By Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider)
Houston Rockets Staff Writer
The Houston Rockets completed a three game road-trip with a win over the New York Knicks on Thursday. They finished 2-1 with wins over the Cavaliers and Knicks and a loss to the Chicago Bulls. The team will be back in action Saturday when the Utah Jazz visit the Toyota Center.
With Kevin McHale starting Donatas Motiejunas over Josh Smith, I decided to re-watch the past three games and bring to attention certain offensive sets, players, and line-ups that the Rockets have implemented.
Notes/Observations
- The HORNS offense is a popular basketball set that many teams use to create scoring opportunities. The point guard has the ball at the top of the key with both bigs on the high post (lane lines extended). The wings are spaced out on opposite corners and react based on defensive movement and screen-action.
This past road-trip, the Rockets ran HORNS, a standard NBA set, more often then they had all season. Usually the Rockets use a variation of the set in transition to open up James Harden for an open look, but recently it’s been in their half-court offense.
Here is the general set-up of HORNS the Rockets have utilized.
Patrick Beverley sets up on the top of the key and has the option of using the screen from Dwight Howard or Donatas Motiejunas. On opposite corners, James Harden and Trevor Ariza wait for Beverley to make his choice which will dictate whether they move along the baseline or the three-point arc. If Beverley takes the screen from Motiejunas on the right high-post, Harden will likely move across the baseline to the left corner and Ariza will move towards the right wing (spacing). However if Beverley takes the screen from Dwight, Ariza will set-up in the right corner and Harden will transition to the top of the key. The Rockets ran HORNS with Beverley taking the screen from Howard more times than not. Motiejunas moves to the right wing, a fail-safe in case Beverley is trapped by a double-team off the screen and roll.
Here is an example of HORNS: Beverley is turned back by Rose, forcing him to pass it to Motiejunas behind the three point line. DMO pitches it to Harden who draws the double as he drives inside. Harden makes a nice pass back to DMO at the free throw line, Gasol steps up, and Motiejunas throws the perfect lob to an open Dwight Howard for the alley-oop slam dunk.
The Rockets run the same HORNS set, but this time Derrick Rose is late coming around a Dwight Howard screen and Gasol stays back to prevent an alley oop, giving Beverley an uncontested floater.
When playing against teams that lack rim-protection and play small, the Rockets can run this set and open up easy alley-oop opportunities for Dwight off the screen. In this example Beverley is doubled off the screen and roll and Miller is late on his defensive rotation, opening the lane for an easy alley-oop to Dwight Howard.
Here are two more examples of HORNS, incorporating Josh Smith’s strengths. Kevin McHale recognizes Smoove’s ability to be a secondary play-maker and create with passing, whether off the dribble or on the high-post. The Rockets utilize Smith’s passing ability to create high-percentage opportunities as shown below.
In the first example, Smith makes a bullet pass into the corner for an easy Ariza three. Instead of having Dwight and Motiejunas on the high post setting screens, the Rockets have DMO and Smith set-up for Beverley to choose. Beverley comes around a Motiejunas screen and simultaneously Donatas rubs off Gibson, allowing Smith to curl around and drive down-hill. Ariza runs along the baseline and sets up in the right corner and receives Smith’s pass on target.
In the second example, Jason Terry gets a quick screen from Josh Smith and moves to the left wing. Howard and Smith change spots, switching their location parallel to the lane lines. Next, Terry comes off a Howard screen and passes to Josh Smith. After setting the screen, Howard cuts to the basket and Smith throws a perfect lob pass for the slam dunk. - With Josh Smith coming off the bench as the third big, Kevin McHale experimented with an intriguing small-ball lineup during this recent road trip. The lineup featured Josh Smith at the 5 position alongside Kostas Papanikolaou at the 4, Corey Brewer at the 3, Harden/Ariza at the 2, and Terry as the PG.
The Rockets offense is predicated on spacing and finding the open shot, and this small-ball lineup was clearly effective in doing so. Offensively, the team started out in a 5-out formation with Harden or Terry as the primary ball-handler at the top of key. Josh Smith would come and set a screen, freeing Harden to drive and get penetration (collapsing the defense). With three other shooters spaced out on the floor, bigs are pulled away from defending the paint and helping. The shooting threat allowed the Rockets to play a two-man game, pressuring the defense to choose whether to give up an open three or an open driving lane.James Harden and Josh Smith run the pick and roll on Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler; three shooters are spread out around the three-point arc. With Smith’s ability to drive and score/kick-out, Gasol steps up and gives Harden an open lane to the basket. Notice the other defenders are not willing to give up the three and thus do not rotate over.
Here’s another example of a Harden/Smith pick and roll with the small-ball lineup.
Defensively the lineup presented issues, particularly offensive rebounding. The numerous second-chance opportunities for the Bulls and Cavaliers were due to poor box-outs and lack of size on the floor. Here’s an example of Gasol and Gibson terrorizing the offensive glass on Monday. In the coming weeks, I’ll be focusing on how Papanikolaou and Smith fair defensively against bigger forwards and Centers, especially on the low-block. - Whenever I go back and analyze I game, I look for patterns and repetitions. One consistency on offense is the pairing of Harden and Motiejunas on the screen-and-roll and pick-and-roll. Most of the time on offense, Motiejunas and Harden are on the same side of the court. We’ve always asked for more Harden/Howard pick-and-roll, which has been very effective, but the Harden/Motiejunas pairing may just as potent and successful.
Motiejunas is an incredible passer for his size and does a wonderful job of hitting shooters out of the low-post and finding shooters around the perimeter off a screen-and-roll. His improved ability as a screener makes him more versatile as a passer, giving the offense an added dimension.
With Motiejunas seeing more playing time, the Rockets have incorporated more dibble hand-offs into their offensive repertoire. In this play, Motiejunas executes the dribble hand-off while setting the screen on Miller. DMO rolls towards the baseline and gets the bounce pass from Harden. He dribbles once across the lane and makes a terrific pass to Beverley in the left corner for an open three pointer.
In the previous example, Donatas Motiejunas could have taken on the defender Haywood and scored from deep in the post. DMO’s an excellent finisher around the room, especially on hook shots. NBA Savant’s shot breakdown has Motiejunas leading the NBA in hooks, converting a league best 60 out of 98 shots taken (61.22%). Here’s an example of Motiejunas off the screen-and-roll, finishing over the defense with a hook-shot. It’s almost automatic.
Kevin McHale and the Rockets coaching staff are incorporating Motiejunas’ versatility and strengths into the offense, making him an important part of their scheme. It’s been great to see the maturation of the Lithuanian national; becoming a valuable asset on one of the league’s best teams.
- I’d like to conclude by talking about James Harden, and the different ways the Rockets try to get him the ball in favorable situations. Whether coming off screens/picks or finding him in transition, Harden has developed into a professional scorer and now league MVP almost half-way through the season.
Harden is almost impossible to guard in the open floor. He’s at his best when he has space and room to create his own shot, as was shown during the past three games. There were multiple ‘Bearding’ moments, from his cross-overs to euro-steps in the lane, but I’d like to isolate his step-back jumper (see what I did there?). Here’s a stat, James Harden has connected on almost 53% of his step-back jumpers this season, making 41 out of a league high 78 shot attempts. Last season, Harden took a league-leading 147 step-back jumpers and connected on only 45.58%.
In this play, The Rockets go 4-wide with Harden isolated on the free-throw line with Mike Miller. Harden can probably blow by his defender for the high-percentage layup, but instead takes a step-back jumper. Normally I would disagree with his shot-selection, but he’s proved this season that he can get/make any shot he wants.
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