D’Antoni suggests Beverley still to start due to defense
With Pat Beverley cleared to start participating in scrimmages, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said Tuesday he expects Beverley to also start games in the backcourt next to James Harden.
The emphasis on Harden handling the ball to start possessions could have opened the way for Eric Gordon to start next to Harden. But D’Antoni said he still would like Beverley’s defense on the ball and 3-point shooting (40 percent last season) in the starting backcourt.
“Pat can play off the ball, on the ball,” D’Antoni said. “He’s a great defensive player, so there’s a lot of spots he can play.”
The Rockets expect to play all three guards in a rotation with Gordon sharing the backcourt with Beverley or Harden at times.
Beverley missed the contact portion of workouts on Saturday and Sunday, but he went through all of the fullcourt five-on-five work in Monday’s second practice without any setbacks and was cleared for full participation.
“He did the whole practice, looked good,” D’Antoni said. “He gives an energy. He was excited to play, you could tell that.”
Gordon relishes ‘combo’ role
Eric Gordon has spent his first week in training camp working at both guard positions to the point he said he is “a combo” guard.
That’s not new for him, but Gordon said he has especially liked the idea of playing with James Harden handling the ball.
“I think it’s going to be great,” Gordon said. “We’re both playmakers. Like I told people before, I don’t have to have the ball in my hands all the time. I’m great at spot-up shooting, but we try to be dynamic. We’re both scorers. The main thing is for us to try to be unstoppable as far as playmaking.”
Gordon is a career 38.3 percent 3-point shooter, one of five players over the past three years to average two 3-pointers per game while making 40 percent of his attempts from the 3-point line. The Rockets hope to use him in a backcourt rotation with Harden and Pat Beverley in which all three players will handle point guard and shooting guard duties.
“Everybody is getting acclimated with each other,” Gordon said. “With this spread, fast-paced offense, it’s all about knocking down shots and playmaking for one another. As long as we do that through the whole season, we’ll be just fine.”
Dekker hones shooting touch
When Sam Dekker could do little on the basketball court, he could shoot. A season spent rehabilitating after back surgery gave him a taste for the NBA and a few cameos in three games (along with a few DLeague stints).
But even when he could not play, he worked with a shooting coach on honing his shot, work that he said has helped at the start of training camp now that he is fully healthy.
“I wouldn’t call it changed, just making it more simple,” Dekker said of his shooting stroke. “I had a lot of moving parts sometimes last year. That just comes with repetition, keeping it simple and keeping it the same way every single time. That’s why you look at guys like Ryan (Anderson) and James (Harden), such good shooters because they shoot the same shot every single time.
“That’s where I’m trying to get. It’s not perfect, but I’ve made long strides. I’m very confident when I shoot the ball.”
Dekker, who had been training in Houston since May, said he was “in the best shape of my life.”
“It feels good to say that,” Dekker said. “I had a long year last year, very frustrating. Now, it’s all paying off. Any time the game is taken away from you for some period of time, it’s going to kind of shoot you down a little bit.
“It’s made me really enjoy the game that much more, cherish the time I have out here.”
Onuaku finds it’s a fast crowd
Rockets rookie Chinanu Onuaku said going through summer training camp, summer league and the voluntary player minicamps helped him prepare for the start of his first NBA training camp this week.
But none of that was quite like the real thing.
“It’s similar, but it’s very different because it’s different people and a very different level of competition,” said Onuaku, a second-round pick last June. “It’s faster.”
Onuaku took a series of free-throw line jump shots before Tuesday’s practice, but he said he has not changed from his underhand free-throw stroke.
“I was just shooting,” he said. “Nothing’s changed.”