Rockets figure out that defense and passing lead to wins

I can't believe it only took them 50 games to figure this out.


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1296526

Rockets inching forward
Stats inconclusive, but passing, defense paying off
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
UPDATE
·Wednesday: Rockets 96, Timberwolves 95.
·Record: 25-39.

·Saturday: Chicago at Compaq Center, 7:30 p.m.

·TV/radio: Ch. 20; KPRC (950 AM) and in Spanish on KRTX (980 AM).



The Rockets knew what needed to be done. There was no need for long meetings or tape sessions. Coaches did not have to tell players anything they didn't know.

As deceiving as statistics can be, 29th in a 29-team league is pretty hard to argue.

The Rockets hit the All-Star break ranked 29th in field-goal percentage defense and assists. In the search for improvement, both areas seemed a pretty good place to start.

One month and 15 games later, the Rockets have not turned around those numbers. But they have had strong games in both weak areas, gone 9-6 and have beaten three consecutive winning teams for the first time this season.

"Defense, intensity and everybody's on the same page," guard Steve Francis said of the Rockets' modest, but clear turnaround. "I think we've been doing a great job passing the ball."

In terms of passing, the Rockets' improvement cannot be seen in assists statistics. They average one-tenth of an assist more than they averaged at the All-Star break.

But several Rockets players, most notably Francis, have been in shooting slumps. Only Cuttino Mobley, Kenny Thomas and, since his return, Walt Williams have shot consistently well since the All-Star break (Francis is making 37.2 percent of his shots and 26.8 percent of his 3-pointers in March).

But with more incidences of two, three and four passes leading to shots, the Rockets have been able to score consistently and not depend as heavily on Francis and Mobley.

They also have gotten to the line more regularly off sharp, interior passes, particularly off Francis' penetration and run their offense more reliably down the stretch.

"I always tell our guys, when we move the ball, I think we can compete with anybody," said coach Rudy Tomjanovich. "We have all this athletic ability, all this wonderful talent. The defense has to shift. Then just find the open man.

"We are a much more efficient team when we get the ball moving and everyone gets involved. That's when we have our big games. We've done some really good team, three- and four-pass possessions. Sometimes we didn't make the shot. But we were sharing the ball well. It's funny when that happens, it sometimes comes back to the guy who does the sharing."

But the biggest difference has been defensively. The last two games were largely decided with blocked shots, with Kelvin Cato stuffing a Karl Malone shot and Thomas smacking a Kevin Garnett attempt on his way up.

"That was the highest I ever had to go to block a shot," said Eddie Griffin, who blocked two Garnett attempts. "He's so long and he releases the ball so high. I think those might be the toughest ones to block."

Averaging 5.4 blocked shots per game, the Rockets have averaged 9.2 blocked shots per game in the past six games. In a season in which they only occasionally even distracted opposing defenses, they have had other games since the All-Star break in which they have forced turnovers.

Opposing shooting percentages have not changed, but the Rockets have made plays defensively, a concept foreign through much of the season.

"We're not letting people dictate exactly what they are going to do," Tomjanovich said. "Because of pressure, somebody catches the ball and now, he's not here dictating everything. ... You can't time your move. It breaks your rhythm a little bit."

The Rockets have improved only to inconsistent defensively. But they held the Jazz to just 40 percent shooting. The Timberwolves committed 18 turnovers. In the previous meeting with the Timberwolves, Minnesota made just 40.7 percent of its shots.

A three-game winning streak is barely a streak. Even 15 games of relative success amounts to a small slice of a season. But defensively, there was no way to go but up. Even if the defensive improvement has been dependable enough to be considered a trend, occasional improvement has given the Rockets their best stretch this season.

"Defense is the key to everything," Thomas said. "Defense is pretty much the whole thing with us winning. We have a lot of guys who can score."

 

It'd be very cool to see a behind the scenes documentary like the one about Bobby Knight, to see if they listen to Rudy much at all or do almost everything that he says, and that one timeout thing was the exception.