Houston Rockets: Four Early-Season Concerns for James Harden, Dwight Howard and Company
Defense, Offensive Flow, and Kevin McHale's Rotations Top the List
Yahoo Contributor Network By M. De Moor
20 minutes ago
COMMENTARY | Most people who looked at the Houston Rockets' schedule before the season realized that their first real test would come in their fourth regular-season game against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Rockets failed their first test miserably.
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The Clippers tied a franchise record with 78 points in the first half, and although Houston cut the lead Clippers' lead to double-digits several times in the second half, Los Angeles still came out on top 137-118.
It's important not to overreact to November losses, especially on a team with so much new personnel, but there were so many glaring deficiencies in the Rockets' approach to Monday night's game that it would be criminal to continue to overlook them. Houston's upcoming schedule is loaded with tough competition (Portland Trail Blazers, Clippers), and with Dwight Howard's first game against the Los Angeles Lakers coming up on November 7 (not exactly tough competition, but it'll be compelling television), it's important that Houston makes a few changes.
Here are four early-season concerns that, hopefully, will not evolve into long-term problems for the new-look Rockets:
1. Offensive Approach
Against the Clippers, Houston made it clear early on that it wanted to get Dwight involved. Fine. The Rockets threw it to their big man in non-creative sets, and asked him to do it on his own. After about five minutes of running the offense through Howard, the score was 18-6 Clippers. Howard is an amazing talent, and he needs to be a major part of the offense, but he's considerably better at catching and finishing on the pick-and-roll than catching with his back to the basket and making lemonade.
Eventually, teams will wise up and start to make Howard beat them in the post, refusing to leave any of the shooters on the outside, and, more importantly, leaving Houston's best player, James Harden, standing flat-footed 25 feet from the basket.
Harden was the focal point of the league's second-best offense last year, and if the Rockets want to mirror that this season, he'll need to be that kind of player again. With his passing ability and his vision, running the offense through Harden essentially means that everyone on the court is an offensive threat, as his ability to read the help defense after beating his man is an invaluable trait he possesses. Harden's scoring will open up opportunities for the entire team, including Howard and Jeremy Lin, and McHale needs to realize this reality.
Bottom Line: The Rockets have a pick-and-roll point guard, a pick-and-roll shooting guard, and a big man who sets fantastic screens, rolls well, and finishes will on the move; the pick and roll needs to be this team's bread and butter. They shouldn't abandon the Howard post up, but it should be their second option.
2. Kevin McHale's Rotations and Matchup Choices
What was Kevin McHale thinking putting Harden on J.J. Redick to start the game yesterday? I figured that Harden would have an offensive field day Monday night because he could spend his time on the other side of the ball hanging out by Jared Dudley, who is pretty much a standstill shooter. Instead, he was chasing around Redick, who took over the game early. Now, I'm not going to blame Harden's poor offensive performance on Redick's hot shooting, but, the fact remains, McHale whiffed badly on a simple decision.
Although McHale did make the correct move in deciding to start Patrick Beverley (before he got injured, obviously), his rotation is still a little sketchy to me. Why in the world are the Rockets still playing small so often? What is it going to take to realize that Asik and Howard don't belong on the floor together? Why is McHale's leash on Terrence Jones so short? The Rockets are lucky enough to have superfluous depth, but that depth will be useless if McHale can't line up his chess pieces correctly.
Bottom Line: McHale needs to use Chandler Parsons as his premier wing defender, and he needs to start playing NBA-sized lineups, instead of going really big or really small.
3. Pick-and-Roll Defense/Defensive Rotations
The Rockets look like they spend as much time on defense in practice as the Philadelphia Eagles, and to further to comparison, McHale looks like he spends as much time teaching defense as Chip Kelly. Dwight Howard and Omer Asik never come out high enough to hedge on picks. Lin takes the worst angles when trying to recover from on-ball screens. The entire team chases players on the weak side instead of focusing on positioning itself correctly.
The list goes on and on with these defensive problems, and although the team was decent in its first three games (against considerably less talented offenses, with the exclusion of the Dallas Mavericks, who are just simply less talented), the Clippers made them look like a dollar-store sponge Monday night. The Rockets need to spend more time focusing on the defensive basics, and they need to start mixing and matching their personnel to cater to their defensive needs, not just their offensive game plan.
Bottom Line: The Rockets need to put in a lot of work on the defense end, and, unlike last year, when they were a few big guys short inside, the personnel is there this season, so excuses are no longer an option. Patrick Beverley should be back within the next week or so, which should significantly help in all defensive aspects.
4. Chandler Parsons Needs to Get His Groove Back
All season long, there's one thing I can guarantee you about the Houston Rockets: Parsons' success will be the most accurate gauge of the team's success. Parsons is the most vocal leader of this team, and due to his jack-of-all-trades game, as he goes, so will the Rockets.
So far this year, Parsons has averaged 14.2 points, 6.5 boards and 3.8 assists, but he has shot just 20% from distance. He has looked hesitant with his trigger, using his convincing pump fake (the one where you're sure he's going to leave the ground, but instead just raises up to his toes, gets the defender in the air, and puts the ball on the floor) nearly as often as his shot. Parsons' confidence is key to the Rockets having any kind of swagger this season, and although I have all the faith in the world in his ability to regain his form, I'm afraid he might be the odd man out offensively as the Rockets sort through their early-season problems.
Bottom Line: When Chandler Bang is on his game, Houston's going to hard to beat.
M. De Moor is an NBA junkie and a graduate of Montclair State University. He has followed the Rockets from the championship days of Hakeem Olajuwon, to the years of Francis and Mobley, to the McGrady and Yao era, and will continue to follow them through Harden and Dwight's reign of destruction.
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