Are the Houston Rockets Playing with Enough Urgency?

The Houston Rockets are talented—no one denies this.

But to be true title contenders, the team will need to transcend a mere reliance on their ability to ball. They’ll have to ratchet their intensity up, exert a greater focus on the game.

Through the first few weeks of the 2013-14 season, there’s been much criticism of their effort. Whether it’s James Harden’s much-memed defensive indifference, the losses to inferior teams (Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers), the excessive turnovers (they average 19.1 per game, which is the most in the league) or Dwight Howard’s paltry free-throw shooting (he’s been below 55 percent from the line all season), the Rockets have given their skeptics plenty of fuel for their doubt.

Perhaps more telling than any of these statistical tangibles is the team’s overall body language, their general vibe. In early season playoff-level showdowns with the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks, the Rockets have not looked the part of a hungry competitor, getting up-staged by both teams in terms of sheer energy.

The Rockets have looked their best in bounce-back games against the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves, showing extra levels of themselves only after their criticism has exceeded critical mass.

There are a number of potential explanations for the teams too-cool-for-school syndrome, but all of the most convincing ones start at the top—with Harden and Howard, their tone-setting superstars, and with coach Kevin McHale.

Howard has an annoyingly rich history of questionable behavior as the core personality of his team. He most thrived as a player with the Orlando Magic not only because his body was more spry and impressive then, but also because of the terrific emotional shield created for him by coach Stan Van Gundy.

Under Van Gundy, a larger than life personality with an obsessive eye for defensive structure, Howard was far more comfortable in his skin than he’s ever been since. He wasn’t asked to be anything but a smiling prodigy. Stan Van Gundy was the true voice of 2009’s Eastern Conference champions.

It’s right to wonder if McHale can recreate that kind of comfort for Howard. Much can be said about whether such a role should fall under his job description (“He’s not a babysitter,” “He’s not a therapist,” etc.) but such speech is moot.

Howard is a demonstrably mercurial man who unequivocally does need a certain amount of mollycoddling. If McHale can’t create an over-arching ideology that soothes Howard and optimizes his input—somehow getting him to accept less of his inefficient post-up opportunities would be instrumental—then he’s falling short of his duties.

Like McHale and Howard, James Harden also has no experience as the lead character in a title run. With the Oklahoma City Thunder, he was always able to defer to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. And last year’s breakout Rockets were no more than a first-round team with Harden as the centerpiece.

None of this is to say that the team simply isn’t built to seriously contend—it might be. But it will take some adjusting and progressive growing pains in new proving ground for the team to show that it's for real. And the biggest challenge of all in this transformation is finding a consistent team identity.

More urgency from the Rockets can only follow from a better understanding of themselves, their on-court roles. As this fresh collection of talent calibrates, a central voice will have to emerge to assign them—and history suggests it better be McHale’s, as Howard and Harden are better left to playing than talking.

Such a voice needs to throw a line through the confusion in Houston. What are the team’s priorities? How much can they expect to maintain their go-go style from last season? How will they stop anyone from scoring? Who’s the best man to have the ball in his hands?

Houston’s uninspiring moxie is a problem, but it can’t be solved until these more fundamental questions are first addressed.