For three straight seasons, the Rockets were the worst or worst adjacent team in the NBA. Their total record over those years was 59-177. Prior to the 2020-21 season, they had been to the playoffs in eight straight seasons, won the division four times and reached the conference finals twice. It was a precipitous drop.
During those years, the Rockets radically altered the roster, scrapping everything and starting from scratch. This offseason, they promised to enter what they called “phase two” with a new coach in Ime Udoka and a handful of veteran free agent signings meant to compliment the young talent beginning to reach maturity. After a rocky 0-3 start, the team has won six straight including impressive wins over the Pelicans and reigning champion Nuggets, and it feels like they are turning a corner.
It’s most impressive considering where they were last year. They certainly showed promise, but the team felt dysfunctional and the young players looked lost. Udoka has obviously put his stamp on the team, but so have the veterans acquired over the summer. And, at the moment, they are one of the better young teams in the NBA. There is still a LONG way to go in this very young season, but we’ve noticed four things that have changed from last season to this one, some pretty wildly in the right direction.
Defense
The Rockets as an organization have always preached defense, but whether it was a lack of experience or the wrong people in place to teach it, they have lagged behind everyone. By virtually any measure, they were one of the league’s worst overall defensive squads even after adding guys like Jabari Smith, Jr. and Tari Eason last season in hopes of bolstering a porous defense in the half court and in transition.
Certainly adding guys like Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet automatically lends credible defensive players to a hyper athletic lineup, but the turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable. It’s early, but look at the difference – last year’s rank in parenthesis.
Points Allowed Rank: 3rd (28th)
Fast Break Points Allowed Rank: 1st (30th)
Points in the Paint Allowed Rank: 6th (10th)
Defensive Rating Rank: 5th (29th)
Those are just a few examples. To go from worst to first or nearly worst to top five in one season damn near impossible. And while those numbers are likely to change, it wouldn’t surprise us to see the Rockets ranked as one of the best defensive squads in the league as we get to the end of the year simply because of their toughness, physicality and hustle on the floor. They are, simply put, a very different team this season defensively.
Third-Year Players on the Rise
Some of what has changed comes with the impact of third-year players Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun. Both were clearly coming into their own as young talents, but the switch seems to have flipped this year. Sengun is averaging 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists while shooting 60 percent from the floor with a nearly 25 percent usage rating. Most importantly, he is playing very solid defense in the paint despite some of his limited athleticism. The team is running the offense through him often and it is paying huge dividends.
There were some whispered questions about Green coming into this year. Was he just a high flyer high volume shooting scorer, or could he be more. Well, he has answered those questions. While his usage rate is down slightly, he is still scoring at will and finishing around the basket, something he struggled with at times previously. He’s hitting 40 percent of his threes and looks more comfortable on the floor. The two first rounders still with the team from the draft three years ago are now their two best players.
Offensive Efficiency
Let’s take a quick peak at their rankings from last year versus this year (last year’s rank in parenthesis):
Offensive Rating: 11th (27th)
Assist Percentage: 13th (29th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: 14th (30th)
True Shooting Percentage: 14th (29th)
Three Point Percentage: 7th (30th)
Not quite as dramatic as the turnaround on defense, but that three point shooting is massive. It’s also key to note that they have climbed from the bottom of the league to the middle in assists meaning they are playing more of a team game and less one-on-one. But maybe the biggest and most critical jump is in turnovers. They were 29th last year but are second at just over 11 per game this season.
Some of that is simply the addition of VanVleet who is one of the best assist-to-turnover guards in the league. But, it is also attributable to the fact that they are simply sharing the ball more and working within the confines of Udoka’s offense rather than constantly going one one one.
Veteran Presence and Patience
Speaking of VanVleet, his presence as a floor general has clearly changed how this team works. Prior to this season when the team was almost entirely young players, finding someone to put in charge on the floor and make good decisions was difficult. Guys like Jalen Green don’t seem to be built for that responsibility. As a scorer and playmaker, he is elite, but putting the ball in the hands of someone who is built to score leads to problems and mistakes.
With VanVleet, Jeff Green and Brooks, Udoka has guys he can trust to handle difficult situations and keep the team under control. And with Sengun’s ability as a passer from the high post, it just tacks on another high efficiency option to an already quite efficient offense.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
