Oladipo provides stout defense while finding touch
Silas pleased with how newcomer is blending after being acquired
Guard Victor Oladipo readily admits to continuing to find his way around the Rockets six games into his time in Houston.
“I’m still trying to figure out my spots and everything,” Oladipo said. “I’m still trying to figure out the offense a little bit, and the plays. For the most part, I think I fit in really well.”
Even if his long-range shooting has been a tad erratic in his tidy Rockets tenure, Oladipo is dead on about that last part: He’s fit right in with a resolute gaggle of Rockets intent on proving their lot in the NBA, and has played a key role in the team’s seasonbest four-game winning streak.
The Rockets (8-9) will try and make it five in a row Saturday night at New Orleans, the first of four consecutive road games.
“The way we play, I think, is perfect for him,” Rockets first-year coach Stephen Silas said of Oladipo, a two-time All-Star with the Indiana Pacers. “He has the ball about half the time he’s in the game. Other times, he’s off the ball and coming off screens to turn the corner.
“When we’re sharing the ball and getting it moved, he gets open spot-ups.”
Oladipo arrived in Houston from Indiana in the middle of this month as part of the blockbuster, four-team deal that sent star James Harden from the Rockets to Brooklyn, and Caris LeVert to Indiana. While Oladipo doesn’t pos
sess the offensive arsenal of Harden, the Rockets’ defense has rapidly developed into among the NBA’s best since the trade — a tradeoff pleasing Silas.
“What’s impressive from my perspective is his defensive intensity and technique — all those things that make a good defensive player, and contribute to being a good defensive team,” Silas said of Oladipo, who made the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team in 2018.
Oladipo, 28, has averaged 22.4 points in the five games he has played for the Rockets (he was inactive in a win at Dallas on Sunday), but is still trying to settle in from long range. A career 34.9 percent shooter from the 3-point line, he has made 27.5 percent of his 3point attempts (11 of 40) in the past two weeks with his
new team.
“At the end of the day, I just go out there and play,” Oladipo said. “Eventually, the shots will fall at a high rate. I’m still figuring out my rhythm, still figuring out where I’ll get the ball, where my shots are exactly. Other than that, I go out and play as hard as I can for as long as I can.
“I know I can shoot the ball at a high level. I’ve done it before.”
Silas has no doubt, and is thrilled center Christian Wood, Oladipo and guard John Wall — dubbed the Rockets’ “WOW Factor” — finally played their first game together on Thursday in the Rockets’ 104-101 home victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Rockets wiped out a 20-point first quarter deficit to win their fourth consecutive game, and pull within one game of .500 17 games into the season.
“It’s definitely a work in
progress,” Silas said of the team’s approach with a slew of key newcomers. “We’re still trying to find ourselves as far as our rotations and just being (ready) at the beginning of the game.”
Oladipo led the Rockets with 25 points against Portland. He’s scored at least 20 points in four of his first five games with his fourth NBA team since he was the No. 2 overall selection of the 2013 NBA draft by Orlando out of Indiana.
The Rockets, who haven’t made the NBA Finals since winning their last of two consecutive NBA titles in 1995, were considered a bit of an afterthought in the league after unloading Harden and starting 4-9, but the “WOW” crew and their eager teammates have earned their opponents’ attention of late.
“They’ve got a lot of talented offensive players,”
said Portland coach Terry Stotts, mentioning franchise veteran Eric Gordon along with Wood, Oladipo and Wall. “They really complement each other well.”
A win streak minus superstars, too, has prompted glad tidings among the Rockets, intent on proving they can excel in Harden’s absence.
“I’m having a good time playing with these guys — just great people to be around with great energy,” Oladipo said. “They love the game, and they love competing, and we love one another. We know what the objective is, and that’s to win at the highest level. When you have a group of guys with that mentality, it’s hard not to get along and it’s hard not to have a good time.
“I’m definitely happy to be here.”