JY86er

I was always concerned with this team's effort level this season long before they looked so sluggish during these two playoff series. However, I am starting to wonder if this is a bright lights team. That they, on the whole, can't get focused until they are put under pressure. Not just regular pressure, but back to the wall, blindfolded and cold sweat pressure. If that is the case--everyone else should watch out, because you absolutely cannot beat a team like that. Not even they know how good they are until put under fire. They can take your best shot and then some, but they simply won't die.

I personally like the toughest matchup we can get if The Rockets truly think this is a championship season. So having said that I'd like for them to have the hardest road by dethroning the defending champion Spurs and hopefully that will toughen\"harden" them to deal with The Warriors. IF they can weather those two hurricanes--then the actual championship series will be a breeze. They will be a very different team mentally by then if all this should happen.

Yeah - I fully expect them to give Ariza, Terry, Brewer, and Prigioni wide open looks behind the arc in tonight's game. I also suspect they will stop double teaming Harden until he gets inside the arc.

...and for that he k.o.'ed them. It was a wonderful thing to see. Carlisle really cant figure out where the Rocket's soft spots are now. They've been very diverse in kicking their butts.

The NBA and playoff coaching in general is very reactionary. They will be dead red on making sure they don't give up all those dunks again by packing the lane and doing everything to not expose Dirk's bad lateral movement again.

They can't stop Harden and so far have had no fear to begin doubling him out high. He's very capable of lighting them up for 40, but it hasn't been necessary. We'll have to see how tonight goes. Games one and two were lessons in the different ways the Rockets can beat you. True, I suspect they will allow the threes and hope the Rockets don't get hot away from Toyota Center, but they are a damaged team and if the Rockets apply the vice grips on defense as the game progresses--they will crack or Carlisle will make another desperate poor decision. Rocket had the 2nd best NBA road record this season. That means even more in the post season.

Begs a lot of questions about free throw shooting so bear with me. I've been thinking about this all evening while watching games with my wife. She and I even watched videos of Jordan, Calvin Murphy and Rick Barry talk about free throw shooting after seeing DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers be put under the microscope of free throw shooting last night against the Spurs.

1. Ok, so is free throw shooting something that is taught in AAU, high school or even college?
Only thing I was ever taught was by an 8th grade coach who basically said stand here, keep your elbow pointed towards the rim and shoot. Then he proceeded to make shot after shot like that. We were all impressed, so I assumed that was how you did it. Simple enough even though none of us ever got his results. Did he leave something out then? I eventually just came up with my own technique like my other friends did. I copied Moses Malone, Karl Malone and Jordan. Players with destinctive pre shot rituals. Only the cool ones, though, because I was a kid and only attracted to cool stuff. Its starting to look like the theme of this year's playoffs is who-to-hack and whether or not employing that strategy works. What concerns me is that enough players in the NBA have low enough FT% to even decide to hack them.

2. When DO you hack them?
I just can't see myself asking my players to do that IF we already have the lead and its still early in the game. I TRUST my players to play the game as we have practiced. Seems mico-managerial. Maybe this is who Rick Carlisle really is. However, it does seem logical if the goal is not to try to force misses and slow the tempo, but more to force the hand of the opposing coach to take that player out of the game. In Game 1 when Kevin McHale had the Rockets intentionally foul Rajon Rondo, immediately after the Mavericks had been instructed to foul Josh Smith, it exposed a deeper issue with Rondo and Carlisle. We'd learn more about that later, but Rondo, with his career 60 FT%, never even got to shoot the free throws and was removed from the game. Not sure if that was the goal by McHale, but here a hack strategy worked, because Rondo went to the bench and wasn't able to lead his team or play defense on James Harden.

3. How did this become a thing in the NBA?
Is it because players are coming out of college after one year or jumping right from high school to the NBA? Does that then mean that the magical teaching of free throw shooting happens in college? Impossible, because Yao didn't go to college and neother did LeBron. Maybe it truly is just talent and if that's the case--then foreign players are simply more talented shooters that American ones........hmmmm. (Not wanting to start that debate--just following the logic to a hypothetical conclusion). OR

4. Is it because they put in the work with endless hours of practice on shooting drills?
If so then american bigs need to do the same and I say it doesn't matter how that ball goes in from 15ft away just sink enough of them to stay off the hackers radar scope. Not just practicing shooting them, but figuring out what technique works for them to make them. Their own technique. Not someone else's that they are copying. One poster above says that just maybe the foreign players in the NBA are the cream of the crop and that is why they on the whole seem to be better free throw shooters. Very valid.

5. Why don't more people at least experiment with Rick Barry's type of free throw?
Rick Barry shot 90% for his career with his granny style free throw. It sure seems to have a whole lot less moving parts in the mechanics. He explains clearly that the backspin toss is more forgiving on the rim than an overhand shot. Who cares. It worked for him. I just believe you have to try everything, because in the end that free attempt must go in at all costs. Jumpshot, headbutt...whatever.