Beverley to undergo knee surgery, D'Antoni says he could miss 20 games

Yeah Hill would've been a perfect fit here with Harden, not sure why they didn't go after him, maybe they were scared by his injuries? (lol)

Or maybe they didn't want to deal with him being an expiring...

 

This shouldn't matter, but probably will since the entire team is made up of bench players.

 

This will cost the Rockets 4 games at least. I said they'd win 46 games. not anymore.

 

Rather have Jimmer instead. Forget D already, just shoot them out of the house. This team is built to score fast and score often. Need dead eye shooters and long athletes who can run.

 

Should have missed the playoffs and got the 12th pick which was ultimately the price for Hill

 

Rockets try to move on without Patrick Beverley

Spoiler

HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets are trying to change the perception they’re not a strong defensive team.

But with the start of the regular season coming Wednesday night against the Lakers, the Rockets won’t have their best defender, guard Patrick Beverley, who's out four to six weeks with a knee injury.

Last season with Beverley on the floor for 71 games, opponents shot 46 percent from the field and committed 16.9 turnovers.

In the 11 games he missed, opponents shot 45.1 percent and committed fewer turnovers at 14.7. Among point guards, Beverley had the fifth best defensive rating of 1.01.

Beverley took on the toughest defensive assignments in the backcourt, whether it was covering Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Chris Paul or Damian Lillard in the talent-heavy Western Conference.

Beverley, to put it mildly, was an irritant to players like Curry and Westbrook. Whenever the Rockets visit Oakland or Oklahoma City, Beverley is booed lustily.

Last season, in the middle of the first-round series against the Golden State Warriors, Beverley said, “I don’t care,” when asked if he’s Public Enemy No. 1.

It’s that attitude the Rockets need in the backcourt this season, given the increased offensive responsibilities on James Harden at point guard and Beverley out until possibly December.

When healthy, Beverley would remain on opposing point guards, but on switches, Harden would get paired up against the Currys and Westbrooks of the world.

Harden isn’t a very good defender.

“James can be and should be a very good defender on a consistent basis,” Rockets assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik, who runs the defense, said. “He has embraced the challenge.”

With Beverley out, Eric Gordon moves into the starting lineup, and last season among shooting guards, his defensive rating was -0.40, 40th at this position.

“With me starting, I’m going to have to guard mostly the top perimeter guy and that’s fine,” Gordon said. “They will have to guard me also. You just have to play both sides of the ball very well. Pat is known well for defense and I have to put it up on both ends of the floor.”

Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni's rotation has been affected by the loss of Beverley. He wants K.J. McDaniels to become a strong defender by guarding both guard spots and small forward. He could see significant minutes. McDaniels, however, struggled with consistency on the defensive end in the preseason.

"He's up and down," D'Antoni said after the preseason finale against the Spurs Friday night. There were times McDaniels guarded the Spurs' star Kawhi Leonard. During two possessions with McDaniels' hand in his face, Leonard made two jumpers.

"I have to take advantage of it and challenge myself to be strong at all three positions," McDaniels said. "Kawhi Leonard is an All-Star. A great player, who I watched before I was in the league. It's a great challenge. He's a great guy to model my game after."

If the Rockets are to emerge as one of the better teams in the West, the little things -- boxing out, making the correct rotations and challenging ball handlers -- must be done consistently whether Beverley is on the floor or not.

“Everybody has to do their job,” Bzdelik said. “It takes all five guys to get a stop, and everybody has to do their job and do it as well as they can do it. We need to get back in transition and we need to force teams into tough contested twos, inside the arc, outside the paint and rebound the basketball. Just doing it consistently well. The challenge is not taking a defensive possession off.”

 

Balling at YMCA = balling at NBA level?

 

Bobby Brown may have to make the team for his spot up shooting ugh...

 

I do hope we start KJ alongside Harden but I have zero confidence KJ will ever develop average ball handling skills for the PG position. I expect Gordan to have a larger role because of this but hopefully KJ can rise to the defensive challenge while providing movement and screens on offense.

 

Bobby Brown is a ball hog.

 

Absolutely.

 

I'm disappointed, but this is the right move. He needed to get serious about these nagging injuries and take the time off to 'get right'.

Let's hope rehab is a success and he can come back to be a sparkplug / energy guy like he was 2 years ago.

 

Had the whole off season to take it easy. Dude is a liability and I'm sick of it. Do something Morey

 

Well, another option is he comes back and just gets a 8th/9th man role. Maybe that would be a benefit to the team too.

I'd rather him have to work his way into D'Antoni's plans rather than D'Antoni leaving him as the starter just because he's the incumbent PG. In a way this sort of forces D'Antoni to more carefully evaluate what he really wants to do with Beverley.

Agreed that we really should be looking for PG upgrades one way or another.

 

I don't understand people bashing Bev for "waiting" until the end of the pre-season to have surgery. I'm fairly confident doctors gave him the clear to keep training without surgery during the summer, otherwise he would've gotten surgery sooner. I don't see how Beverley himself can be blamed for any of this..let alone anyone else. Injuries happen in sports and I wish him a speedy recovery. I don't think this is anything to write home about...

 

No one is bashing him, we are just stating the facts. The dude is made of glass. Is he not? No one is saying it's his fault or anyone elses but a blind man and his dog could have told you something like this would happen. Its very very frustrating when hes barely played for months, and the minute he returns to competitive Play (literally the minute) he breaks down again. Its frustrating because as much as I love Beverley, he is a full blown liability. He can never stay healthy. And considering he is such a major part of the side its simply UNACCEPTABLE that Morey couldn't figure this out and have a contingency in place. I mean... Prigioni and Ennis as our PG rotation.. really? Really. The complete lack of planning and bolstering our depth has been really disappointing. Really dropped the ball yet again

 

Beno Udrih is available.

 

he was running around at the open practise wasnt he?

what the hell is going on with him

 

This should solidify Pbev's role for coming off the bench.

 

Can we go ahead and get Bledsoe. I think trading Ariza if KJ keeps progressing (defensively) for a solid upgrade at PG would change this team in a positive way. Gordon should come off the bench.