The Rockets Are Being Outcoached And Outworked

The Houston Rockets are now looking at a potentially dire situation after losing both of their games on the road to start the postseason. While they could still handle their business at home for the next two games, the start to the playoffs have shown Head Coach Ime Udoka's struggles as he tries to adjust to different defensive schemes by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Laker Head Coach JJ Redick earned his place by being one of the most forward thinking offensive minds and putting his role players in the best position to succeed. His own playing career helped him form his mindset, as he was a highly effective role player who performed well during high leverage moments.

He's now getting the same level of performance from players like Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, and Luke Kennard. These players are in the right spots defensively, and they are knocking down shots at a high level while taking wide open opportunities.

The Rockets aren't hitting their shots at the same rate, which is a factor independent of coaching. However, the amount of open shots they're getting are not comparable to what the Lakers have taken during the first two games.

Reddick has found a way to maximize his best shooters, while hiding his worst shooters on offense and worst defenders on defense. Udoka hasn't been able to match this by finding ways to keep Sheppard from being abused defensively and putting his top offensive players in strong positions to score.

Some of the offensive difficulties are on the players. Amen Thompson looks timid offensively, and when he's aggressive towards the rim, he gets stripped by Laker defenders. Alperen Şengün has played some of his worst basketball to start the series as well. Neither of these players are helping Kevin Durant who is playing out of position by having to initiate the offense from the top of the three-point line.

All of these issues have led to the Rockets playing some unsightly offense, and they don't have a high enough work rate on the glass to make up for the inefficient shots they're taking.

The Rockets have been able to keep things close for the most part in the first two games, but they are currently too easy to gameplan against and slow down. That largely falls onto the shoulders of the head coach, who must now find a way to get his team back even in the series. Otherwise, their highly anticipated postseason run could be over in the first round.