I still think not having shot blocking in general is bad. You can roll with elite wings, but teams are hunting for switches onto Harden, House and McLemore who cannot stay in front of quicker guards. We don't have another line of defense after the initial the first guy gets blown by, Harden and Tucker sliding in literally does nothing to affect the shot at the rim.
Amare played defense? Your hot takes are putrid. CF talks about offense because they are sheep. The offense is more than good enough to contend for a ring. The defense is the #1 problem. Specifically the perimeter defense. While rim protection is secondary, I'm not a fan of Tucker defending the middle due to his lack of wingspan and no vertical. Tucker is at his best switching and guarding best or 2nd best of opposing team. 6'8 Omari Spellman (7'2 wingspan) would be ideal backup 5. Not only threat fromm3 but also able to attack closeouts by putting ball on floor and play above rim.
GTFO. Amar'e stoudamire got double doubles with busted up knees. Small ball is built to gaurantee first round success against low seed playoff teams. Elite teams adjust to small ball with mvp players or simply better gang rebounding.
Rockets emphasize team rebounding and will have to do same for rim protection as well. Need better weakside shot blockers on the floor since Tucker is not very good in this area. Covington is excellent weakside shot blocker but need more similar long players with hops. Need guys like 6'8 Moe Harkless (7'2 wingspan), 6'10 Jonah Bolden (7'3 wingspan), 6'8 Omari Spellman (7'2 wingspan), 6'8 Bismack Biyombo (7'7 wingspan), 7'0 Dragan Bender (7'2 wingspan). All the above are long switchable defenders who are good to excellent weakside rim protectors. And all are 3ball threats except for Biyombo.
Rockets got outrebounded by at least 10 rebounds against jazz Sunday night. No wonder why a bench player, Clarkson scored 30!
To be clear, ideally you have a long center to play in certain match ups.... he just likely plays 15-20 minutes a night. Covington alters shots, he blocks a shot a night. Harden also blocks a shot a night and is actually solid defensively at altering shots. Still the Rockets need someone that is long and mobile to offer more support at the 5 spot.
The suns team had Amara - 6'10, Kurt Thomas 6'9; Then they had Joe Johnson (left 2006), Raja Bell, Barbosa, Borias Diaw. That roster was better than ours if you ask me.
Easier to b**** is an understatement. Let's be real..even the best poster here can hardly see half the little nuances a modern NBA defence entails. Let alone an average poster. At least with offence things are different, you have stats and you can see some things. But who blows what possesion, who was late to cover , who wasn't correct in his help defence, who overhelped...? Discuss about defence...discuss what? We can't even understand it so discuss about what exactly. It needs improvement and a center. That's about it a fan can say.
They were certainly DEEPER and had personnel that fit their system. That team also had to content with rules that were not as conducive for their style of play.
There are certain things that can be picked up and what they are trying to do.... etc can be somewhat learned. However, blown assignments are not always obvious. Does a guy hesitate to switch because he thinks his teammate will not based on history. Has a guy been told to not defend a particular player a particular way............. team defense is really, really hard to quantify........ Look at the Bucks, they are a wonderful defensive team, but some of the guys with the best defensive stats have never been particularly good defensively....... they haven't magically changed, but they are surrounded by really good defenders, and their mistakes are cleaned up......... Steph Curry is another prime example.
Because our defense is going to be very, very good in the playoffs. You can already see it If you watch closely.
Many posters here have played and coached at high levels, and many here are complete basketball junkies that absolutely pick-up on the nuances of the game, on both ends. Improvement has already been happening. We are gaining rapidly. The second part of that is just blatantly false. Perhaps that is where understanding the nuances of the game comes in handy.
Exactly. Fans blame someone late to defend the open shooter, when the guy who made the mistake could be two switches away. And the blanket Defensive Rating stat that we have is extremely limited and unhelpful. That's why I would appreciate if someone who knows what they are doing, gets some film and analyses the problems with our defence.
What high levels? Were they nba or euroleague coaches? Video coordinators of teams? Sorry but the analysis of a person who played one year of college bball 20 years ago, on the fine details of modern nba defence is extremely limited. Especialy since nba defences keep changing and renovating. If a bball junkie here can make a good anaysis on all the finest details then bring it on. Let's see and learn. But don't tell me, we need better wing defenders, or a center or that our Def Rating needs improvement, because you don't have to be a professional to say that.
You continue to talk as if your opinions are absolutes, and that everyone else's opinion is "extremely limited", because apparently you know their background. It is very childish.
https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/20...significant-defensive-turnaround-for-rockets/ https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2020/02/09/rockets-breaking-mold-by/
