Dwight Howard is a defensive-minded player, but right now he is part of a team with the most high-functioning offense. However, the team is a tad one-sided as their defense has been a struggle since the season started. So when the offense failed to get moving against the Phoenix Suns, they lost because the defense simply was not there. This has Howard a little upset and now he is slamming the team's effort.
The Rockets have two-straight losses where they have struggled on both ends of the court. The team shot just 35.2 percent against the Suns and with no defense, the game was a disaster. Howard is a little unhappy with his teammate's inability to get aggressive.
"[Expletive] effort out there on defense and on offense," said Howard, via NBATV.com. "The ball stuck ... We didn't move it and we can't win that way....It had nothing to do with us missing shots. They just played harder than us...It had nothing to do with the offensive game. They just played hard. We know what we [have to] do. It's gotta be important for guys to come out and play the same way every night."
The Rockets have played poorly overall with both Jeremy Lin and Chandler Parsons out with injuries. James Harden went just 3-for-17 on the night including 0-for-10 from behind the arc. The Rockets have looked uninspired the last week and have been unable to match team's energy. As a result the Rockets held a players-only meeting after the Phoenix loss to discuss the attitude of the team.
"We can't give away games like this," Howard said. "It will come back and bite us later on in the season. So we got to learn no matter how many guys we got out there, short-handed and all, we got to play the same way - play hard and play aggressive. It's just [has to] be in you. You can't coach it. You can't draw up plays or anything like that. You just gotta have it."
Head coach Kevin McHale would not let the Rockets use injuries as an excuse for the losses. Along with Parsons and Lin being out, Omer Asik and Greg Smith are sitting, giving the team a lack of size. Despite the depleted roster, McHale says that is simply no excuse not to go out with energy and move the ball well on both sides of the court.
"You still have to play," McHale said. "I don't care who's not there. You just [have to] go play and we didn't play the right way."