Houston Rockets: Team should take a page out of Astros playbook

The Houston Rockets ended their 2016-2017 season in embarrassing fashion, losing by 39 points to a San Antonio Spurs team missing their MVP and starting point guard. Despite all the advanced numbers and stats, there’s no way to measure the value of a proven veteran presence.

The Houston Rockets signing of Nene last season flew under the radar. A 33-year-old back-up center didn’t really register as a big roster move for most fans. But with the loss of Dwight Howard the Houston Rockets had a need to add a big man and Nene was the choice.

And he turned out to be more than we could have hoped for, providing meaningful minutes off the bench and a renewed energy, best displayed in his dominant first round Game 4 performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder where he didn’t miss a single shot on his way to 28 points.

His presence was sorely missed at the end of that Spurs series as in the two games he was absent, the Houston Rockets were out-rebounded 134-102.

But it was more than just his size that the team was missing. Leadership and experience are two qualities that can’t be measured in the box score or on the shot chart in terms of their value.

If the Rockets really want to take the next step towards winning their first NBA championship since 1995, they need look no further than their baseball counterparts, the Houston Astros.

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Look at the difference between the Houston Astros of 2016 and 2017. In April of last year, the Astros were facing high expectations after having made it to the playoffs for the first time since their 2005 World Series appearance.

They started 7-17 making all the fundamental mistakes a team could make. Talent wasn’t the issue. It was bad judgement on the base paths, fly balls dropping between two guys, neither of them calling for it. They were trying too hard.

They started to right the ship and played consistently well enough to finish above .500 by the end of the year, but weren’t able to overcome that jittery start where they were trying to do too much.

In response to the way the team played last year, the Astros went out and got multiple veterans to help the young guys out. And the difference…well the difference is clear. The steadying presence of guys who have been there before certainly can alleviate any of the feelings of the need to press.

The Rockets biggest issue since James Harden has come over has been leadership. That’s not meant to be a knock against Harden. No one on the team has really displayed any leadership or maybe they feel like they aren’t in a position to take the leadership role.

This is where if the Houston Rockets can get a player like the recently retired Paul Pierce (Not saying they’ll sign him out of retirement, just using him as an example) it would maybe help the collapses this team has been so prone to over the past few years go away.

The Rockets have a bad recent history of playoff games where they are just blown out of the water showing no signs of life. Before their big 3-1 series comeback in the 2015 Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Los Angeles Clippers, it’s easy for Rockets fans to forget how thoroughly dominated the Rockets had been in games three and four of the series.

It happened the following series against the Golden State Warriors as well. The Rockets played two hard fought games in Golden State, with a chance to win on the final possession in game two, only to come home in game three and get destroyed by 35 points.

This year that same lackadaisical effort was seen even in the series the Rockets won against the Oklahoma City Thunder. During that series, the Rockets trailed at the end of the first quarter in every game and only twice had the lead at halftime.

While they still won, they played down to their competition, relying on scoring spurts when the benches were in to pull off the series victory.

This lack of killer instinct needs to be addressed in the off season. The Rockets don’t need to add the most talented player. He just needs to be someone with playoff or even better championship experience.

Someone who can help stop the sad body language and the resignation that causes this team to have these horrifically bad collapses.

Looking at the list of NBA Free Agents this off-season I don’t see too much in the way of that veteran presence being added. If Manu Ginobili comes back, he’s not going to sign with the Rockets that’s for sure.

But a player like Ginobili would be exactly who the Rockets need this season. If the team is serious about being contenders, it’s time to stop focusing on the numbers of three point shots, shots in the paint and free throws, and start focusing on addressing the mental toughness of the team to halt these epic playoff losses they seem to be incapable of stopping themselves.

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