Ben DuBose

And it might be just a reflection of stylistically how Ime Ujoka chooses to coach.

And this year, especially, some of the things we've seen, the three-point slump in January.

I mean, if you don't have your legs, you're going to miss more threes.

And in February, you know, the increased turnovers across the board, most notably from KD.

Yeah, you get sloppy and you're not as willing to dive on the floor to secure those 50-50 balls if your legs aren't there.

And the good news is that we have seen many of these issues the past two years.

There was no KD, but there were pieces of this team and they got fixed on the other side of the All-Star break when they had a week to recharge.

And, you know, they got their second wins, if you will.

Reed Shepard is a guy who, even though it's year two, it's basically like year one in terms of adjusting to the NBA calendar because he played so infrequently as a rookie.

I mean, you can be optimistic that, historically, Emile Ducas coached teams play well after the All-Star break.

And you also look at the schedule.

Amongst Western Conference contenders, I think the Rockets had the easiest, the sixth easiest in the entire NBA.

The team right in front of them in the standings in the race for number three and to be on the opposite side of the bracket from the Thunder.

The Nuggets had the most difficult left in the entire NBA.

So the Rockets have a relatively easy remaining schedule.

The Nuggets, the team right in front of them, has the hardest.

Historically, under Imi Udoka, the Rockets have been much better after the All-Star break.

So there are reasons to be optimistic.

And on paper, you know, the fix isn't that difficult.

When I look at this year's Rockets team, there's basically three versions.