Can a Rocket team thats high scoring with minimal defense eventually win championships ?

Defense wins championships

 

No. That is why when we do spend our cap space, it will be on a star with defensive chops. Not a pure scorer.

 

Yeah probably not...

 

I like the fact that we're playing to our current personnel and not kidding ourselves, and winning in the short term, as well as targeting new starters that are more defensive-minded than offensive, like Robinson and Howard, with a championship in mind for the long term.

 

nowadays teams need a balance btw D and O

In the past defensive teams won out

 

I think what Morey, and most current GM's would prefer is a small ball team in name only. The current set of rules really give the upper hand to teams that run and attack the paint from the perimeter. You can look at all of the best teams to see how this works. The Heat, Thunder, Knicks, Clippers, Spurs, etc. Even if they don't have a small lineup out there they have the lane open for slashers and bigs that can run the floor. I think Morey would salivate over a lineup like the Clippers where the 4 is a great rebounder and finishes in the paint but doesn't otherwise clog it up for Lin/Harden.

 

Short answer: No

But IMO, pointless worry because the Rockets lack the talent to win a championship. Give me a core of players with championship TALENT, and I will find you enough defense. Literally doesn't matter who these guys are.

Example: Say the Rockets hypothetically add Melo with their max cap room. I use Melo because he's supposedly also an all-offense/no-defense guy.

How do you make a championship team out of that? First, Morey would try to obtain a stud defender at a forward position, either one. Someone like a Bowen/Battier type. Optimally, an Artest type even with much less offensive skills. Then McHale would slow down the team and play half court, because Harden/Melo in the half court would be godly due to their sheer scoring skills. And in the half court, Asik would go back to being the studly paint protector he was in Chicago.

Result? Top 10 defense and top 10 offense. Championship contender. It's always possible to fill out the surrounding pieces to a championship roster no matter who the core pieces are. The main problem is find the core pieces. We have one and a half IMO with Harden and Asik being half a piece as the defensive center. Pair up another star, any star, and everything else will be easy with Morey's skills.

 

Don't confuse pace of play with no defense. Rockets games are going to be high scoring because of the pace of play. That doesn't mean you can't buckle down on the defensive end of the floor and get stops. This style will never lead to low defensive numbers as far as points given up, what they would need is to be good at giving up fewer points per possession.

I think the Robinson trade could partly address that issue. He is athletic and a plus rebounder. Asik is good defensively. This team will not likely ever be great defensively as our best player, The Beard, is not a great defender, nor is Lin. Good interior defense allows us to gamble on the perimeter more though. With a very good defensive "4" we could be good at situational defense with this team.

But you can definitely play this "style" and still be good on per possession defense

 

No way.

 

Morey believes it so I believe it

 

This Rockets team won't always have poor defense. There is a very strong correlation between age/experience and defensive ability.

The Rockets are bad defensively right now not because their players are doomed to be bad at defense, but because those players are young and inexperienced and make a lot of mistakes.

We won't win a championship with high scoring and minimal defense, we'll win a championship with high scoring and solid defense.

 

We'll cross this bridge when we get to it. Ergo, give me Kevin Love and I'll get back to you on this one.

 

Looking at defense or offense is the incorrect way of envisioning the system. It really comes down to point differential. The Rockets started the season with a negative point differential and have improved it to +3.0. You can probably compete for a championship at +5 to +7.

 

I agree. The Rockets will need to improve on defense to win a championship, and they will improve. As the Rockets gain experience and tweak the roster the defense will improve. But I don't want them to change the offense as long as they have players that can run.

 

I agree. A big reason we don't play great defense is our lack of athletic talent.

 

Nah. But an untempo team can definitely win a chip.

And relevant to this year, I think a high-scoring/no-defense team led by a superstar like Harden can definitely pull an 06-07 Warriors, in the right matchup.

 

The Rockets will be the first team if do.

 

Me too!!

 

No, mainly because of our style of play. In the playoffs we will not be able to do run like this. Look at another very young team in the Nuggets 1994, they almost and should've made the WCF where they would've played us. The reason why is defense, defense, defense even though they played at the 7th highest pace in the league. Mutombo, Laphonso, Stith & Brian Williams were all good rebounders and excellent defenders. We are a young team but we need at least 2 more good defenders who can rebound, ideally one rim protector. Offensively we are already there, just need to have that PF and back up center and ideally a defensive SG / wing off the bench.