Houston Rockets Small Ball Breakdown | NBA Film Room 

The Rockets defense since going small would rank 7th, and their offense would be 1st by a mile. Their net rating would be 1st in the league. It doesn't make sense to use their full-season rankings when this team since the trade and free agent pickups is now playing a completely different style of basketball on both sides of the ball.

Russ has been playing just fine when guarded by bigs tho had 41 on Davis and 36 on gobert

Russ so far against the two best defensive bigs in Gobert and AD he has put up 39, 43, and 34 on like 50% shooting if he can hit the mid-range come postseason its gonna be ugly for the bigs

"Half the Defense. Double the Offense."

If rockets win the championship this could change the NBA

Big Houston Rockets Fan. I really enjoyed what you said. Keep up the good work

Very good breakdown. I really would like the Rockets to win. I suppose I don't like the criticism Harden has gotten over the years. Every other team besides the Champion is technically a "loser" if you want to be pessimistic, so why is Harden's ISO worthy of such disdain?! I'm also something of a Suns fan, and would love for Mike D'Antoni to finally get a Ring. MDA also gets undue criticism, so I'd like him to get one for himself and Nash's Suns. Thank you for highlighting things :)

Dude I love your breakdowns. As a new coach who just retired from playing professionally Ive been finding more joy and knowledge in watching these type of videos, but I find myself paying more attention to games at all levels of what type of plays are being run, what is open, what aren’t teams doing. I’ve especially tuned into more late game situations and how coaches handle ATO’s. When you announced you were doing a rockets video I guessed what some of the stuff you were going to talk about. But after seeing this, you took it to another level. Thanks coach you’re doing great work!

And this is why I say, defenses will not look any more "different" in the playoffs than the defenses we see now, against this team, Because this team scheme is so unique, that you cannot change a whole lot on defense, 1. Because as a opposing team, Houston's weakness, is there defense, but it only accounts for teams with true big Men, in a league of shooting 3s, Teams are prolly gonna stick to there set way of playing instead of suddenly switching there game plan to playing through post ups, especially come playoffs, so in reality Houston is fine defensively, 2. There is literally 2 ways to defend Houston, you either focus on stopping easy layups to the rim, or stay on the perimeter spaced out trying not to give up open 3s, and by far, no team can stop either no matter if they have big Men on russ camping in the paint or playing to the shooters leaving open driving lanes for russ, so you're basically counting on guys missing 3s or russ missing layups and thats not a great bet, because Houston is tops in the league in made 3s and russ is the league leader in points in the paint, Yes usually defense will hone in much better to certain offenses, but this one is so unique, that the defense you're prolly seeing RIGHT NOW is prolly what you're gonna see come playoffs, and teams are literally getting obliterated

You know rockets haven't been turning the ball over alot right?and you talk about defense?the alst two game teams aint even scored 50 points in the second half including the lakers.we gone tire teams out and beat them

Westbrook is UNGUARDABLE now... He is 10x faster than the fastest player on the other team

Great vid! Rox haven't peaked yet and EG still recovering. The sports media like ESPN/Simmons/Cowherd etc having a hard time dealing with foot in mouth :)

Fantastic breakdown coach pyper. Will you consider doing a breakdown like this for the heat? I love the motion that they're playing with this year.

Great breakdown coach.It' s really interesting to see if this approach will really lead the rockets to anything...My main concern is that a team with great perimeter defenders like the clippers for example (Beverley,kawhi,even pg ) would force russ and james to a lot of contested shots and bad decisions and the support crew would have to step up but i don't think they will especially in a playoff series..Keep up the good work coach!

Great vid....I say it again...GREAT VID! Very good breakdown. Would you be able to do one for the mavs?

Awesome analysis bruh. Love your take on the pick n roll defense options: Hedge, switch or drop.

Amazing analysis man. Would appreciate a follow up video on the Rox micro ball experiment right before the playoffs.

The Suns in the 90s were known to run small ball a lot when playing against teams like the spurs and rockets AC Green was 6’9 on offense he was constantly moving around, trying to get open or leading fast breaks to put pressure on his opponents

Who's Here Because of DENVER NUGGETS BIG BALL LINEUP?

I appreciate this video so much 🇻🇨big Houston fan all the way from the islands

LETS GOOOOOOOO THANK YOUUU

Can you make a video on defense of Rocket and how they make it effective?

