After recently winning their first two away matches, in Denver and Memphis, the Rockets quickly fell back into their ways. Against the Bucks and the Cavaliers of Donovan Mitchell, back-to-back, they lost. Meetings far from Houston and which follow one another, that's everything Ime Udoka's troops don't like.
For what ? Because the Rockets have a record of 2 victories in 12 away matches and 3 defeats in as many matches when they have to play a second match in two days.
“There were a lot of inconsistencies and the same mistakes as in the last match,” remarks Ime Udoka for the Houston Chronicle. “To get around the issue: a lack of toughness, we were dominated, especially on the offensive rebound, we came out on players we weren't supposed to do so on. There's the whole range of things we didn't do well. And that we don't do well outside. »
With 128 and 135 points conceded in Milwaukee and Cleveland, Houston's defense gave up. “We missed defenses, offensive rebounds, balls to save. It's not in our habits. When you're outside, you have to make those extra efforts.”notes Fred VanVleet.
6 matches in 10 days for the team that plays the least
Fortunately for the Rockets, nine of the next ten matches will be played in Texas where they have 11 wins and only one loss. But there is bad news: the sequence of meetings. Between Wednesday evening and December 29, ten days, Houston will play six matches.
When you play so much, you can't train, NBA players are used to that. Except that the Rockets have had a relatively loose schedule since the start of the year, with 24 games the lowest total in the league. They had moments to work, which allowed them to set up their defense and correct small faults.
“When the games start to pile up and you don't have the opportunity to practice or rehearse things, a young team often thinks that because they have success at the start of the season, they understood what to do. But it's not always the case “, analyzes Ime Udoka. “We like to breathe as much as possible and when we can't, we notice a natural shift in certain areas where we were good at the start of the exercise. »
The 0/3 in the second back-to-back match proves it and there will be two to manage between now and the end of the calendar year. “We will have to translate the video sessions in the field”summarizes the coach.
“It requires a lot of mental effort and concentration. You have to be mature and professional,” announces Fred VanVleet. “You have to be good four or five times a week, whereas at the start of the season it seemed like we were only playing once or twice a week. Now it's four or five matches. We will have to be up to the task and give the best of ourselves several times during the week. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Alperen Sengun | 23 | 32.3 | 52.6 | 29.1 | 67.3 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 9.0 | 5.2 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 19.7 |
| Jalen Green | 23 | 30.8 | 41.1 | 33.3 | 80.4 | 0.3 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 17.7 |
| Fred Vanvleet | 22 | 38.0 | 38.6 | 38.2 | 85.7 | 0.4 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 8.4 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 16.6 |
| Dillon Brooks | 23 | 31.6 | 47.2 | 39.3 | 84.3 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 14.0 |
| Jabari Smith, Jr. | 23 | 30.2 | 48.1 | 36.0 | 74.4 | 1.8 | 6.9 | 8.7 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 12.7 |
| Tari Eason | 16 | 20.3 | 48.3 | 44.1 | 62.5 | 1.9 | 5.3 | 7.2 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 9.0 |
| Jeff Green | 22 | 15.5 | 54.1 | 34.6 | 83.1 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 7.0 |
| Aaron Holiday | 21 | 18.0 | 45.3 | 43.3 | 84.6 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 6.8 |
| Amen Thompson | 5 | 15.4 | 41.7 | 16.7 | 62.5 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 5.4 |
| Jae'sean Tate | 21 | 17.8 | 49.5 | 35.9 | 69.2 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 5.4 |
| Cam Whitmore | 5 | 6.4 | 46.7 | 20.0 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 4.0 |
| Boban Marjanovic | 3 | 6.7 | 55.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 3.3 |
| Nate Williams, Jr. | 4 | 5.4 | 54.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.3 |
| Nathaniel Hinton | 4 | 4.1 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| Reggie Bullock | 11 | 8.4 | 35.0 | 35.3 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.9 |
| Jock Landale | 15 | 8.8 | 35.7 | 20.0 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.7 |
| Jermaine Samuels | 5 | 5.7 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
