Having good point guards has always been a tradition for the Houston Rockets, and for so many years, the Rockets have been without a shortage of stars in their point guard positions. From Steve Francis, who played with Yao Ming that year, to Brooks, Lowry and Dragic, then Jeremy Lin, Beverley, Harden and Paul, as well as Westbrook, who was replaced after only playing for the Rockets for one year, and even the Rockets' ace point guard John Wall last season, the Rockets' No. 1 position has been full of talents in the past 20 years or so.
Even this season, the Rockets' No. 1 spot shows signs of recovery. The Rockets' two-powered guard Kevin Porter Jr., who bought from the Cavaliers with a second-round pick last season, has become the Rockets' most important backcourt player besides Jaylen Green, and even the 21-year-old has long been handpicked by the Rockets management as the core of the future. The rookie duo of Porter Jr. + Green is also seen as the Rockets' backcourt ace for the next 10 years — it's just that the two of them haven't had a good chemistry this season.
After the game against the Lakers, the Rockets' next opponents are the Heat, Nuggets and 76ers, which is the best time to test Green and Porter Jr. In fact, in the previous game against the Lakers, Green and Little Porter's performance has improved a lot compared to before, especially Porter Jr., who has not played for almost a month, although there are many mistakes and the performance is not stable enough, but his data is still very beautiful.
The quasi-double-double stats of 22 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists in a single game, plus 5 of 9 three-pointers, all made Porter's comeback usher in a good start. There is no game today, and Rockets coach Silas also specifically mentioned Porter Jr.'s performance after his comeback in an interview. Silas said: "His (Porter's) defense was not worth mentioning last season, but now he is defending very well, his defensive pressure on the ball carrier, and his body shape. The last time we were against the Lakers, he also defended James for a while, and he did a good job, he worked very hard. ”
That's what Silas said about Porter Jr.'s defensive performance. Overall, it is more objective, although porter Jr.'s performance is a fact, but this season Porter Jr. has made great progress in two skills, one of which is the three-point shooting rate that he has practiced hard in the summer, and his shooting rate has increased to 32.8% this season, compared with 31% of Porter Jr.'s statistics on the Rockets last season.
The other is defense, in order to improve his own defense, Porter Jr. has gained weight and improved his ability to fight. Last season, Porter Jr. did not want to defend, but suffered from too little weight and insufficient ability to fight, so he always leaked people on the defensive end or was knocked away by a breakthrough.
Now, as Silas said, Porter Jr. can not only defend the ball carrier, but even not fall behind against a power forward like James, which is Porter Jr.'s progress, although his mistakes and poor shooting choices may be more eye-catching, but I have to admit that Porter Jr.'s defense is indeed much better than last season. Silas also said that Porter Jr. did not practice in vain for a summer, and the results have been reflected in the game. It seems that gaining weight and practicing strength to improve confrontation is one of the ways for defender players to become stronger, and this promotion method is also suitable for slender defender Jaylen Green.