The Rockets are in trouble, and they know it. The problem is manifested in their one-and-four slate, to be sure; last season’s Western Conference runners-up couldn’t have expected to start their 2018-19 campaign with three blowout defeats, another setback that looked closer than it actually was, and a victory that had them benefiting from a late-game scuffle. And the fact that 77 matches remain on their schedule indicates only their potential — and not their capacity — to improve.
The good news is that Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni has identified the problems early. Despite the small sample size before him, he‘s convinced of the need to upend the switch-at-all-times strategy that catapulted them to within a half of besting the powerhouse Warriors and making the Finals last May. And he’s right; following the departure of acknowledged leeches Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute, and, in turn, the arrival of noted sieve Carmelo Anthony, their defensive efficiency has tumbled 10.8 points year on year to a historic low.
The bad news is that, no matter how well D’Antoni gets the Rockets to adjust, they will wind up even farther from their objective. They’ve made no secret of their bottom line; no less than the Larry O’Brien Trophy in their hands will be an acceptable outcome, and they understand that the development requires them to take the measure of the Warriors. Given the embarrassing wealth of talent at the disposal of their rivals, however, no other defensive scheme figures to work better than that which they employed last season.
And therein lies the rub. The Rockets are good, maybe even great if they succeed in getting their act together. After all, they have reigning league Most Valuable Player James Harden, surefire Hall of Famer Chris Paul, and, yes, Anthony, who remains an offensive threat. On the other hand, being great isn’t enough against the Warriors. Which, in a nutshell, is why they’re determined to add two-way dynamo Jimmy Butler to their roster, and to the point of sacrificing their future by offering the maximum-allowable four first-round picks in exchange.
Only time will tell if the Rockets make headway in their quest for Butler, not to mention their plan to overhaul their defense with the season already under way. In any case, it appears that things will have to get worse before they have a chance of getting better. The former is assured. The latter is, at this point, anybody’s guess.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
