Houston Rockets: Three reasons to not panic about the tough loss to the Pelicans

Team chemistry doesn’t just happen instantly

The Houston Rockets had a massive personnel turnover this offseason. 60% of the opening day roster is different from the 2017-18 opening day roster. That is a ton of turnover for any NBA team, especially one that took the Warriors to game seven of the WCF.

The Rockets got 80 minutes of contribution from these nine guys, that’s a third of the available minutes in a given game. Specifically, Michael Carter-Williams, Melo, and Ennis got the majority of these minutes with Melo and Ennis getting “starter” minutes.

With nine new guys getting minutes and two of them getting “starter” minutes, it’s impossible to expect these guys to instantly hit it off and mesh cohesively on the court. There simply hasn’t been enough time for these guys to get to know each other’s playing styles and preferences on the court.

There are also plenty of new roles that guys need to get adjusted to. Specifically, Melo is obviously still adapting and adjusting to his new role as the sixth man. This was the first time he’s ever come off of the bench in his NBA career and it’ll take time to establish that role and get that chemistry flowing mid-game.

There is no reason to panic because it takes time to build teams. Think back to the first “super team” in Miami when Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade teamed up. It took time for those three and the rest of the team to get on the same page. The same goes for this Houston Rockets team, it takes time to build trust and eventually, they’ll have it and the basketball will be seamless.