Houston Rockets 2022-23 Preview
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Houston Rockets 2022-23 Preview
The young Rockets will continue to play 5-Out basketball while developing young talent.
Welcome to the start of our 2022-23 previews for every NBA team! These breakdowns are designed to look at stats, film & anything I found interesting in my preparation for the upcoming NBA season.
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Note: if you are reading this in the e-mail-only form some of the gifs and videos do not always show up correctly. All stats taken from Cleaning the Glass.
Stats
2021-22 Record: 20-62
Net Rating: -9.7 (30th)
Offensive Rating: 108.7 (26th)
Good
The Rockets shot profile is one of the best in the NBA, which means if they shot league average they would have had the best eFG% in the NBA. In other words, they took the most shots at the rim & 3 and the least amount from mid-range. While this isn’t a barometer for great offense, the young Rockets will at least have knowledge of what the best shots on the floor are early and develop an offense around that mindset. (Note: the worse teams usually rank higher here since they can’t afford to take tougher shots because of lower skill level). Another big thing that stands out is the Rockets on offense got to the free throw line often, ranking 8th in the NBA in FT rate. This goes along with the shot profile that is encouraging regarding their offensive strategy.
Bad
Not making a lot of shots at the rim usually isn’t going to translate to success (duh lol). The Rockets finished 21st in scoring at the rim, and 17th in scoring from 3 - both leading to poor offensive output.
Ugly
Houston finished dead last in Turnover %, by giving the ball away 16.5% of the time. When your defense is already porous, giving the other team the ball the most in the league is a bad idea. This is not a barometer for having a bad defense or a bad offense (Golden State/Miami/Denver are 2/3/5 in TO% & had very good offenses) combining lazy, new defenders with a high turnover rate and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Defensive Rating: 117.8 (30th)
Good
Defensively the Rockets turned teams over 14% of the time, ranking 13th in the NBA, a positive sign for a poor defense. In general, the teams that force the most turnovers in the NBA (10 of the top 13 teams) made the playoffs and had successful seasons overall.
Bad
From a defensive standpoint, the Rockets are on the opposite side of where they allow teams to shoot from. They ranked 28th in Loc eFG%, meaning they allowed the 3rd worst shooting profile from their opponents, highlighted by allowing 35% (26th) of shots at the rim, and teams shot 68.5% (29th) at the rim when they got there.
Ugly
The Rockets allowed teams to rebound 28% of their misses, which makes things extra tough on a Rockets defense that allowed the 2nd worst eFG% in the NBA. This means even the times they get a stop on defense, teams rebound the ball back almost a third of the time.
Film
I tried to grab some preseason clips, but seriously - who films a basketball game with this angle?
5-Out Offense
The Rockets primarily ran 5-Out as their core offense, spacing the floor for players like Jalen Green to take advantage of. Silas ran a modern offensive scheme where the coaching staff allows players to make reads out of their flow offense. For example, the “Zoom” action or throw and chase concepts allows the players to make simple reads off each other.
They can backdoor cut into space with the 5-Out spacing:
If the defense goes under or sags they can flow into a dribble hand off:
This can then flow into a ballscreen, or the player keeping it and looking for the next option.
5-Out (Dunkers)
With players like Sengun coming back and likely being the primary option for post-ups (20% of his overall possesions, & 44% of all of the Rockets post-ups as a team), the Rockets use similar concepts the Bucks do with flowing from 5-Out to 4-Out. Once the initial actions are exhausted or the player cuts or rolls to the rim, he can then sit in the dunkers spot and tweak the offensive spacing to allow for easier drop-off passes and post-ups
More on 5-Out & Spacing:
5-Out Offense Breakdowns | 5-Out Spacing Concepts
Early Flip
A common action in early offense, this quick flip is tough to guard since the defense is never set. It can be hard to defend this initial action and even a quick flip vs a weaker defender can force a switch to get the offense an advantage.
Strong Boston
In the Rockets 5-Out offense they will run and look for this stagger action with the first player curling to the rim, then the first screener coming off the second screener looking for a shot.
This is a staple of Davidson’s offense as well (I should refer to this as “Wildcat” action really).
More on Strong Boston Action:
Davidson’s 5-Out | Warriors Punch | Strong Boston Lob | Keep Counter
Quick Flare
A set that Silas brought with him from the Mavericks, running a quick flare for the point guard looking for a shot or driving opportunity is a simple action several teams have been adding to the playbook.
The key here is the opposite wing 45 cuts through the lane taking away easy help opportunities and opening up more chances to drive.
Horns Rip DHO
Playing out of the Elbow, the Rockets set a backcreen/split action flowing into a hand off & then 5-Out. This is similar action to their read based offense so naturally this set opens up the floor for players to react to how the defense is guarding them.
If you liked this breakdown feel free to share it & if you have any other scenarios, plays, or thoughts on any future breakdowns let me know in the comments below!
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Note: if you are reading this in the e-mail-only form some of the gifs and videos do not always show up correctly.
Outwork Yesterday.
Coach Pyper