Houston Rockets Daily Rocket Science: And another win bites the dust

Another day, another Houston Rockets loss.

It’s a disturbing trend that is developing with a team that was lauded as one of the best in the preseason. It can’t be hammered home enough that the preseason and the opinions from it are absolutely useless – not just in the NBA, in any sport.

If you didn’t read yesterday’s DRS, it may have seemed as if I was a bit worried. Now that I’ve calmed down, I can tell you rationally the Rockets are a total mess. Losing again last night 111-95 to the Boston Celtics was no different than any of the other seven losses in the young season.

Miscommunication, a lack of defensive intensity and pieces that don’t seem to know where they go are all bad trends forming from all these games. The whole league is taking notice, and now the question becomes: is something wrong internally with Houston? Is there a rift with the players and Kevin McHale? Time will tell.

For more doomsday reading, take a gander below.

Houston Rockets news and notes from around the web

This is something that is needing attention in the worst way. My worst Ty Lawson fear has become reality: the Rondo affect. Last season Rondo came in and totally wrecked the Dallas Mavericks offense, and it appears Lawson has done the same in Houston. The numbers don’t lie, and my wonderful editor does a great job as to why Lawson needs to be benched.

Houston Rockets: It’s Time To Move Ty Lawson To the Bench! [Space City Scoop – Tamberlyn Richardson]

"Incredibly the Rockets are better without Lawson offensively and a wash defensively. His offensive plus/minus is 5.5 points worse than last season with and Value Over Replacement Player is perhaps the most telling given he registers as a negative also a first in his career. Denver"

So… you got a defense? Nope. That’s what Houston would say, because they have no defense at all. The Rockets look indifferent, uninterested, confused – or in other words… total “F-it” mode. Grant Hughes really drives the point home in the beginning of this column, and there are some other good basketball tidbits for the general NBA fan.

Houston Rockets Defense Continues to Be Glaring Issue and Monday NBA Takeaways [Bleacher Report NBA – Grant Hughes]

"Houston dropped its fourth straight game because it played indifferent defense and suffered from bone-dry scoring droughts. And all of it stemmed from a curious combination of poor effort and the absence of urgency. You know, the things head coach Kevin McHale’s been complaining about for a week."

You’re not the only one perplexed as to what disease the Rockets have caught in the last week. Kevin McHale is stumped too, which could lead to an unfortunate dismissal if he doesn’t figure something out soon. I think McHale is a good coach, but this is what he’s paid to figure out – and if something doesn’t happen soon I fear for his safety.

Kevin McHale searches for answers after another Rockets loss [ESPN NBA – Calvin Watkins]

"McHale said there are no excuses for poor efforts on defense or players hanging their heads when things go wrong. He’s trying different rotations and even admitted to possibly benching starting point guard Ty Lawson."

As for the fans reactions, here’s an unflattering collection of tweets regarding peoples faces when they watch the Rockets play:

Now as far as my @HoustonRockets are concerned… pic.twitter.com/cdvh81sVZu

— Big Chan Trill OG™ (@_southernbelle) November 17, 2015

>HOUSTON ROCKETS pic.twitter.com/1YLjBVKiB0 — Thievin’ Stealberg (@TrillGrandpa) November 17, 2015

Hey @HoustonRocketspic.twitter.com/J9czuWMiQ1

— Mark Seidel (@_MarkSeidel) November 17, 2015

Next: Houston Rockets Recall K.J. McDaniels From D-League

The good news? The Rockets can’t lose tonight because there is no game. Hey, the Texans dropped the undefeated Bengals Monday! That’s something right? Maybe we can get JJ Watt to play some time at power forward? I’ll try anything at this point.

Happy Tuesday y’all.