Nothing better than the huge poster of Jalen Green against the Blazers to illustrate the new playing philosophy of the Rockets, visible for three weeks and the end of the All-Star Break. A philosophy that places defensive aggressiveness and racing at the center of the team's strategy. Ime Udoka.
To better exploit the athletic qualities of its young talents, such as Jalen Green but also Amen Thompson Or Cam Whitmore, Houston has chosen to be much more aggressive in defense, in order to go more regularly in transition where its Green, Thompson and Whitmore rockets, put into orbit by Fred VanVleet or Alperen Sengun, shine.
“ We have some athletic youngsters to come off the bench and challenge our five, who probably isn't the fastest naturally » explained the coach of the Texan franchise, after the victory in Portland. “ When they're on the field with space, I think it benefits a lot of guys. Jalen [Green] and some other players didn't have the opportunity to play with spaces alongside the starters, so we wanted to go ahead and provide a boost. Everything starts from defense, [il faut] get stops, because it's an opportunity to run more. We worked together and the guys really enjoyed playing all over the field, instead of playing at a slower pace.. »
Defense serving attack
With an average of 20.4 points on the counterattack since the All-Star Break, the Rockets rank in the Top 3 of the most efficient teams in the league over the period. This is around 6 points more than before the All-Star Break and this relevant change clearly energizes the local attack.
“ We have exceptional runners, dogs and athletes at all levels, so just use it all to advantage. » indicates Cam Whitmore in this sense.
The defense, boosted in particular by the contribution of rookie Amen Thompson, must still be concerned and energetic, just to feed the attack straight away.
“ What we also encourage is to go into the field and succeed in actions » adds Ime Udoka. “ We've been really good recently at chasing down opposing attackers, like [Kevin] Durant and others. It generates energy for us, that's for sure. We go there, we make interceptions and we put more intensity on defense. »
“ It all starts on defense » confirms Jalen Green, galvanized by his powerful dunks and the encouragement of his teammates on the bench. “ Defense has always been our priority. I think we started the season well on defense, before we had a little slump and now we're moving forward. »
Run again and again
This same Jalen Green who, for several days, has been heating up: 26.6 points on average over five games, 47% shooting (including 37% at 3-points) and 93% on free throws. Not forgetting 5.6 points on the counterattack since the All-Star Break (compared to 2.7 before), the second best average in the league over the period.
The consequence of Houston's new philosophy, which seeks to run, again and again (102.1 possessions per game since the restart, Top 5 NBA)?
“ We have insisted since the start of the season to pick up the pace with the players who are capable of doing so in the squad. » recalls Amen Thompson, one of the Rockets' launching pads. “ We can run a lot faster than a lot of teams. And these dunks that Jalen managed, by being involved on defense, by being focused and running, it turns the momentum of a game in our favor. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Alperen Sengun | 62 | 32.5 | 53.7 | 29.7 | 69.7 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 9.4 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 21.2 |
| Jalen Green | 63 | 30.8 | 41.3 | 31.6 | 80.9 | 0.4 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 18.3 |
| Fred Vanvleet | 56 | 36.8 | 40.9 | 38.1 | 85.5 | 0.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 8.0 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 16.6 |
| Jabari Smith, Jr. | 58 | 32.1 | 45.0 | 35.8 | 81.0 | 2.0 | 6.5 | 8.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 13.4 |
| Dillon Brooks | 54 | 31.3 | 43.4 | 37.8 | 82.9 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 3.4 | 13.0 |
| Cam Whitmore | 37 | 17.8 | 46.6 | 36.0 | 67.0 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 12.2 |
| Tari Eason | 22 | 21.8 | 46.6 | 36.0 | 63.6 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 7.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 9.8 |
| Amen Thompson | 44 | 19.7 | 50.2 | 14.0 | 64.5 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 5.6 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 7.8 |
| Aaron Holiday | 60 | 16.7 | 45.2 | 40.7 | 88.9 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 6.7 |
| Jeff Green | 59 | 16.4 | 46.7 | 30.7 | 81.0 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 5.9 |
| Jae'sean Tate | 54 | 16.9 | 47.0 | 30.4 | 68.8 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 4.2 |
| Nathaniel Hinton | 11 | 5.2 | 50.0 | 63.6 | 80.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 2.8 |
| Nate Williams, Jr. | 12 | 6.5 | 46.7 | 33.3 | 57.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.8 |
| Boban Marjanovic | 9 | 5.3 | 47.6 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 2.6 |
| Jock Landale | 37 | 9.1 | 38.4 | 15.0 | 79.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 2.4 |
| Reggie Bullock | 26 | 8.7 | 40.4 | 39.0 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.3 |
| Jermaine Samuels | 11 | 4.8 | 72.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.6 |
