The Rockets miss Van Jordan! The point guard loophole restricts Durant from rushing to the championship. Will Uduka change his lineup next time?

Although Durant played a wonderful performance, scoring 37 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 1 block, making 9 of 18 field goals, 3 of 3 three-pointers, and 16 of 18 free throws, the Rockets still lost to the Pistons 111-115 at home and suffered two consecutive losses. The Rockets once again exposed their lack of excellent point guards. They had only 15 assists in this game, while the Pistons had 23 assists. The Rockets' "big five" lineup is not working well, and coach Uduka needs to change his lineup.

The Rockets miss Van Jordan extremely now. The championship point guard is a vital piece of the Rockets' championship puzzle, but he suffered a season-ending injury during offseason training, leaving the Rockets with a point guard loophole. The Rockets use Amen Thompson as the starting point guard, but he has a very difficult time playing this position. Shepard, the No. 3 overall pick in 2024, served as the backup point guard, but unfortunately his performance was also incompetent.

Amen has outstanding talent and strong physical fitness, but he has shortcomings in three-pointers. His most suitable position should be shooting guard or small forward. After all, although he has certain organizational skills, he is not outstanding. Amen performed poorly in the first two games of the new season. In the first game, he only scored 18 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, 8 of 17 shots, 0 of 7 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws. In the second game, Amen made 2 of 8 shots, 0 of 1 three-pointers, 6 of 10 free throws, and scored 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Sheppard's offensive efficiency in these two games was low. In the first game, Shepard made 3 of 11 shots, 2 of 7 three-pointers, 1 of 2 free throws, and scored 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists. In the second game, Shepard still made 3 of 11 shots, 3 of 4 three-pointers, and scored 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals.

Both Amen and Sheppard performed incompetently at the point guard position. The Rockets' offense is very jerky and lacks structure.

The Rockets' "big five" lineup has also become a drawback. Many teams in the league now play small lineups, but the Rockets go in the opposite direction. Amen is 2.01 meters tall, and Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Shen Jing and Adams are all 2.11 meters tall.

Although the Rockets' lineup has a height advantage, it lacks a sense of space. In fact, such a lineup also limits Amen's performance, after all, he is better at attacking the basket. But when the Rockets use this lineup, they desperately lack room for breakthrough.

After losing to the Pistons, Rockets coach Uduka admitted that the team's offense was not doing well: "The opponent's defensive strategy this season is to try to defend our players as much as possible. So we must work more in this area and find ways to improve the offensive rhythm, whether it is through pick-and-rolls or running without the ball, but currently we are We are not doing well in this regard. And not only in fast breaks, we definitely also want to play faster and more impactfully in the half-court offense."

As the saying goes, Uduka has had successful experience in using twin towers in the past, but now the Rockets' starting lineup is not twin towers, but 4 people with a height of 2.11 meters. Durant is indeed an outside player, but Jabari Smith Jr., Shen Jing and Adams are all inside players. Playing together can easily cause inside congestion. Moreover, the Rockets playing such a lineup is equivalent to letting many players on the court play positions that they are not most familiar with. Shen Jing is good at playing center and switched to power forward. Jabari Smith Jr. likes to play power forward the most, and now he plays small forward. Durant is good at playing small forward or power forward, and now he plays shooting guard. Durant played shooting guard when he first debuted, but later he was basically at the forward position.

Amen Thompson is good at playing shooting guard or small forward, but now he plays point guard. All in all, the players on the Rockets court were playing a little awkwardly, which is also one of the important reasons for the team's sluggish offense.

The Rockets need to change their formation, consider removing Adams or Jabari Smith Jr., and also need to consider how to solve the problem of the point guard position. Should Sheppard be used as the starting point guard and Amen return to the shooting guard position? Although Sheppard performed poorly in the first two games, he at least has a certain ability to hold the ball and has a good three-point shooting ability, which can open up space.

Another option for the Rockets is to activate Aaron Holiday and let him be the starting point guard. After all, Holiday is more experienced than Shepard, and he also has good defensive abilities. For the Rockets, with Van Jordan reimbursed for the season, they must make up for the loopholes in the point guard. However, they haven't found a suitable method yet. In other words, Amen and Shepard weren't enough to plug the holes.

"We discussed these issues at halftime, but there was no improvement in the second half, and our shooting percentage was very low tonight. So in addition to the okay free throw performance, as I just said, there were few assists and teammates were open everywhere on the court, but we were forcing shots. This is the final result." Uduka criticized the players' offensive choices after the game. The problem he pointed out was precisely the team's lack of excellent point guards.

Durant’s championship plan faces a huge challenge. His offensive role did increase a lot in the second game, but basketball is a sport for five people. Durant also needs the help of a capable assistant, and at the same time, the team needs to truly unleash the team's energy.