A Sun-style tragedy! The top five lineups lost in a row! I really don’t blame Durant this time!

Two games, one against the Thunder away from home and one against the Pistons at home, both were lost.

The Rockets started the season with two consecutive losses and fell to the bottom of the Western Conference rankings.

It is surprising that the Rockets, who spent a lot of money to recruit Durant during the offseason, were brought back to their original form as soon as the season started. Many fans even began to joke, isn't this the "Houston version of the Suns"? There were superstars and a lineup for nothing, and the game was played vigorously, but they couldn't win the ball.

What is the problem behind this losing streak?

Obviously, the main ones are the five lineups Uduka will try in the new season.

Spread out the Rockets' starting lineup for these two games:

Amen Thompson, Durant, Smith Jr., Shen Jing, and Adams.

This lineup does look strong enough. Each player has a high wingspan and defensive potential. It looks like a tough team that can dominate the basket. But problems also arise. When pursuing heights, the team loses the rhythm of the game.

Facing the Thunder in their first game of the season, the Rockets deployed their five lineups for 17 minutes, but only won by 3 points. In the second game against the Pistons, this five-major lineup was directly revealed. Durant worked hard alone throughout the game, scoring 37 points, 3 steals, 1 block, and 0 turnovers in the game, but even so, he still couldn't lead the team to win.

The problem is not difficult to understand. The main reason is that the performance of Shen Jing, Little Smith, and Amen is really terrible. He couldn't make open shots, his free throws were inconsistent, and his transition offense was even slower. On the other hand, the young men from the Pistons on the opposite side were running all over the court, but they were overwhelmed by the Rockets' big men.

Frankly speaking, this kind of five-major lineup is really against the trend of the current NBA rhythm. The current competition in the league is perimeter space and offense-defense transition speed, and the Rockets deploy five big men to confront the opponent's fast-paced youth army. It is indeed difficult to have an advantage.

But why does Uduka persist?

From the coach's perspective, he may want to prove his coaching philosophy more, is unwilling to repeat other people's routes, and wants to develop some of his own basketball system. But the question is, can these players support the coach's ideas? This is the most critical part.

Of course, it is unreasonable to say that these two top five lineups completely failed. Among the Rockets' lineup, the most surprising one must be insider Adams.

This 32-year-old New Zealand veteran has been in the Rockets for his third season. However, in the past, he was mostly a blue-collar substitute. In the playoffs, he only played in the Twin Towers rotation to make up for the loss. However, in the new season, Uduka directly put him into the starting lineup. As a result, he has become the most stable one on the team.

Facing the Pistons, Adams scored a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds on 4-for-4 shooting in 25 minutes, plus 3 steals and 6 offensive rebounds. In the previous game against the Thunder, although he only scored 4 points, he grabbed 13 rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds in the paint.

After two games, they contributed 11 offensive rebounds alone.

In short, Adams alone created 11 more second-attack opportunities for the Rockets. Unfortunately, these 11 opportunities were basically wasted. The Rockets' outside shooters felt cold throughout the game. No matter how many rebounds they grabbed, it was difficult to convert them into points, and it was basically in vain.

Besides Adams, Durant has no problem. He played as a lone hero in the two games. In the first game against the Thunder, he scored 23 points and 9 rebounds in a stable one-on-one game. In the second game against the Pistons, he scored 37 points and made no turnovers. It's just that Durant alone can't help the whole team collapse.

The more efficient Durant plays, the more he becomes a fig leaf for the Rockets, making people mistakenly think that the Rockets' problems are not big, but as long as you have watched the game, you will know what the problems of this team are.

So, is Uduka’s top five lineup worth sticking to?

From a tactical perspective, Uduka continues the system of "offensive space + inside strength". He does not want to give up defensive height, but also wants to get mismatch opportunities on the offensive end. The idea is indeed good enough. But the reality is cruel enough. When the team cannot play fast, there will naturally be no space; and the outside line is unstable, it will naturally be difficult to mobilize the opponent's defense.

Currently, Uduka's current thinking may sound like a gambler's, either to win a shocking reversal that feels online, or to be exhausted by his opponent. It can be seen that he wants to prove that he can build a team that does not rely on three-pointers but relies on head-to-head encounters to win. However, the NBA has never been such an ideal league, especially when the team's point guard system and outside firepower are short-circuited. No matter how strong the inside height advantage is, it is just a decoration.

Looking back at the team's problems, it is indeed not complicated to solve:

The first thing to do is to solve the point guard problem; VanVleet's injury caused the Rockets to lose their brains, and Amen is still growing. In the future, the Rockets still lack a veteran point guard to stabilize the situation.

Secondly, the team must have someone on the perimeter who can shoot. The current Rockets perimeter is indeed too sluggish. No one shoots open three-pointers, and every opportunity Durant gets to score the ball can only be wasted.

Finally, at the tactical level, the five major lineups are not completely undesirable, but they cannot stick to it. They still have to dare to adjust when facing different opponents and try to give Durant some rest time.

In the final analysis, the Rockets' current problem is not that they lack talent, but mainly that they don't know how to use it.

The two consecutive losses are indeed a bit ugly, but it is not hopeless. After all, this is a team that has just changed its blood and established a new tactical concept. As long as they can get their offensive and defensive rhythm back and open up the perimeter, they still have a chance to become the expected young team with championship hopes..

But now they still need to learn one thing:

Don't just rely on the superstar halo, they also need some team bonuses.