D’Antoni mulls change in defensive plans
Switching strategy doesn’t fit strengths of new acquisitions
Rockets forward P.J. Tucker tried to list the ways the Rockets need to improve defensively, starting with the basics of playing with more “energy and effort” and a “little smarter.”
He soon laughed as he realized it was probably not the time and place for the lecture series required to cover all the changes and improvements needed.
“Those are the top ones,” Tucker said. “I could go down a list.”
He offered specifics, citing the need to be more aggressive on the weak side, pick up cutters, react more quickly. But as Tucker referenced how widespread the defensive problems have been in the Rockets’ 1-4 start, he hit upon the real issue.
It’s not just that Carmelo Anthony has been lit up on switches.
It’s not just that Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute have departed.
It’s not just that either Chris Paul or James Harden has missed the past three games.
It’s not just that Nene has yet to play a preseason or regular-season game and will miss at least two more weeks.
It’s not just that James Ennis III, brought in to replace Ariza in the starting lineup, has played a game and a half before he was injured.
Multiple reasons for slump
It’s not just that new players are not adept at the style used last season. It’s all of it, and more.
Coach Mike D’Antoni labeled the defense in Friday’s loss “awful.” No one argued, with 133 Clippers points serving as evidence. But when asked to cite the greatest issue, D’Antoni did not hesitate, pointing to the switching defensive style that gave the Rockets one of the league’s best defenses by last season’s end, but that has failed their lineup this season.
“You know, some of the new guys and some of the other guys never switched (on defense) before …so it’s different, but that’s not an excuse,” D’Antoni said. “We just weren’t good. We’ll make some adjustments in the next two days. We have to figure it out. We got to play better than this. I don’t know if we’ll be a great defensive team the way we are right now, but we can be a lot better than this.”
Using five players who were not on the team last season, the cohesion and communication vital for the switching and help style has been lacking. But the roster is also a bad fit for the tactics that worked last season.
Players adept at defending on the perimeter have struggled inside. Big men have been ineffective when switched to scorers on the perimeter. Cutters have been set free as if walking through plays in morning shootarounds.
“We got to go back to the drawing board and figure out what’s going to be the best solution for this team,” Paul said.
D’Antoni shared plans to change his defense to something more traditional before Tuesday’s game against the Blazers, a message he delivered in his postgame locker room not just to share his itinerary, but to reassure his men there is a way out.
“We’re just going to have practice, watch film and see how we can adjust,” center Clint Capela said. “What we were doing last year is not working. We’re going to figure out something else how we can be more efficient defensively. That will help us be better offensively and stop teams.
“We’re going to figure it out. It’s something we have to figure out. I’m sure we’re going to be all right.”
But change could come at a cost. A different style might work better for Anthony, now playing greater minutes, as it did when the Thunder took him away from switching responsibilities against the Rockets after Harden burned him. It would work better for Ennis and Michael Carter-Williams, both better on the ball than off.
But the Rockets did have one strength defensively that could be a trade-off with the change. Heading into Saturday’s games, the Rockets had allowed the third fewest 3-pointers in the NBA, with opponents making 33.6 percent of their attempts, the eighthbest 3-point percentage defense in the league. Getting to the point
By moving away from the switching style, the Rockets could sacrifice some of what has made the one strength of their defense effective this season. They have little choice.
Threes might be worth more than 2s, as the Rockets so often say about their offensive strategy and making 3-point defense essential. But open 3s could miss. Undeterred dunks rarely do.
If that were not clear, the 61.6 points per game the Rockets have surrendered in the paint are the most in the NBA. The emphasis on defending the 3-point line will give up points inside. The Rockets were 28th in paint points allowed last season, but gave up 13 per game fewer than they are this season.
Rockets opponents are getting 40.8 percent of their shots from within 6 feet of the basket, the second-most frequent shots taken inside in the NBA, and are making 60.9 percent of those attempts. Third in defensive rebounding percentage last season, the Rockets have been 22nd this season. Even some of that is not because of poor rebounding as much as the poor defense that has led to breakdowns, taking rebounders out of position.
“We’ve got two good days of practice,” D’Antoni said. “We’ll figure things out. We just dug ourselves a hole, and we’ve got to dig it out. We figured out some things that maybe we just can’t do. Tha’'s definitely a big issue, where they’re just blowing by us. We can’t guard on the perimeter, it looks like. Just hang in there with us. We’ll be all right. As a team, if they stick together and play hard, we’ll figure out how we need to play.”
Loath as Tucker has been to refer to last season since the start of training camp, a point he reiterated after Friday’s loss, there was similarity even he cited.
“We have to figure it out, just like we figured it out last year,” Tucker said. “It wasn’t pretty starting out last year either.”