Year after year, before this season, Morey kept "shuffling the deck". He would keep a small core group of players but it would basically be a new team from season to season. So isn't it strange that the year that Morey finally kept the team pretty much intact, is the year that it looks like we have zero team chemistry? It just looks like this team never plays together until its game day. Even then, it looks like they don't know how or even like playing with each other. It's concerning because even if we are struggling, I want to see the team playing together and play for and with each other. I'll take a loss here and there, if we played our best and hardest on the court. This effort we have seen for the majority of the season has been just pitiful. The defense is a one effort defense, unless Dwight is helping out then it becomes a two effort defense, with no effort at all to secure the rebound. Our offense has always been one dimensional, but this year its basically been players taking turns trying to do something with the ball. We've seen more Ariza and Brewer isolations than we ever saw last season. Its a mess. Lastly, I don't mean to single out Harden but wow, I really think the other players on the team are turning on him slightly. Guys aren't even trying to help him on defense much anymore, not that he is putting much effort in defending himself. I really thought Harden took on more of a leadership role last season, but it looks like it has totally reversed and gotten worst this season. He is definitely not a leader right now. This season is long and I still have faith the Rockets will turn it around, and what really matters is getting a stride at the right times this season. But damn, this is so frustrating and the more the Rockets continue to play selfish and lazy basketball, the more frustrating it will be.
If anything, this year has had plenty of offseason "continuity" compared both to past teams and compared to other NBA teams. The only rotation guys who left were Smith and Prigioni. Everyone else came back. Brewer, Beverley and even McDaniels got re-signed to multi-year deals. This team reminds me of 2005-06 Rockets a bit. The 2004-05 team, with David Wesley, Sura, Barry & co. did pretty well so they brought all these guys back while adding Stromile Swift (yeah, I know, but he actually performed pretty well in Memphis the year before), but everyone got injured and the veterans looked old. Sometimes, it's amazing things change over one offseason.
