Rockets Need Defensive Help In Deep Western Conference
With 35 of 82 NBA regular season games played, the Houston Rockets sit in sixth place in the Western Conference standings. The Rockets are 22-13. Houston is just one game out of fourth place and trails first place Oklahoma City by 5½ games.
The Western Conference is so competitive that the first 9 teams are .500 or better on the season, while in the Eastern Conference only 4 teams are playing .500 ball or better. In win loss records, the West has 8 of the top 10 teams in the league.
With such a competitive conference, the Rockets could easily be playing on the road when the NBA playoffs start against the third or fourth best team in the conference.
A big question in the minds of many around the league is if the Rockets have the roster to take them deep into the NBA postseason.
There have been a number of trade rumors about the Rockets but the team overall has a very sound roster and does not need to make changes other than possibly Omer Asik. The defensive specialist has been disgruntled all season due to losing most of his playing team to Dwight Howard.
Asik sits most games, while the front office figures out what can be done with trading him. Originally, the club promised the Turk he would be traded by the middle of December, but balked on that.
Howard plays over 34 minutes per game and when he and Asik have played together, the chemistry has not been present. It seems both parties – the team and Asik – would be much better off moving Asik quickly.
By trading Asik, the Rockets could get some help they need at other positions. Houston needs help on defense, which has kept them being a top 4 or possibly top 3 team in the conference and being mentioned among the best teams in the league.
The Rockets are allowing 102.5 points a game, which is No. 24 in the league. Thus far they have countered that lack of defense with one of the highest scoring offenses in the league, but that will not work during the postseason when games are slower and the defense because much more important.
The Rockets stress offense first and are constantly looking for their next turnover and easy basket on transition.
That means at times the defense suffers, but the team has the talent in James Harden, Terrence Jones, Jeremy Lin and Chandler Parsons to constantly push the ball.
However, that formula will spell a swift exit in the playoffs against teams like Oklahoma City and Golden State who have great weapons and discipline that will spell trouble for the Rockets.
The offensive philosophy that the Rockets are following does not lend for big defensive stands and give players an opportunity to show how talented they are defensively.
Howard has been considered one of the best defenders in the game near the rim, but playing in this offense score-first philosophy, his rating on defense is the lowest it has been since the second of his ten seasons in the league.
The best thing Houston can do is trade Asik for a tough defender and that could help make them a better-rounded team that can compete deep into the postseason when May rolls around.
