The Rockets’ Stars of the Future Are Still Being Disrespected

The Houston Rockets officially started the 2026-2027 NBA season with a blowout win on their home court. While it was great to get regular season hoops back in our lives, and even better for the Rockets to come out victorious, that doesn’t mean everything is sunshine and rainbows. 

I noticed a couple of concerning things throughout their season-opener, though. Mainly with how the opposing defense decided to match up. In one word, it just felt disrespectful. 

The Dallas Mavericks were shorthanded in the front-court, with newly acquired big-man, Santi Aldama still yet to make his Mavs debut. Their 2023 lottery pick and starting center, Dereck Lively II, has also been out of the lineup for the better part of this past year. 

This could’ve been the reason why they felt more comfortable with PJ Washington guarding Alperen Şengün, but that still seemed like an odd choice to me. Washington is four inches shorter and about 15 pounds lighter than Şengün. Plus, he’s not known as some defensive stopper. 

Sure, he’s a solid defender and a tough-guy on their team, but he’s never been in consideration for an All-Defensive Team. Opposing teams shouldn’t feel so comfortable putting a guy like that on a two-time All-Star who still has room to grow. To make matters worse, Şengün was struggling to use that size advantage to start the game. 

If that doesn’t make you a little uneasy, then just wait until you see who Dallas had their guarding if it wasn’t Şengün. That’s right, Daniel Gafford was tasked with defending Amen Thompson. It’s never a great look to have a paint protector assigned to a guard. 

That’s what happens to the likes of Ben Simmons and Russell Westbrook, when defenses know you’re not a threat from outside the paint. The Mavericks rookie coach, Dusty May, had no issue with going to that strategy in the first seconds of this new season. 

Clearly the whole NBA knows what Houston’s flaws are, but thankfully Dallas just wasn’t good enough to take advantage of that. This will definitely be something to keep an eye on moving forward, though. 

I’m interested to see if the San Antonio Spurs choose to use the same tactics in tonight’s game. We already saw them use it to their advantage last season, so I wouldn’t be too surprised. 

Will it be a consistent theme for every team who plays Houston? Will it be an effective way to slow the Rockets down? Or will their improved three-point shooting be enough to punish teams? 

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