The Houston Rockets aren't just unique on offense, where they isolate more than twice as much as any other team and lead the league in 3-point attempts for the fourth straight season. The Rockets also defend unlike any other team, especially since they started playing without a center in late January. The Rockets switch screens (and even non-screens) more than any other team, often making their defensive possessions look a lot like their offensive possessions. https://www.nba.com/article/2020/07/02/film-study-rockets-switching-happy-defense A switch-everything scheme can still be beat over the top. The Rockets are 22-1 when their opponents have shot 32% or worse from 3-point range and with 18-23 when their opponents have shot better than 32%. A switch-everything scheme can also be beat with talent. Good offense beats good defense. Number to know: The 0.82 points per possession the Rockets have allowed on isolations ranks fourth in the league. Number to know: Since his arrival, the Rockets have allowed 6.3 fewer points per 100 possessions with Covington on the floor (107.6) than with him on the floor (113.9). Number to know: The Rockets rank sixth in clutch defense, having allowed less than a point per possession with the score within five points in the last five minutes. Number to know: The Rockets have had the league's best defense (101.4 points allowed per 100 possessions in two games) against the Celtics fifth-ranked offense. Number to know: The Rockets rank 10th in opponent 3-point percentage (34.8%) and 17th in the (lowest) percentage of their opponents' shots that have come from 3-point range (38.4%).
Number to know: The Rockets have allowed 3.5 more points per 100 possessions with Rivers on the floor (110.3) than they have with him off the floor (106.8). That's their worst on-off DefRtg differential. Number to know: The Rockets have seen the league's second biggest increase in pace, from 98.4 possessions per 48 minutes (27th) last season to 103.6 (fourth) this season. Number to know: Tucker has defended 105 isolation possessions, second most in the league. The 0.87 points per possession he's allowed on isolations ranks 12th among 20 players who have defended at least 75. Number to know: Since they went to full-time small-ball (Jan. 31), the Rockets rank 22nd in opponent field goal percentage in the restricted area (66.7%) and 25th in the percentage of their opponents' shots that have come in the restricted area (34.9%). Number to know: The Rockets are 23-2 when they've scored more than 115 points per 100 possessions, with this Feb. 9 game to the Jazz (decided by a ridiculous shot at the buzzer) being one of the two losses. Number to know: The Rockets have been the league's slowest-moving team, averaging just 3.99 miles per hour. Number to know: This will be the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Rockets rank in the bottom 10 in defensive rebounding percentage, though they ranked fourth two seasons ago. Number to know: The Rockets' starting lineup -- Harden, Westbrook, House, Covington and Tucker -- has grabbed just 46.6% of available rebounds, the fourth-lowest rate among 50 lineups that have played at least 150 minutes together. Number to know: Weirdly, the Rockets are one of six teams who have not allowed at least 25 second chance points in a game this season. Their opponent high is 24 (Lakers on Jan. 18).
Despite the rebounding issues, the Rockets' have allowed just 101.8 points per 100 possessions in 238 total minutes with Harden, Westbrook, Covington and Tucker on the floor together. At the same time, they've scored much more efficiently in those minutes (111.1 per 100) than they did in 652 total minutes with the other three and Capela instead of Covington (104.1). House is the weak link defensively. The Rockets' defense isn't going to be as good as their offense, which is now in its fourth straight season of ranking first or second in efficiency. But the defense just needs to be good enough for the Rockets to be a dangerous team in the Western Conference playoffs.
Maybe training camp and integration of new additions like RoCo, Green, Demarre and Luc can change this. I'm excited honestly.
a few takeaways I have: 2 years ago when we were a good rebounding team we almost won a championship. now we're back to not rebounding and allowing too many and too easy shots in the paint. micro-ball offense is even better than small ball offense but not enough to make up for the deficiency in the paint and at the rim on defense. I think we need a capela type center who can rebound and also switch if we want to be a championship team. someone like Tristan Thompson as a FA would be cheaper than capela but fit the bill. I posted about a gordon for Nance trade as well. also rivers is basically only there to play defense and has been very average at best. I wouldn't be surprised if he were replaced next offseason with another vet min PG. not many solid defenders at on the vet min PG market, especially none that can switch onto larger opponents, but it wouldn't surprise me if they went with offense and shooting to compensate. someone like Augustine, reggie Jackson, mudiay, I know this is blasphemy but tucker is slowing down. he's a great defender but we're running him into the ground. if we want him to remain elite we need to manage his minutes or we will see him slip from 12/20 on defending at least 75 iso's to 20th of 20 on defensing 75 iso's. with friend legs he'd be top 3 in that stat any day. again this is why I think gordon for nance or aminu makes so much sense.
