@aelliott - had you seen this? Not sure where the notion comes from that most of his assists are with the back to the basket?
That is a great table! When Alpi learns to shoot better, he can play the elbow more often to space the floor and get more "cut" assists. A lot of "kick out" assists come from being back to the basket.
Dude that was the short version, if I showcase the entire archive/vault you would call it.... A Quadrillion$$$ and .02 worth Its just amazing and sad that folks are so caught up in the 5 color code game that they only cling on to the two that was highly promoted in the Euro Royal Coat of Arms (so called Black Nobility/High Table) where the ruling /sovereign class was the White status party and the other status was the dependent/servitude class labeled Black Over there it didn't matter your skin complexion, but since mid 1800s H Greeley(York) set up the Whig/New Republic (Democracy/Federal company) and they took on the political status of White people...... But they are using the ''Free White Persons'' (look it up in law dictionary) which is for those who come from other countries and want to be naturalized citizens of United States with their mother nationality attached, but their paperwork will have that status Black is a non citizen status as well, and they use it now to identify dark complexion, but that is a servant status, just like using just White, they couldn't bring it all from Europe And that is why they promote Black Lives Matter / History Month etc is because that is their property Which is also the reason why you won't never see a white history month.....because people would see how fraud it is and was first used in a play-write in the 1600s to identify a said people, but the Europeans on those providence plantation colonies called themselves English/Christians on their legal documents and not white Just like Black Slave History was invented in 1619/20 Its called a Dulocracy Society TBC.....
Someone explain to me how this is a "dilemma" as if I haven't watched basketball for the better part of 40 years.
I had not seen this particular post but those are just types of passes. Almost all of them can be made with you back to the basket. For about 3 years, the NBA had a site called "Court Optix". It had some very cools stats. It showed things like, how much players were double teamed and which players screened for specific other players. The site had a section on assists. You could look up a player and it showed all of their passes/assists, who they were to, the zone on the floor where the pass was thrown from and the zone where it was received. Here's an NBA advertisement for the site: https://www.nba.com/news/nba-courtoptix What it showed was that most of his assists came from the post area vs out top (either ft line or beyond the arc). It also showed that he didn't have many assists/passes for corner 3s. Here's a post of mine from prior to the start of free agency last year. This was based on the data in the NBA's Court Optix site ( which was compiled based on the camera system in the NBA arenas). https://bbs.clutchfans.net/threads/woj-harden-return.318150/page-112#post-14635357 Unfortunately, the NBA no longer offers the Court Optix site so there's no numbers, that I know of, for this season and past seasons are no longer available. As I said, I looked at the passing number quite a bit when we were doing the Harden "do we"/"don't we" prior to last offseason's start of Free Agency. Because of that I've always paid attention to where our assists were coming from and going to when watching the games this season.
Sengun is already in sets where he is in the high post about 15-20 ft away. He is also featured on the 15 ft elbows and above the arc. When in the high post he usually has an iso to dribble drive with a dribble handoff option up top or from the wings (usually with Green). He also has an option to attack from the elbows or dribble handoff action option to FVV or Green. When Sengun is in these areas the defender sags off him a few feet since he can’t shoot over 14 ft. 475 of his 527 FGM (90%) have been from 14 ft or less. 33 FGM (6.2%) were 3 pts. Teams defend Jokic tightly in these similar positions on the court. Jokic shoots 630 of 740 (85%) 14 ft or less. 110 of those FGM (15%) came from 15 ft and beyond. 72 FGM (9.7%) were 3pts. From these positions Jokic has shooting/dribble drive or handoff option that can turn into PNR. He also finds guards as they cut after a fake flare or as they set a paint pick for him. But because of his mid range/3 pt ability teams play up on him which allows for cutters from perimeter or screens from the low man. This is the difference. Having that beyond 14 ft shot ability stretches out defenses. The half court game of Den looks very different from Hou because of this.
He needs to learn: To not force shots Look to make plays off the dribble drive (short/long corners) How to play PNR Deceleration Have a better feel in the half court set as he is too focused on scoring instead of playing within the flow of the game and reacting to what is given by defenses
I don’t think so in terms of ur statement on Sengun’s range. See my other post on here about it. But if u look at how he scores it’s either off the short roll. Dribble drive from the high post or top arc or low post. A lot of teams play off him waiting for his driving spin move. This decreases driving lanes and cutting action. Or even pick and pop. Limits the entire half court set.
