With losses piling up for them early into this season, Houston Rockets star forward Carmelo Anthony says that the team needs to find identity amid their obvious defensive struggles.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweeted out this statement from the 34-year old forward.
“We’ve just got to figure out how exactly we want to play defensively. … A lot of guys weren’t here last year, so now it’s time for us to create our own identity for what this team is and what we’re going to be moving forward.”
While this could be a surprising line from a player who is oft-criticized for his defensive limitations, Anthony is speaking volumes of truth in here. The Rockets suffered another blowout loss last night, a 113-133 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers. It was their fourth loss in five games, a surprising trend for a team that is heavily-favorited in the stacked Western Conference.
But the alarming statistic in each loss is that all of their opponents have eclipsed the 100-point mark. While this could be a domino effect of head coach Mike D’Antoni’s faster style of game, defense is still a primary weapon for every successful team in the NBA.
Still, Anthony could use his own statements to motivate himself on both ends of the floor. He may be getting into his comfort zone in terms of offense in the past couple of games, but he is still an average -15 in plus-minus during their losses, indicating that Anthony is still finding his own identity in the Rockets’ system.
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