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Tari Eason learning from misses
DENVER — Among the pleasant surprises in the first part of the Rockets season was Tari Eason's efficiency and aggressiveness from three.
Through the end of January, Eason shot 47.9% from three on 4.6 attempts per game — both would be by-far career highs. Those marks, in just 26 games, were always going to come down — but the regression has been staggering.
In the 17 games since February began, Eason is shooing just 25% from deep. He's also taking less shots from deep in that span. His three-point volume has dropped in March.
"Yes," he said after Wednesday's game when asked if missing led to that drop. "You want to make shots, when you're not making shots, sometimes it's difficult. Sometimes you might hesitate. Sometimes you might be in your head."
Eason said he tries to learn from misses but his recent slump hasn't been as instructive.
"It's been kind of hard because none of them have necessarily been egregious," he said.
It's easier to learn from clanked shots when they're going off the backboard or the side of the rim, he said. Eason feels he has had "good misses" — in and out or off the back rim so — which offer less lessons. He said he just has to stay the course.
Whether Eason can find his shot again before the playoffs has major implications for Houston's future. His shooting prowess was critical for Rockets team lacking spacing. Eason's play will also impact his future earnings — the soon to be 25-year-old is a restricted free agent at end of season.
 | Varun Shankar, Rockets Beat Reporter |
How will the Rockets use Dorian Finney-Smith late in the season?
Even as Dorian Finney-Smith has struggled for most of this season, the Rockets have maintained that they still trust the veteran forward, who's coming off serious ankle surgery and still doesn't look like the player who warranted the four-year, $52.7 million deal Houston signed him to this past offseason.
Finney-Smith is shooting a career-worst 27.8% from three and has been an anchor for the Rockets, who are 7.5 points per 100 possessions worse with him on the floor. The good news? About ten days ago, that number was about 10 points per 100 possessions.
On the other hand, with Josh Okogie in the game, Houston gets 1.4 points per 100 possessions better. I asked Udoka, with less than a month left to go before the playoffs, how he weighed allocating minutes between the two players.
"Honestly carve out some time for Dorian regardless," he said. "As the game goes, you determine how he's looking, how he's feeling, how he's playing and stick with that in the second half or deviate. … But for the most part, you see progress here and there and that's the key."
The shot will come eventually, Udoka reiterated, noting that Finney-Smith has been able to play longer stints in recent games.
The Rockets understand "the importance that he's going to have for us down the stretch" and are "trying to get him there," the coach said.
Checking in with on-ball Amen
As we get to the end of Amen Thompson's first NBA season with heavy on-ball repetitions, it's worth looking at how he's done.
A year ago, Thompson had just 152 possessions as a pick and roll ballhandler and was in the 36th percentile in points per possession off such actions, per NBARAPM.com. This year, he's up to 228 such actions and in the 64th percentile.
Thompson also went from the 29th percentile to the 80th percentile in points per possession off isolation plays.
Worth a read
- ⛏ What went wrong for the Rockets in Denver? Horrible shooting played a part, as did a gameplan designed to get the ball out of Kevin Durant's hands.
- 🦖 I couldn't pass up the chance to use a dinosaur emoji. Kevin Durant played the Alan Grant role here? (Taking down the Raptors). Shoutout to any Jurassic Park fans.
- 🕵 A year ago, the Rockets' identity couldn't be clearer: toughness, defense and rebounding. This year's team doesn't have that. Can they find a new identity before the playoffs?
- 👽 Victor Wembanyama is absurd and the Rockets had little chance to stop him or the Spurs.
- 🏀 A fun story from Matt Young about a Rockets superfan — who I coincidentally met at Houston's shootaround before the Spurs game.
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Q: Spurs rookie guard Dylan Harper said San Antonio ran the same play 15 times in a row in Sunday's win over the Rockets. Why didn't Houston adjust to stop it? — u/ron-paul-swanson on Reddit, @asoukuptx and @GoGroverboard on X
A: Harper's comments made me rewatch San Antonio's possessions in the second half. While I couldn't find one play that they ran quite that many times, a consistent theme stood out — the same one Udoka pointed to when I asked him about the sequence.
"DHO, pick and roll action that they ran a ton. More so they were trying to attack certain matchups, honestly " he said. "We didn't do a great job stopping them. … Whether we switched it, blitzed it, guarded it traditionally, they had a lot of success."
The two players San Antonio circled? No. 15 and No. 28. Reed Sheppard and Alperen Şengün were the primary defenders for 35 Spurs shot attempts in the game. San Antonio made 23 of them, a blistering 65.7 shooting percentage, per NBA.com.
The Rockets did adjust how they defended those actions, but none of them led to success. A few examples:
The Spurs ran a pick and roll with Devin Vassell and Luke Kornet, who were guarded by Sheppard and Şengün, respectively. Houston went with an aggressive scheme against the strong-shooting Vassell, with Şengün lunging out and forcing Vassell to retreat.
But putting two on the ball left weaknesses elsewhere — Kornet rolled to the rim, forcing Kevin Durant to go with him. That left Keldon Johnson open in the corner for three.
Shortly after, Johnson — guarded by Durant — ran a pick and roll with Kornet. Houston switched this action, but Johnson stopped and pitched the ball back to De'Aaron Fox.
Johnson faked a screen and ran out to the three-point line. Şengün wouldn't have had a chance to get out there in time so Fox's original defender, Thompson, switched out. But this left a clear mismatch with Fox on Şengün, one the speedy guard was happy to exploit.
Last clip — the Spurs got both Sheppard and Şengün in the action by having both of their assignments screen for Fox in what's called a "stack" or "Spain" pick and roll.
This time, Şengün was in "drop" coverage, tasked with trying to defend the ballhandler and roller while Sheppard gets back in position. Şengün did well to not allow a shot at the rim but still gave up a quality look with a short midrange bucket Fox buried.
Şengün and Sheppard are subpar defenders. Having them both on the court gives teams matchups to attack, no matter the scheme they're playing. An aggressive defense probably favors those two.
Şengün just doesn't have the height, wingspan or vertical athleticism to be an impactful rim protector so you don't lose much by getting him away from the basket. Sheppard has good enough hands to force some turnovers, but those strategies should be deployed in specific moments — become predictable and good decision-makers will pick Houston apart.
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