Rockets Help Defense
Posted: Thu Jan 3, 2013 3:28 am
I've watched pretty much every Rockets game this season, and from what I've seen the Rockets help defense (specifically on the pick and roll) is awful. The team is 26th in the league in blocks at 4.2BPG, with Asik being the only shot blocking presence at 1.1BPG(although he is obviously a better defender than what that stat shows).
My point here is that this is why the pg's (specifically Lin) look so bad on defense so many times, even though most people here realize that Lin is actually not a bad defender. In fact, I might go so far to say that Lin MIGHT be the Rockets best help defender, outside of Asik who is just gonna have the most impact by default as a C. When the opposing team runs a P&R, as is often the case, the only thing the PG can do is either go over, go under, or switch. Every starting pg in the league except Rondo will make you pay if you go under, and to switch you need a big man that is versatile enough to handle guarding the ballhandler. That leaves going over, which is the strategy the Rockets seem to deploy. This still leaves the big man responsible for helping because there is just no way Lin or Douglas can recover quickly enough. And this is where the weakness lies for the Rockets, the help is just not there, or it's just too soft, and the person with the ball gets an easy lane to the basket. And it's unfair to blame this on the PG.
Do you guys agree? I am a Lin fan so I may be biased. However if you watch all the games I feel this is so evident.
My point here is that this is why the pg's (specifically Lin) look so bad on defense so many times, even though most people here realize that Lin is actually not a bad defender. In fact, I might go so far to say that Lin MIGHT be the Rockets best help defender, outside of Asik who is just gonna have the most impact by default as a C. When the opposing team runs a P&R, as is often the case, the only thing the PG can do is either go over, go under, or switch. Every starting pg in the league except Rondo will make you pay if you go under, and to switch you need a big man that is versatile enough to handle guarding the ballhandler. That leaves going over, which is the strategy the Rockets seem to deploy. This still leaves the big man responsible for helping because there is just no way Lin or Douglas can recover quickly enough. And this is where the weakness lies for the Rockets, the help is just not there, or it's just too soft, and the person with the ball gets an easy lane to the basket. And it's unfair to blame this on the PG.
Do you guys agree? I am a Lin fan so I may be biased. However if you watch all the games I feel this is so evident.
