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Mike D'Antoni: Rockets can be a lot better on offense

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by fallenphoenix, Jan 11, 2017.

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http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spo...b&cmpid=twitter-premium&cmpid=twitter-premium

Mike D'Antoni really meant it. He did not misspeak or engage in a little hyperbole. He was not being a cranky coach seeking a way to demand more of a team that has won 19 of 21 games since the start of December.

Sure, the Rockets are putting up large numbers. He allowed that much. They can be better. He expects them to be better.

"I think we've been really good offensively," D'Antoni said, "and we can get a lot better."

Coaches often think that way, but "a lot better?"

"We have too many turnovers," he said. "The last five or six minutes, we're not efficient yet. We have to do better there."

What else do you want?

As it is, the Rockets are second in scoring to Golden State's collection of All-Stars. They are third in offensive rating, trailing the Warriors by nine-tenths of a point per 100 possessions for the top spot. They are smashing 3-point records, hungrily shooting and making 3s like a sumo wrestler taking things literally at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The Rockets are in the top five in scoring, 3-pointers made, points in the paint, second-chance points, fast-break points, assists and pace.

That's not good enough, D'Antoni said, but at least they are heading in the right direction.

"We are getting better at moving the ball," he said. "When things break down, we're doing a better job finding good shots. We have to continue to do that. Our pace is up to where we're second in the league or third. That's where it should be, if not first. We'll continue to get that better."

Until then, there is a bright side to be found in the Rockets' eight-game winning streak. D'Antoni believes they have successfully taken to their pace-and-space, 3s-and-layups offense and embraced it.

As they have demonstrated in comebacks from double-digit deficits in each of their past four games, they would sooner make their way through the NBA schedule by train than stray from their style.

"We have our formula, and we're going to stick with it," D'Antoni said. "We're just going to have to try to do it harder and better."

As reliably as the Rockets have scored and won, there's that "get better" thing again.

The players do not disagree.

"One hundred percent," Harden said. "Different games, we see different defenses, guards guarding Ryan (Anderson) now, so we just have to figure it out. We're almost halfway through the season, and we're a fairly good team still. I'll get better. My turnovers will start dropping as I get familiar with what different defenses are doing.

"Until then, we're rolling, guys are happy, and we're making shots."

Harden described his role simply: "Every game, my job is to be the best player on the court."

But as with D'Antoni's assessment of the offense, Harden expects more.

Reducing his turnovers would be a way for Harden to improve, though many come with the job. He has said he is willing to take a few turnovers on full-court passes to encourage his teammates to run the floor and reward them when they do. Some giveaways come from confusion in the offense when a cutter goes one direction and Harden sends a pass the other way.

While Harden posted his 10th triple-double of the season Sunday - more than the in rest of his career combined - he also had 10 turnovers. His average of 5.8 turnovers per game is the highest in the NBA, but he considers many of those turnovers the price of doing business in the Rockets' offense.

"I have the ball in my hands 90 percent of the time, so it's going to happen," said Harden, who alluded to the Rockets not wanting to have more than 15 turnovers in a game. "As coach says, I can have 15 turnovers, as long as we have 15 as a team. That's all that matters. Who cares?"

Nit-picking just fine

There is a sense that complaining about turnovers during a winning streak with near nightly rewrites of the record book is a bit nit-picky.

The Rockets have made at least 15 3s in a game 22 times. No other team has done it in more than eight. Their 581 3s are 85 more than Golden State made through 39 games last season, when the Warriors were the most prolific 3-point-shooting team ever. The Rockets have scored at least 120 points 15 times - their most since they had 16 games with 120 points in the 1988-89 season - nearly averaging that much per game since the start of December.

Yet, they still expect more.

"Of course we're striving for perfection," Anderson said. "There's no such thing as perfect basketball, but at the same time, you want to strive to be the best you possibly can be. We can nit-pick and say we can improve on a lot of things. Just the fact of playing more and more together is going to make our offense better. We have such good chemistry, but it is going to get better. It's not even halfway through the season. We have a long way to go."
Click to expand...

