Houston Rockets: 3 goals for P.J. Tucker in 2018-19
3. Thrive in Mike D’Antoni‘s small-ball lineup once again
Although Tucker is listed as a forward, it was at the 5-spot where the swingman managed to do the majority of his damage a year ago, as the 6’5″, 240-pound force proved to be one of the best small-ball weapons under head coach Mike D’Antoni.
During the course of the regular season and playoffs last season, Houston featured a five-man cast that consisted of Tucker, Chris Paul, James Harden, Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza in a lineup that became known as Tuckwagon — a switch-heavy and perimeter-oriented scheme in which Tucker was called on to guard multiple assignments, crash the glass, and serve as an auxiliary shooter behind Paul and Harden.
The NBA has lineup data going back to 2008.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) May 13, 2018
Among lineups to play at least 50 minutes, no lineup has a net rating as high as the Hamptons 5 or the combined Rockets variations on Tuckwagon so far. Both have net ratings of outscoring opponents by 40 points per 100 possessions.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/997099421346222082
"“That’s my favorite lineup,” Tucker told reporters when discussing the lineup during the Rockets playoff run. “We feel like we’re the best at that, when we go small. We feel like nobody can do what we do…our small ball lineup is the best in the league.”"
While one can only ponder how the given lineup will look around the namesake’s wide array of skills this season, Rockets fans should see a few variances of it at the beginning of the year, as the addition of Carmelo Anthony will likely inspire D’Antoni to tinker with various rotations.
Should Tucker continue playing solid defense and accomplish the following goal on the list, then there is a strong chance that the Tuckwagon experiment could officially be here to stay.