[ClutchFans] Plenty to like in Rockets preseason opener

Hear, hear.

Same here. Don't think I ever made a prediction regarding success against the Worriers. Well, I think this year will be the year we beat them in a 7-game playoff and reclaim the championship.

 

Excellent write up, @Clutch! Ennis got my attention guarding Harden during a game last season (the last game against Detroit, when James was 4-20?) Not sure if it's the right game, but his defense against the MVP was stellar. When you can give Harden fits for decent stretches at a time, you know something about defense and have some skills. I've been excited about getting him because of the fit, and he hasn't disappointed. So far, so good.

MCW looked like a useful get for Morey (who's been killin' it!), the typical low risk, possible high reward guy he now seems to effortlessly find to fill holes in the lineup. So far (yeah, it's early), MCW looks like another good piece of the puzzle from here. Player doesn't pan out? Adios, and thanks! The less well known players show promise as well. As you point out, it's preseason, but early returns look good for the coming year.

Best news? Melo looks good in our system! He looks like the Rockets are the most natural fit in the world, the team he should have been on last season. And for the vet minimum! How crazy is that? And he looks happy! Are we dreaming?

Chris Paul looked to be in mid-season form during workouts this summer, some with Melo, and I love how you described his play. He's ready. You see him on the court and know we should have a 3rd trophy, this one sitting on Tilman's desk. Chris is on a mission, and everyone on the team better hold up their end. He's not going to accept anything less that your best effort, 'cause that's what he brings if he can get on the court. Harden is our best player, and a leader, but Chris Paul looks like the guy behind the wheel, navigating the Rockets like the pro he's always been. A leader on the court, on the bench, in the locker room, and during practice.

I still pinch myself to insure I'm not in parallel universe, that we really do have the best two point guards in the league in our backcourt and it's really happening! I haven't been this excited about a Rockets team since we took the Lakers to 7 games when Yao went down, our hopes going down with the big guy.

I still read posts here from people complaining about the contract Chris signed. He's worth every penny. When we signed him, one of the talking heads on ESPN, I think it was Mark Jackson, declared that CP3 was the kind of player who would be effective in our system well into his late 30's. I don't always agree with Mark, but I agreed with his take this time. Chris Paul and MDA's cauldron of magic are a perfect fit. All we need is luck with the "i" word, some good juju, someone to fill the hole left by Coach Bzdelik on the bench, and we're good to go.

Morey will likely tweak things here and there, but with everyone reasonably healthy, we can take any team in a 7 game series. I believe that. While I might get excited if Daryl were to add another major star, the thought of making big changes in the makeup of this team and in the chemistry of the great group we obviously have here makes me a bit nervous. I'm in no hurry to make are any changes. Yeah, it's preseason. We've just lifted the hood and taken a quick look at the engine, but she looks good, in my opinion.

 

Kind of not necessary of a stat, but I created a table showing what players pass to who the most. Paul and Harden passed to Anthony a combined 11 times during the game, and had 4 assists total to Anthony. 3 of Paul's assists went to Eric Gordon. MCW is doing a great job passing the ball, making up about 10% of the team's passes (Harden and Paul combine for 43%). Something I have noticed is Gordon passed the ball a total of 6 times all game, which really shows that he is an ISO only player. Also Harden had 4 passes end with turnovers, and had 8 turnovers on the game. Just preseason but the team looks to be getting the ball around nicely, and Chriss and Caboclo look better than expected. Ennis' defense was incredible as well, and MCW looks like he'd be a decent backup PG. Melo looks happy to be playing basketball for the first time in a while. Hope that lasts. This game made me very excited for this season.

 

This is an interesting question, given what we’ve heard about Melo being preferred at the 4, where D’Antoni likes distance shooting. But it runs up against Melo’s preference for shooting inside the arc. At his age, and with his personality, that’s a hard trait to change.

 

There's something to be said about staying in your lane and playing to your core competencies. A lot of rockets players looked strong in that showing because they did just that. MCW made Morey look like a criminal with the way he played. I think that's the elegance of Kerr and MDA, they keep guys playing to their strengths. I think the Rockets have enough talent this year that they won't have to deviate from the plan too often, but injuries might challenge that.

Again though, if they can keep to this plan of playing decent defense and letting the offense come to them, this is gonna be a fun year.

 

Anderson moving that far out there mostly was to drag a defender out there. But, over time the threat lessened. PLUS Anderson needs the ROOM to shoot that shot. As we saw, "closing out" on Anderson really affected his shot.

With Melo, he is a threat 100% of the time. And his trigger is so fast he doesn't need as much space to get that shot off.

So, I think the gravity will work just fine without Melo being farther out.

 

Preseason is the time to get everybody on the team use to playing with each other. So far the Rockets have been doing a decent job of letting the new guys play. I feel they should do more though. Last night Rob Gray didn't play at all and Bruno and Edwards only got garbage minutes. With 3 games left I think they should throw these guys to the wolves and give them a good amount of minutes. Let them make their mistakes. Let them get a feel of how our system goes.
Also as bad as Chriss looked last night he didn't give up. No matter what some people saw in his body language. The kid still played good defense and came up with 4 blocks. He was outplayed by Hartie as expected but he still didn't lose the game. If Hartie would have played bad last night I would have been concerned. Chriss looking lost does not concern me as much because he is only 2.5 -3 months into the system.
As I mentioned earlier, these preseason games are important for team chemistry. As much as they would like to win, they shouldn't mind losing so much as long as the team is forming some kind of bond.

 

Plenty to like about this review.