The Houston Rockets were among the most blocked teams in the NBA last season. This year, they look set to be so again. Does it matter? Blocks against (BLKA) are a clunky-sounding NBA statistic with generally clunky applications. Blocks themselves have fallen somewhat out of favor as an evaluative model for rim protectors. BLKA, more than anything, tend to showcase which players score in the paint a lot. However, there are exceptions.
The Rockets Get Blocked And Just Keep Coming
The Stats Match the Eye Test
The eye test has long suggested that Jabari Smith Jr. gets blocked a lot. He was, however, only fourth on the Rockets in BLKA per game last season. One of the players ahead of him was Tari Eason, who played only 22 games and can be discounted. However, recently extended stars Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green were the other two.
The reason that Smith stands out in the eye test is because of how little he scores in the paint. Last season, Smith averaged 4.9 points in the paint (PITP) and got blocked 0.7 times a game. Of the 50 players to average the most BLKA per game, Smith averaged the fewest PITP besides six-foot-one Dennis Schroder at 4.8 (65-game minimum). That means that he was blocked once for every 7.0 PITP. For comparison, Zion Williamson scored 10.4 PITP for each time he was blocked last year, on far greater volume. There were players with a worse ratio than Smith though.
One of them was Green. Green averaged exactly 7.0 PITP per game and got blocked 1.3 times. That’s only 5.4 PITP per BLKA. Similar to Smith, those numbers match the eye test. In Green’s case, it was easy to observe that he ended many of his drives with wild, contested attempts in traffic. These were often blocked. All-Star Damian Lillard did have a similar ratio last year; 5.7 PITP per BLKA, but Lillard’s first season with the Milwaukee Bucks was a down year. Still, jump-shooting guards are expected to get blocked in the paint sometimes.
Why the Rockets Bigs Get Blocked
One reason Smith was blocked so often relative to the amount he scored in the paint was that many of his paint touches came from his own offensive rebounds. In this situation, he would invariably go up with the ball again immediately, regardless of any defenders in the vicinity. While court awareness clearly isn’t one of Smith’s strengths, it’s hard to fault him for that aggressiveness. Better that he gets blocked than turns down easy shots around the rim for fear of bogeymen over his shoulder.
Some good news for Jabari is that Naz Reid had a very similar PITP and BLKA ratio last season. He scored 5.7 PITP per game with 0.8 BLKA. Reid may be a backup, but he was rewarded for that with the Sixth Man of the Year award. Smith has an earthquake-proof floor of being a high-quality role-player for a very long time. Any improvement he can make to his game, such as possibly adding the occasional pump fake, will only elevate his ceiling. He’s still only 21 years old.
The Resident Finesse Finisher Too
The more-than-occasional pump fake didn’t stop Sengun from being blocked nearly twice as often as Smith last season at 1.2 BLKA per game. Sengun’s BLKA didn’t stand out as much because he averaged 14.7 PITP per game. As often as Sengun got “got” by a shot-blocker, he would fake one way, fake the other, get the shot-blocker up in the air, and finish smoothly for the and-one (which he would typically miss after whispering sweet nothings to the ball).
Will The Rockets Be Blocked Less This Season?
So far in 2024-25, which is not a lot of games, the Rockets are third in BLKA with 7.8 per game. Last season, they were seventh with 5.9. What may be more significant than that precise placement, is the company that they kept. Of the six teams that averaged more BLKA than the Rockets last season, only the Philadelphia 76ers won over 31 games. The Sixers and Denver Nuggets, who are first and second at the moment, have both had difficult starts. It turns out it’s probably not a good thing for a team to get blocked a lot.
Green’s Blazing Start
Of the Rockets’ BLKA leaders last season, Green’s numbers were probably the most problematic for the offense overall given the volume and comparison with his PITP. But Green is off to a good start in the 2024-25 season. So far, though, he’s actually averaging the exact same BLKA per game as last season. His PITP per game has meanwhile improved by one. The basis of Green’s good start has been shooting extremely well from three. In particular, he’s been shooting very well on extremely high volume. He’s so far taking 11.5 threes per game and converting at a 41.3% rate. It’s unlikely that holds up, if for no other reason than because teams would start defending him differently.
Meanwhile, the Rockets’ current 2024-25 BLKA numbers are probably exacerbated by playing the Spurs twice in the first four games. The Spurs were third in blocks per game last season. Partly because of the Victor Wembanyama matchup and partly because of his own shaky start, Sengun himself is currently averaging 2.3 BLKA. That’s compared with only 8.1 PITP. Those numbers shouldn’t last many more games. The big news for the Rockets is that if Green can continue establishing himself as an effective volume scorer from three, then his PITP and BLKA ratio should begin to improve as well. Defenses will have less leeway to pack the paint against him and he’ll be able to be more selective with his drives.
The Last Word
Ultimately, the Rockets may remain a high BLKA team this season. In a way, it represents the culture they’re trying to build under head coach Ime Udoka. Whether it’s Eason, Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, or any of the players already discussed, the Rockets have a motley crew of paint crashers who aren’t afraid of being embarrassed by anyone. These Rockets will get blocked, and the very next play they’ll come crashing in again to put that shot-blocker on a poster. It’s not necessarily the prettiest brand of basketball. It may not be the smartest. But it is a heck of a lot of fun to watch.
