Jalen Green’s dunks in the second half against the Nuggets pleased the fans at the Toyota Center. Particularly because rapid phases of play are rare in Houston, with the Rockets being cautious in transition. So letting go of the horses, against the reigning champion, brought a smile to the back.
“It would be very nice and we talked about it before the match,” announces Jalen Green for the Houston Chronicle. “We could do better on transition play. The defense is there, the races could be much better. »
An attack that takes its time
We know it and we have seen it since the start of the season, Ime Udoka has changed the face of the Rockets by emphasizing defense. He also installed an attack that likes to work and take its time.
“We are very good in the half court, I think we are the fifth best offense per possession in the half court,” rejoices the coach. “We want to progress on the counterattack. We are good at taking advantage of lost balls. But we want to play quickly on missed shots, or even successful ones. We focused on the half court, on not wasting possessions, but we would like to play fast whenever possible. »
The numbers back it up: the Rockets are the 26th team in the league in counterattack points. In addition, very patient, they take the majority of their shots in the second part of the possession and much less in the first ten seconds.
Rebound priority
When they steal balls, they run, but never after a defensive rebound, although this is now a widespread trend in the NBA. For what ?
“We insisted on the rebound, we want all five players to go under the circle to fight for the rebound, so there are few races,” replies Ime Udoka. “We are good after loose balls, because we are young and athletic. At the start of the season, we were 27th in defensive rebounding and now we are 5th. So it slows down our transitions. »
Another element that can explain this lack of enthusiasm: mistakes. The Rockets commit 22 per game, which is the second worst average in the league, behind Detroit. “We make too many mistakes” regrets the coach. As the Texans make fouls, they give free throws and after going to the line and the throw-in, the opposing defense is already in place.
A defense must make choices because it is almost impossible to be excellent in all areas. The base is well established in Houston, it is solid and that is already essential. The races, a real axis of progression, will come later.
“This is clearly an area that can be improved,” recognizes Fred VanVleet. “It doesn’t require a big change, it’s just a state of mind to have. We will see us play a little faster, the coach talked about it. I think we will be able to adapt. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Alperen Sengun | 14 | 32.8 | 56.7 | 32.3 | 63.6 | 2.6 | 6.5 | 9.1 | 5.6 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 20.2 |
| Jalen Green | 14 | 31.6 | 42.1 | 33.7 | 79.0 | 0.4 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 19.6 |
| Fred Vanvleet | 14 | 37.4 | 38.9 | 37.9 | 88.2 | 0.3 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 9.0 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 16.6 |
| Dillon Brooks | 14 | 31.2 | 47.1 | 46.4 | 85.7 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 3.9 | 13.4 |
| Jabari Smith, Jr. | 14 | 29.6 | 50.0 | 37.9 | 73.7 | 1.6 | 6.1 | 7.7 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 13.2 |
| Tari Eason | 7 | 17.3 | 46.5 | 42.9 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 4.3 | 5.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 6.6 |
| Amen Thompson | 4 | 16.7 | 40.9 | 18.2 | 62.5 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 6.3 |
| Jae’sean Tate | 14 | 19.3 | 50.7 | 36.7 | 71.4 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 6.1 |
| Jeff Green | 14 | 14.3 | 52.8 | 27.8 | 75.9 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 5.9 |
| Aaron Holiday | 12 | 16.8 | 47.3 | 39.3 | 83.3 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 5.7 |
| Nate Williams, Jr. | 3 | 5.3 | 55.6 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 3.7 |
| Boban Marjanovic | 3 | 6.7 | 55.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 3.3 |
| Nathaniel Hinton | 2 | 3.9 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
| Cam Whitmore | 3 | 7.7 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
| Jermaine Samuels | 3 | 6.6 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Jock Landale | 11 | 8.7 | 31.8 | 22.2 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.6 |
| Reggie Bullock | 7 | 9.2 | 18.2 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
