{"id":160721,"date":"2025-09-28T10:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T14:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=160721"},"modified":"2025-09-28T10:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T14:07:11","slug":"analyzing-sans-vanvleet-houston-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/28\/analyzing-sans-vanvleet-houston-rockets\/","title":{"rendered":"Analyzing the Sans-VanVleet Houston Rockets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Houston Rockets are expected to be without starting point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vanvlfr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fred VanVleet<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/22\/houston-rockets-suffer-early-setback-to-their-title-hopes-due-to-fred-vanvleet-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">entire 2025-26 season<\/a>. Even with some faintly positive <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/27\/what-history-says-about-the-rockets-vanvleet-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">historical precedent<\/a> to fall back on, it&#8217;s a major blow to the team&#8217;s contender credentials. Houston went to great lengths to improve those credentials this offseason, overhauling plenty of personnel. Even so, it&#8217;s worth looking at what kind of team the Rockets were without VanVleet in 2024-25.<\/p>\n<h2>Analyzing the Sans-VanVleet Houston Rockets<\/h2>\n<p>Last season, VanVleet averaged 14.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game. He shot 37.8% from the field and 34.5% from three. None of that screams irreplaceable, especially the shooting splits, which instead might cause screams of their own. But VanVleet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/HOU\/2025.html#per_game_stats::23\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">led the team<\/a> in assists and did so with only 1.5 turnovers per game. He&#8217;s also the only <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/09\/rockets-young-star-thompson-sengun-durant\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">proven NBA-caliber guard<\/a> on the roster. Oh, and he went nuclear for a few games in the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fred VanVleet Was IN HIS BAG For 29 PTS vs Warriors | May 2, 2025\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jXf1dw0sv44?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Overall, without VanVleet, the Rockets went 11-11 in 2024-25. VanVleet&#8217;s main absence was over a stretch from February 3rd to March 10th. Technically, he did put in an appearance on March 1 against the Clippers. It was an extended appearance at that, playing a whopping 34 minutes and 45 seconds. Unfortunately, he went 1 for 8 from the field and was immediately added back to the injury list. Houston isn&#8217;t likely to make the same mistake again.<\/p>\n<h3>The Wins and Losses<\/h3>\n<p>Houston lost the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vanvlfr01\/gamelog\/2025\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first four games<\/a> in a row after VanVleet went down. Adding to the adjustment of losing their floor general, the four games were also a cross-country road trip. Notably, however, Houston had only two four-game losing streaks over the whole of 2024-25. The second one, which included the first game of the playoffs, was also sans VanVleet for two of the games.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, those late-season games were after the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/10\/resting-rockets-2-seed\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">two-seed had already been secured<\/a>. Houston was giving extended minutes to the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/landajo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jock Landale<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whitmca01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cam Whitmore<\/a>, and, of course, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sheppre01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reed Sheppard<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>The Numbers<\/h3>\n<p>VanVleet was on the court for a total of 16 minutes and 34 seconds this February. For the month, the Rockets went 4-7 for a 41.7% win rate. Somehow, that rate was even lower than their field goal percentage over that span. They shot just 43.5% from the field for the month, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?Month=5&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=FG_PCT\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">third-worst<\/a> percentage in the league. They also achieved the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?Month=5&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=AST\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second-fewest<\/a> assists per game over the same period.<\/p>\n<p>Houston didn&#8217;t excel in these categories even with VanVleet, no surprise given his own shooting. They were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=FG_PCT\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">21st<\/a> in field goal percentage for the season. That&#8217;s obviously not good, but it&#8217;s a step up from 28th. Meanwhile, while they were still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=AST\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">third-to-last<\/a> in assists for the season overall, their turnovers per game went from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=TOV\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">11th fewest<\/a> for the season to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?Month=5&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=TOV\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">12th most<\/a> in February.<\/p>\n<h3>The Numbers Udoka Cares About<\/h3>\n<p>All of these are just the numbers behind what people already assumed. The Houston Rockets&#8217; offense is even uglier without its only viable point guard. What might be slightly more surprising is that their defense was actually worse as well. Their defensive rating, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fifth for the season<\/a>, dropped to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?Month=5&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ninth in February<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In fairness, that could just be the numbers behind what head coach Ime Udoka has always assumed. As much as VanVleet is a stabilizing presence on offense, it&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/23\/rockets-josh-okogie-lockdown-defense\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">no surprise<\/a> that Udoka claims to mainly like him because of his defense. With Houston&#8217;s abundance of athletic wings, both this season and last, VanVleet was rarely relied on for guarding the primary offensive creator. Instead, a smart, always engaged defender, VanVleet was constantly finding ways to make himself useful and help organize his teammates. The Rockets will miss him on this end as well.<\/p>\n<p>However, a coinciding absence for Houston last year was that of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithja05.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jabari Smith Jr<\/a>. Smith missed roughly half of February and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithja05\/gamelog\/2025\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nearly the entirety of January<\/a>, when Houston&#8217;s defensive rating was all the way <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?Month=4&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">down at 17th<\/a>. But even if Smith&#8217;s defensive contributions were more greatly missed than VanVleet&#8217;s, the Rockets overall didn&#8217;t miss a beat. For the month, in which VanVleet missed only one game and Smith played only one, the Rockets were 11-4 for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?Month=4&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=W_PCT\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">73.3% win rate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>Houston&#8217;s 2025-26 team will not be the same as the VanVleet-less 2024-25 Rockets. Whether there&#8217;s an NBA-caliber point guard on the roster or not, swapping <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greenja05.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Green<\/a>&#8216;s offense for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a> is a big deal. Of course, leaning heavily on Durant as a primary ballhandler was very much not part of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/12\/the-rockets-role-for-kevin-durant-will-make-fans-happy\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Houston&#8217;s plan<\/a> going into this season. There are <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/23\/five-ways-the-rockets-could-overcome-fred-van-vleets-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">other avenues<\/a> for Houston to try to fill this void. However, there isn&#8217;t a sure thing among them. There is one thing all this analysis makes clear, though: the sans-VanVleet Rockets will keep Houston&#8217;s psychoanalysts busy all season long.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Houston Rockets are expected to be without starting point guard Fred VanVleet for the entire 2025-26 season. Even with some faintly positive historical precedent to fall back on, it&#8217;s a major blow to the team&#8217;s contender credentials. Houston went to great lengths to improve those credentials this offseason, overhauling plenty of personnel. Even so, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5223,"featured_media":160769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,31,62],"tags":[1244],"class_list":["post-160721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-rockets","category-nba","tag-fred-vanvleet"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160721"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160770,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160721\/revisions\/160770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}