I don't understand all these "what's wrong with the Houston Rockets" posts... isn't it obvious? Lack of ball and player movement, crappy defense, poor focus resulting in misses of easy layups... basic fundamentals... And just as most everything good about the current Rockets squad is a result of James Harden - so is most everything that is bad... Harden is a superstar caliber player that can command double coverages that open up everything else for the rest of the squad - and also if he plays without focus - it trickles over to the rest of the team... BALL/PLAYER MOVEMENT - Most often, from the point the ball is brought into play the tempo is established. On plays where Ty or JT bring the ball up we have good movement. Guys are running or at least jogging down court and moving around. When james brings the ball up - everything reverts to a snails pace. Harden slowly meanders down court (pushing the limits of 8 sec to even get the ball across midcourt). Our team waits downcourt for Harden... usually putting their hands on their knees, looking into the stands or just looking bored... Even after the ball makes it up, movement is still minimal as the players wait to see if this is going to be a Harden iso possession or if they should actually move around and cut to the basket... The lag time in bringing the ball up also results in more time that D12 is jockeying for position down low - which within a quarter or two he seems to be in a shoving match with every 7' scrub in the league, he gets frustrated and plays stupid dishing out unnecessary fouls... CRAPPY DEFENSE - I don't think I need to elaborate on Hardens 'spotty' defensive effort... but I do believe it correlates to the rest of the team... if YOU were playing the game, how much effort would you put in if you know that while you're fighting to keep your guy in check, someone else is getting wide open looks... Also, it's the lack of confidence in the TEAM DEFENSE that probably correlates to things like Brewer overplaying the ball trying to get a pick - if you have no confidence that you have a strong defensive unit - you start gambling to try to make something happen... FOCUS - How do we misses sooooo many easy layups? These are professionals and we miss 5+ easy buckets a game... I have to attribute this to either lack of rhythm, lack of focus or both.. Either way I believe this is due to stagnant ball movement and too much iso ball... both of which center around Harden... SOLUTION - We have 2 options A) Trade Harden B) Adjust our gameplan to allow James to perform at a higher level on a consistent basis AND run a gameplan that allows this team to perform in the fashion it was BUILT for - uptempo basketball... A) Trade - personally, I would entertain any realistic offers... I think its an attitude problem with james and 25+ years of managing people has taught me that you can't teach attitude. If you allow roller coaster attitude and performance - you have lost all control... and you get what you get... B) Adjustments 1) Hardens minutes - He says he plays to many minutes to be effective on both ends of the court... cut his minutes back and demand a better effort whenever he's on the court - at BOTH ends... I think Thornton is a helluva player and would love to see him get consistent minutes. I know people will cite stats of the teams performance without Harden on court, but that's not a good barometer - the mold is already cast... If guys are playing in a lackadaisical fashion while Harden is in and have no rhythm... when harden goes to the bench, it's no surprise it continues when he goes to the bench... 2) Let the pg run the offense - We brought Ty in to be a ballhandler, Bev and JT are decent ball handlers - let them bring the ball up! `Give James a few extra seconds of not pounding the ball... You can give it back to him at the top of the key, but lets at least get the ball into play before we're 10 seconds into the play clock... It'll get everyone more aware and moving because any play the ball could go to them if they cut or get a mismatch... We can always default to James - but let's at least explore our options each play... Personally, I think we need to diversify and stop putting all our eggs in the James Harden basket... or all we are ever gonna get, is whatever James decides to give us... If we can't win without 40 pts from harden - that's a severe problem... That's my rant...fwiw....
You make good points. The coaching staff doesn't trust Lawson at all. Ideally he's the sixth man and runs the second unit well enough so that Harden can rest
I dont understand what you're saying... Every team has weaknesses - even Golden State... the battle is making adjustments so those weaknesses are not as detrimental... and 'tanking' is never an option with Les - as history has shown...
I agree with you on the lack of trust for Lawson... but if you can't even trust the guy to bring the ball upcourt and then hand it off to james at the top of the key.. you shouldn't even put the guy on the court...
exactly... and we need to either adjust to offset the weakness aspects or cut bait... or we're just wasting our window...
I think you're right. I wish one of the players stay back on defense when Harden gets the ball. He's being double teamed and not passing until it's too late. Often turning the ball over. If someone stays back we'll have defense back there at least. Something else our leader only does sparingly. Harden is not playing winning basketball this year. Last year, he was great on both ends. This year, neither. His scoring is up but his quality is down. Only thing I like about Harden this year is his rebounding.
Completely agree and this is why I have big concerns with Harden being our franchise player. Feel like trading him would be better long-term if he doesn't have a turnaround and adapts his game for team success.
That's partially true - but strategy and role players can cover over a multitude of sins in the star. Remember the Great Lebron Reaming of 2011 when suddenly he was the most flawed, cancerous superstar in history mostly because he lost one playoff series to a better coached, shapeshifting team that exploited weird flaws in the Heat team makeup like the inability to punish switching on the perimeter, insufficient backcourt D to stop Barea, and so on. Lebron improved his post game, but the team also geared up to fix its defensive and shooting weaknesses and went on to handle business. That was a bit of a digression but the point is, if this Rockets team starts shooting like last year and defending like last year, suddenly Harden starts looking pretty damn good regardless of his defense and focus.
We also lack any type of consistent inside scoring that would give James Harden some relief and make it easier from him to make better outside shots.
I think the team is just taking the year off. We aren't going to beat GSW or SAS anyway, so eh. It sucks but throwing a fit about it online won't change anything. (OP isn't throwing a fit, but plenty on here have.)
Well, we have a window because we got Harden, if you "cut bait" the window is closed and you start over on a 4 year plan to hopefully be back to were we are at and can hopefully open that window again. I mean we're all frustrated but I like making the playoffs and having a guy who is 1st team NBA/Allstar player. I dont know about you but watching Lowry, scola, Martin and goran was cool but it got old quick especially when you realize those guy are all players you should surround a player like harden with not build around them just because they play hard and with passion.