Paul’s absence, defensive woes slow progress entering opener
If nothing else, Mike D’Antoni’s ability to find the bright side was in midseason form.
The Rockets struggled, especially defensively, against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night. But he said the Rockets gave themselves all kinds of new, useful video to study.
Chris Paul missed two of the final three games, but D’Antoni emphasized that it is a long season, decided after Memorial Day rather than before Halloween.
The Rockets might not have much momentum heading into the regularseason opener against Golden State on Tuesday night, but they have two practice days to work things out.
“We’ll be ready. We’ll have two good practices, and we’ll get ready,” DAntoni said. “It’s a long season. There’s some things we’re going to work on. That’s why you have the preseason.
“I think it’s OK. If it isn’t, then we’ll start off a little slower. It’s a marathon. We’re not going to win the NBA title in October. We’ll keep working and keep getting better.” Backcourt needs time
D’Antoni likely would rather have had to temper expectations than to offer perspective, but it was that kind of a preseason. The Rockets did win their first four games in routs, but three of those were against greatly shorthanded teams and one was against an injury-diminished Chinese Basketball Association team. After encouraging signs defensively at Memphis, the Rockets slipped in a 106-97 loss to the Spurs.
“We have some good stuff we’ve done and some not good stuff we have to work on,” forward Luc Mbah a Moute said. “Overall, I think it’s good. We’ve made progress defensively. We still have to get better at transition defense. We showed we can be really good offensively, but at times I think we get too stagnant. We need to be fluid. Some of that is we have different lineups out there, just trying stuff out.”
Most of all, the preseason was used to mesh Paul into a backcourt with James Harden and to get Paul accustomed to running the offense in the Rockets’ style with the second unit. Paul’s progress was stalled, first with a bruised left shoulder and then with a bruised left knee.
The Rockets have gone from hoping to see how well Harden and Paul play together to just looking forward to seeing them play together. Paul missed two of the final three preseason games and struggled badly in the game he played. The game prior to him missing time, against the Shanghai Sharks, was barely a good workout.
“It’s frustrating, but it’s part of the game, part of sports in general,” Harden said. “You have to make sure you’re healthy when it’s time to play.”
Those issues do not appear likely to linger.
“Obviously, it’s something we’ll keep monitoring, but he should be ready Tuesday,” D’Antoni said of the knee soreness that kept Paul out Friday. “If (the adjustment process) is (an issue), we’ll start a little slower.”
The Rockets cannot have a good sense of where Paul is in that learning curve, but the night against the Spurs, when the Rockets’ offense was reduced to waves of missed 3-pointers in the second half, might have demonstrated again how important he could be.
“With James, sometimes people can center on James, and he can kick it to Chris and have Chris create,” Mbah a Moute said. “Having that other option out there is so crucial. I think it’s going to be good for us to have those guys, Chris and James, out there with us and especially Chris out there with (the second unit.)” Easing into transition
There was little concern about whether Paul will adjust. There is a sense that he has not yet. After the victory over the Grizzlies, Paul said he is enjoying the process but is not there yet. If anything, his absence Friday indicated a void to fill, which could speed things when he is able to stay on the court.
“He’s such a smart player, he can fit into this system real easy,” forward Ryan Anderson said. “I think the pace of play is going to come naturally pretty soon. It took me a little bit to get used to this pace of play, playing around James and figuring out where I can be used best. As a new player, it takes a little bit of time. He makes the game easier for everyone around him. He’ll be back in the swing of things just fine.”
The Rockets have two days to make up for lost time before they travel to Oakland, Calif., and get a reminder of the prize they hope to chase. Until then, D’Antoni viewed any preseason hiccups as more useful than troubling.
“We see where we got to go, what we have to do and what we have to get better at,” he said. “This is what’s great about this group. We show them this is not good enough if we want to contend (to be) one of the top teams in the NBA. They’ll hunker down and try to do it.”