Houston Rockets Season Review: Christian Wood

Where Christian Wood Needs to Improve

Christian Wood doesn’t necessarily need to improve anything. If he was a match-up dependent spot starter his current abilities would be perfectly fine. However, he’s one of the Rockets’ best players, and because of that, these are three areas he needs to address for his production to match his role. 

Wood needs to improve meaningfully on defense. He doesn’t need to become an amazing defender, but he has to bring something positive to the table. Whether it’s improving in space or at the rim, anything would help the Rockets' defense meaningfully. 

Passing has to become a bigger and better part of Wood’s game. He is surrounded by athletic guards with good 3-point strokes. At times this season, it seemed that when Wood started to dribble, his teammates would put their hands on their hips and just watch. Tunnel vision is contagious, and it leads to poor team offense. A little more give and a little less take from Wood would do wonders for his game and the team. 

The final area that Wood needs to improve is his on-court leadership. Fixing his oscillating effort and poor body language would go a long way. He doesn’t need to be a vocal leader, but as one of the more experienced players on the roster, he has to take pride in setting a resilient and professional example. In the NBA, talent gets you paid but character keeps you around. Wood needs his on-court character to come close to matching his talent.