position with the pass coming from the sideline near the corner.

Also really he could be a great pound it out post up player. All he needs to do is get down much lower in his stance and dribble with his body protecting the ball, then move to the middle with several dribbles and shoot a jump hook. He just needs to get lower.

[Tyson48]

I think they need to be more of a grind it out post up team. Because this suits the best player on the team.
Also they need to teach Howard how to draw the double and triple teams then kick it out so the ball can be swung to the opposite side for a wide open mid range shot or drive and layup.

Howard needs 20-25 shots a game.
He needs to be posted about 40-50 times a game.
Sometime even a repost after a pass out. This keeps the defense honest and shows that you're truly trying to get the ball inside and dunk it. So maybe 55 post ups.

That's way too many shots for him. His FT rate and turnover rate are so much higher than Hakeem simply because he can't shoot from the mid-range. If he takes 20-25 shots a game, he is supposed to get 15-20 FTA and 7 turnovers also with his style of play. That's too much for him to do. He'd have been gassed right b4 the PO starts, or even injured.

Reminder: The Rox take 80 shots and 38 FTA per game this season.

20-25 shots total "real" shots.
The boxscore would say 17-18 because they subtract when a player is fouled.

See he needs to average 17-18 FGA
With the actually real number of shot attempts being more like 22-24 times a game.

See, if the game plan was to get him 17-18 shots. He'd actually only average about 11 on the stat sheet.


Howard is a 60% shooter and can score in traffic. So he needs to shoot the ball 20-25 times a game.

They need to play like the 01 Lakers when they had Shaq and Kobe.

[Lorenzomax7]

I think they need to be more of a grind it out post up team. Because this suits the best player on the team.
Also they need to teach Howard how to draw the double and triple teams then kick it out so the ball can be swung to the opposite side for a wide open mid range shot or drive and layup.

Howard needs 20-25 shots a game.
He needs to be posted about 40-50 times a game.
Sometime even a repost after a pass out. This keeps the defense honest and shows that you're truly trying to get the ball inside and dunk it. So maybe 55 post ups.

That's way too many shots for him. His FT rate and turnover rate are so much higher than Hakeem simply because he can't shoot from the mid-range. If he takes 20-25 shots a game, he is supposed to get 15-20 FTA and 7 turnovers also with his style of play. That's too much for him to do. He'd have been gassed right b4 the PO starts, or even injured.

Reminder: The Rox take 80 shots and 38 FTA per game this season.

20-25 shots total "real" shots.
The boxscore would say 17-18 because they subtract when a player is fouled.

See he needs to average 17-18 FGA
With the actually real number of shot attempts being more like 22-24 times a game.

See, if the game plan was to get him 17-18 shots. He'd actually only average about 11 on the stat sheet.


Howard is a 60% shooter and can score in traffic. So he needs to shoot the ball 20-25 times a game.

They need to play like the 01 Lakers when they had Shaq and Kobe.

But I think he is no way near the level of Shaq. He is still too turnover-prone and now his back...

[likenom]

He's somewhat close to Shaq. Let's not pretend that he doesn't average 20 and 14 for his entire NBA career.
Infact I believe the gap difference in talent is greater for Howard vs the NBA Centers than it was for Shaq vs. his peers at center.

Howard has a great post game, it's probably one of the best in the NBA. If he didn't have a great post game, then why does he get fouled so much? He gets fouled because players can't defender him. They have no prayer against him.

He needs 25 shots a game... He'd probably get fouled on about 7 of those shots. So his FGA in the boxscore would say 18 FGA.

See the reason you play this style of ball is so that you don't let the opponents back in the game after you've established a lead. playing run and gun basketball lets the opponents back in the game.

a turnover in the key is NEVER a fastbreak for the opponent like a turnover at the top of the key.

Really you're argument sounds like this.

Harden shouldn't shoot the ball ever, because he doesn't do it as well as Ray Allen did.

[BaYBaller]

Don't let Dwight's overall FG% of points/gm fool you. He is an average post-up player. He is currently averaging 0.76 points-per-postup. Compare that to Al Jefferson, who is what I would consider a legitimate post-up threat, standing at 0.95 per postup. On average, it's very hard to make the case that Dwight's postups are anywhere close to dominate. Now compare that to Dwight's PPP as the PnR roller... it's a WHOPPING 1.36 PPP! That's crème de la crème eliteness we're talking about here. It's too bad he posts up on 52% of his offensive plays and only 7% as the PnR big man!

Now I'm not advocating going away from Dwight postups completely. Dwight actually can be dominating in the post if he can overpower his defender. The issue is vs strong defenders he does very, very poorly and brings down his average by a ton. The problem with his postups is he has no range on his hooks. They come off very flat and result in a low FG% unless he is very very close to the basket. Dwight postups should be used more on a matchup basis, rather than a staple of our offense.

I also believe D-Mo could also be used as a situational, match-up based post-up, even though he is posting similar PPP on post-ups as Dwight. This is because it's very rare you're going to face teams who have two elite post-up defenders.

[GNgraduate]

Don't let Dwight's overall FG% of points/gm fool you. He is an average post-up player. He is currently averaging 0.76 points-per-postup. Compare that to Al Jefferson, who is what I would consider a legitimate post-up threat, standing at 0.95 per postup. On average, it's very hard to make the case that Dwight's postups are anywhere close to dominate. Now compare that to Dwight's PPP as the PnR roller... it's a WHOPPING 1.36 PPP! That's crème de la crème eliteness we're talking about here. It's too bad he posts up on 52% of his offensive plays and only 7% as the PnR big man!

