The latest Rockets team appears to have shifted to guys who put a focus on defense: Nick Johnson Trevor Ariza Clint Capela Joey Dorsey Papanikolaou Marcus Camby? We now have guys who can play tough defense at every position. We also got a few guys who have been champions on a pro level. I think that the rockets team is doing a much better job in getting players who are not only great fits from an analytics prospective, but also fit the personality and play style wanted and needed by McHale. I think many people have unreal expectations on how much a coach can change a teams philosophy. A coach can teach and preach until he is blue in the face, but if the players dont have the right mentality, he cannot change a player overnight. In order for teams to build a culture and identity, people with those characteristics must be first be brought in for the coach can nourish it and guide those players to greatness. Teams like the Spurs built a culture with longevity and teamwork between the front office and coaching. They draft mostly guys with certain personality and play style, then let the others learn and adapt to the environment. Hopefully the Rockets realize that front office and coaching is not a one way partnership. Relentlessness, heart, desire, and intensity cannot be coached into a player, they either already have it or must be immersed in it. For a team to have a culture the majority of the team must have the desired mentality. It also helps if the best players have this drive. I believe this influx of tough defensive minded players may be able to help build a culture and could make this Rockets squad a team of junk yard dogs. The question is will these guys along with learning from our frustrating playoff loss be enough to get all of our guys including Harden to put a priority on defense. If so, the Houston Rockets can be a top 5 offensive and defensive team and be a favorite to win the NBA Championship. I apologize in advance for not starting a thread not asking for McHale or Morey to be fired or talking about former Rocket superstar glue guys...
With Dwight in the middle a lot can be down... strategy on the court has to be on point... it wasn't last year hence first round loss.
do they look similar? from what i can remember, i used to think that. dorsey was supposed to have super long wingspan, and how did they translate in games?
All these moves will create a HUGE question mark on Harden's game next season. Say all you want about Lin and Parsons, but no one will doubt that they are playing best with Harden together on fast break. That's the best part of Harden's offense in the last 2 seasons, going downhill, on the run to create his baskets or FT. With Lin and Parsons gone now and the direction of the personnel this team is going, how much these moves will affect Harden's offense?
Watching some Wizards highlights the last two days and Ariza actually looks really good and creative on the fastbreak.
you can definitely see where we are headed. i'm picturing the detroit pistons from early 2000s defense.
Being as chandler was my favorite player and the heart break after not matching him I have to say even though I strongly dislike Morey he is making up for this offseason. I think right now what the rockets are doing is what our focus should have been on this offseason and that's depth and guys ready to play D. With The addition of Daniels, Johnson, and pap I think are benches scoring ability is much higher than last years. I like the defence approach a lot more. Instead of trying to have everybody as a play maker and scoring machine we now have the much needed big bodies to toughen up our post. Idc if there not the best scorers as long as they can get boards, make stops, and throw some elbows I think that's all we need to help dwight when he's in or when on the bench
I think it's going to take more than Ariza and a few bench guys to become elite defensively, but as long as we have Dwight becoming a top 5 defensive team is definitely a possibility.
People like Morey who said we weren't a top 10 defense last year and that if we ever hoped to be one we needed strong defense at the wing next to Harden.
They look alike, they are alike, they love to goof around I suppose. But yeah obviously Dwight talent level, skill level and size is in another ballpark.
