You make a good point. All I know about any attitude or issues he may have is only speculation, but KJ looks like he is sulking a lot when I see him over on the bench. It reminds me of how Asik got before we let him go. Maybe it's just not in his personality to smile much, kinda like Gordon. I can only guess. Wiltjer is always over there jumping up, cheering, and smiling. I really wish that Wiltjer got more time, especially when our guys are shooting blanks from behind the arc. He came in for less than 2 minutes the other night and got a block and a rebound. Some of our guys play 30 minutes just to get 3 rebounds on an average night. As for Brewer getting time over KJ, well, I think there is a lot that goes on in practice, meetings, etc., that we know nothing about. The one thing I do know is that Brewer has come through at clutch times when we needed him, even when our stars haven't, and he is NOT a selfish player. He also gives it his all, and is capable of using his speed and agility to get down court for the pass, or simply to drive inside when others cant, or simply don't, and make the layup. Just like KJ has been glued to the bench by THREE coaches now, the same goes for THREE coaches who like what they see in Brewer, and continue to put him out there. Meanwhile people on here rag on him all the time. Give the guy a break. He will never be our star shooter, but all our guys have their own unique things they bring to this team that makes it work. I love the energy, agility, leadership, and passion Greyhound brings. He is a team player, and I like that!
Its because KJ sucks, he's been glued to the bench by every coach he's played for in the league. This isn't a conspiracy against KJ. If you can't find a way to beat out Brewer for minutes then it means you suck. Just take a look at some of the minutes KJ has had this year. The guy can't or won't stay with his man defensively and he can't shoot and he makes awful decisions with the basketball. This is not a good combo right now.
According to basketball reference: http://www.basketball-reference.com...tat=poss&c1comp=ge&c1val=25&order_by=diff_pts Somehow Brewer is on all top 6 lineups. I don't know if this is because he is just happening to always be playing with our ridiculously strong bench, or whether he really does add something to the lineup. I don't know how much potential KJ has. With the success the Rockets are having, it is just dumb to mess up with the rotation. KJ and Ennis should definitely play more when the Rockets are blowing out the opponents, but beyond that, I'd rather see Brewer.
Tattoos. KJ has a ton. Corey has none. They're a mark of immaturity. You can't miss them. Why would Houston trade for immaturity?
If KJ was this much of a problem with his attitude, then why did we give him that nice contract? Also, why is that Brewer is KJ's biggest defender and talks about how hard he works. From what I saw, KJ worked hard this summer and looked good in preseason. Something must have happened because I always thought of KJ as a better version of Brewer.
You're buying into the rumor mill that KJ has an attitude problem. The problem with KJ is that he's just not very good. Have you watched him play much in garbage time, lately? He's easily the worst player for the Rockets when he's on the floor, sort of like an unpolished version of Brewer.
I have watched him play outside of garbage time and thought he had taken a big step forward. You can't judge a player based on what they are doing with a couple of minutes left with the game already decided.
Nice find. One caveat, though, is that a lot of those top lineups have only been used 10 to 20 minutes in total and in a few games this season. Also, in most of those lineups Houston was playing with only one big man, either Nene or Ryan Anderson as the center. These two factors tell me that Brewer is highly effective in certain specific matchup situations and when small ball favors Houston.
have it on good authority Brewer has video footage of Daryl losing to Tad fricken Brown at table tennis
Kj is not good. His one skill set is his rim protection which is intriguing but not going to get you on the court. When your a wing and the guy in front of you does everything better and is a veteran making more money. I thought KJ looked okay playing next to Harden but the fact of the matter is harden plays most of his minutes with starters. The only bench guys that play a lot with him are Gordon and dekker to an extent. And so in the minutes that that he plays without harden which would be most he does really bad, on both sides. He's a poor man and team defender which is strange because he's so athletic. His **** might actually be a tad bit better from three than brews but it's still bad and the worst part of it all? He can't dribble at all, His handle is really weak for a wing player. Personally I think he's just a bad player and I don't see him getting another contract over 1 year plus team option. He's got one more contract after this one and if he still can't make it work he'll be in Europe. Nothing wrong with that he should carve out 12-15m in the NBA and have a long career in Europe. If the guy is smart and not crazy he'll easily make 20+ mil off the game of basketball. At the end of the day that's what it's all about. I don't think he's a bad guy and he seems to be close with all the guys but there's a reason why even in garbage time he's the last player to get in. He's the bottom of the totem pole and it's sad for a guy with a 3yr 10m deal that he still can't get pt.
If you're talking about preseason, you should probably just erase that from your memory. That's no better an indication of a player's true ability than garbage times minutes, frankly. And really, the only impressive thing that he did during the preseason was cut to rim for lobs from Harden. His defense wasn't any good, his shooting wasn't any good, and he still can't dribble or pass.
I remember him doing much more than that - especially on defense. Remember this chron article a few months back - incredible how things have changed: http://www.chron.com/sports/rockets...aniels-continues-to-improve-with-10605414.php
If you can't shoot and you can't drive, then you have to play the game like Dekker. ALWAYS pass the ball immediately if you're not WIDE open, cut to the basket often, challenge for offensive and defensive rebounds, run as fast as you possibly can in transition both ways, set good screens, stay in front of your man, don't reach in for silly fouls. KJ can do that but he doesn't and I think the problems are more complex than "he sucks". At least one player and MDA said KJ had a good training camp, that's why he earned playing time in preseason, where he looked improved vs last year's preseason. We decided to play Brewer because the moment you bench Brewer, you're swallowing his contract for the duration of it. Like any employee anywhere, this is very annoying, when your employer holds you back for the purpose of appearances. Here's where KJ went off the rails for me (my own speculation obviously). At this point, instead of doubling down on his effort and using garbage minutes to twist the coaching staff and management's arm into playing him (like Dekker did), he sulked. He could have had some of Dekker's minutes too, not just Brewer's. He could have carved out 15-20 minutes with excellent practices and hard work in garbage time. But imo he decided to sulk and in garbage time he has played like a person who has nothing to prove and is trying to win a garbage time scoring contest. Really bad body language. You also have to take into account that this story has gone on longer in his mind than we think. He probably, right or wrong, believes that he should have had more minutes last season with the team and Brewer playing poorly. So in his mind - again, right or wrong - this issue has gone on longer than we think and he feels like he is done with the team. Maybe he worked his ass off in practice last season and didn't play because Brewer was slightly better, then worked his ass off in preseason and camp this season and still didn't play for a different reason. Maybe. We can argue about whether he's right, but there is no arguing that this situation is demotivating. I can sympathize with him, but I don't like how he has reacted to this adversity. I was hoping he would motivate himself instead of letting the situation get to him. It's not a good sign for a person's development and maturity. I've been clamouring for him to play for a year now and these last few times he played garbage minutes I felt really let down. I don't think there would be any real difference between playing Brewer or KJ but at this point, I'm more interested in moving Brewer's contract than trying to develop KJ.
Given Harden's importance and his impact on the team in terms of 'being treated like an owner,' I wonder what his take on it is? He clearly gels well with KJ given pregame warmups but I do wonder what Harden has said or thinks about KJ's lack of playing time. On the other hand, Harrell and Dekker are giving us good production. I'd say it's 3/4 in terms of the developing players working out so far. (Capela, Dekker and Harrell)