Now I'm not advocating going away from Dwight postups completely. Dwight actually can be dominating in the post if he can overpower his defender. The issue is vs strong defenders he does very, very poorly and brings down his average by a ton. The problem with his postups is he has no range on his hooks. They come off very flat and result in a low FG% unless he is very very close to the basket. Dwight postups should be used more on a matchup basis, rather than a staple of our offense.

I also believe D-Mo could also be used as a situational, match-up based post-up, even though he is posting similar PPP on post-ups as Dwight. This is because it's very rare you're going to face teams who have two elite post-up defenders.

I just rewatched an entire random game against a very good defense.
Howard caught the ball in the low block in a post up situation 13 times only, and the plays produced 18 points in the game. He actually went 4 for 9 on shots against the best defensive player in the NBA and he did get 3 free throws out of his 9 shots. So he scored 11 points on 9 post up shots against the best defensive player in the NBA.
The team made another 7 points off the other 4 post ups because he passed out or to someone under the rim.

They need to post up more or else they're just the GS warriors.

[BaYBaller]

Don't let Dwight's overall FG% of points/gm fool you. He is an average post-up player. He is currently averaging 0.76 points-per-postup. Compare that to Al Jefferson, who is what I would consider a legitimate post-up threat, standing at 0.95 per postup. On average, it's very hard to make the case that Dwight's postups are anywhere close to dominate. Now compare that to Dwight's PPP as the PnR roller... it's a WHOPPING 1.36 PPP! That's crème de la crème eliteness we're talking about here. It's too bad he posts up on 52% of his offensive plays and only 7% as the PnR big man!

Now I'm not advocating going away from Dwight postups completely. Dwight actually can be dominating in the post if he can overpower his defender. The issue is vs strong defenders he does very, very poorly and brings down his average by a ton. The problem with his postups is he has no range on his hooks. They come off very flat and result in a low FG% unless he is very very close to the basket. Dwight postups should be used more on a matchup basis, rather than a staple of our offense.

I also believe D-Mo could also be used as a situational, match-up based post-up, even though he is posting similar PPP on post-ups as Dwight. This is because it's very rare you're going to face teams who have two elite post-up defenders.

I just rewatched an entire random game against a very good defense.
Howard caught the ball in the low block in a post up situation 13 times only, and the plays produced 18 points in the game. He actually went 4 for 9 on shots against the best defensive player in the NBA and he did get 3 free throws out of his 9 shots. So he scored 11 points on 9 post up shots against the best defensive player in the NBA.
The team made another 7 points off the other 4 post ups because he passed out or to someone under the rim.

They need to post up more or else they're just the GS warriors.

That's nice. I like choose to look over the entire season. What do you think carries more weight?

Also our offense is absolutely nothing like GS. Do you even watch GS play?

[Experience]

Don't let Dwight's overall FG% of points/gm fool you. He is an average post-up player. He is currently averaging 0.76 points-per-postup. Compare that to Al Jefferson, who is what I would consider a legitimate post-up threat, standing at 0.95 per postup. On average, it's very hard to make the case that Dwight's postups are anywhere close to dominate. Now compare that to Dwight's PPP as the PnR roller... it's a WHOPPING 1.36 PPP! That's crème de la crème eliteness we're talking about here. It's too bad he posts up on 52% of his offensive plays and only 7% as the PnR big man!

Now I'm not advocating going away from Dwight postups completely. Dwight actually can be dominating in the post if he can overpower his defender. The issue is vs strong defenders he does very, very poorly and brings down his average by a ton. The problem with his postups is he has no range on his hooks. They come off very flat and result in a low FG% unless he is very very close to the basket. Dwight postups should be used more on a matchup basis, rather than a staple of our offense.

I also believe D-Mo could also be used as a situational, match-up based post-up, even though he is posting similar PPP on post-ups as Dwight. This is because it's very rare you're going to face teams who have two elite post-up defenders.

I just rewatched an entire random game against a very good defense.
Howard caught the ball in the low block in a post up situation 13 times only, and the plays produced 18 points in the game. He actually went 4 for 9 on shots against the best defensive player in the NBA and he did get 3 free throws out of his 9 shots. So he scored 11 points on 9 post up shots against the best defensive player in the NBA.
The team made another 7 points off the other 4 post ups because he passed out or to someone under the rim.

They need to post up more or else they're just the GS warriors.

That's nice. I like choose to look over the entire season. What do you think carries more weight?

Also our offense is absolutely nothing like GS. Do you even watch GS play?

hmmm, that's nice....

I'm pretty sure your stats were tallied up by a laker homer, because they don't add up.

I researched the Suns game.
They posted Howard in the low block and he caught it 20 times. Here's the production

20 times
Team- 24points
Howard- 21 points

That's good production, because if you minus the shot attempts when he was fouled he had a FG% of 8 for 12 shooting
66%.

What this really does is open up drivng lanes and tip in opportunities for the other Rockets, because the defense has to focus so much on Howard, but only if the Rockets are more than willing to pass to him. It also opens up other post up opportunities for other Rockets.

I'm counting flash post also by the way. Those acounted for about 10 of the plays, so about half. But what sets up the flash post is the traditional post up earlier in the game. So it all fits together. Don't you wish you knew as much about basketball as me and didn't have to rely on some laker homer's shoddy so called stats.

So try to emulate the 2000 Lakers and you'll win.
If you take this chumps advice and try to be the 2006 Suns you'll be out of your league in the second round.

only an idiot would say you shouldn't post up in the playoffs to win. you're like mike dantoni.