This is more fun than watching a bunch of mindless 3 pointers

Nvm

 

anything near 40% for Rox fans is basically 100%...

 

Wide open 3's is not panic mode, it's the exact opposite.

MDA Rockets shot the most wide open 3's every single season.

You understand basketball better than this.

In fact, THIS season shooting volume 3's is even more critical to winning.

NBA is becoming more and more like D'Antoni rather than less. NBA is completely committed to Moreyball now.

 

Rockets defense is one of the best in shutting down the perimeter. And Rockets are the 2nd best in blocked shots, so protecting rim has also been good.

Letting teams have the mid range shot, the most inefficient shot in NBA, is excellent defensive strategy.

But Rockets HOUnds are so good in iso and switch D that even mid range has been hard vs. Rockets.

 

The difference in offense is this squad has a better skill-set overall than most of Harden's tenure. MORE players can dribble and advance the ball up-court, MORE players have the ability to drive and get to the rim, MORE players have better shooting-ability. These factors increase the pressure on our opponents' defense because we're less predictable. Defense is easier to execute because it's more about effort so that might explain why our D is ahead of the O, but these Rockets barely have 10 games of full health so more time will increase the offensive chemistry.

 

James Harden’s game was starting to bore me anyway

 

Harden was a distraction but don’t minimize what Silas is accomplishing by saying Harden is the only reason. Silas has done a FANTASTIC job of adjusting on the fly to lineups that seem to change almost nightly. Wall and Cousins missing games have played huge roles. Silas has already been disrespected enough by the NBA community (the fact that this is his 1st head coaching job is ridiculous) please don’t add to it.

 

Great read. Tate and Nwaba are the linchpins of our defense.

 

This is another reason why drop coverage is so ineffective, allowing teams so much space to take their shots is bad strategy vs. modern NBA offenses.

More and more teams are utilizing "up to touch" coverage with their 5's instead of/supplement "drop" and/or mixing in 2-3 or 3-2 zones whereby defenses can still build wall in paint while allowing their perimeter defenders to blitz the ball handlers.

Rockets have been super effective with iso man defense and switch everything their roster is so deep in 3-D players.

They are almost 3 deep with this type of player in their rotation.

 

Very good read.

Rockets have played excellent overall defense but this is the unit that makes the Rockets defense elite.

EGo-Nwaba-Tate-Sterling-House = HOUnds

This is the 5 out small ball switch everything 2nd unit.

Their effectiveness has been out of this world amazing.

In addition, Rockets are most efficient in using defense to create offense.

When Rockets make stops THEN run down the court at breakneck speed they are almost impossible to stop.

Even Wood, our center, is capable of going coast to coast in a blink.

But the very best at pushing pace has been Wall, Nwaba and Tate.

Nwaba and Tate have been invaluable in Rockets turnaround on the court and not just on defense.

 

Uh oh, HOF about to attack Worrell, Bullard, Ackerman & Thomas, like they did Calvin Murphy!

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...casters-adjusting-2020-21-season-15923544.php

[...]

TV color analyst Matt Bullard said the 2020-21 campaign actually has been quite refreshing.

“The new guys on the roster, not only the stars but the guys who fill out the roster, are fun to watch,” Bullard said. “They play hard and they really seem to enjoy playing with each other. So it’s kind of a breath of fresh air to be able to talk about a new team that’s making a new identity.”

Worrell, whose “Who needs James Harden?” comment during a preseason game went viral — he quickly clarified he wasn’t denigrating the star guard — acknowledged the first game he did after Harden’s trade to Brooklyn was “a little more fun” to call because of the improved ball movement.

Coincidentally, the team is 7-4 since that Jan. 13 blockbuster deal.

“The pace of play was faster and it makes for more entertainment,” Worrell said. “You know, when you just walk it up all the time, there's no pace to the game. So actually I thought the pace of the game was better, the team’s getting it up in a hurry and of course that's evidenced by all the threes they're making. They're getting it up the court in a hurry before the defense gets set up. So, you know, I think they're doing quite well without him.”

“It’s been different, but it’s been fun so far,” said Craig Ackerman, who does play-by-play on home radio broadcasts and road telecasts. “It looks like this group is starting to jell together. I’m excited about the future.”

[...]

For much of the past 35 years of Rockets basketball, the team has seemingly been defined by a household name superstar, from Hakeem Olajuwon to Yao Ming to Harden.

Arguably no Rockets star was more polarizing with the fan base than Harden, who racked up scoring titles and regular top-three finishes in the MVP voting but never could get the Rockets back to the NBA Finals for the first time since the second of their back-to-back championships in 1995.

Thomas likes to use a pie-chart analogy to describe how Harden was perceived among the Rockets’ fan base.

“Twenty-five percent loved everything that James Harden did, no matter what he did,” Thomas said. “Twenty-five percent despised anything he did, no matter what he did. And there was a 50 percent portion that came and went depending on how the team was doing and how James was doing individually.”

With Harden gone, the Rockets lack that superstar presence, although Bullard was quick to point out newcomers John Wall, Victor Oladipo and DeMarcus Cousins have been All-Stars before, and ascendant big man Christian Wood is on a trajectory to be one. Meanwhile, younger players such as David Nwaba and Jae’Sean Tate have brought an infusion of energy.

“Even though there isn’t that one big star, the Rockets have enough star power to really make some noise,” Bullard said.

Thomas, who hosts a daily sports talk show on the Rockets’ flagship station KBME-AM (790), said the fan feedback he’s received regarding the revamped roster has been “overwhelmingly in full support of this.

“I think probably, we've had more interaction on our call in shows on 790 this year that we've had probably in the last three years, which is good for us because it means people are listening and caring about the team more. I think there was a faction of fans that said, ‘I know who James is, I know what a Daryl Morey team does. I know at the end of the day, they're not going to win the championship.’

“But I think there is a little sense of mystery about where the team is going to eventually end up that I think has intrigued people a little bit.”

And while the Rockets aren’t in the Western Conference upper echelon like in recent seasons, the team figures to battle for a playoff spot, keeping the broadcasts compelling during a season of upheaval.

“The thing I miss the most is the interaction with the players and coaches because that's where you get your information and that's what makes for a better telecast,” Worrell said. “So for that reason, it has been a very difficult season. But saying that, it's also been a very enjoyable season because this is much more of a fun team to call than the previous ones.”

 

Not like we won anything playing the other way. Second and third place trophies don’t count.

 

This team is trying hard to stay around 9th seed in the west.
The top priority should be to get top pick to have a franchise player ASAP. It doesn't look like they want to do it this season or any time soon. What are we thinking?

 

It’s like clockwork and says so much, defend current rockets...automatically get **** on about 3s or “they aren’t going anywhere!”

ironically same group was calling people bad fans for making the legit criticisms

 

Rockets were top 4 last season in shooting wide open 3's.

This season, Rockets are shooting more wide open 3's but so is the rest of the NBA hence the lower ranking (8th overall).

This is what we call science.

Only the cultists use vague unsubstantiated inciteful terms like "mindless".