The Rockets are off to an extremely rough start this season. After spending last year in control of the Western Conference for most of the regular season, Houston was expected to take a slight step back, but not like this. The Rockets are 3-5 to start the season and while some of that has had to do with Chris Paul being suspended and James Harden getting injured, there’s still a huge problem the Rockets need to address — their defense stinks.
It’s common to assume Mike D’Antoni teams will be poor defensively, but the Rockets were actually a good defensive team last year. Yes, they overwhelmed everybody with offense but it was the defense that kept Houston on an elite level as legitimate title contenders. So far this season the Rockets are 18th in defensive rating and they’re giving up 109 points every 100 possessions. For comparison’s sake, the Rockets finished last season giving up 103.8 points every 100 possessions, which was the sixth best mark in the NBA.
The reasons for this drop off can actually be fairly easily explained. For starters, Houston allowed all their best perimeter defenders to leave in free agency. They’ve struggled to effectively run their switching style from last year and personnel has to be a part of why. The Rockets also saw Jeff Bzdelik, an elite defensive coach, retire in the offseason. Bzdelik was largely credited for the Rockets stingy defense last season and the lack of organization on that end this season has made his absence very present.
Lucky for Houston, the Rockets are getting some good news for the defensive side of the ball. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reported that Bzdelik will be coming out of retirement to re-join the Rockets.
Jeff Bzdelik, the Rockets associate head coach for the past two seasons, to end his retirement and return to the Rockets, a person with knowledge of the decision said.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 5, 2018
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN soon followed up by reporting that Bzdelik will be back with the team full time by the end of the moth.
Bzdelik has agreed to a deal for rest of the season, but won’t return full-time to Rockets until near the end of the month, league source tells ESPN. He will make an appearance for a brief time with group before then. https://t.co/Nm0lpwpP2L
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 5, 2018
The Rockets defense needed this news. The offense will come around now that Paul and Harden are both back in the lineup, but their defense has created a limited ceiling for the team. If they can get back to being an elite team on offense and a great one on defense then they’ll be right back in the championship contender conversation that they belong in. However, will Bzdelik be enough to do that?
Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah A Moute weren’t exactly worldbeaters defensively, but they gave Houston lengthy perimeter wings that could effectively run their switch defense. Letting them leave in free agency was a mistake and it’s punished Houston early on. Especially when the Rockets replaced them with players that have never been good defenders like Carmelo Anthony. Bzdelik should be able to make them respectable on that end of the floor again, but it’s hard to see Houston reaching that same level of greatness as last season. The personnel they currently have just isn’t good enough.
