This team no longer has any point guard capable of running a decent fast break. Rudy would come the closest. Blake and Miller don't have a "fast" setting on their speed control.
Rather than do his job, part of which is to teach to players all the facets of the game, including transitions?
Not to a level of a team stressing to establishing a low post offense. Back picks, double picks, switch and penetration for a nice lob, get the damn ball to our big guys in the paint. The sooner we establish this, the easier the game will be for Roy to do most his damage. Fact is, we are still very "one dimensional" as a team. I want teams to fear our inside game. Have them trade, sign or draft players to specifically match up to us. We have the talent t get it done, we just need to design way more plays than just the 3 you think of. Oh and BTW, tossing it in the post from the three point area is a basic play. I'm talking about technical plays that are more than tossing it to the post from a three point player.
Are you sure Nate didn't say the team would stop using the half-court last seven seconds of the shot clock offense if the turnovers didn't go down?
This is exactly what I was thinking as I read this thread. I don't have any doubt that Nate knows a million times more about coaching than I do, and that he's at least as million times better a coach than I would be. But is he better than other coaches at getting the most out of his players? I still have my doubts, and I have even MORE doubts about whether he would ever let this team be up-tempo or anything resembling it. Ed O.
Well said. Thanks for busting down the "You aren't an NBA level coach so you can't criticize or compare Nate to other coachs" fallacy. That one drives me nuts. Besides if we can't talk about the coach because we aren't coaches , we certainly can't talk about the GM, or the President, or even the players themselves unless we are ourselves NBA players. It's just ridiculous and if the mod's enforced that as a rule the board would be as silent as David Stern's mausoleum ...I mean bedroom.
OTOH, we can also conclude that, comparatively speaking, Nate has been quite successful here....and looks to continue in that success. He may not run the style of basketball that some like, but what he runs, has worked to a large extent. Plus, he has the close ear of the top player on the team. That helps a bunch, as well.
I don't disagree with any of that. I just am baffled by certain decisions he makes. Maybe while the visible result would seem to be problematic there is something important I'm missing. That wouldn't surprise me in the least to be honest.
Exactly. What specific decisions are baffling people? I can't think of one decision Nate has made that baffles me. Sure there are some things Nate does that I question or wonder about, but I'm not going to spout off like I know what's right and he doesn't. I guess as long as we keep improving, winning, everyone can continue they know how to win better or more often.
Si. It's like if Nate doesn't win the championship every year people are calling for his head. You think Nate wasn't disappointed by last year's playoffs? I'm not saying he's perfect by any means, but can we please put the effigy dolls back in the closet until at least the third game in?????
How about that play where Travis Outlaw chased down the loose ball and dunked it? Also, guess who had the least turnovers of anyone on the team? Travis. Only 1 turnover. Everyone else, EVERYONE else, had at least 2.
To be fair... we don't actually know what Nate said and in what context he said it. This is all hearsay.
Yeah, that run in the second quarter was tremendous and had Houston playing catch-up the rest of the game. Of course, you need stops to fast break and I think that's what Nate wants this team to focus on -- defense first, and then leak out if it's there. The one issue I see is we have good fast-break finishers, but our fast-break initiators are mediocre outside Andre. Last season, Sergio was our best player at running the break and making the right decision, but he wasn't good at anything else really. Blake can't run a break to save his life as he'd rather stop and pop the 3. Rudy stops a lot at the 3-point line looking for the long ball rather than an easy layup, and Brandon certainly isn't a fast-break player unless he's finishing it. If Andre's not running the break, then I can see how Nate would rather have this team hold it up. But it is frustrating with the athletes we have and the finishers we have that we can't run a bit more at the right time. It gets the crowd involved, it deflates the other team and it pumps up the players.
