The Rockets just don’t have that same defensive intensity anymore. We lost a vocal defensive leader, and you can really feel it. When the offense wasn’t clicking before, you knew the defense would keep us in the game. You could sense a stop coming, or a run starting on that end. With this current team, that edge is gone. There’s no heart or soul defensively right now, and it shows.
The KD trade ruined the chemistry. But I wonder why Jabari, Amen, Sengun, and Tari aren't stepping up to fill that role. They aren't young rookies new to the league anymore. We seem to have regressed to a team that needs KD offensive heroics to win games, and we know we can't rely on that in this stage of his career.
It’s a combination of not having dfs that was signed to replace DB, and Fred’s injury that left us with no pg, so Amen and kd need to handle the ball more so they lose their energy and concentration on defense.
Well yeah, everyone and their mother said they needed more offense/more shooting. So they went and got more offense. And Dillon’s “replacement” hasn’t played. Fred was a terrorist, now he’s the savior. Dillon was ehh, now he’s the heart & soul of the team Fred & Dillon were “taking shots away from the younger guys”, now we can’t function without them. Double bigs was talk of the league and “Wow, did they find something here?!”, now it should never be seen again Couldn’t put the ball in the basket, wanted more offense, now want that defense back
I also put some of this on FVV and that podcast. Him and KD hyping Bari up like that gave him a green light he hasn’t earned. Giving a limited player that kind of freedom is crazy work, and it’s showing on the court right now. It’s not looking good at all.
Gang, they played two games in denver in two weeks. Have you guys ever been to the mountains? My family hails from the himalayas and it’s no physical joke. They are just lacking energy from a long road trip. They’re also very young. College age. Let them figure it out
Well, FVV's absence is such a giant hole. Amen isn't the same defensive terror given that he's now de facto starting point guard. DFS. Don't get me started. Can't help on the defensive end if you never play. Ime got what he wanted in KD but the team defers too much, and he can't do it alone. Not to mention Adams and Capela.
Bingo. This is such a beautiful illustration of why most of what we say here should be ignored. We're the 50-40-90 club: 50% of our opinions, 40% of our descriptions, and 90% of our postgame reactions are wrong.
I want to see how this team looks when DFS is back, tough times right now but dont forget last season we lost 6 game straight.
When you've got young guys they need to step up instead of trying to fix the problems with trades. Fix your problems before trading your problems. If this young core is worth a damn these are the proving grounds.
We also lost our athleticism. Too many slow players in the rotation. Sengun/Adams/Capela Durant Jabari guarding wings Sheppard Amen is the only excellent athlete. Okogie and Tari are ok. We went big and got slow.
