By: Rahat Huq
http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a559/RedNinetyFour/Motiejunas-layin_zpskrjexbsg.gif
So this was an interesting play from the other night which immediately jumped out at me. Motiejunas sets the pick for Beverley out top, rolls, Beverley hits him, then Motiejunas skips it to the corner for Papa, then a re-post, then a basket. This caught my eye because you rarely see a multi-sequenced play from the Rockets' offense, at least to such a degree. You'll have the pick&roll with the lob to Howard, or the swing passes around the perimeter. But that skip pass from the big man and re-post was unique and probably more a product of improvisation than something drawn up - the two European Rockets have shown better chemistry with each other, already, than probably any two current Rockets, Howard and Harden included.
My first thought here was that if you could get Howard involved in some action like this, it would be game over for the defense, especially because where you see D-Mo re-posting, Dwight Howard sealing from that close in is a difficult proposition for basically any defender in the league. But I'm not sure Howard is capable of making that skip pass off the dribble, so that thwarts any notions of duplication.
Initially, one of the Rockets' most glaring issues has been simply getting Dwight the ball, against aggressive defenses. We saw Nerlens Noel deny him even receipt of the ball. If the team is committed to posting Dwight, as they seem to be so far, they will have to find creative ways to feed him.
