Chris Paul says Rockets need to ‘go back to the drawing board’ after 1-4 start

It has been nothing short of a disappointing start to the 2018-19 season for the Houston Rockets winning just one of their first five games played.

A major part of their struggles has been their lack of consistency on the defensive end of the floor that has seen them suffer a discouraging 133-113 loss to the L.A. Clippers on Friday night. Following the contest, former All-Star point guard Chris Paul voiced that the team has to shift things up defensively to help them get back on the right track, according to Tim McMahon of ESPN.

“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and figure out what’s going to be the best solution for this team,” guard Chris Paul said after a 133-113 loss to the LA Clippers on Friday night.

Although their shortcomings against the Clippers could be largely attributed to the absence of reigning league MVP James Harden, these defensive issues have been prevalent throughout the year. The Rockets are giving up 118.8 points per game, which ranks 25th in the league. This includes allowing 100 or more points in each of the first five games.

Much of this should be attributed to the roster moves made in the offseason with Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute both departing over the offseason. These two played a huge factor defensively that helped them be more of the better teams on that end of the floor last year. The addition of Carmelo Anthony provides another proven scorer to the mix, but he has had his fair issues defensively.

At the same time, these comments from Paul do show that the Rockets are focused on improving on that end of the floor. This will be critical for them being able to turn it around this season.