You could tell it was coming on Saturday night. By the end of the first half, the Rockets had a 3 point lead on the visiting Dallas Mavericks, but that did little to mask the reality that anyone watching could see: the Rockets were shooting horribly from the floor and just looked discombobulated offensively. The Mavericks were a little bit off too, but that would surely change in the second half. And it did. A close game quickly turned into a near rout, and once again, the Rockets were hit in the mouth, sent reeling and had no clue how to punch back.How did a team that was widely believed to have championship aspirations end up in this abyss of middling mediocrity at a 12-12 record and, as it stands, 9th place in the Western Conference and out of the playoff picture? Quoth Yao about a week ago after a brutal loss to the lowly 76ers, “I feel like I’ve been traded to another team.” The team has certainly been through a whirlwind of change in the past 8 months, getting a new coach and essentially adding five or six new players to the potential rotation. In the midst of all the change and the struggles of learning a new offensive system under Rick Adelman, this team has lost its identity.
Gone is the defensive edge that earmarked them during the days of Jeff Van Gundy. Sure, Yao’s presence still strikes fear into opposing guards trying to get into the lane and make layups, but it isn’t the same anymore. The team is giving up more points than ever, and fans who used to complain about nightly defensive battles being “ugly” are finding how much uglier it is to watch the other team perform layup drills. And their offensive edge is gone too. The Rockets’ offensive efficiency rating is worse this season (105.1/19th in the league) versus last season (108.3/14th in the league). Majority of Rockets players are performing below their numbers from last year: scoring is down for pretty much every player not named Tracy McGrady, and 3 point shooting, which was one of the Rockets’ hallmarks last year, is significantly down for every player. And so much for the notiont hat they would now be a more up-tempo/fast paced team: they’re 22nd in the league in possessions per game at 89.1, and are dead last in fast break points per game.
But beyond the numbers, there are glaring issues. There is no team chemistry, and the team lacks leadership on and off the floor. New coach Rick Adelman’s coaching style is vastly different from Jeff Van Gundy’s. He is a lot more passive during games and prefers to allow players to work things out by themselves. Gone is the veteran forward Juwan Howard who often provided leadership in the huddle and in the locker room. And with starting point guard Rafer Alston’s recent groin injury, the Rockets offense finally sputtered to a halt over the past few games. It’s easy to point fingers at individuals — backup guard Mike James being atrocious on both ends of the court would be a good start — but this team will only go as far as its two superstars, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming will carry them. These two have to learn how to take up the reins of leadership. They no longer have the security blanket of having JVG get on their case every time they slack off. Yao is already learning to be more vocal. Good for him, except that he has to start spending more time talking to his team than to the media. Tracy McGrady has to start behaving like he actually cares on the basketball court. He says the team is not giving enough defensive effort, but the buck starts with him — the team’s defensive rating is more than 5 points lower when he is on the court, which is the worst on the team among players who have played more than 100 minutes. Doesn’t exactly scream “Leadership by example”.
Whatever the various issues may be, one thing is clear: a team with this much talent on it cannot be this bad. It becomes more apparent with every passing day that Rick Adelman is clueless about how to get this team to where it needs to be. I’m sure owner Les Alexander knows now that firing Jeff Van Gundy was a mistake, but that’s crying over spilt milk. The onus is on the coach and the team’s leading players to get on the same page, and bring everybody else on the team on board. It starts with effort and execution. Regardless of what personnel is out there on the court, learn to play hard for 48 minutes and execute to perfection. Give effort on the defensive end. Get out and run on fast breaks. For all the complicate intricacies of the high post/motion offense, perhaps all this team needs to do is get back to the basics and learn to do the simple things well. The season is still young, and there is still time to set the ship in the right direction. But it has to start now.
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