After spending a week in China, Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was in a regular-season mood on Friday.
With a preseason game on Saturday against Memphis, D’Antoni wasn’t about to give young players more playing time or veterans a break, despite a 13-hour flight and dealing with a time change.
“But there was a rumor out there we’d play a lot of young guys,” D’Antoni said. “This is a game for us [Saturday in which] we’re playing our guys. We don’t have time to throw away. We went to China, and we’re traveling and time change. You do miss a couple of days. We don’t have time to say, ‘Oh, let’s play these guys to give them a look.’ No, I’ll watch them [in practice on Friday]. Tomorrow I’ll play our other guys and try to have a great game; a quarter [the young players] may get a time to shine, and we’ll see what they’ll do.”
D’Antoni wasn’t pleased with some defensive lapses during the two games against New Orleans, both victories. Guard Eric Gordon said D’Antoni got on the team for some poor defensive play at times.
“We can be really good, especially defensively,” Rockets guard James Harden said. “We have a lot of scorers and we’re looked at as an offensive team. Our job is to get down defensively, and that’s our mindset and make sure we’re on the same page.”
D’Antoni discovered he likes playing last year’s first-round pick Sam Dekker at power forward, leading to the Rockets moving further away from unsigned restricted free agent power forward Donatas Motiejunas.
The Rockets would like to see Motiejunas on the team, but his absence opened the door for Dekker.
“Yeah, I think right now in our system, and it changes on different teams, in our system, I see him as a really good 4,” D’Antoni said of Dekker playing power forward full-time. “And he’s come on. He’s embraced it and he wants to play. If I ask him to play [small forward] or [power forward], it doesn’t matter. Our 4s and 3s are not that much different. He gives us a lot of power and a lot of speed coming off the bench on the 4.”
D’Antoni also praised last year’s second-round pick, Montrezl Harrell, who in the uptempo offensive system will play center. At 6-foot-8, Harrell seems undersized for center, but his energy level should provide the Rockets with some boost.
There are some downsides upon the Rockets' return to the country.
Backup veteran point guard Pablo Prigioni didn’t practice Friday and is doubtful for Saturday’s game with a left shoulder sprain.
D’Antoni said starting combo guard Patrick Beverley, who missed the trip to China, most likely will miss the rest of the preseason because of left knee irritation. There’s a chance that Beverley, who was riding a stationary bike before Friday’s practice, could return for the season opener.
D’Antoni said the Rockets miss Beverley’s defensive presence in the backcourt. Harden said it doesn’t matter who plays beside him -- K.J. McDaniels, Beverley or Gordon -- because he’ll continue his aggressive manner of play.
The Rockets were in good spirits on Friday, with a 4-0 record and knowing that the quality of their play has been strong.
“It’s still early,” said Harden, who is averaging 21 points per game. “A lot of really good things are happening. Still have a long way to go, but we’re definitely [going] in the right direction on both ends of the floor. It’s going to be good.”
