Rockets plan change in tactics

[RonnieBrewer (Reverse Layup)]

Rockets plan change in tactics
Team knows it can't keep winning without more assertiveness on offense and
improved shot selection
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
April 26, 2007, 9:02PM

With the Rockets' offense misfiring, center Yao Ming had seen enough.

The Rockets are leading their Western Conference first-round playoff series
against the Utah Jazz 2-0 but are making only 37.5 percent of their shots.
Forward Chuck Hayes, however, took five shots and made them all in Game 2 on
Monday.

The evidence, Yao said, was clear. So was the solution: blame the coach.

"I may ask his shooting coach to trade for Tom Thibodeau," Yao said of
Rockets assistant Steve Clifford and Thibodeau, the assistant head coach
who works with Yao. "He shot 5-for-5. I may try that one."

The problem with this plan is that the Rockets might not be eager for Yao to
emulate the shooting form of Hayes. But they do believe some adjustments are
in order.

The Rockets have won two games despite their lackluster shooting but know
they must do better offensively to keep winning.

The Jazz have pressured the Rockets ragged. Open shots have missed. Tough
shots have been rushed. But after two days to consider the two games, the
Rockets believe they understand the problems and solutions.

"It's them dictating our offense, what they want us to do," guard Tracy
McGrady said. "Normally, during the regular season, you're pretty much
getting what you want. You're catching the ball where you want to catch it.
You run your offense smoothly.

"This team, since it's the playoffs and since they're a high-energy team,
they're making us catch the ball where we don't want to catch the ball, 
making us run pick-and-rolls in an area where we don't normally run
pick-and-roll. I think that has something to do with our shooting.

"There's always a counter to everything. We worked on some of that as far as
where we catch the ball, how we're going to go about catching the ball and,
if they put pressure on us, what we're going to do when that happens. We have
our ways of overcoming when they put pressure on us."

Besides employing greater discipline and determination to run the offense
despite Utah's defensive pressure, the Rockets might have found a solution
even before getting to the practice court Wednesday.

Against the aggressive Jazz defense Monday, the Rockets' increased
assertiveness led to more fouls and free throws and a 51-point second half
on 48.6 percent shooting.

"I think we learned a lesson in the second half," forward Shane Battier said.
"If we're aggressive with the basketball, going to the basket, we'll shoot
some free throws. We have to use that aggressiveness to our advantage, rip
through when they're really pressuring us and go to the rack."

While that would be a start, coach Jeff Van Gundy said some improved shot
selection would help, too.

"I thought four or five (3-point attempts) were not quality shots," Van Gundy
said. "They're closing on us as hard as anybody has closed to the 3-point
line. You have to give them a lot of credit. Some others are makable and need
to be made. The quality hasn't been what it's been in the regular season.

"Shooting contested 3-point jump shots is not a formula for winning. If
they're going to close hard on you, you've got to be more than a one-trick
pony. You have to have a counter."

The Rockets' 42.9 percent shooting ranked 27th in the NBA this season, but
that included 35.1 percent from the 3-point arc, which was fifth-best. No
other team generated as much of its offense from 3-point shooting as the
Rockets.

But in the first two games of the Jazz series, the Rockets have made only
13 of 55 3-pointers (25.5 percent).

"I've had so many great looks," said Battier, who has made four of 12 treys.
"Ask my wife. I stay up late at night pondering the looks that I've gotten.
I probably have gotten better looks than I had in the regular season, but I
haven't made many of them."

Luther Head, the Rockets' top 3-point shooter this season, is 1-of-9 from
beyond the arc. Rafer Alston is 4-of-16.

The Rockets believe that while the Jazz might make things more difficult,
the ways around and through the Utah defense have not changed.

"They're very aggressive and the most physical team in the league," Van Gundy
said. "Against teams that pressure the ball, no matter what you're running,
(you have to) get enough separation from the defenders so you have operating
room.

"I know what we have to do to try to play better. That's what we're trying to
focus on ─ how we can play better. We would like to do what we do a little
bit better for a little bit longer."

Do that, and the offense that was barely able to produce two victories just
might become good enough to add two more.

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                       http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4750106.html 

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