Is this kinda one time thing or it will be something that rockets will persist in? It was very exciting and joy to watch!
Can't say whether it's a one time thing or not but it looked as good as I've seen effort-wise in quite some time.
Don't forget that Harden played very good defense last year against PG(Preseason games) but then he had the injury and ...
Harden's defensive problems aren't physical. He is always out of position, he needs to learn how to figure out who his man is and stay solid. He over helps and he ends up on one side of the floor while his man is on the other side.
This guy Spoiler We started off slow and got behind, but defense sprung us way ahead of the grizz early. Ariza had 3 steals in the 1st. That was exciting to see. The team had 5 steals total in the 1st. I like how a reporter after the game asked Ariza about how it's like to play with a defensive leader like Dwight, but Ariza diverted the praise to a guy that actually played that night, Beverley, and said the defensive intensity really starts with the PG. And who better to lead the way on defensive intensity than Mr. 94 ft. We were slightly better than the Grizz last year in rebounding own/opp reb diff. We were 2nd, they were tied for 4th. So I was pleased with how bad we beat them on the boards. KP really is a gritty defender, as advertised. Got them 2 blocks. I like it!
All I know was harden was playing and tony Allen and looking like tony Allen on the defensive end, great to see your stars hustling
Problem I've seen from Harden which is easily fixable is communication. He and another teammate mess up a decent amount of times on switching and rotating. Like 2 men would run to one guy and leave an open shooter somewhere. But individually he played great
Memphis was maybe the best transition defensive team we played last year. What I was watching was startling to me as we were destroying them.
Well, their starters only played like 8 or 9 minutes and played the night before in Milwaukee. So for sure they were mailing it in...
ok Yes but we were destroying their starters. It was preseason though. We have to see what they do against more teams.
Veteran teams don't try very hard in preseason. Plus they played the night before, so they really weren't giving much effort.
I watched a replay of the Grizz game and was hootin' & hollerin' at how well our defense was playing. But the thing that almost made me fall out of my chair was when some one (I think it was Black) set 3 screens during the same possession. When was the last tine that happened!?!
What makes this more encouraging to me is that its pre-season. Bad habits are hard to break...and its great to see them developing good habits now.
We ran them off the court a couple of seasons ago under our new run and gun, but I think they definitely had the advantage on us last season. Great to be hear and see defensive effort, focus, and of course results.
Do you have any basis on that, or was that a joke? Definitely appreciate your other points shared. However, we had Bev doing that last year, too..
Definitely not being tongue-in-cheek when I give a little props to the man in the picture, T.R. Dunn. I was getting worried with how they were going to fill Kelvin Sampson's empty chair in the Rocket's coaching staff. McHale admitted during the 1st series exit last year that he relied on Sampson to make all his defensive adjustments. Sampson took the lead on making sure everyone was accountable on defense. Back to Dunn, we were really sharp last time he was in our think tank, a top 5 defense. He's a defensive specialist, and he 3peated as all-defensive 2nd team as a player. He's a good guy to have. For a couple of months there I was worried from the lack of any chatter that the Rockets were going to roll into the new season without replacing their defense coach. That would have been bad.
Rockets' defense looked VERY IMPRESSIVE. Second unit too. Remember also...sans Dwight. I thought Memphis also missed a lot of open shots but maybe that was in part because the Rockets were getting into their head and messing up the whole flow of their offense. I think that this Rockets team with Harden and Howard should slow the game down and play a half-court game, similar to the way the Rockets played under Van Gundy with stars McGrady and Yao. Harden and Howard will get the points. Just focus on defense. Unfortunately, McHale is nowhere near Van Gundy as a defensive-minded coach, but still, the Rockets played very good defense vs. the Grizz.
Who would have thought? Recruit defensive-minded players and our defensive effort goes up right away. Seriously, Harden's time with the USAMBT did him and us a lot of good. He looks as focused on the defensive effort as I have ever seen him. Also less playmaking chores placed on him because of Bev and Ish making more plays, more efficient scoring from the SF and PF positions will only enable him to give balanced effort on both ends.