ESPN: Rockets spend two days trying to instill confidence

Rockets spend two days trying to instill confidence

Calvin Watkins, ESPN Staff Writer

HOUSTON -- After three games with his new team, Houston Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff is trying to instill confidence.

The Rockets need it after coach Kevin McHale was fired last week and the team went 1-2 under Bickerstaff.

On the season, the Rockets are shooting just 41.5 percent from the field, 28th in the league, and a dreadful 29.6 percent from 3-point range.

The league average for 3-point field goal percentage is 34.5 percent. As a 3-point shooting team, the Rockets are not backing down from attempting jumpers, yet their offensive rating of 98, 27th in the league, suggests something needs to change.

Bickerstaff and his group believe the change will be confidence when the outside shooters start hitting their shots.

"Work at it," Bickerstaff said after Monday's practice. "One of the things that all shooters do is that they know they go through slumps. The only way to get out of slumps is to take more shots. So we've built in practice kinda game-speed system shots, so the more they see it go in the more confidence they will have."

Under Bickerstaff some of the Rockets' scorers have proved to be inconsistent. Reserve forward Corey Brewer has made just 5 of 14 shots from 3-point range. Point guard Ty Lawson, who has been benched, has made just 3 of his past 15 shots from the floor with seven assists and seven turnovers.

Veteran guard Jason Terry, who replaced Lawson in the starting lineup, has scored 18 points in the three games since Bickerstaff took over. He has just four assists, including none in Saturday's loss to the New York Knicks.

Marcus Thornton, signed in the offseason as an outside scoring threat, was fantastic during a six-game stretch as a starter, averaging 17.3 points and shooting 47.8 percent from the floor. Since going back to the bench Thornton has struggled. Over the past six games he's shooting just 26.4 percent, making 8 of 28 shots from the floor.

"Just being confident in your shot, it's a long season," he said of the difference.

Two other outside shooters, Trevor Ariza and James Harden, are faring better.

Ariza has scored in double figures the past four games, and is 16-for-36 from the floor, although he's just 3-of-10 from 3-point range the past two games.

Harden has picked up his scoring as well. After scoring 16 points in McHale's last game as head coach, Nov. 16 against Boston, Harden scored 45 in an overtime victory over Portland and produced 22 points and 24 points in consecutive losses. After shooting just 29.4 percent from the floor in the first five games of the season, Harden's shooting percentage has gotten better. He's now at 42.7 percent the past nine games and ranks third in the league in scoring at 27.9.

Yet, it's not good enough for a Rockets team that's 5-9 on the season and just two games out of last place in the Southwest Division.

"We got to get our confidence back," Brewer said. "We've been struggling all year, but now it's like we're getting into the flow."

After the loss to the Knicks on Saturday, the Rockets took two days to regroup physically and mentally.

Backup point guard Patrick Beverley, who missed the past five games with a left ankle sprain, worked out Sunday and could return for Wednesday's game against Memphis.

Bickerstaff challenged the players by simulating game conditions in practice on Monday to help the team solve its problems.

"I think these two days helped us a lot," Harden said. "Just had to get a good practice and run through our offensive sets for some pace and some speed and go get the shots we're going to be getting in the game. So when those shots come in the game we're comfortable enough to shoot them. We're passing up a lot of opportunities to make tougher shots. These two days are helping us a lot."

http://espn.go.com/blog/houston-roc...s-spend-two-days-trying-to-instill-confidence

 

My take away was that the team is running the practices at games speed to simulate the conditions under which they get shots.... So what were they doing before?

 

Building confidence within the team is one of the jobs of a coach....