NBA Power Rankings week 17: OKC Thunder and peers enter break
169. . 34-20. Previous: 9th. Houston Rockets. 11. team
Houston Rockets:
Offense:(113.2) 4th
Defense: (109.8) 15th
Net: (plus +3.4) 9th
Results Week 17: (1-0) Won vs. Celtics: 116-105
Games Week 18: (2 games) Thurs at Warriors | Sat at Jazz
Years ago Mike D’Antoni initiated the seven second offense pushing pace and shooting multiple 3-pointers. At the time it was deemed as a system that could work in the regular season but not in the playoffs. Then Golden State won titles and the mindset shifted.
Flash forward to this new Rockets and D’Antoni “uber small ball” system and it could be another trend ahead of its time. Not to cling to the “old school” but this could have a major long term impact on big men.
With the current wave of positionless ball and increase in perimeter shots, bigs have already had to adjust. I can’t help but hope the bigs don’t get even further ostracized which is what will likely happen if this Rockets small ball system becomes overtly successful.
As for Houston, they still have Tyson Chandler and youngster Isaiah Hartenstein on the team so they aren’t completely void of any players over 6’7″ (but barely).
A few certainties come with this new offense. It’s tailor-made to benefit Russell Westbrook and PJ Tucker sure will earn his paycheck this season
Still — go back to that All-Star Game fourth quarter and tell me who on the Rockets stops Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Anthony Davis or Pascal Siakam?
One the playoffs arrive perhaps D’Antoni will have added some tweaks but that seems to be the biggest flaw in it working outside the regular schedule.