Since trading James Harden, Rockets among NBA's best defenses

Wait, why wait?

 

that pelicans team is a perfect example why its not a good idea to tank... they have all the lottery picks on that team and even have the much hyped ZION... ITS LIKE TANKERS DREAM COME TRUE

yet they still going nowhere..... they're 14th in the standing in the west LOLOLOLOL...and tomorrow we gonna come into their town and kick they asses with all-mediocrity roster of ours lololololol

 

It also helps if your team had the best defense this past postseason and you decide to finally play the system that they were so prolific at.

When you have some of the best switch and iso defenders then common sense says play iso and switch defense.

Nwaba, EGo, Brown, Tucker, Tate, etc.

 

Actually, their tank worked. They have a solid young core:

Alexander-Walker — 22 yrs old
Jaxson Hayes — 20 yrs old
Kira Lewis Jr — 19 yrs old
Zion Williamson — 20 yrs old
Brandon Ingram — 23 yrs old

The Pelicans’ problem, is their management decisions: hiring Stan and surrounding Zion and Ingram with Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, and Lonzo Ball. They have no spacing whatsoever.

 

I'm starting to enjoy watching this team play. Obviously it helps they are winning but they continue to play hard as they try to find an offensive identity.

 

I do agree, but at the same time it is encouraging that they are all the way at the top for defense during this stretch. I mean, if we start playing teams at full strength, we probably will drop, but at least it won't be a free fall either. At least we know we are good enough to have good defense.

The offense, it needs to pick up. I feel part of it is that Oladipo and Wall are iso'ing way too much and need to cut down on it. They need to move the ball more. This is why that second unit looks damn good when they come in. I'm hoping Wall and Oladipo get with the program and start moving the ball more.

 

lol whats your definition of worked... did they win a title? because thats how the tankers philosophy works....title or bust....everything else is a mediocrity

all they have is a bunch of 'names' .. its a bunch of andrew wiggins and jabbari parkers....half of which i dont even recognise hahahah....its all potential and hopes...and media hype...'future' belongs to them as @HP3 would say

and its just another way to say they didnt win nothing .... just an excuse for not knowing how to play basketball, how to draft, how to recognize talent....how to negotiate, how to trade, how to persevere, how to fight, HOW TO WIN

its like saying oh oladipo was an all star we are onto something here when the guy cant even throw a lob pass...lololol but as soon as he learns it we are winning it all...

JOHN WALL is a no 1 pick and nobody even wants this guy and is synonym for mediocrity.....

 

While it is true that other teams have been shorthanded...that's everyone this season. Especially us. This is our first time having everyone healthy. First time. So I don't think it's right to take anything away from these guys as the Rockets have had to deal with injuries and covid stuff too and despite that still have one of the best defenses in the NBA.

 

juts wait until its 10 games winning streak even @HP3 will jump on the bandwagon

Spoiler

nah hes not doing it ever, even if we win it all @HP3 would dismiss it saying its just luck and now its years of mediocrity, hey look at this a new exciting player at college, look at his dunks and highlights and wingspan, lets lose a bunch of games to get him, his name is ______insert the name of a new andrew wiggins lolololol

 

i dont get how the doubters still doubt rockets when we have no 1 draft choice John Wall.. if he only stays healthy we are winning it all...

 

Homeboy Hitler had some of the most feared tanks so much so that when a german looked at an American tank they arrogantly laughed and labeled those tanks tommy cookers

 

You guys should know how this works with a young team - they have to LEARN how to win but once they do, they will win and win a lot.

Young teams that figure it out, flip a switch and become winners very quickly......but first they have to figure out how all the pieces fit etc.

DD

 

Hiring Stan Van Gundy was DEFINITELY a outdated, old school nostalgic GM move. If you're a young team, hiring any of the Van Gundy's makes no sense. You gotta be able to score which Jeff & Stan have never put emphasis on. They're 100% about grind it out 90's basketball

 

LOL if we win even a playoff series, I will relent. As of now, no.

 

Man, it is hard to love a team and cheer for them to lose - and to become a lightning rod for hate on a message board - good luck to you, I hope you find out that betting the no-pass line is anti-table and just cheer for the team.

DD

 

If they had good management and coaching it would be different. But besides that there are rarely teams with very young guys on it. They will learn, they will grow.

 

flip...why? You don't lose perhaps the most gifted offensive player in the league and have your offense improve. Likewise, while I thought his defensive effort improved the last year or so...he was not exactly a defensive stopper. So, seeing the team decrease in offense and improve in defense was expecting. I don't know why anybody would think that would flip again. As others have pointed out, improvements in offense will likely occur...it takes time for a new team to gel, roles to be developed, etc. That often takes time on defense, as well...that they are rated as high as they are currently is a great sign, and I think a good indication of Silas' impact.

 

I just want the team to have a future. That's all. In our scenario I cant imagine in the next three years that we are competing.

 

Not a surprise at all - Harden was a low effort and fundamentally poor defender, particularly on the pick and roll and when guarding players on the corner. The switch everything defense came about because Harden never showed the ability or willingness to fight through a pick (culminating in the famous Lillard shot that eliminated us in 2014). Yes it was also a good antidote to GSW, but we played it against everyone - even teams that didn't have crazy good outside shooters. Harden was even worse at keeping track of guys in the corners -opposing teams were pretty much guaranteed a wide open shot or a direct, unimpeded cut to the basket if they got the ball to the corner and Harden was guarding that spot. Our defensive problems weren't just his with play either - Harden's attitude on defense was dogshit. I saw him barking at his teammates countless times over the years for failing to stop a guy that blew by him due to his own lack of effort or focus.

Now we have a team where nobody dogs it on defense every single play, which means the team defense is more about a coordinated effort to stop the entire opposing team instead of being a coordinated effort to cover for the superstar who can't be bothered to try. Harden was a once-in-a-lifetime talent on offense, but his defense was never championship level and the Rockets were barely a legit contender for one year because of that.

So I don't see his departure as catastrophic as some others here, because I always doubted we could win with our best player being one-way only (there was also his frequent brain-fart performances in critical games of playoff series, but that's another topic). I don't think our current team is going to compete for a championship either - but they're not as much a downgrade as has been presumed due to their defensive effort. I know recent thinking has replaced "defense wins championships" with "offense wins championships", and I don't totally disagree. However, I do think it's also accurate to say that "bad defense loses championships" and Harden was a bad, bad, bad defender.

 

Nwaba and Tate are obviously the common denominators for our defensive RESURGENCE.

While Wood, Nwaba, Tate is best defensive and NET rating, look at that OFFENSIVE rating too.

Offensive rating AND defensive rating are maxed with following 5: Wood, EGo, Brown, Nwaba, Tate.

That actually confirms the eye test since Wood, EGo and Brown are statistically the most efficient offensively.

Only makes sense to play Wood, Nwaba, Tate, EGo, Brown MORE to determine if small sample size is legit.