It was King Pyrrhus of Epirus who said, “Another such victory and we are lost,” after his men defeated the Romans in battle in 279 BC.
Well, at least the quote is attributed to him. I’m skeptical of any history from more than, say, a millennium ago. Let’s try again.
It was King Harden of Houston who said, “This situation is crazy, and it can’t be fixed”. That one is easily verified with video proof. His proclamation came on the heels of the “micro ball” Rockets. The team’s decision to unlock Russell
Westbrook’s offense by flipping Clint Capela for Robert Covington and starting the 6’5” P.J. Tucker at the 5 should be classified as a Pyrrhic victory:
They won, but at what cost?
The micro-Rockets looked good until they ran into the macro-Lakers. Shockingly, a group of guys who’d stand just a little bit taller than your rec league squad couldn’t overcome an army of behemoths. The Los Angeles’ jumbo-sized lineups taught the Rockets an ancient basketball truth: Big is good. The Lakers grabbed an astonishing 25.4% of their possible offensive rebounds in this series. More opportunities to shoot equal more shots. It’s a simplified, brutally effective version of basketball.
Luckily for the 2025-26 Rockets, it’s a good strategy.
Rockets built to bludgeon opponents
In 2024-25, the Rockets had a 36.3% Offensive Rebounding Percentage. That’s the highest mark in NBA history.
In 2025-26, they’ll be even bigger.
Have you looked at this depth chart? There is a distinct lack of guards. With Fred VanVleet sidelined, it’s just Reed Sheppard and Aaron Holiday. That sounds like a problem:
It doesn’t have to be.
The same philosophical mechanisms that led to micro ball then lead us to the solution today: positionless basketball. What is a guard? If a wing brings the ball past the half-court and there’s no audience to witness it, does the ball still get past the half-court?
Amen Thompson should start in the backcourt. Kevin Durant can play the 2. Why can’t Tari Eason? Is Josh Okogie even tall enough to play for the 2025-26 Rockets? The Rockets can have a size advantage every night. Just imagine the lineup possibilities:
C: Alperen Sengun
PF: Jabari Smith Jr.
SF: Kevin Durant
SG: Tari Eason
PG: Amen Thompson
Not big enough for you? OK.
C: Steven Adams
PF: Alperen Sengun
SF: Jabari Smith Jr.
SG: Kevin Durant
PG: Amen Thompson
You want to get nuts? You really want to release your inhibitions? Behold!
C: Steven Adams
PF: Clint Capela
SF: Alperen Sengun
SG: Jabari Smith Jr.
PG: Kevin Durant
Am I joking? I think so. Kind of? Would it kill Udoka to run this for a few minutes and see what happens? We once thought that the sun revolved around the Earth. What if this lineup is a revelation? What if five years from now, teams are wondering why anyone ever ran sub-7-footers at the highest level of competition?
Could the Rockets change basketball?
The Rockets will need guard play
Let’s curb our enthusiasm a little bit. Everybody calm down.
Size is an advantage in basketball. That was true when the Rockets tried to circumvent it, and it’s true today. Microball was born out of desperation. It was a last-ditch effort to right the unconscionable wrongness of the Chris Paul-for-Russell Westbrook swap.
When the Rockets set out to build the current team, they had a blank slate. They could build any team they wanted (within reason). Yet here they are again. God forbid the Houston Rockets just run a balanced, conventionally excellent basketball team. We’re forever the mad scientists trying to find an undiscovered formula. The Rockets have a long-standing organizational impetus to look for an edge.
This is a better edge than that one. Size is good in basketball because the game is about putting an orange sphere through a metal ring that hangs higher than (almost) anyone can touch without jumping. Height puts you closer to the ring. Strength helps you push people away from the ring.
The ability to go small retains value. Five-out lineups that lean into space and mobility are useful. The Rockets can do that too:
C: Jabari Smith Jr.
PF: Kevin Durant
SF: Tari Eason
SG: Amen Thompson
PG: Reed Sheppard
Look at that. Everyone but Smith Jr. (who’s tall enough, but just a bit slight of frame) and Sheppard is above positionally average size, and everyone but Thompson can shoot. Even when the Rockets go small, they’re big.
Recall the team that was really the catalyst for microball. The Warriors changed the sport by simply recognizing that putting a 6’7” Draymond Green at the 5 yielded advantages. It was a marvel of modern engineering.
It would have amounted to nothing if not for a certain 6’1” -ish Golden Angel of Divine Order’s ability to hit a three from 100 feet away, blindfolded with his legs tied together without changing his form.
(Still angry).
The point here is that guard play still matters. Or, perhaps the point is that the only edge worth pursuing is being better than your opponent. Nabakov said it best: “There is only one school: that of talent.”
The Rockets may suffer from a lack of ball-handling. They may make so much of their rebounding edge as to render that disadvantage relatively moot. One thing is certain:
If they can win an NBA championship by being bigger than everyone, they can cast a shadow over 2019-20.
(Ps. I’m back! For readers who remember me: I missed it here so badly, y’all. It’s good to be home. For readers that don’t: I’m the guy that always said Alperen Sengun was a can’t-miss star. Remember that! Most people in the comments doubted him, but not me.)
