While Mike D’Antoni’s offensive masterclass redefined Houston basketball, the current young roster struggles to find a clear identity. Can Udoka’s squad ever reclaim that championship-caliber brilliance?
With the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 being celebrated this weekend, it gives us some time to appreciate how great Mike D'Antoni's run was with the Houston Rockets. He’s been part of the league for much longer than just his years with the Rockets, and the Hall of Fame is for work outside of the NBA as well, but this was arguably the pinnacle of his career.
After a tumultuous stint with the New York Knicks, where Linsanity was probably the high point, he fully rebuilt himself in Houston, winning another Coach of the Year award in the 2016-2017 season. That was his second time earning that honor, previously doing it more than a decade prior with the Phoenix Suns.
Both teams also had their star guards win MVP, as well as D’Antoni winning Coach of the Year. Steve Nash won in 2004-2005, and James Harden did it in 2017-2018. That’s no coincidence, as D’Antoni was an offensive genius, going back to his days coaching in Italy.
Focusing on the Rockets, though, he got the whole team shooting nothing but layups, threes, and free throws. Exactly what you imagine when you Harden-ball, but it wasn’t just James Harden influencing the whole team. It was a team-wide mandate, as discussed on Roundtable.
The stats back that up, too, as they were first as a team in three pointers attempted and made, as well as free throw attempts. They finished all the way down in second place in terms of the most free throws made, though, per Basketball-Reference.
TeamRankings also shows that Houston scored the sixth most points in the paint per game in 2016-2017, proving how much they stuck to their game plan. I can’t exactly say the same thing about this current Rockets team.
There’s still no clear direction for this team moving forward, let alone a clear playstyle for the team to stick with. Defense, physicality, and attention to detail are always points of focus, but aren’t engrained in the team yet. They’re consistent issues and talking points for Ime Udoka.
Obviously they’re so much younger, so no one’s expecting them to compete for championships like Harden in his prime, but it’s hard to see what the ceiling could be when no one knows what the team will even look like. It currently feels like they’re just treading water.
At this rate, I don’t see Amen Thompson, Alperen Şengün, Reed Sheppard, or Jabari Smith Jr. becoming superstar talents like James Harden. To be fair though, who thought the sixth man would turn into a bonafide Hall of Famer? Sometimes it takes a little luck to go with a lot of hard work. The talent is there.