Really enjoy your content, very informative

Love how u show the misses just to show that the play did work, the player just couldn’t convert

Best bonus to the Rockets in their new small ball line up is Covington. He is a clutch knock down three point shooter on the level of Eric Gordon. He is also a good defender in the paint and perimeter. Statistically and strategically, an upgrade to Capella in almost every part of the game. Their biggest weakness would be new school 7 footers. Players like Giannis and KAT and AD and Porzingas and KD and Cousins that move like backcourt players but are as tall as traditional front court players. So they can essentially play small ball too, just with much much taller bodies. Like high school team vs grade school team.

Been waiting for a vid like this... I can’t believe it’s working, but it’s only the regular season. I wanna see it in the playoffs

Great video great breakdown! You just gain a new subscriber here !🙋🏻‍♂️ I’m surprise you don’t have more subs you are way better than others I’ve seen here on RU-vid... keep it up Brother 💪🏼💪🏼

Table of Contents: Intro 0:01 Offense 0:55 Unleashing Westbrook 1:05 Transition 1:50 Decision Making 2:20 2 On The Ball 2:54 Ballscreens 3:34 Harden As A Ballscreener 4:25 Russ As A Ballscreener 4:57 D'Antoni's ATOs 5:24 Struggles 5:54 Defense 7:39 Easy Looks 7:40 Guarding The Ball 8:37 Offensive Rebounding 9:26 Switch Everything Advantages 9:55 Caught Switching 11:00 Deflections & Steals 11:34 Outro 11:57 Thanks for watching & enjoy!

This just popped up on my recommend just watch it and bro what are you talking about russ having problem against the bigs he dropped 41 on lakers(ad) 39 on jazz(gobert)

Russ should start making those 3s. They'll be very deadly. I think the best way to address small ball is to play a 2-3 zone defense.

That moment you realize that Kobe would have had the best game breakdown of this new Rockets🚀 team😢

Great work there. Apreciate a lot.

Do you think the Rockets need to get funky on D like the Raptors do, or do you think that would actually tire them out further and result in them being gassed?

I watch the Rockets all the time and the only defenders that I see that are sub par are Eric Gordon and Ben McLemore. Everyone else seems to be aggressive and able to stick with drives and contest shots without fouling a bunch.

Very good analysis. As you asked for suggestions, I'd like to see something about Dame's pick and roll, especially with Whiteside and Nurkic from the past season, which I think is top in the league

Another great video, Coach.,,,,I'd love a breakdown on Saint Mary's offensive system... Seem to always be near top of offensive efficiency every year.. Lotta ppl don't see them play because Tip Off Times.

Their personal is a huge reason to why this work... if they didn’t have Harden, Russ and Covington/Tucker... I don’t think this MicroBall lineup would work...

Rockets fan and I 100% agree.

Great video

Rockets Year! 2020

Westbrook has been quietly playing better this year. He should be MVP.

my favorite team on 2k20! I had to set the play to let all 4 players outside and play iso with Harden and WB on the 2nd team. since Harden and WB is hard to stop they'll draw a double which leaves an open man. easy 3!

To me, Bigs will be flexible because of this. Not a typical center.

Great video! Hope rockets can up their focus on defense to really make some noise in the playofffs!

Coach, the Rockets' analytics team has run the numbers and they have found a team that gets stuck with a contested three is better off than a team that hunts long 2s. The GM calls these "challenge 3s" everyone practices some type of escape dribble shot in their personal drilling. They ARE suboptimal but not as suboptimal as the alternative.

defensively i am quite confident the problems are just effort, and experience playing together. their effort levels have been obviously different when facing top teams, compared to teams they didn't perceive as a threat. when the rockets try defensively and lock in they look better than when they had ariza. i think the real way to beat the rockets is to be faster than them for longer, and tire them out. play faster for longer and with the possession battle.

great video sir

this was a good breakdown

Rockets champions 2020 best duo alive 👀🏆😈

It looks good now but come playoffs, the game is slowed up a lot more and teams will really try to abuse that switch

Kinda late to this video, but with the extra rest players are getting, I feel like the rockets will benefit the most. With the lineup of daniel house, russ, harden, covington, and tucker on the floor giving full energy, there is no mismatch hunting and the miscommunication will lower. If they elevate their defense in the playoffs, they can do some damage.

