Video breakdown: Rockets are revolutionizing small ball, but will it work?

It feels like we’ve been without sports for months at this point. While we may not have new Rockets games to watch, we still have plenty to discuss.

Today we have a video breakdown where I dove deep into 48 minutes of the Rockets’ small ball gameplan and broke down how it has changed them on both sides of the ball. By the end, I try to figure out if this seems like an experiment that is going to end up victorious or not.

On the offensive side, I talk at length about everything from how the additional spacing allows the team’s two lead guards to succeed at the rim, how the additional threes increase the team’s mathematical advantage over all of their opponents, and how their pick-and-roll strategy has evolved.

On the defensive end, I figure out how the team has managed to create a viable interior defense despite having less than no size (spoiler alert: it’s because P.J. Tucker and Robert Covington are defensive stars, but you knew that already), how their new lineup construction has changed the ways teams attack them, and where their biggest weaknesses lay.

Then finally we arrive at the end, where a decision is made on whether or not this is an experiment that will “work,” but first we figure out what that even means for them.

Be sure to let us know what you think about the breakdown in the comments and where you agree and disagree with me. Now let’s hope we eventually get to see this team play again.