I was thinking about this as I watched Ariza bring the ball up the other night, which other team in the league has as many (positionally) adaptable players as the rockets? Ariza plays the 1, 3,& 4; Harden the 1,2, & 4 (at least on defense), brew both swing positions, our PFs can play the 5, and sometimes the 3. this gives the coaches enormous flexibility with lineups, which creates matchup problems for the opposition. some of this is required, born of injuries, but give McHale and his staff credit; they've made a virtue out of necessity, and it's part of what makes the Rockets so dangerous, perhaps deceptively so for those that look at the lineup and only see (lack of positional) talent.
Maybe the worst of all starters at his position. 80% of the time he tries to dribble on anything but a fast-break it's a TO or he throws up a brick.
Ariza doesn't play the 1. When he has to create something off the dribble, it's usually because he cannot pass it to the post and the clock is running down and those aren't really effective possessions. None of our PFs can really play the 5 defensively. There is a reason why McHale is playing Capela. D-Mo at 5 wasn't really good, either. You don't want Smith to play the 3. He is at his best when attacking 4s off the dribble. Same with TJones. Defensively there are of course advantages. We switch a lot, particularly Harden/Brewer/Ariza/Jones/Smith have the ability.
Well, the main point of OP is versatility but I'm more impressed with the depth. Everyone can play and be put into a regular rotation, outside of McDaniels and Johnson.
I' not suggesting Ariza can "really" play the one. but, to the point of some other threads lamenting the lack of a true PG, or saying Harden is really our PG, i'm saying it's a feature, not a bug, and makes the rockets unique, dangerous, and maybe uniquely dangerous. not to mention TJ and JS can step out and stretch the floor.
The Bucks are pretty famous for this type of versatility. All their guys are basically wings who can always switch on D. The Rockets have a lot of defensive versatility, but on offense they are a one-trick pony. It’s arguably the best one-trick pony in the NBA, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s not versatile at all. The Warriors have the best combination of offensive and defensive versatility and that’s why they just had a historical regular season.
I get it OP. Made also think of those tough Sonics teams we had such a hard time over coming. My buddy and I used to laugh that they were a complete team of 6'7" forwards, cause they all could do everything and you had devil of a time matching up. I know, not the same, but um, they sure were versatile ! lol.
Ehh I think most nba players are versatile, most 1's can play the 2, most 2's can play the 3, most 3's can play the 2 and 4, most 4's can play either the 3 or 5. Center is really the only position that there is a big chunk of guys who can't play out of position.
This is the secret to having a great defense; the ability to switch (almost) everything. Look at Warriors' #1 ranked defense. They have like 6 guys in that 6"6' to 6"9 range who is a part of their rotation. Thompson, Green, Iggy, Barnes, Livingston, Lee and Speights are all around the same height and can switch most everything. Helps they have a great scheme and Bogut to correct most mistakes. Rockets have something similar with Harden, Ariza, Brewer, Smith and Jones. We do have Howard to clean virtually all mistakes, but I do wish our scheme was a little better. Tired of seeing the dumbest switches like JET switch on to Dirk.
playoff is about matchup ignore position played harden is running point on offense ariza/terry/brewer are 3 points shooter at the corner
