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Originally Posted by RainMaker
So if the play is different, the shots would fall? A lot of the shots they missed were open. That's the goal of a play is to get open looks.
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If the shots are different? If you use Harden as a decoy to try and get a back-cut off the weak side for a cheapie at the basket every once in awhile? Literally anything else except iso 3 or drive and dish from Harden? It's not revolutionary and a lot of the better teams in the NBA (and every other level) do it.
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That "one-trick" is the most efficient way to play basketball and every team in the league is copying it.
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The Rockets version of the "one-trick" (ie. "3 or at the hoop") is coming almost solely off spread iso ball - it's the most extreme version of that style of play by design. It was very effective with arguably the best iso scorer in the NBA handling the ball, but similar to the Cavs with LeBron, incredibly predictable, and in a 7 game series I think that comes back to hurt you a lot more than it does during the regular season. If Harden had a handful of crazy scoring nights the Rockets could've still taken the series, sure. There's something to be said for ball movement and making the defense move their legs that the metrics don't necessarily capture, IMO.
The Warriors can slip into watching Durant iso, but otherwise they run a very pretty offense, and come up with creative ways to get points. I don't think Kerr is a genius and the talent level obvious helps, but a lot of it is just competent Xs and Os and having a few tricks up their sleeves when needed.