Kenny Atkinson might be what the Houston Rockets need
The Houston Rockets have been a playoff powerhouse in the Western Conference since executive Daryl Morey made his stroke of a genius move by acquiring star James Harden. Since then, the Rockets have found gone to the Western Conference Finals twice, but have failed to break into championship contention.
It felt like Morey made a great move in bringing in head coach Mike D’Antoni in 2016 as Harden continued to bloom under the system. Then, Morey added one of the best point guards in the league in Chris Paul. The team catapulted to a 65-win season and fell one game short of making the NBA Finals.
Since that moment, though, the team has dropped off.
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Chris Paul fizzled out and was flipped for Russell Westbrook. D’Antoni has morphed the team into an isolation heavy offense and a small-ball approach. With D’Antoni likely to be heading out the door after this season when his contract is up, the Houston Rockets should find a coach to go all-in for one last run in 2021 before what could be a franchise-altering offseason.
What lies ahead for the Houston Rockets?
That’s where former Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson might come in. Atkinson, who may seem like an odd candidate for the Rockets after getting the reputation for being a player developing coach during his time with Nets, could be the perfect match to get the team over the top because of his coaching philosophies.
Atkinson actually has a history with Daryl Morey during his time as the Head of Player Development with the Rockets and history with Mike D’Antoni serving as an assistant coach with D’Antoni with the Knicks could be someone the Morey would want to return to Houston as a head coach.
Atkinson’s offense takes root in the offensive philosophies of both Morey and D’Antoni but has grown to be many different and diverse thanks to his time with head assistant Chris Fleming in Brooklyn who was an offensive guru while coaching in the EuroLeague.
Atkinson’s offense could be the key to taking Houston to the top because the offense Houston has run now has stagnated. Sure, the Rockets are second in the league in points per game this season but the offense has completed stagnated in motion. The team is No. 1 in the frequency of isolation plays by a large margin while ranking either 29th or 30th in assists per game, pick-and-roll frequency, and screen usage.
The entire Rockets’ offense has become predictable in that it’s either Harden or Westbrook in isolation and then shooters waiting to jack up 3’s if they get the ball. Meanwhile, with Atkinson, the offense would be much more diverse.
Looking at Atkinson’s offense with the Nets last year when he led them to the playoffs with a similar type of ball-dominant star in D’Angelo Russell, there’s reason to believe if he brings that offense to Houston they would be unpredictable.
Last year’s Nets offense still ranked 5th in isolation frequency which will benefit the team’s stars but it also became a system where multiple ball-handlers can thrive so then the load on Harden and Westbrook would be shared more evenly. In addition to Isolation, the Nets ranked 7th in Pick-and-Roll frequency and 4th in offensive screen usage which like Houston lead them to be top 5 in 3-point attempts in the league.
The Atkinson offense is rooted very similarly to Houston’s but is much more diverse. That offensive diversity should make the Harden-Westbrook duo even more dangerous along with the rest of the team roster because it’s much less predictable then the Rockets are now.
Additionally, Atkinson can come in and bring the defense the Rockets haven’t always had with D’Antoni. This year before being fired, Atkinson had the Nets as the 8th ranked defense in the league, and last year they were tied for 13th. Houston in contrast has had the 16th ranked defense this year, and the 17th ranked last year.
The improvement may only appear to a small one, but Atkinson also never really had the best defensive personnel in Brooklyn, bring him to Houston, and give him versatile defenders like Robert Covington, P.J. Tucker, and an engaged Russell Westbrook and we could see a much improved Rockets defense.
The only considerable downside to the Rockets bringing in Atkinson to be the next head coach is his recently developed reputation for being a coach that doesn’t work with stars after this season in Brooklyn. That idea seems to be a bit overblown because it was just one instance with Irving and Durant who are some of the hardest to coach stars in the league.
After all look at current Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, he had a very similar reputation after failed stints in New York with Carmelo Anthony and Los Angeles with Kobe Bryant. If anything the strict and hard approach Atkinson brings to his coaching appears to be a perfect fit with the personalities of Westbrook, Covington, and Tucker. As long as Harden continues to have success, its a real doubt that he would have a problem with Atkinson either.
What it all comes down to is the pursuit of a championship, this is something that Morey, Harden, and Westbrook have now begun to chase for over a decade. All three of them know that if they ever want their legacies to be up with the elites of their era then they need to hold up the Larry O’Brien trophy in at least one season.
With uncertain future and with their core continuing to age, if the Rockets come away empty-handed in Orlando, it might be time for the team to look in the direction of Kenny Atkinson.