“Can’t see the forest for the trees” is a common English idiom used to describe most individuals who find themselves deeply involved in a situation that requires an extended amount of time to find a solution. The person gets so caught up in looking at the trees’ obstruction and forgets that a beautiful forest often sits right behind them.
Many Houston fans may feel like they have been staring at the same trees for nearly two seasons, using a young core of players in their rebuilding efforts. The Rockets are on an 11-game losing streak heading into Friday’s game at Denver and are 32-70 in their last 102 games.
Yet, if you take a closer look at how they have played since the All-Star break, one might catch a glimpse of some beautiful scenery behind those big trees. Before the break, the Rockets’ average margin of defeat in their last seven games was 19.7 points per game. Since play has resumed, Houston has cut that deficit to 6.8 points, including an overtime loss to the Jazz in which they came back from double-digit deficits twice.
“We very rarely give up,” head coach Stephen Silas said after the Utah loss. “Tonight, especially, they just fought and fought and found it. They just stayed with it and kept fighting. They got down and fought back. This team has a lot of fight, character, and grit, and we are learning.”
One contributing factor to Houston playing better basketball over the past month is the improved play of rookie guard Jalen Green, who has averaged 17.7 points over his last 12 games while shooting 46.4% overall and 37.6% on 3-pointers. He has scored in double figures in 14 straight games after not reaching double digits in any of the prior three.
Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green says he evaluates how the defense is playing him in the first five minutes of a game and that determines how he is going to attack on the offensive end. #Rockets #LightTheFuse #Sarge pic.twitter.com/jjhRlukdc7
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) March 4, 2022
Green is becoming more comfortable on the court and has seen his minutes increase to an average of 34.3 per game in his last 10 starts, including a season-high 47 minutes played versus Utah on Wednesday.
“When it comes down to this, you just have to lock into your body and get what you need,” Green said after a close loss to the Jazz.
Another player that has taken on the challenge of making the Rockets more competitive down the stretch is center Christian Wood. He was the clear bright spot for Houston late in Wednesday’s fourth quarter by scoring 12 points in the final eight minutes, including the game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game. Before his late-game heroics, Wood did an outstanding job of finding open teammates after drawing double teams and kicking the ball to open shooters.
“Coach is happy,” said Wood, who had 5 assists on Wednesday. “He likes what I’m doing. He sees that I’m trying to make an effort and trying to find all these guys. I’m going to be the guy who makes the extra pass for my guys, especially when two guys are coming at me.”
“Coach wants me to shoot them (three-pointers) a lot, but I’m trying to make the right decisions,” said Rockets center Christian Wood. #Rockets #LightTheFuse #Sarge pic.twitter.com/2Erx6p75rh
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) March 4, 2022
Wood, 26, is averaging a double-double on the season with 17.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. But it has been his ability to stretch the defense with 3-point shooting that frequently has opposing teams scrambling to adjust by putting a defender on him from that range.
“Coach wants me to shoot them a lot, but I’m trying to make the right decisions, make the right plays, not so much look for my shot,” Wood said. “Not so much really looking to shoot a lot of threes. Just shoot it when I’m open, or whatever the defense gives me.”
Houston (15-47) travels to Denver (36-26) to take on the Nuggets on Friday before returning home to play Memphis (43-21) on Sunday. While the team’s performances are clearly improving, that type of competition could make it much more difficult to be reflected in the win column.
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