[MacMahon] Jalen Green, the young Houston Rockets and classes at 'John Lucas University'

Wall-Gordon starting backcourt plus Wood/Tate and with one of House/Nwaba being decent, and the teenagers getting minutes against the opponents benches: that is #10-#11 seed.

 

So you'd be satisfied/happy if the team you mentioned finished 10th (because finishing 11th does nothing to get you into the play in or playoffs), get demolished in a play in game, and end up with a middle of the road draft pick...only to realize that, next year, the team would be forced to either be slightly mediocre again...or blow the entire team up and start a legit rebuild a year or two too late? Like the team is unwatchable right now and they plain suck but there's an end to the means here. Being a 30-34 win team is chugging along in NBA purgatory, which is not any team worth rooting for should be doing.

 

yes, I would absolutely be satisfied!

Even #11 gets you something: participation in a meaningful chase late in the season.
It’s about culture, it’s about competitiveness, it’s a about proper growth environment for the youngsters.

We have 6 talented youngsters on the roster and picks galore. It’s not like were a mediocre vet team that has traded its picks for mediocre vets. Losing only improves your pick position, which is only marginally important. For example, it looks like our best rookie was #16. We have a very talented #30 and a quite talented 2nd rounder (KMJ). We have young talent and we have picks to add talent. What we don’t have is an organization that takes competitive basketball seriously.

 

Who in the Rockets FO was cautioning kid gloves for Green????

That is the biggest red flag for me, the FO still has dumbasses floating around in there.

And the fact that Lucas treats all his charges differently depending on their individual needs is a relief.

Lucas really gets it.

 

It's not that people have weird expectations - I don't think a lot of people even knew the extent of his problems - it's just not talked about as openly.....add to it that sports is very much a results based activity(no one cares that you are improving - only how many points you scored last night) which is NOT a great environment for people with the issues you referred to.

The crazy thing is that he managed to get as far as he has despite those real limitations. It speaks to his talent level but yeah - I feel for him because the sports world is not a kind place. He will be run out of town by a mob of angry Houston sports fans if he keeps turning the ball over regardless of how much personal development he has done. Sadly most sports fans would rather have the player who gets winning results who is an awful person over the person who delivers lesser results but is really a deserving person working hard to get better through some pretty heavy personal issues.

I wish KPJ the best, but sadly he is kind of being set up to fail a bit just by proxy of his own success last year in limited play. The reality is there was NO path where KPJ's development was going to overcome the inertia of this many rookies out there at once trying to pick up the game "on the job" like this. Silas can't even install a proper offense because he is still trying to teach these guys how to set proper screens, where to move when the defender tries to help on another player, how to use screens appropriately, fundamentals like boxing out, etc. One guy doing it is one thing but we routinely have 3 or 4 guys in a lineup at a time who are still trying to pick up on some of those fundamental skills.

 

Why we talk about Porter like some kind of superstar potential while on the same time we have 19 year old phenomenon, top 2 rookie of this draft class that didnt get mentioned in this article at all. Maybe because you dont got to treat him like egg and he just works out like any coach asks him to? Lol. And on top of Sengun we still have Jalen and Kj.

but i got to admit Porter made a lot of progress on defense

 

Ok now that im reading about KPJ private story(i usually dont get into it due to lack of time) i changed my mind. This kid is a ****ing champ. We can loose all we want while rebuilding so this kid finds love for the life journey he is on to… its not easy both when you focus on past or future Kevin. Live in the moment theres no other way

 

This is a big reason as to why I dont think he should be on twitter. People say the first thing that comes to mind on the internet and someone in his postion can take it personally when most people dont know his personal story. At this point I would rather him play the 3 or backup 2 to relieve some pressure off himself because he's clearly not fit for the role of point guard. Fans have no filter and when you play as bad as he's been playing people will support you but they will also let you know how they feel about your play. I think its irresponsible of the Rockets as well who had to know he's going through this to give him such a big role too soon and on a bad team.

 

The Suns were awful for 4 seasons before they improved. The 76ers were awful for 4 seasons before they improved. The Hawks were awful for 3 seasons before they improved. That seems to be the standard for a team that sells everything for picks. About 4 years.

You have unrealistic expectations if you think this thing was gonna turn around after 1 season.

Even in other sports that’s about the right timeframe. The Astros were awful for 3 seasons. Showed some improvement in year 4. And in their 5th season after the fire sale, they made the playoffs.

You should be looking at about a 5 year timeline before the Rockets are good again, unless they get some very lucky breaks to speed up the process.

Year 1 is done. 2021-22 is year 2. 2022-23 is year 3. 2023-24 is year 4. Rockets should be good again by 2024-25. That’s 3 years from now.

 

It’s almost impossible to assess performance at this point. I feel like we planted too many seeds and now there is no cohesive structure. From the players to the coaches to the GM, everyone is developing in some aspect.

The team has a lot of teenagers and early twenties guys. They’re learning how to deal with money, rockstar life, and PR. They’re not even finished developing physically. Usually, you get one youngn on the team and surround him with vets to provide a sound structure for the upbringing. This team has a lot of youth in vet roles. It’s gonna be inconsistent.

KPJ’s learning how to be a PG, the bigs bring the ball up frequently, there are post ups. There’s a lot of unorthodox looks in the offense currently. I imagine it’ll take a while to fine tune which options will stick. Especially for teenagers. I believe this is why Jalen Green hasn’t been consistent. There are too many possessions where he doesn’t touch the ball. KPJ learning how to play PG is a work in progress. It takes way too long to get the play going, and he turns it over a little too much.

Silas’ rotations are questionable. Too many spurts without KPJ or Green on the floor. IMO, Silas should follow the CP3/Harden rotation and stagger Green and KPJ. This puts a vet on the floor with each player and allows them to develop properly. Having both on the floor at the same time while both are trying to get a feel for their game will slow down their development. A vet can talk them through the game on-court.

 

JOSH CHRISTOPHER HATERS GO HOME

 

@Williamson I'm proud to announce that I have graduated and I'm headed to grad school with John Lucas