Give credit to D-Mo and McHale also. D-Mo is becoming a force defensively. He does not jump well, but he may be the quickest 7 footer in the game. And people scoffed at me for saying D-Mo was one of the best defensive players in the NBA.
Yeah that would be interesting to find out. Sadly I don't think we will know. I like the results though Also. Joey Dorsey just said his injury just healed about 3 weeks ago. So he's finally getting into game shape and used to the team. These last two games he's protected the rim very well. He's gotten some nasty blocks. Perhaps best defensive big man in Europe was not exaggerated after all.
If everyone looked at stats they would. But if you told me a white guy with short arms and not much hops is one of the best defenders, I would laugh too
I mean I've been right there with you citing the stats. What happens on the floor speaks for itself! Beating the best team in the NBA down 4 rotational players is very exciting.
What I have noticed is that we are picking up a lot of steals by cutting and putting hands into the opponents passes. We are closing down on passes which has resulted into a lot of steals and opponent turnovers
Opponents are shooting 27% from 3 against us. While amazing, it's unsustainable. That number will regress some. However, once Howard gets back our rim protection should get much better than it has been. So I doubt we'll see a huge dropoff once teams start hitting a more respectable amount of their 3s.
Great thread DudeWah. We can definitely see the efforts from Harden playing great defense and that has affect his teammates positively. Every player is committed to play defense. This is the 2nd year Howard and Harden plays together, they are the foundation of this team, H&H seems to develop great chemistry instantly with quality role players/vet like Ariza, Terry and Cisco. I have never been a fan of McHale, but gotta give him credit for convincing the players play consistent D and fight every game no matter what. I am really proud of this Rockets team, this team has a new identity which is defense. This team has so much heart, 14-4 and we did that without Howard, TJ, PBev, and Canaan.
great article in the red nation roundtable video, McHale credited JB Bickerstaff for our aggressive defensive philosophy
That is what great coaches do. They shoulder the blame and praise others for successes. But I did like how in the video he flat out stated that the defense and its underlying strategies were his. The Rockets have a JVG defense and a darn good offense (when they get a couple of starters back).