Funny, since the trade, the Rockets have ranked 10th in defense. It's a small sample. But they might put the number 1 or 2 offense out there. And they'll get a lot of chances as they are 2nd in pace.

Your best channel brother.

The rockets defense has stepped up

3:20 Inspired by Warriors

Thank you for highlighting the lazy turnovers. Oh my god it frustrates me to no end. Just yesterday against the Celtics...at the end of the game I was like wtf are yall doin...Harden gets in these moments where he just throws the ball to the other teams and gives up on defense after he turns it over?!?

awesome content

Reason why the disadvantages you pointed out here don’t matter is because there’s a lot less of those then their is advantages.

If they are going to use small ball offense. They need to practice their full court man to man defense if they really want to win in playoffs.

Now, when Russ first went to the Rockets, teams would double off him. Why aren't they still doing it? Is it because the Rockets only have ONE non-3 ball shooter in Russ? I don't get why they don't double off him? What am I missing....

Looks cool but I don't see this working in the playoffs when teams are locked in on defensive schemes

there top ten in defense since all star break

Only thing that stopped them from winning a ship was not much shooting Gordon and harden were the only shooters rob and pj we’re liability on offense I watched that whole series if they had better shooting they would have ran the Lakers if the court

The 🚀 Rockets are coming through Respect.

w is small ball?

Don’t understand this analysis at times. Some good observations but then the analysis fails to mention some important points. This video has some footage of Rockets success then shows many failed plays which can create doubt that the Rockets can go far. When you watch a game, there are going to be sloppy plays, missed shots, and mistakes for even the best teams. It’s the final results that are the most important followed by key offensive and defensive stats. Of course the eye test matters to a degree but if you watch the whole game most of the time Houston plays smart, with intensity and athleticism. Since the trade deadline Houston has improved in almost every category I’ve seen including 3 point percentage as well as offensive and defensive categories/rankings. Houston, because of recent additions and changes in strategy has a greater potential to improve than many other playoff teams. Houston added players that bring length, 3 point shooting, perimeter defense, athleticism and veteran leadership/good locker room presence and most of us know the importance of good off the court chemistry. We do have a small sample size so far but that sample contains some of the best teams with top rated defenses. In my opinion, Houston will improve defensively as they have the personnel to do so. They will be elite offensively. My concern is will Houston make the adjustments that I believe can be made to keep larger front court teams like the Lakers and to some extent the clippers, at bay during the playoffs. Houston should be able to keep Harden, Tucker and Westbrook’s minutes down for the playoff run. They have the experience and personnel to go far but matchups can also change things dramatically. Chances are that Houston will advance to the WCF or the finals but health and matchups can have a huge impact on the outcome.

Take the ball to the rack. Take the ⛹ ball to the rack. Every single time. A assume Rebounds

Russ is just unstoppable at the paint! Period!

the best moves of rockets

And the haters said , it's not going to work!

The rockets are currently 3rd in defensive efficiency

watching this when the rockets have the best defense in the playoffs

lets all be honest here who else laughed at the rockets after the trade?

Has anybody noticed whenever players like McLemore or someone like that joins the rockets they get way better?

I STILL BELIEVE CONFIDENT POSITIVE ROCKETS WILL WIN CHAMPIONSHIP WHY NOT CLUTCH CITY 🚀

The Rocket are really Turning it ☝ now playing alt better balll My Doggs. Harden. A. Russ. They are on they Shit

Run and gun

I think that they can beat everyone to get to the finals, but if they have to play the bucks they won’t win, giannis is too good off a perimeter defender and paint protector for Russ to go off.

If a team can somehow defend Westbrook and harden they will be able to beat them

Sign Serge Ibaka next season

So I guess Tyson Chandler ain’t a center

Are you guys crazy? Dan Antonio will be fired soon. We have seen this before so many times

You need some background music

I think that RUSS deserves a MVP this season . Btw hes my idol .

Rockets should be Russ’s team and it should stay that way

Who came back to this vid after they whooped LA ass

You couldve made this breakdown and analysis more interesting tbh

U know nothing 😂

aaaaaaand the Lakers bubble team figured them out

I'd like to see the rockets and dantoni win a ring. He was one of the pioneers for playing fast