[Chron] Jeff Bzdelik sees path to fixing Rockets' defense

boxing out is one of the most simple/fundamental tasks in basketball but it still doesn't always happen at times. Things so simple doesn't always translate into a real game as easily as you might think.

 

This tells you how f'd they were defensively already.

This is basically stuff... we're not talking about strategies on how to best defend certain things, just doing fundamental stuff the right way.

Which is fair... got to tear down the crap and start anew...

 

Of course, in any entry interview like this, all you're going to get from a coach is talk of basic stuff. I'm sure he just hit on the most obvious. We definitely need renewed focus on transition D.

That said, many of us this year discussed the effect our live-ball turnovers had on transition d. The offense will affect this, too. I can hear MDA say, "If we focus on improving our offensive efficiency, we won't have to worry about transition d." (Yet, we were 7th in the league in offensive eff.) sigh

 

Unfortunately, things like boxing out and hustling back during transition take effort. This team showed very little effort during the season.

I'm cautiously optimistic new voices will turn things around, but it of course has to start with a revamped roster. I'm giving DA the benefit of the doubt that his offensive system (we should actually have a system now) will be beneficial and will naturally bring out more effort from the role players.

 

The quest will be to get Harden to buy in on allowing himself to try on defense on ALL possessions and to entrust his teammates with the ball on offense. Take that weight off your shoulders young man (he's older than me so this is weird to say) and trust that your coaches/teammates won't let you down!

 

problem with our transition defense before is Harden likes to hover in the paint even when his guy is on the perimeter. He'll stand there and try to get the rebounds. His rebound numbers will go down tremendously but I'm sure he'll buy into the game plan if the coaches hold him accountable

 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2016.html

Looks like they were 27th in turnovers, but also somehow first in opponent turnovers.

It's a complex beast, I think. Did they just promote sloppy play in their games? Was their defense just too focused on steals instead of solid defense?

Ignoring stats, which is probably helpful, we know they were bad defensively and solid offensively, but too much of a one-trick pony. We suspect MDA's offense should translate fairly well to Harden and hopefully they can keep their offensive efficiency if not improve, while cutting down a bit on turnovers. We have absolutely no clue how their defense will perform within there, or how well it will need to perform, depending on how amazing the offense is. And we still have no idea. We just know Bzdelik can say some pretty obvious stuff about defensive philosophy!

 

same views here pretty much. I mean at this point things are supposed to trend upwards after everything that just happened this season right. This offseason well tell a lot about the players once next season begins and how they respond

 

Harden's defense is likely to improve by seeing what the media, fans, and his piers think about him and then going out there to prove them wrong and improve his image, not by any coach holding him accountable.

Not having Terry or Howard on the floor is huge. I like them as people, but teams figured out that if you put either into the pick and roll its an open shot everytime.

 

i don't know about that. This past year was not the first time JH was criticized on the defensive end. Yet look what happened. You absolutely need coaches to hold players accountable. If not coaches, then someone else in that locker room needs to. Unless you're playing a perfect game there's no reason anyone should not be held to certain standards unless collectively that group just don't care about winning.

 

Agreed, I should have said more likely, needs to be held accountable as well. But he came into last season as the players MVP, now he's seen as a joke who can't win, that'll get to him.

 

Man i hope james wins MVP next season :grin::grin::grin:

 

That's what all coaches say, and it's the truth. Defense is about effort. It's not very complicated.

 

Dude its fairly simple. This will depend on what we do offensively.

If Harden is our ONLY offensive weapon and we can only score with him on the floor then the answer is NO, Harden will not be benched if he makes defensive mistakes because in this scenario benching Harden would hurt the team both ways, you are not defending and you are not scoring either.

However if MDA has more offensive alternatives that can at least momentarily suppress our Harden dependency then the answer is YES he will take him out of games at times when he is not performing defensively.

For me Harden's defensive issues are basically about focus. when he is one on one he will play competent defense, yet when the ball gets moved around, screens are set or pump fakes are made he has a tendency to lose his man and get caught ball watching. I believe that Contrary to what most Harden haters here think, its not that Harden doesn't want to defend or doesn't care, this is a flaw that he needs to work on and hopefully the new staff can help him, as simple as that. Also i think that its not that he is unwilling to be benched or that coaches are not allowed to, its that he has been so extremely necessary offensively that our coaches simply could not bench him for more than a few minutes, I mean nobody could create a freaking shot on this team last season, NOBODY!! We were so dependent on him that if he had just missed a couple of games due to injury or something its very likely we would have not made the playoffs, we were that bad.

Offensively every hater talks about the turnovers, and how selfish the beard is and whatnot, and yet he has a better AST rating than the GAWD Curry and he is not even a PG!! what would have happened if guys like Brewer, Ariza, Beverley etc. would have at least marginally improved their shooting percentage and scored just a little bit more of the many shot opportunities that selfish Harden created for them???

For a change instead of making a Harden defense video, or Harden turnover video, I invite someone who has time and the willingness to do it, to take the time to make a video compilation of all the looks created by Harden that his teammates MISSED, i mean brick after brick after brick, i assure you the number of missed opportunities set by Harden would be astounding

 

you're getting your dates wrong.

 

Effort and communication. The Rockets couldn't consistently do either.

 

Hopefully our defensive scheme takes advantage of the length and athleticism of KJ, Harrell, and Capela.

 

I agree with his philosophies, but it's on the players to execute. You can teach and teach and teach, but if the players don't listen or execute then it means nothing.

 

In other words, the Rockets need to play Defense 101.

 

at least he didnt say that the ball got sticky.