It's been one week since the Houston Rockets fired their head coach. The team has played three games since then, winning just once.
Maybe more importantly though, they have had a chance to practice for three consecutive days and re-focus on doing the things that could turn the season back in the right direction.
"We almost went through a mini-training camp, I think we are ready to take the next step," Rockets guard Jason Terry said.
"Although we haven't gotten the results we wanted the last two ball games, we feel like we've taken the right steps in the right direction.
Terry described the practice on Tuesday as a hard practice, attention to detail, there were consequences for not paying attention to the details.
"It was getting back to our roots and that's defense first, executing on offense and making the extra pass," Terry added, who also said everything they have been doing was definitely needed.
The three days off in between games with no travel has allowed the Rockets some much-needed additional time to build more trust and improve communication within the team
"I think communication is always a big part of what we do, but our attitude has changed over the last probably week and a half," interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.
"We've taken a more serious approach to what we're doing. Guys are more disciplined in what they we're doing.
"And they were hungry for that," he added.
"As a group we brought them together and that was the first thing they were calling for, some more discipline, some more structure, some more rules," Bickerstaff said.
The Rockets have improved defensively under Bickerstaff, holding opponents to just under 42 percent shooting, which is good for sixth best in the league over the last week.
However, the offense has continued to struggle, dipping to just 38.5 percent shooting under Bickerstaff, which is the worst mark in the league.
They made 42.3 percent of their shots during their 4-7 start before they made the coaching change.
More...