less successful because harden is isoing less. less ft attempts for him. more shots for lesser players. simple. it may not be aesthetically pleasing but it was very successful.
It's mostly the defense that's losing games, not the offense though. A bad offense can hurt a defense but a bad defense also hurts an offense.
I'm not so sure that the offense is broken, but I think they definitely don't know exactly what they are doing in it yet. The defense on the other hand, now that ****'s broken. Bottom line is that it is a new system with a bunch of new players trying to figure each other out. Harden included. It's going to take a while for them to start clicking on all cylinders. I'm not worried. Yet.
The defense is worse but we have the 2nd best halfcourt defense in the league and the 2nd worst transition defense. We also have the worst defensive rebounding team. I know how to fix that, so do you, so do the players and coaches. It’s just effort. I thought it would be too simplistic and also depressing to write a blog post about that lol.
My hope was that they would really tighten the defense and that would become their identity. Granted there were (and are) some issues at the forward spots, they have the pieces to be pretty good defensively and the assets to be even better. If they all bought in defensively, then I think a lot of the offensive issues would be resolved.... but so far we don't have then really buying in at either end of the court.
You know what's funny about all that. I think when they interviewed Hornacek at the half for the Lakers game, he said we are giving up too many transition layups because the guys are told to crash hard at the board. It's almost as if we focused so much on how to rebound to cover our weakness that we forgot the other team can just leak out on long 3's for easy layups. That's just terrible coaching or terrible personnel issue. On one end of the floor, we need to have 4 guys crash the boards to secure a defensive rebound, so we have no chance for easy leak out for transitions, on the other end of the floor, we also have 4 guys trying to get an offensive rebound while the other team leak out.
Clearly, I was talking about your logic. Your reply was a deflecting statement. A constructive argument (if you care to be constructive): If you had to choose between a sharp-shooter or a big man that can shoot/stretch the 3, what do you choose? In this case, I'd choose the former, with a lob-threat center with elite defense. That said, having a 5 that can shoot is also highly effective (AD, Embiid, etc.). I think you'll have a hard time finding shooters to put around someone like AD who are all better than him. No need to marginalize a player. So, are you saying you wish we'd found a center like Capela for cheap AND get a sharp-shooter on the outside? Because you're unlikely to get both. We didn't have the option of putting a bunch of pure shooters around Harden, who could also play defense, were available, and would want to sign with Houston. Separate note--yes, we were a hamstring away. Doesn't mean it'll work out in future years. This also heavily relies on Harden's ISO ball, which has gassed him in the past. We need a mix.
Just by my eye test, it seems like our small ball defense is pretty decent. I think Nwada, Tate, Sterling all hustle quite hard and are good individual defenders. The problem is, our small ball can't shoot, so it defeats the whole point of going small and sacrificing rim protection. I feel like Wood is a bit of a Fool's gold at the moment due to how much he gives up on the defensive end. I don't think it's his effort, he's just really lost when challenged. I cringed so hard when the Lebron just kept getting and-1's at him.
They didnt have to. They kicked our ass without breaking a sweat. If wasnt because they feared john wall 3pters i can assure you.
Nwaba has been a good transition player in the past on both sides of the ball, the problem is that he cannot do it alone in transition. Tate hustles and is a good bench player. The problem is that the size problem is real when facing elite teams. The Rockets need more size at the forward spots. They have draft picks to play with but I guarantee you that they are not so confident giving them up with uncertainty around Harden. As for Wood, he isn't as good as his numbers show. He is still a useful player but he is someone that really needs size at the forwards around him to off set his last of strength. He isn't a good rebounder when playing against other good rebounders. The half set defense is overall solid and can be elite with some reasonable changes (adding a 3 with real size), the transition defense is terrible...... and on offense it is a mess for a lot of reasons. The problem is how many holes are there? Can the Rockets reasonably fix enough holes to beat the Lakers? I doubt it because defensively the Lakers are playing at an extremely high level and their size hurts the Rockets. The answer is partially for the Rockets to hit 3's but that isn't in the cards...... there are not enough really good shooters that can also defend. The name Harrison Barnes has been someone I have floated before, but the Rockets are limited in being able to add that salary to the team; and while his size, defense and three point shooting would make a large improvement, is that enough to beat the Lakers and Clipppers and Nuggets? I question whether that is the case and would bet money against it.
For the Rockets to beat the Lakers they need a puncher's chance. That means not giving up for stretches every game and taking and making 3s. Not playing your best shooter against them is infuriating. AD is going to get buckets, but they're going to be 2. If we're going to beat the Lakers it has to be by 3>2
If I learned anything from Cobra Kai about sports and competition is that the way to solve many of world's problems is Spoiler A karate tournament.
Exactly, and that concept is why last year I believed a healthy Rockets team had a chance if they were all on the same page.... their obviously were not. The Rockets don't have an answer for AD, and that is fine if they can capitalize on other areas. The 3 is a really deadly weapon if utilized properly, but we for some reason do not seem to do that.... we are not going to out rebound them or crush them in transition.
@foggy94 Also I dispute the notion that making and shoot motion is going to allow guys to find James freaking Harden more. You showed an example of Gordon diving into like 4 defenders without looking at anyone and somehow that is Harden’s fault? The dude has the second best offensive Raptor on the league. Him not doing idk a catch and shoot motion is t ranking our offense. If that we’re true John Wall would run an average offense when Harden sits....he does not unfortunately. But otherwise a great and informative article. Keep it up bro.
