More than anything, the Houston Rockets lack offensive direction

Too much chaos

Young players in the NBA generally suck at defense. They aren’t physically developed enough, the game is moving too fast for them, and they don’t yet know what good NBA defense requires of them individually. There’s no real way to sugarcoat it and it’s why impact metrics hate rookies. By proxy, most young teams in the NBA suck at defense.

As someone who was higher on the Rockets’ defense than most, even I believed it would take another season or two before they were truly good defensively.

With that said, that same adage about young players doesn’t apply to offense. There are always exceptions, but it usually doesn’t take long for good young players to come into their own offensively. It’s why rebuilding teams typically become good on offense before they become good on defense. All that’s needed is the talent.

As we’ve seen this season, there’s no shortage of offensive firepower on this Rockets team. Kevin Porter, Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Eric Gordon, and even Jabari Smith (who struggled greatly to start) are all capable of contributing to high-powered offenses. And yet, the Rockets are currently on pace to finish with a bottom five offense for a 3rd straight season.

When you tune in for your average Rockets game, it’s not hard to see why this is the case. There’s a fundamental lack of direction to Houston’s offense.

Jonathan Feigen @Jonathan_Feigen

Rockets had 19 assists, seven assists in the third half. They had two assists, seven turnovers in the third quarter.

Jonathan Feigen @Jonathan_Feigen

Nuggets 106, Rockets 91 after 3. Nuggets had an 8-0 run in closing 1:24 of the quarter. Jokic with 16 points on 7 of 7 shooting in the quarter. Also, set up a couple 3s and a fast-break layup. Has shifted into ridiculous mode.