#1 fallenphoenix, Jan 11, 2017

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justtxyank Contributing Member

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Does this mean he is going to have a serious talk with James Harden?

#2 justtxyank, Jan 11, 2017

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FTW Rockets FTW Contributing Member

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Need a Players ONLY meeting to sort out the offense

#3 FTW Rockets FTW, Jan 11, 2017

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#4 Obito, Jan 11, 2017
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Can we get better at defense doe?

#5 vtjsr2, Jan 11, 2017
Nimo Member

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They need to shoot more three pointers!

#6 Nimo, Jan 11, 2017

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justtxyank Contributing Member

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Nimo said: ↑

They need to shoot more three pointers!
Click to expand...

Not sure if you are saying that tongue in cheek, but they have actually said that.

#7 justtxyank, Jan 11, 2017

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topfive CF OG

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That's the scary thing: This team has only played in this system for 50 games, counting pre-season. Some of the main guys are still getting used to their new teammates. The Rockets will only get better from this point forward. By playoff time, we are going to be a well-oiled machine.

I'm not even scared by the supposed lack of defense. Margin of victory is a more telling stat in my eyes; who cares if we allow 120 points in a game, as long as we're scoring 130?

#8 topfive, Jan 11, 2017

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Jatman20 Member

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I believe D'Antoni actually has more in the playbook. As Harrell/Capela/Dekker improve so
will the pace & variations of plays.

#9 Jatman20, Jan 11, 2017

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napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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"We have too many turnovers," he said. "The last five or six minutes, we're not efficient yet. We have to do better there."

Careful, D'Antoni, you're likely to get flamed on Clutchfans for speaking objectively about these issues! Don't you know that a great record means no improvement is possible or necessary?

#10 napalm06, Jan 11, 2017

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They can definitely improve, but it takes time, practice and familiarity. Harden's understanding of the scheme will be insane if we're still running this in 3 years.

Anyways, D'Antoni likes the 8.5 man rotations. So, without making a team effort to improve, if you simply just swap out Brewer with someone competent you will improve plenty.

Reducing Harden's turnovers significantly seems more like a hopefully next year type of project.

#11 Ziggy, Jan 11, 2017
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He 'aint lying. If you watch the games we still have lapses where we slow it down and go iso and we are near the bottom in team turnovers.

#12 ipaman, Jan 11, 2017

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ISO brewer?

#13 CCorn, Jan 11, 2017

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First,

you need to stop letting your star player to chase for individual stats instead of the team victory.

#14 Texanasiafan, Jan 11, 2017

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napalm_black said: ↑

"We have too many turnovers," he said. "The last five or six minutes, we're not efficient yet. We have to do better there."

Careful, D'Antoni, you're likely to get flamed on Clutchfans for speaking objectively about these issues! Don't you know that a great record means no improvement is possible or necessary?
Click to expand...

You gotta feel for MDA. He's definitely calling out someone on our team, but can't seem to mention his name

#15 joomba, Jan 11, 2017

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If you're not working towards getting better, regardless of how good you are now, you are getting worse by default.

#16 waytookrzy079, Jan 11, 2017

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This gave me chills. Love this team and Mike D

#17 Jayzers_100, Jan 11, 2017

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justtxyank Contributing Member

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The good news is that when January ends we'll have more practice time. We'll have a few weeks with several days at home.

#18 justtxyank, Jan 11, 2017

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Getting Capela back will go a long way in this

#19 DonKnock, Jan 11, 2017

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Texanasiafan said: ↑

First,

you need to stop letting your star player to chase for individual stats instead of the team victory.
Click to expand...

He let Bev chase a triple double earlier in the season too.

The players are happy and motivated, that's what matters most

#20 DonKnock, Jan 11, 2017

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