You are correct that a perimeter shot will pull the defense out but that's not the only thing that does. If the defense sags off Sengun and he starts racking up assists, then the defense will be drawn out to play him. That's the next natural progression for him. As I stated earlier, the Rockets had been running high pick and roll out above the arc with FVV and Sengun. If Alpi's defender drops, then VanVleet gets a wide open 3 pointer. If he's hitting that shot then the opposing big is forced to come out and contest VanVleet's shot. My whole point was that Sengun needs the ability to at times bring his defender out of the paint. That greatly aids Green, Thompson and Whitmore. Having a 3pt shot that teams respect isn't the only way to accomplish that.
Yeah, I agree on all points - I think it’s a problem for sure…I am thinking about why it’s a problem in terms of roster construction moving forward (the Jalen/Sengun argument) but the net of it is the same - Sengun HAS to add that shot in order to open up the offense - otherwise you HAVE to surround him with pure shooters and we have many very good guys on the roster who benefit from the driving lanes.
It would greatly help if other Rockets could make open shots (Green was like 27 % on wide open threes this season, and others are similarly bad) other Rockets could cut - Tari was pretty good at it and Amen is as well. The others, not so much. So I would argue the "racking up assists" part is at least as much on the other players as it is on Sengun.
Yes that is a question you should think about. And it’s all relative on what big 3 means isn’t it? Many have said that teams need 2 or 3 stars to compete for a title. Stars. Not 2-3 good players. Big implies greatness. Imposing. Dominant. Garnett Pierce Ray. Kobe Shaq. Rodman Pippen Jordan. Klay Curry Draymond. But Now that all depends on how you define a star. Holmgren and Williams aren’t All Stars as defined by the NBA in terms of being voted into the All Star game. One is a rookie and the other a second year player who haven’t been established enough in their careers to even be considered great players much less star or superstar. Now if you are simply talking about 3 good players on the team who are consistently productive then sure there is a case for that. Or maybe you are referring to simply the best 3 players on the team? According to the latter 2 definitions Green Sengun and FVV are arguably the best players on the Rockets. Glass half empty or full. I like to see our situation as full
I do agree that the Rockets should cut more but they don’t. But part of the issue again is multiple defenders sag since they’re concerned about Sengun driving. And this congests the lanes. And yes the Rockets aren’t a good 3 pt shooting team which is why teams don’t respect and sag.
It does feel like Udoka has been playing around a bit with the sets - the move to put Alpi in the middle of the floor was a pretty big mid season change and to your point, the off ball motion wasn't great there but I suspect this would improve with more practice/familiarity. It's just a shame that Sengun had his injury when he did because I think we all would have liked to have more data on what did/didn't work and unfortunately we didnt have a ton of time as a team to see what that looked like once the team had more experience running the offense that way. I for one don't envy Udoka and his staff's job this offseason trying to sort through the data to figure out where players performed best this year given how many permutations of the offense we have tried this year.
So, controversial opinion... Maybe if the Jalen Green for Bridges deal went down, it wouldn't have been the disaster people think it would have been. What if Brooklyn is right and there are star players who want to play with Bridges we don't know about? Maybe The Rockets knew that too. Having two young possible stars that we don't know mesh yet isn't the worst thing in the world but maybe Bridges and Sengun would have been the perfect pieces to play next to a star? We have no idea if Jalen Green will be that star or even how long it could take. I will say that I don't think Green would be the kind of player that could thrive playing with another ball dominant star. Even at Green's best, will he ever be enough to get us a championship? Most of the time, when two young players are a questionable fit, it usually doesn't work out. They get far, but that questionable fit usually comes around to haunt them and every season the trade rumors swirl. Also, when Alpi comes back, who goes to the bench? FVV needs to start, Green is obviously staying, Jabari and Thompson feel like they've earned starter spots. Do we send Brooks to the bench? Just a what if, what if Curry was that star that wants to play with Bridges? You'd have Curry, Bridges, Thompson, Jabari, Sengun, FVV, Brooks, Eason, Adams, Whitmore, Landale, and Tate. To me, I feel like I could more easily build a balanced roster with these guys. I'm not saying I wish it happened or that I dislike Green. I was never a Green hater. Just musing and imagining maybe neither Houston or Brooklyn were fools with that trade proposal.
Couple of things. All open shots aren't created equal. Green doing the double stepback move covers a ton of space and usually results in an open shot but it doesn't go in much. Same with the Lillard range 3s. They are open shots but not good shots. Green seems to do much better when he can go to the basket and get a couple of scores before he starts shooting 3s. Whenever theres a shotblocker camped at the rim, it reduces his offense to only shooting 3s and that generally doesn't end well, even thogh they are open shots. I agree aboutt cutters. With the type of sthletes we have on the wings, it would be nice. The more easy baskets the better.
