Offense finding room for growth
Despite a perfect record, team strives to fix shooting woes
Had there been any inclination for the Rockets to believe they were “just missing” shots, that ended with Sunday’s video session.
Video evidence is not necessary if the only adjustment necessary is to have the same shots that have been missing start going in.
The Rockets are scoring anyway, defending well and driving to the basket often enough to be the NBA’s only 3-0 team. But no team has taken as many 3-pointers as the Rockets or even come close. And only three teams have shot worse than the Rockets’ 28.6 percent on 3s.
Some of that might be attributed to open shots that were just poorly executed in the small sample size of the season’s first week. With the switching-and-swarming defense that the memphis Grizzlies bring to town Monday, the Rockets were not about to wait until they find their missing shooting touch to make corrections.
“Oh no, no, no,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We have a lot of things we have to clean up. We’re not real sharp right now. I was just telling the guys the biggest thing is preseason was about 10 days shorter than (previously). With
the preseason, we played eight games. That would be a normal preseason schedule.
“You watch teams around the league. I don’t think they were quite ready. There’s going to be some growing pains. We have new guys in the system. Chris Paul was in. Now, he’s out. We’re working through some issues. It’s a lot easier to work through them when you’re winning than when you’re losing.”
Because he doesn’t want to shake the confidence of a team that is losing, D’Antoni said he gets on his players harder when they are winning. They heard plenty Sunday.
“Don’t get complacent,” D’Antoni said. “We got to get better. We got to get a lot better. It’s got to start Monday because Memphis is going to come in. They D you up.”
Pushing the pace
Nothing can improve the Rockets’ offense more quickly than to start making the 3s they have missed. Only six teams average as many 3-point attempts as the Rockets have missed per game.
To change that, the Rockets said they need to get themselves and the ball moving quickly.
“We can shoot the ball so much better as a group,” forward Ryan Anderson said. “We’re taking advantage of what we can do. Our half-court defense is really good right now. We need to be better in (offensive) transition. If we work on getting stops and running, getting those easier transition layups, once we get that down, really push the ball, you’ll see a big difference in our scoring.
“Just pushing the ball (after) getting stops, or even inbounding the ball quick, that’s when we’re at our best. Especially against Memphis, if we can run them, that’s when we’re going to be real good.”
The Rockets emerged from Saturday’s game ranked 17th in pace and 23rd in fast-break scoring. Greater pace could lead to better shooting, but the Rockets also have missed some of the half-court shots their offense is built to create.
P.J. Tucker, who has made 50 percent of his 3-pointers, said the Rockets’ “spacing and continuity” can improve considerably, leading to better shooting.
“It’s funny because we scored so many points and we’re still critiquing and seeing stuff we can do better,” Tucker said. “We haven’t even scratched the surface, we don’t think. We can get so much better.”
A burst of confidence
The Rockets looked at the start as half full. They have shot poorly, but won anyway. They have struggled in the area considered a strength, but improved in ways thought to be a weakness.
“It’s encouraging,” forward Luc Mbah a Moute said. “There will be nights we don’t make shots and we have to find ways to still score and still make plays. (Saturday) our defense was really good. Most of the time, we will play well, but defensively, if you do a good job, that will help us.
“They (Grizzlies) are a very good test. They play hard. We played them in the preseason and they defended us well. I know they’re coming in here with a lot of confidence. We have a lot of confidence, too. We have to make sure we go out there and execute.”
Fresh off their 10-point win over the Warriors, the Grizzlies’ two games left them with the NBA’s toprated defense heading into the second week. The Rockets open and close the week against Memphis. After winning without playing well enough to keep it up, they sought improvements to play well enough to win with the tests ahead.
“We were just talking about it in the film room,” Anderson said. “We have so far to go. We’re still figuring it out. We’re still gelling together. Lot of new guys. We haven’t been playing the way we want to and we’re still winning. It’s great news because he shows where we can go.”