https://ph.news.yahoo.com/j-b-bickerstaff-rebuilds-rockets-defense-085607539--spt.html MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When Damian Lillard drilled the 3-pointer to beat Houston in Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs last season, the Rockets left Portland knowing that they had to do one thing if they were going to become legitimate contenders in the powerful Western Conference. They had to become a better defensive team. Assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff took on the task, and the changes he has implemented have been a smashing success early this season. The Rockets are second in the league in points allowed per 100 possessions, third in field-goal percentage defense and third in points allowed per game, helping them to a 16-4 record that is the second-best start in the league. "Last year at the end of the playoffs, we sat down and went over a lot of stuff," coach Kevin McHale said. "We just had to get better defensively. We had to get more disruptive. JB Bickerstaff has done a great job." Even more impressive is that the Rockets have been so successful while playing almost half of their games without their two best defensive players — Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley. Howard has only played 10 games and Beverley eight because of injuries, but new swingman Trevor Ariza and veteran Jason Terry have been instrumental in instilling a new focus and attention to detail on that side of the floor. Bickerstaff, one of the rising young assistants in the game, said he watched video of Howard's dominant days in Orlando and consulted with other coaches including his father, Bernie, and Mike Brown, a respected defensive strategist, to come up with a plan to address the Rockets' issues on defense. "The last play in Portland was kind of a microcosm of our entire season," Bickerstaff said. "There was miscommunication and it ended with a wide open look for Damian that cost us. "The biggest thing is the guys have bought in and are committed on that end of the floor," he said. "Now you hear guys in tight games saying, 'We're one of the best defensive teams in the league. Let's get a stop. This is what we do.'" The Rockets play at Golden State, at Sacramento and host Denver this week.
Great, now he's going to be a hot coaching commodity this offseason. It was nice knowing you Bickerstaff.
Don't let the assistant coaches leave in the middle of year again. That was a colossal failure on management's part which, in my opinion, contributed to the rockets' failure last playoffs. Keep the team together!
What is T.R up to? Could Clutch chime in? Every time I see him he's just passing the ball to guys who are getting warmed up. I've seen this stopping by on my lunch hour and watching practice through the glass, as well as before games. I'm sure he does much more but I thought he was the reason for the defense, not JB..
I tend to think its a blend, mchale talked about how he likes guys sitting back while JB is more aggressive and wants people being distributive in the lanes and trapping on the wings. I think mchale is focusing more on the interior defence while jb is focusing on the perimeter D, so it's the best of both worlds
Just not true, McHale let's his assistant coaches do their jobs, as this thread is about. That is what GOOD coaches do... DD
I heard McHale on 790 say he has taken over the defense this year. That after last year's play off series and the loss of Sampson, he was going to take ownership of the D and return to coaching and controlling the defense. But also we hired T.R. Dunn, presumably for defense coach since that's what he did for Adelman's staff while with the Rockets and he himself was a defensive juggernaut. And NOW we have this report that J.B. should get the lion's share of the credit. So which is it? I don't care. If it's all 3 of them, even better. I just love the defense this year! That's all I care about.
Good to hear all of that. I wonder about the contributions of Greg Buckner and T.R. Dunn on the bench as well.
Great read. Like KlutchQT mentioned, it's awesome to see the players actually buying in to the fact that they ARE one of the best defensive teams in the league. It's not just a little streak their on, but it's been solid defense all year long. The important thing is to not let up with such a good record. Night after night they have to buy into the system, and I feel that's where Harden leads by example. If Harden plays defense, you better believe the entire team will play defense.
McHale oversees the implementation which takes many hundreds of hours. That he delegates. Defensive strategy design? That is another matter. You know that I do not post opinions without facts to back myself up. I just really really do not feel like a debate right now. Best to you and yours.
Sheesh -- why does it matter, beyond posters just wanting to be "right?" We know McHale wanted to refocus on defense, he's been more than clear that JB convinced him that aggression was key. It now appears JB did a lot of the legwork in developing a scheme, and I'm sure Dunn has some part to play as well. A good coach relies on and delegates to his assistants when appropriate, and it appears that McHale is doing just that while doing a great job of steering the ship through what could otherwise be very turbulent times, overall. It's OK to just enjoy it, I promise.
We are #3 in the league in opponent FG% at 42% and #1 in the league in opponent 3 point% at 27%. What a great 180 this team has had in a few months. Coaches have done a great job to have the players buy into this defense minded philosophy.
The late President Reagan said its amazing what you can accomplish when you don't worry about who gets credit....and he was right.
