Baker’s dozen
Win over Bucks is Rockets’ 13th straight.
For the last two months, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has been wondering what will go wrong. • The Rockets aren’t just the hot team in the NBA. • They aren’t just making shots. They aren’t just shutting down other teams. They aren’t just doing one or two things well. • The Rockets are playing complete basketball. • They are scoring, they are defending, they are rebounding, they are clicking. • They are winning. • And Morey looks for anything that isn’t working.
“They look great right now,” he said. “But that’s my job … to look at every angle.”
Year after year, Morey continues to do that job well.
He keeps the Rockets relevant and on the radar.
The team has made several notable moves.
James Harden’s contract was extended. Morey made a blockbuster trade to land Chris Paul. He signed P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute.
Leslie Alexander sold the team to Tilman Fertitta.
But of all the transitions, trades and acquisitions, the one that will likely have the biggest impact of all was the contract extension of Morey.
While the Rockets are putting on a show on the court, he is behind the scenes building the team.
Morey has been fitting the pieces together for years. An innovative thinker
He’s gone after the big names, has followed the analytics, has tried various combinations.
When the Rockets traded for Paul this summer, Morey was questioned heavily.
There was constant chatter about how it would all work.
Why would the Rockets want Paul when they have Harden?
Are there enough basketballs to go around? How will that work? Morey wasn’t afraid of the combination.
He was excited about it. Rightfully so.
The pairing of Harden and Paul isn’t just working. It’s thriving.
Both players benefit from having each other to take some of the pressure off.
They are in sync when they play at the same time and they are making the Rockets nearly unbeatable when their play is staggered.
When Harden is out, Paul can be in and vice versa. It’s a pick-yourpoison situation with which opponents are struggling.
While Morey is going to continue to get (and deserve) the credit for bringing Paul to Houston, it’s a couple of his other moves that deserve maybe even more credit this year.
Tucker and Mbah a Moute have helped propel the Rockets to being a defensive force as well.
Over the past several seasons, defense has been a priority in theory, but not in practice.
This year, defense is truly a part of the Rockets’ identity.
As the team took shape over the summer, it was silly to imagine the defense wouldn’t improve. Paul alone elevated the defense. Tucker, Mbah a Moute and additions such as Tarik Black made it even better.
“I think when you start to see one guy playing better defense, you see another then another and everyone is better defensively,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. Complementary pieces
Center Clint Capela’s development has continued and he’s better this season. Trevor Ariza is as steady and consistent as ever. Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson and Nene are productive.
The makeup of this team is working as well as it possibly could this season.
The Rockets don’t have any holes. They have depth. They aren’t missing major pieces. That all comes back to Morey and his dedication and ability to piece together the kind of team that is good enough to beat anyone in the NBA.
It’s December and there is a lot of season left.
The Rockets have been one of the top teams in the league to this point — but there’s no doubt they will be tested as the season goes along.
Other teams will improve, the Rockets might face injury issues, opponents are going to game-plan and bring their best every time they play the Rockets.
You can’t pencil in a championship just yet.
But, you can look at every test the Rockets will be thrown and see exactly how they can pass.
They won’t fail because they aren’t good enough defensively anymore.
They don’t have to rely so heavily on star and MVP candidate Harden anymore.
They don’t have to worry about a lack of depth. The pieces are in place for the Rockets to succeed.
And they have the right man behind them to make sure it stays that way.
Morey never stops thinking about what the team needs.
Because he’s on top of it, this team doesn’t need a thing.