3 centers win less and lose more? The Rockets adjust their starting lineup, but Uduka finds his way back! 3 guards have obvious advantages

One of the characteristics of the Rockets this season is that they often use a three-center lineup. The so-called three-center lineup means three players who can serve as centers are on the court together. Smith Jr. usually plays the role of small forward in the Rockets' starting lineup, while Shen Jing switches to power forward. The 32-year-old veteran Adams becomes the Rockets' starting center. Unfortunately, this so-called top five lineup is not that easy to use. The three centers on the court slowed down the Rockets.

What the Rockets are good at is seizing scoring opportunities in transitions between offense and defense, but with three centers on the court, the Rockets simply cannot increase their speed. The Rockets' overall speed has dropped, and their transition offense will definitely not work, so this three-center lineup has fewer wins and more losses. So far, the Rockets' lineup has only defeated the Cavaliers and lost to the Nuggets, Pistons and Thunder. Therefore, the winning rate of this lineup is not high.

Therefore, in today's game between the Rockets and the Phoenix Suns, due to Durant's injury, Udoka did not use a three-center lineup. In fact, he can continue to use such a tall lineup. Smith Jr. serves as the small forward, Shen Jing and Adams serve as the interior, and Amen Thompson can serve as the point guard. Shepard or Okogie can be used as the shooting guard.

But Uduka gave up the three-center lineup in this game because he knew that such a lineup would not be useful at the beginning. If the Rockets use a three-center lineup, the Suns will definitely be prepared and make targeted adjustments. For example, using a smaller lineup to wear down the Rockets with speed, or using some outside shooters to attack the Rockets, the Rockets will definitely be overwhelmed.

The Rockets took the initiative to adjust their lineup in this game. Shen Jing and Smith Jr. became the regular starting inside linemen, while Okogie, the defender, switched to small forward. The two positions in the backcourt were Amen Thompson and Sheppard. Amen and Shepard were used by the Rockets in the preseason. When they started, the Rockets won all the games.

In this game, the Rockets gave up their height advantage inside and instead pursued speed and three-point shooting from the outside. In this lineup, except for Amen Thompson who is not very good at shooting three-pointers, the other four players are all so-called three-point shooters. Even Shen Jing's three-point shooting rate this season is more than 40%, and Smith Jr., Sheppard and Okogie are the Rockets' sharpshooters.

So, if the Rockets switch to this lineup, using two centers and three guards, it will obviously have obvious advantages. From the game, we can see that the Rockets are faster, they have more and more accurate outside shots, and they are more flexible in responding to the opponent's position changes on the defensive end. The Rockets can rotate quickly on the defensive end, but the Suns cannot increase the speed. This is why the Rockets can take the lead.

It is very necessary for the Rockets to abandon the three-center lineup and the so-called big lineup, because at least from this game, the Rockets' three defenders can obviously activate the entire team, make the Rockets faster, and make the Rockets' outside shooting advantage more obvious.