[The Atheltic/Amick] The Rockets and their ‘Horrible’ Defense

Crappy defensive start to the season - deja vu....

- only this year there aint no throwin Melo under the bus to get Bzdelik to return..

its been the same for years - but its been masked by Bzdelik's efforts...
undervaluing defense and length in player acquisitions...
undervaluing defense and length in the players that get onto the floor...
no accountability for lack of defensive effort among starters... nonstarters get banished to the bench - but starters aren't held accountable

Bzdelik was a good defensive coach - and I think his rocky road (quitting last year, gone now...) was all about the lack of support he saw for defense (regarding player acquisitions and who was put on the floor)

The only the way this gets turned around is for the people at the top to make it a priority - DM, MDA, Harden and WB!

This whole 'well harden has to carry such a load offensively so he gets a pass on defense' has to end. He & WB need to lead by example.

otherwise, we can all get together and 'cherish' those great reg season offensive stats - as the playoffs continue on without us...

imo...

 

Whenever you have an extreme style on one side of the floor....... it requires running a compatible style on the other side of the floor.

Also when you run an extreme style it requires even a more specific type of player to fit into the system.

For example a team that is coached by VanGundy or Thibs is going to emphasize defense and is going to want to play lots of half court sets. A team that wants to really get out and run isn't going to want players that are slow in transition.

In the case of the Rockets on the offensive end they are running an absolutely extreme offense. They want to push the ball in transition at an incredible pace, with Harden and Westbrook penetrating and lots of three point shots. Honestly, offensively I think Westbrook and Harden have been better than I expected. There have been issues with Capela on the floor with Westbrook and Gordon has struggled but we have in large part done what we have wanted in transition and will only get better.

However the consequence of a high pace and penetration and threes is that the Rockets better be able to get back defensively in transition, the Rockets better be able to switch quickly and be long enough to alter shots and the Rockets better be able to rebound and limit blown assignments. The Rockets are rebounding but they are NOT getting back in transition (some of that is effort and some of it is personnel), the Rockets do not have a mastery of their new hybrid system on defense and the Rockets are not altering shots.

So something has to give..... either the offense becomes less extreme or there are personnel changes.

We got to see this is action in the Memphis game where Westbrook sat out.

Not that my opinion matters..... but from my perspective the Rockets have invested a lot into this team, and would be better off using the few assets they have to add a 3/4 bench player and possibly a starting 4/5 that fit the offense and see what happens.

 

This is nuts.

Harden is a bad defender, but Westbrook is as well.

People didn't want to hear this at the time of the trade, but Westbrook has been every bit as bad as Harden on defense for a few years. He may play with effort, but he gets blown by A LOT.

Having both of them is problematic. They have to figure out a way to overcome it.

 

Westbrook has been worse the last 3 years.

Harden was fine defensively the last two years (entering this season).... while Westbrook has given an NBA record size cushion on his defensive assignment since his usage has exploded.

Westbrook and Harden are both capable defenders on a particular possession and in a strong system.

The problem is that there is no Ariza, Moute and Paul to limit the damage.....

So either add the pieces needed or accept that that the defense will be mediocre at best....... but the idea that this is all one players result is absurd.

 

Westbrook = Melo as a defender.

Not surprised we stunk until the Memphis game on D....

DD

 

Don't be a stupid person.

DD

 

From the looks of it early on, seems like we're semi in the steve nash suns philosophy of defense: Give minimal effort on defense; if they score, take the ball out ASAP and try to take the first make-able shot. The first part is kinda there, but our offense isn't at their level to even justify it. And even if it was, that suns' teams' defense was so bad that it cost them long term

 

James Harden take a bad shot and jogs back down....


Nothing else needs to be said honestly. That’s the “leader” of the team.

 

I thought they were going to try switching less and keeping Capela in the paint more. He's more effective when he's guarding the rim rather than some guard out on the perimeter.

 

Westbrook probably had his best defensive season last year

 

I don’t agree with you guys saying they aren’t giving effort. Guys are playing hard but haven’t picked up the defense so they are making mistakes being in the wrong spot. There is also the size issue that will be there no matter what scheme we use.

I believe the defense will get a lot better with time. We may need to slow the pace a little bit also. I don’t want it to go back to last year but we seem to defend better by mucking up the game.

 

This rings so true, especially the bolded parts.

 

We aren’t as bad defensively as we’ve looked, just as we weren’t as bad throughout prior few seasons than they looked in the opening weeks of the season. It’s a conditioning issue.

Moving the start of the season forward has exacerbated the issue. While the defense won’t be top five - the players will get in shape and get on a string defensively improving the whole.

 

This. That defense worked with LMM and Ariza. Even Anderson could hold his own switching. We don’t have the length and defensive minded players for it any more. Time to abort that defense.

 

I don’t think we need to abandon the system after 8 games. We have a lot of new players still trying to learn it, as well as get in shape. You don’t think that plays a part in this?

Also I don’t want to add to the hot takes, but statistically it seems Eric Gordon has been weighing us down the most just simply giving us nothing on either end. At least James has an impact even when he is missing shots.

I still believe this team can be really good despite its obvious flaws.

 

Switching everything is an absolute must with Harden. He is fantastic at it, and dreadful at running around screens

 

OR...They are only 8 games into a 82 games season. A season where Westbrook played very little in the Preseason. How about give them time to adjust? lol.

 

We played switch defense because we ever had Ariza/Luc Mbah Moute/Tucker combo.

The team changes a lot but MDA’s mind still live in the past. Stubborn donkey.

 

I would agree with you if it didn’t require Clint Capela to guard the 3 point line. I’m down with switch everything but Capela and Chandler.

But they clearly can’t do it because they claimed they were going to do it last year and gave up on it. No reason to think they can do it now with even worse defenders.

Teams know we are going to switch everything. So they just set up a pick to drag Capela to the 3 point line and abuse him. Then we have nobody with any size to defend the paint and rebound because we don’t have LMM or Ariza.

This problem isn’t new. It’s been going on for all of last year plus the 8 games. Our defense has been average at best since losing Ariza and LMM.

Time to adjust to our personnel.