We really need Capela - Faried is not a good defensive big. He's not awful, but he's going to get destroyed by taller C's and he's at best an average switch defender. Morey really needs to swing for a 3-and-D at the trade deadline, and bring back House on whatever deal they can agree to. That would put us in great shape for the postseason. Paul/Rivers Harden/Gordon/Green (TBD Wing - Bazemore?)/House/Ennis Tucker/Faried/Clark Capela/Nene That's not a real depth chart obviously - too many players, unsure who is going to be kept or traded - but it gives an idea of what could be on the table if Knight/Chriss are moved. I bet Nene will also need to get moved. Not sure what else to expect from buyouts - I would not expect anything at this point.
I don't care what 'holic thinks about him, we win last night if Capela plays. Interior defense, rim protection and better rebounding wins that game.
Great stats @heypartner. Love when people do deep dives like this. More please! What is crazy is the Rockets MADE *19* threes. Yet still lose. Has that ever happened? They are just getting KILLED on the boards. The team needs to gang rebound. That is effort and that is technique (boxing out). It is a small thing, but they are missing Danuel House. He did those things.
We desperately need wing guys who can defend. Honestly, House was a pretty good option while he was playing. He wouldn't have been enough, but he was better than most of the guys we have now.
I mean, James Ennis on the wing is your tallest player... It's not rocket science y'all. Tall ball is going to get the better of this short ass lineup sometimes. Clint at 6'10'' and leaping is scary to guys like Holiday trying to put up 6' shots in the paint. 6'5" PJ Tucker and his 3.67" vertical does not. Boxing out though? PJ Tucker and Faried need to be bashing people's heads in until they back off. You don't have to be huge to box out.
Whenever we get up by 7 or 8 on a bad team, that's when Harden starts throwing behind-the-back passes, and that's exactly when I know the game will come down to the wire. Once you look for this you'll never not see it again. I wish someone would explain to Harden that playing the Nets, the Pelicans, whoever is not the same as playing in the Drew League.
Thats the solution! he should coach from home! Hes probably not making his wife happy being absent a lot so his coaching suffer
Yep, we were 18th in DRtg in 16-17. There's no reason we can't be middle of the pack at least with this team.
No. Rebounding is not all effort and technique. They are fundamentally not in good positions to rebound, because their bad defense scrambles rotations so badly. Last year, every lineup, even ones without bigs, rebounded at a elite level. Better at containing slashing --> Less help needed -----> Less straying from the most valuable spots on the floor(Corner 3, rim) ----> Better position to rebound/box out.They CAN'T box out let alone secure a rebound when they are put in spots where they're outnumbered in the paint due to bad rotations.
Honestly. . . one of the things that bother me is Even when they have position . . Refs allow taller players to go over the back A few times we were even called for fouls when we had inside position Rocket River
I've been saying this all year!!!!!! Yes, bring us a young Trevor Ariza. Bring us AD!!! Bring us any legitimate wing defender. People are expecting Bezek to squeeze blood out of a turnip. Don't get me wrong, I love our guys, but that doesn't mean they are all great players. You pay peanuts and you get a shell of a star, with a little salt flavor from experience. What we need is someone.who can up our defensive game from the time he steps on the court. We need a big time star, who will not only bring the D, but consistently put up double digits on the boards. We need that desperately. Will we ever get one though? That is not something I would bet my money on.
As long as we play a style where one guy tries to create and four guys hang at the 3pt line until a shot goes up, we are going to be outrebounded. It’s worse now with Capela out but it’s a natural byproduct of our playing style. The real warning sign here is the lack of rim protection without Capela in the center and this is especially scary because GS has Boogie easily hitting open 3s now. That means either Capela has to come out to play him at the 3pt line and leave the paint wide open which our perimeter players can’t prevent people from getting to OR we switch Capela to Draymond, hope he has 4 bad games AND hope Boogie doesn’t absolutely roast whomever is left from our wing players who will be forced to guard him. Personally I think the latter strategy is the better one but that means likely Harden will spend big minutes fighting Boogie in the paint which seems like a bad idea since we need the Wilt version of Harden in the playoffs to have a chance....this trade deadline will be crucial to our odds in the playoffs because GS will feast in the paint of Capela has to guard Boogie our to he 3pt line.
I wonder what out team d-rating is with House getting at least 20 mins vs all our other games. @heypartner?
It was really simple- with an old roster, the Rockets needed a way to keep down CP3 and PJ Tucker's minutes. Instead, in the name of flexbility, Morey did not have an adequate backup PG, power foward, or wing player when the season started. These are factors both for their slow start and their injuries. Now, I bet they would have signed Luc if his shoulder did not disintegrate twice last year. Phoenix throwing $15 million at Ariza hurt them, as well. But the fact remains that these key, older players in the rotation have had to play more minutes. Paul didn't last a month and Tucker is less effective as the season progresses.
The role players are constantly putting up bricks from 3. I'm not sure how that's fantastic. Fantastic offenses (like the Warriors) can get through bad defensive stretches. The Rockets however can only get to 30+ points in 2 of their 4 quarters. There's always a quarter where they go completely cold. That doesn't sound like a fantastic offense.
