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HOUSTON – After five games in the season, the Houston Rockets (1-4) intend to fundamentally change their defensive strategy. They came to the conclusion that the "doing everything" style that had been successful last season was not suitable for their staff.
"We have to go back and figure out what will be the best solution for this team," said goalkeeper Chris Paul after a 133-133 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.
Houston coach, Mike D & # 39; Antoni, said his staff would take advantage of days off prior to Tuesday's home game against the Portland Trail Blazers to make schematic adjustments to give the Rockets a chance to defend oneself defensively. Houston has already awarded more than 130 points twice this season, which the Rockets had never done in a regular game last season.
The defeat against the Clippers was an unprecedented defensive effort for the Rockets, which allowed Los Angeles to shoot 54.4% of the ground, 52.2% of the distance of 3 points and to try 38 free throws.
"We have to make some adjustments," said Antoni. "We were changing, and obviously this team is different from last year, and they broke us, we were not tied together, we will have two days of practice, so we will putting other things and trying to understand our defense was just awful.
"We do not have continuity, we do not find out, then the dam breaks and everyone struggles, but we have two good days of exercise, we're going to fix it, we've dug a hole, and we have to dig it. "
Houston's ability to maintain its defensive success of last season, when the 65-team winning team ranked seventh in the NBA in terms of defensive efficiency by awarding 105.6 points per game. One hundred possessions, was the most important question mark about Rockets due to off-season departures. Attackers Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute, versatile defensemen who played a crucial role in the switch-intensive program, were left to their own devices. Assistant head coach Jeff Bzdelik, a defensive guru who designed the plan, retired just before the training camp.
The answers regarding the defense of Rockets so far have been terrible. Houston is tied for 25th in terms of defensive efficiency, giving 114.7 points for 100 possessions.
The Rockets rank penultimate in the points of the allowed painting (61.6 points per game). This is due in part to the fact that the big opposing players took advantage of the changes of players inside, an important factor in the performance of the former Rocket player Montrezl Harrell with the 30 points of his career. But D & # 39; Antoni is particularly concerned that Rockets are dominated by dribble penetration when switches are operated on the perimeter.
"Where we may not have had this problem last year, we seem to have more this year," said Antoni. "So we have had to adapt to that, and we have discovered some things that we may not be able to do – it's really a big problem, where they just blow. Perimeter, stay with us.All will be fine.As a team, if they stay together and play hard, we will determine how we play. "
Changing striker is particularly problematic for forward Carmelo Anthony, as his opponents often target the 16 year old veteran, trying to match it to their best creators. According to NBA.com statistics, the Rockets have allocated 116.1 points for 100 possessions with Anthony on the ground, against 105.3 points for 100 possessions when he sits.
"We just have to understand how much we want to play in defense," said Anthony, who scored 24 points, a top in the team, on his first start Wednesday with reigning MVP James Harden and the small James Ennis striker dismissed from the match for poor grip. "This year, the team is completely different from last year 's team.
"I think we need to focus on the team we have now and sort of put behind us what was going on last year." A lot of guys were not here at the time. last year, so it's time for us to create our own identity for what this team is and what we are going to go from here. "
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Rockets record 1-4 marks the worst start of five games of a team that had recorded the NBA's best record the previous season. The Rockets recognize the gravity of the situation by trying to recreate the defensive identity on the fly, a difficult challenge and deemed necessary because they have been so bad on this side.
"Comparing last year and this year, you can not do it," said Paul, who had played poorly on his return from a two-game suspension, scoring 12 points on 3 shots out of 13 and performing five turnovers. "It's his own team and we have to determine his identity, but starting with me, we just have to be better."
Striker PJ Tucker, considered by the Rockets as their best defenseman, said, "It's tough, it's hard, it's really hard, when you're so good at something, you miss a few characters." who could do it and as i said, it 's not the same team.It' s a different team.It 's not the same team.I do not have the same team. like to talk more about last year because he is gone, it is not the same team, so we must know it. "
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