The opponent field goal % being decent shocks me. I seem to remember us getting lit up by mediocre guys going unconscious. Maybe I'm crazy.
I knew playing 5-men out would work. Holic and I posted about it often last season. Covington has only been with the Rockets 14 games this season and I believe the Rockets were dogging it during the 4-game losing streak in the final 5 games as a means of matching up with Jokic (Nuggets). Both (Nuggets/Jokic) knew it as well.......reason Jokic lost some weight during the lay-off.. Covington first game was a victory over the Lakers followed by loss to Suns in B2B (without Westbrook) Eric Gordon soon came back and had to knock off some rust around that time. So start of small-ball wasn’t perfect; but got better. I’m a believer D Carroll and Caboclo were not healthy then.......will be ready now. Sure to be a great run!! Go Rockets!!
I heard that Chris Clemons grew a foot over the break and is our new X-factor in the switch everything defense.
You know that silly guy who liked Thon Maker but not Capela and who like Cousins but not Embiid. Carbon copies of each other but Capela was far stronger than Maker and Embiid far better at defense than Cousins.
Pretty telling stat, and probably reinforced the decision to go small. Hopefully combo of (1) better defense at the 3 point line, and (2) chasing guys off the 3 point line more, while (3) the other team just tries to go inside more just because they think they "should". On his game Covington was a revelation, to me. Basically game 1 against the Lakers Covington. He was the most "impactful" player for the Rockets that game. I mean, sure, without Russ playing great they wouldn't have had a chance, but you know what I mean. That said, he's not quite good enough to be that every game. Not that this is possible, and not that he's quite as good defensively as Covington yet, but imagine someone like Tatum on this squad. There's a reason the best Rockets team of this generation, and best regular season Rockets team every, came when they played a TON of small-ball, while having Trevor Ariza still performing very well. FORWARDS!!! I've been beating this dead horse for half a decade now. It's not just that Harden would be best paired with a dominant swing forward, its that that's the most valuable position, at its best, in the league in 2020. Interesting, wouldn't have guessed that. This speaks well to the Rockets ability to play the best version of small ball in the league. Not that the Celtics were thought to be the best at it, but its basically what they do as well, and do well. Still, the Clippers small ball is probably the most scary. Not that surprising. He's not exactly known as a solid defender. Speaks to if he isn't providing scoring punch relatively quick, get a different sub in there. Not that surprising. He's usually at a disadvantage one on one in some way. Its his versatility that is best defensively, then he holds his own fairly well. That said probably helpful to look deeper at this stat. Jokic is third. Gallinari is 6th, and apparently at the highest frequency of any of the top 16 guys on the list. The last part of the stat is somewhat confusing. What were they before I wonder? Wouldn't you think that they'd be giving up a much higher % of shots in the restricted area? Wouldn't we actually want this, anyway?
While their superstars definitely will be relied upon to lead the way, an entire team committed to getting back on defense will be needed to slow the Lakers down in the playoffs. The Rockets are set to face the Lakers one more time this season before the playoffs on August 6th at 9 p.m. ET on TNT. https://spacecityscoop.com/2020/07/05/houston-rockets-improve-los-angeles-lakers/3/
It was like something we had never seen before. The type of madness that’s too confusing and too rapid to plan and prepare for. The Houston Rockets‘ switch-everything defensive scheme had the league buzzing and had everyone talking. Former Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul stated: “We started switching on all screens because we wanted to prepare to play [Golden State]. Alot of people were like ‘why are they switching everything, why are they playing like that?’ The reason why is because you would play a certain way in 95 percent of your games. During the 2017-18 season CP3 referenced, the Rockets had one of the best defenses in the league, as they had the below finishes on the defensive end. 5th in steals per game 6th in points allowed 6th in defensive rating 7th in defensive 3-point percentage 10th in forced turnovers per game https://spacecityscoop.com/2020/07/02/chris-paul-houston-rockets-switch-heavy-defense/3/
I watched the video of his recent trial training with the Rockets, and he gained some weight... The speed is also slow... I think he's only 60% of what he was two years ago
He does look like he has gained a few pounds, but he doesn't look overweight. This might even help him guard in the post.