Rockets must slow down because they're wasting Dwight Howard
The Rockets were running again. James Harden and Dwight Howard were shoulder to shoulder down center court as Chandler Parsons came up on the right wing with the ball. Parsons found Harden, who stopped 2 feet inside of the three-point line.
Harden delivered the lob. Howard delivered the dunk.
That sequence in a Feb. 25 game against the Sacramento Kings was everything right for the Rockets. They won 129-103, spearheaded by a 42-17 first quarter. Harden had a season-high 43 points and added eight assists; Howard had 20 points and 11 rebounds. And the Rockets were 11-for-22 on three-pointers and ran up 101 possessions.
If only the Rockets could play the 28-54 Kings every night. If only they could draw 42 free throws every game. If only it always worked like that.
The Rockets have anchored their system on pace-pushing and three-point shooting. They led the NBA in possessions per 48 minutes in 2012-13 and went slightly faster in 2013-14, with Howard added to the roster. They've made more threes than any other team the last two seasons.
Harden is the focal point, but the emphasis runs through the organization. Houston's NBA Development League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley (Hidalgo, Texas) Vipers, averaged 45.4 three-point attempts a game. General manager Daryl Morey's staff is looking to take advantage of scoring efficiency, an admirable step in the NBA's analytics revolution.
But the Vipers don't have two of the NBA's 15 best players.
The Rockets enter this season, Year 2 with Howard, coming off another first-round playoff exit. They have finished above .500 for eight consecutive seasons yet have won one postseason series, that coming in 2009. They have the talent to go further this season, but a change of playing style might be necessary.
Coach Kevin McHale, who enters his fourth season with Houston on the hot seat, stuck with the up-tempo formula despite adding the NBA's most talented center last offseason. But he now needs to put his foot down - on the brake.
Great players might not need great coaches, but they do need to be put in positions to succeed. Howard has it in him to be a dominant force on the boards and in the post. But the high-octane pace that the Rockets play doesn't suit his style.
Howard needs to be able to set up and to have teammates set up around him. In his best seasons with the Orlando Magic, his teams (coached by defensive-minded Stan Van Gundy) consistently were below the league average in pace of play.
The Rockets were the fastest team to make the playoffs last season. The result was Howard simply not asserting himself. The offense ran through Harden and Parsons. In Howard's best season, 2010-11, he was second in the league to LeBron James in Player Impact Estimate, having a role in 18.4% of the Magic's plays that season. Last season, he was 19th, involved in 14.6% of the Rockets' plays.
But slowing down could benefit more than Howard.
Harden is the creative center of this team, the best scorer and also best playmaker and passer. His load will increase further, with Parsons having joined the Dallas Mavericks. New starting small forward Trevor Ariza is an upgrade defensively and can really shoot, but he's never averaged 4.0 assists a game, as Parsons did last season. Backup point guard Jeremy Lin also is gone, with no clear replacement for his relentless penetration off the bench.
Patrick Beverley is an asset to the Rockets, particularly because of Harden's defensive weaknesses. He's a bulldog on that end, one of the two or three best defensive point guards in the NBA. But he is not a natural playmaker and he does not fit the ideal for a fast-paced team's starting point guard.
Consider this: The other playoff teams who were in the top 10 in possessions per 48 minutes last season were the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. Their point guards all have All-Star credentials and arguably rank among the NBA's top five at the position. Beverley won't ever have their skill sets, even as they hate to face him.
McHale was a low-post legend in his day, the even-faster-paced 1980s. Surely he knows the struggle of setting up on the block at full speed. He needs to help Howard help him.
Otherwise, he might be out of a job. Fast.
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