Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni has certainly learned some valuable lessons from last season's slow start. This 2019-20, he wants his team to have a sense of urgency from the beginning of the season.

To recall, the Rockets started off with an 11-14 record in the 2018-19 season, an unacceptable start given that they were coming off a 65-win season. Not to mention that they were a game away from ousting the powerhouse Golden State Warriors squad in the playoffs.

The Rockets entered the 2018-19 campaign with heightened expectations, only to fail big time. But this year, D'Antoni has stressed the importance of winning right from the get-go.

“Everybody is saying we're going to be good. And everybody said it last year coming off 65 wins. And we start off 11-14. We cannot do that this year,” D'Antoni said per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“We stressed that we got to go now. We can't wait until it's too late. We opened up last year and lost by (19) points (to the New Orleans Pelicans.) I'm looking at we have to be more ready than we were last year. It's a big point we're going to make. They have to understand the urgency of it. We don't start the middle of November. We start the middle of October. To get ready for it, not take anything for granted.”

Rockets fans should expect their home team to push the pedal to the metal on opening night. D'Antoni and his team have taken their bad experience into a valuable lesson. Let's see if they can apply it successfully.