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Why Robert Covington makes the Rockets Legitimate Championship Contenders. A Thread:
Covington is an elite perimeter defender and has shown his interior defense and rim protection abilities as well with the new role in Houston. His ability to space the floor, guard bigs and the perimeter provides versatility for Houston.
His steals are down due to him playing inside more but he’s capable of averaging 2 steals per game as he’s done multiple times in his career. A very unique piece to have defensively
Covington has protected the rim well for Houston and allows them to add switching into their Defensive scheme if needed. Here he drops down from the corner to block Gobert’s shot
Every team Roco has joined he’s immediately impacted defensively and improved defenses because of his length and versatility. Not only does he have the tools but his ability to read plays and disrupt them shows he’s a smart player overall and he uses all of them to his advantage
His ability to play passing lanes correctly and his help defense is fantastic. Here he recognizes they want to feed AD who has a mismatch and times his help correctly to get the steal on the entry pass
Rim Protection. Comes off Clarke to help and gets the block on Morant after getting by Harden, his feel for the game defensively is Elite.
Picking up D-Lo full court and , forces the turnover. How many players would you trust to block Gobert, strip Kawhi, and then pick up D’angelo Russell full court, very few.
Despite him not being an on ball scoring threat, his impact offensively has been huge providing much needed spacing at the Center position. Houston is now able to have every player playing on the perimeter, forcing the opposing Center to leave the paint.
Covington has the trust from the team in which they run off ball actions to get him open on the perimeter such as here. Makes it difficult for teams to defend when he’s hitting his shots
The biggest beneficiary thus far from the spacing has been Russell Westbrook. Averaging approx 32 PPG on 54% shooting from the field since Roco has joined, the extra spacing maximizes Russell Westbrook’s ability.
Covington, while his efficiency is only 35% from 3, he has a large volume at 8 attempts per game in which teams must respect at the Center position. Westbrook then is able to isolate a defender and get by them, not many players can stand in front of Westbrook one on one.
The transition game has improved as well as bigs have to worry about protecting the 3 rather than running to the paint, here it causes confusion between AD and Mcgee
While Westbrook has flourished,Harden was in the middle of a slump efficiency wise.If the break allowed him to get some rest and he can come back to usual form,the Rockets will have the most explosive back court in the playoffs and one of the Most versatile pieces in the Playoffs
