The three-point shooting rate exceeded 4 percent! The Rockets shooter benefited from Amen, Udoka had a showdown, and the new tactic worked
In this summer's offseason, the Rockets' most successful signings were probably the signing of Dillon Brooks, VanVleet, and Jeff Green, but don't forget that the Rockets actually signed Aaron Holiday as a point guard with a one-year salary.
Even if Amen Thompson of the Rockets has been back for a long time as now, Holiday still has his place on the Rockets. Holiday appeared in 30 games for the Rockets, averaging 6.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.5 steals in 17.9 minutes per game, shooting 41.1% from three-point range, making him one of the Rockets' best three-point shooters. In fact, in the Rockets, Aaron Hody is not known for his good passing, but his three-point shooting ability is too strong, and the Rockets often treat and use Holiday as an outside shooter.
Especially after Amen Thompson's comeback, it is Amen Thompson who holds the ball, and as an outside shooter without the ball, it is the 28-year-old Aaron Holiday who is in charge. Although Aaron Holiday is not tall, he has very good physical fitness, can run and jump, and has quite good speed and confrontation ability, which directly makes up for Aaron Holiday's lack of height, and Holiday has always been a reliable three-point shooter.
Holiday has shot 40 percent from three-point range with the Rockets this season, making him one of the Rockets' best outside shooters. When Thompson was out injured and when VanVleet came off the floor, Holiday was more of a point guard with the ball, and he didn't have many opportunities to shoot threes, but Amen Thompson returned and he became the Rockets' backup point guard.
Udoka said that Amen Thompson played well, so Aaron Holiday and many other Rockets players could benefit from it. In other words, Amen Thompson holds the ball more often, which frees up Holiday and makes the pressure on him less ball-bearing.
As long as Holiday can shoot three-pointers on the offensive end, this is his main task in the Rockets, and the distribution of offensive resources with the ball has long been allocated to the two traditional point guards of VanVleet and Amen Thompson to execute, and as long as Aaron Holiday does a good job as a fixed-point shooter, the Rockets have his place.
Therefore, the reason why Holiday was able to gain a foothold in the Rockets, in addition to his own efforts, was that Amen Thompson shared too much ball-handling work for him, so that Holiday had more time to analyze the situation on the court, to find his position, and then to shoot open three-pointers. As Udoka said in the showdown, Amen Thompson's growth and progress have benefited many players led by Holiday and others. Amen and Holiday have a clear division of labor between the two with the ball and the other with a clear division of labor, and the Rockets' new tactics have taken shape.