I'm surprised very few have given credence to the difference Josh Smith made last year. His tawdry history, I'm sure has a lot to do with that, and it's well deserved. In an extended Rocket sample though, he proved to be an able defender at the 4/3 (something we have not replaced), a GREAT facilitator in the frontcourt (something we have not replaced ), a great locker room guy (esp for Dwight, which we haven't replaced ), and a threat on O (something DMo when healthy can provide). Missing that dynamic is an enormity we have not addressed nor appreciated fully.
What I found interesting is that this team looks like more of a team. Harden and Howard look like a duo playing together, Hi fiving and aknowledging each other. They are only going to go as far as the chemistry between those two can truly develop.
Curious. Howard's been playing with Harden for over 3 yrs now. Are they just now developing chemistry under JBB?
I have seen a lot of changes including the twin towers, and resting players at different times has worked very well, his roations are pretty good. What im not sure about is his decision about Thornton and Brewer/Terry, before i roast him id like to know how much of it is from Morey.. My only issue with him is closing, like the game tonight. They went on a 13-0 run to tie it up and we rely on Harden too much. Instead we need to put our best shooters in (which goes back to the previous point) and do as many pick and rolls as possible. As good as Harden is 1 on 1 he does knucklehead plays where he dribbles way too long and tries to pass late.
Ultimately, the high tech eyes and ears here will verify the fact that no matter if we return completely to form, which is entirely plausible and possible, we have not made any significant changes that will allow us to surpass golden State. All we've done is add Capela to the Starting unit and while that is cautiously optimistic, he's regressed a little as starter, not unexpected, but all the same problems remain. So it may be the long road to the exact same result, top 8 or top 4. I hope. But it would take a total awakening from the entire team to be the undisclosed champ in 16.
DMo's minutes aren't pushing us over any humps. It's good to see him play, especially his passing and hook shot, but he's still rusty. JB is the biggest difference and he's helping these guys turn the corner slowly. Our mess wasn't fixed yet, but we're getting there. Evidence is all in defense. I dare you to go back and look at the defensive effort under McHale and then recently and tell me there's not a difference. The players are picking up what Bickerstaff is putting down. It's that easy. The trick is whether they keep picking his stuff up. That remains to be seen.
The last couple of games their defense has looked really good and the effort has picked up on the rotations ect. Also starting the season with a thin front line while having to play a rookie and dealing with injuries with Howard, Jones and DMO out didn't help their start. On a side note Lawson may not see much playing time with the way this team has played these games without him IMO. And what the hell is wrong with Corey Brewer this season? Brewer has been stinking up the joint in the worst way.
Lmao. Who mentioned GS? The question is, is there anything different under JB versus McHale? The answer is a lot of things are different. JB for one takes chances that McHale would NEVER take. JB uses a wider rotation of players primarily (atleast imo) to keep guys fresh and injury free. I think this has worked. The offensive sets are vastly different as well. JB has a lot more off the ball movement when Harden has the ball. But adding Capela to the starting lineup is the game changer to me. The team under McHale would have absolutely no energy. By adding Capela you strengthen your defense & rebounding and also can play some hi/low with Dwight.
Agree but I still think in the end JB moves DMO into the starting lineup. The Spurs and Warriors are crafty enough defensively to force Capela into having to take jump shots and giving him very little down low. But I love Capela's defense when he's not fouling.
I was at the game, my first game live since JB took over and right across the Rockets bench. While I am not sold on JB he is a clear upgrade over McFail just like all other NBA head coaches and most assistants so nothing surprising here. Some obvious differences. JBB is more proactive in both calling timeouts and making substitutions. Much better rotations than Mil Hair. He was making offense defense substitutions last night at the end in a timely manner with Brewer and THornton. The overall team defense has improved and there is actually a defensive plan out there. Instead of the we just need to "play harder" "clap clap" plan. he also shows much more fire up and down the touchline. There was a time when coach Clifford was all over the refs almost every possession and JBB stood up like a boss and told that guy to GTFO. I doubt the coward McHale ever did that. Instead he sat on the bench scratching his head and rubbing his eyes. The players also seem more engaged and the chemistry has certainly improved. Watching live, they all had fun and were happy for each other's success. No issues between H and H that I could see. The only disappointment I saw was with Thornton when he got pulled out about 3 1/2 minutes into the 4th for Harden esp when Thornton was heating up and the only one making shots at that point.
Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rockets, Spurs & Nuggets are most improved teams in December... <a href="https://t.co/4beSV8alu2">pic.twitter.com/4beSV8alu2</a></p>— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnschuhmann/status/679333247885688833">December 22, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
ha... Golden State is putting up an all-time great season, possibly the best ever. Even if the perfect case scenario going into the season came true- with Harden delivering another MVP campaign, Lawson seamlessly integrated as a destroyer on offense, Howard not having injury worries, the cast lighting it up from outside, and the Rockets improving their win total substantially from last season, up into elite level territory (64+ wins or so)... ..... they would still be well behind the Warriors who are essentially chasing the 1996 Bulls and the 1973 lakers and other historical juggernauts at this point.
I'm ready to upgrade us to respectable. We've won 8 of the last ten, we've got a 6 game winning streak at home and a 3 games streak overall. Heading into a road game vs. Orlando (a team that we've had tons of trouble with for some reason) we could be back under .500 by Friday after playing the Spurs. Bickerstaff has been able to address two huge issues. Our defense is not allowing huge runs anymore. Early in the season we couldn't stop teams from building 20 point leads. And he's been able to get the supporting cast to win games even when Harden is having an off shooting night.
