Mike D’Antoni said Houston is going to make only minor tweaks to its offense after acquiring Russell Westbrook in a blockbuster trade from Oklahoma City.
The Rockets coach is confident Westbrook will fit into the lineup playing alongside James Harden, and they won't need to make drastic changes in order to accommodate both All-Stars.
“We’re not changing much,” D’Antoni said on the “The Woj Pod” while discussing the addition of Westbrook. “We’ll tweak it, but to say you’ve gotta change and you can’t win that way, that’s B.S.”
Some critics believe the Rockets don't spread the ball around enough and play too much isolation. Now, some are questioning whether it'll be even more challenging to play that type of offense with both Harden and Westbrook, who are two ball-dominant players, on the court.
D’Antoni, however, doesn't think it'll be a problem because the two want to play together, and they previously teamed up in Oklahoma City. He said: They’ll “make it work.”
Houston’s Mike D’Antoni on The Woj Pod pic.twitter.com/xVFySpS1aB
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 16, 2019
“Do we sometimes go too much 1-on-1? Yeah,” D'Antoni admitted. “Do we sometimes iso or not move enough? Yeah, we do sometimes. But I can also make the argument that sometimes teams over-pass. You try to find the balance of what is best for your players.”
D’Antoni explained the Rockets will find what works best for both players to maximize their talents.
"I will start looking now at tape and trying to figure out the dynamics between the two and how they played in Oklahoma City and how it’s changed since then, in the Olympics," D'Antoni said (via The Oklahoman). "But it’s exciting. Whenever you have great talent, it’s exciting because it gives you a chance to win, and that’s what we all want to do. But it’ll be my job to maximize their talents and what they do best, and it should be really good.
“I saw it in USA Basketball. You put (the stars) all together and they want to make it work, it doesn’t matter. The more talent you have, the better it is. And I think right now with this duo and other people, it’ll work. Now, to what degree, we’ll see.”