Decimated, the Rockets still seek cohesion

Life has been tough on the Rockets side for the past few weeks. Between the trade of Russell Westbrook, the many movements on the transfer market, and the desire to start James Harden, the Texas franchise had its share of turmoil before the recovery. But since the season began, fate has fallen on them. After a first match postponed due to an insufficient number of available players, Stephen Silas has since juggled as best he can with a different squad almost every night, playing his first two meetings with seven unavailable players. To face the Magic tonight, There will be Danuel House on the (back) key, while Christian Wood is still uncertain.

“We had six meetings with five different starting lines. It would have been nice to have House and Wood. We would have had a better chance of winning. »Stephen Silas

Indeed, between the combined absences of John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Gordon or James Harden, the serious injury of Chris Clemons, and the small glitches of everyday life, we find in each game a different Houston team. In order to develop automatisms and quite simply to get used to the style of play proposed by the new coach, the fact of having constantly absent does not make things easier, which James Harden regrets.

“There’s no continuity so we can’t get any rhythm. The effort is there, but the execution is not good, not as we want it. ” James harden

With a record of 2 wins for 4 losses, the start is complicated. Despite everything, there are some clearings that allow us to distinguish a better horizon. Even by partying in strip clubs, James Harden remains James Harden, and his production is still crazy. At his side, John Wall is already showing good things for his return from injury, especially his 28 points scored against Sacramento and Indiana. In the rotation, Sterling Brown also pulls out of the game by providing an interesting scoring, while Jae’Sean Tate has already made itself indispensable by the energy it brings. In itself, the workforce thus has enough intrinsic qualities to do much better than what it currently produces.

“We have to help each other out, some guys are out because of quarantine, some guys are out because of injuries or other reasons. But we have a complete, talented team, and we still have a lot of games to play. John Wall

This already requires a good defense. An area in which the Rockets are experiencing enormous difficulties. Only 24th in defense in the league, they are yet to produce a consistent collective effort in a game. If on certain sequences they have the capacity to tighten the vise by putting a lot of energy, they have to find a regularity in order to be less exposed. Their lack of presence under the circle also costs them a lot of easy points. Being one of the worst defensive rebounding teams, they concede a high number of second chances to their opponents.

“We have to be better one on one. We give too many easy drives that allow access to the circle, and make us concede points. We were a little delayed during training camp, and there were a lot of guys not available for the first two games of the season. But we have to fight hard every game. John Wall

With a relatively affordable schedule in the coming days, the Rockets will have the opportunity to restore their record. Following this Friday’s game against Orlando, they will successively face the private Grizzlies of Ja Morant, and Timberwolves without Karl-Anthony Towns. If the Magic does not necessarily seem good to take at the start of the season, they will then face two teams weakened by the absence of their franchise player.

“You can never control the injuries or anything to do with COVID protocols. I think the coach must have gone to great lengths to do the job with his players. We have to find ways to get chemistry. I believe in all the things he has given us, and we have a chance to do something special. We just need to erase our faults. John Wall

It will undoubtedly take some time for these Rockets to really find a certain consistency. Stephen Silas has been facing a real headache since his induction on the Texan bench, and no doubt hopes that his players can finally all be up and running at the same time as quickly as possible. If the regular season is still long, it never helps to fall too far behind with the ignition.

Via Rockets.com