Breakdown of the Offense?

Well from the San Antonio game I saw, anytime SA would make a basket Yao wouldn't throw the ball in. Cato or someone else would do it. Yao would get good inside position because of it. They made quick passes down the court and were very efficient with the shotclock. They'd immediately look into throwing the ball to Yao, and would slash around him. If he didn't establish good position, he'd kick the ball back out, move from one side of the goal to the other til he could back his opponent in for better position. When he wasn't in there, they still slashed around the basket, and created a lot of open perimeter jumpers usually.


If they had a good shot early in the shot clock, they were quick to take it, which was smart. That's how JJ got the majority of his points in the third, as did Mobley as well. The ball movement was pretty fluid, with the exception of a few occasions where Moochie would run the shot clock down a few seconds with his dribbling, but even he wasn't that bad. There were good pick n' roll sets, better spacing, quick post entry passes, and lots of slashing around the basket.

In general very efficient ball movement that usually equated to open scores. If the shot clock was running down, the ball would get dished to Francis and he'd try and create an open shot on his own by going 1 on 1 on his opponent. It happened on maybe 2 or 3 occasions in the SA game when he'd have to jack up a shot with the shot clock winding down.

 

boy, I'll betcha a HP X's and O's post would fit the bill at this point.

I dont get into the X's and O's much sorry, but LB touched on much of it...more ball movement, early offensive touchs, effectively utilizing the PnR's..better defensive intensity, using double and triple picks to help a man get open while still keeping an eye out for in the paint offensive openings for Yao and Cato.

Pretty much the kind of team ball that you would hope to see in a young team on the rise..

 

Two things I noticed from the SA game.

First, JJ brought the ball up pretty much the entire first quarter. Mooch would come in laterand suck. It made me think JJ (or maybe Mobley) was the plan b for bacup point guard.

Second thing, I forgot exactly when, but the ball was moving around pretty well. A rocket player was wide open at the top of the three point line. I couldn't tell who it was, but he was wide open. My knee jerk reactioin was "opportunity for an open three, somebody pass him the ball". Instead the ball was passed in to Yao in a fairly low position, the unknown player from the top of the arc (turns out to have been Braggs) cut to the basket, Yao passed to him, two point layup.

On that play, I knew things were different.

 

LB, R2K, Pat mentioned some of the differences ...
To stress the important points:

1) Last yr, low post player had one chance to get the ball. If he didn't post lo enough, either the guard(s) would take it themselves or the post player'd get the ball in a disadvantage position and have to try to make something good out of it. If he passes the ball out, it's gone.

This yr, Yao can post, gets the ball. If he does not like it, he can pass it out, reposts and gets it back. If he can not post low on 1 side, he flashes across the paint for the ball or all the way to the other side and reposts, the ball will swing with him.
The result: 60+ FG%

2) Start the offense earlier so we can go thru many different options.

3) Multiple picks, early and often.

4) Keep going for the mismatch (whether it is Yao or JJ).

 

All the previous posters in this thread have it right..

one thing that I have noticed now for the last several games, though, is the guys are still having some trouble with their spacing.

What I mean is, very often, a play will seem to be designed either for a slash to the basket along one side of the lane, or a toss into the post, again basically on one side of the lane.

That's fine, but very often, at the same time, the wing player on that side of the court seems to be moving into the play, instead of clearing out. The problem is, this brings an extra defender into the play as well.

In other words, it looks to me like something they still need to work on, the strong-side spacing away from the ball.. if they get that figured out, then they will have more open looks at 3's, as well as letting Yao or the cutter have more room to work without that extra defender hacking at them.

 

Ya, where is he when we actually need him?

 

I'm too afraid to start a "Did HP get banned" thread in the Feedback forum. I might get reprimanded by the admins myself.

 

Also,

When we are shooting Free Throws, Yao is on our defensive side of the court, probably to give him time to rest.

DD

 

I asked HP last time I saw him, all he would say was "It's a long story" and since we were in the middle of watching a Rox game at BW3s..I dropped it at that.

I think that it may have something to do with wifely pressures....
others here may know more(not mentioning names, they know who they are)..
it is a shame tho...one of his strengths was the ability to describe the X's and O's in a way that most could understand..

 

The whole process of lining up and shooting FTs can take 30 sec-1 minute. If it happens 10 times in a game, it adds up to 10 short breaks that a 7'-6, 310 lbs guy can benefit from.

We also try to have someone else (instead of Yao) inbound the ball in the back court. It saves him from having to sprint to catch up to the guard trying to get into the play.