Houston Rockets: Three things to improve on after week one
By T.A. Mock
Lack of rebounds is concerning
The Houston Rockets lost some size this offseason when Ryan Anderson, Trevor Ariza, and Luc Mbah a Moute departed from the team. The replaced them smaller, lesser-known rebounders in Anthony, Ennis, and MCW.
Sure, the team still has Capela and PJ Tucker in the frontcourt but losing secondary rebounders has hurt this team a lot this year. Through three games, two of which lacked imposing big men on the other side, the Rockets have only collected 126 rebounds or 42 a game with 99 defensive rebounds and 27 offensive rebounds
That may seem like a pretty decent amount but the defensive rebound numbers rank 22 in the NBA, the offensive rebound numbers rank 23rd, and the total rebound numbers rank 24th overall. Those are not the numbers that you’d expect from a team that realistic championship aspirations.
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Capela is currently leading the team in rebounds with just 8.7 per game. He’s only managed double-digit rebounds once, against the Lakers, and looked pretty bad against both the Pelicans and Clippers.
Tucker, though he provides a ton defensively, is not particularly adept on the glass with only 4.7 rebounds a game. Melo has been a slight surprise on the glass as he’s already lodged one game with 10 rebounds. Harden and Paul have also helped on the glass but overall, this team has been disappointing in regards to rebounds.
All of these results in the team allowing their opponents to snag more rebounds, especially on the offensive end. The Rockets need to improve on the glass if they want to go on a run and reestablish themselves atop the NBA hierarchy during the early goings of this season.