ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Spurs 10/16/2023 (Preseason)

IT IS PRESEASON!!! Jesus christ.

 

Regardless he's still a good shooter based on his numbers.

Or was anyway, like everyone is saying he's ass RN.

 

To be fair in preseason is the time you'd chose a rookie to experiment with over a player you already know what you got in.

Bullock shouldn't be getting minutes besides garbage time if Amen and Cam are as promising as we think in the regular season though.

 

I think FVV played ok but yes, the bench carried us.

 

Shooters take awhile to get their shot sometimes. This is a whole new team guys are going to look rough at first.

 

People overhyped him and have huge expectations, and with his demeanor he is an easy target. I like how he played within the flow of the first two games, not forcing things. His shot was godawful though. He seems to have stretches where his form and jumpshot is all over the place. Hopefully he gets it out of his system early.
I still believe in him and think he's our #1 option this year.

 

Me too. He was money from mid range in the first quarter, and was a pest on defense.

 

His ability to hound ball handlers is going to create a lot of easy transition buckets for Green, Amen, Cam and Tari.

 

I don’t blame coach for starting Bullock at all, Amen and Cam both got their minutes and both played more than Bullock. It kept Amen in the role that he needs to get used to at the start of the season. However like I’ve been saying, Bullock was low key horrible last year, a minimum contract guy this year, and may very well just not be good anymore. I can easily see Holiday taking his spot.

 

You experiment with the player who won’t get minutes. And that will be bullock. It fits.

 

a few rando impressions of the game:
- feels like Sengun hasn't been as fluid passing the ball as I remember in the past. It feels like he is looking for his shot a bit more and maybe not making the right play. Hopefully he gets back into his 'Senhub' game a bit more there. Could be a difference in the offensive system - can't quite put my finger on it but it feels like he is trying harder this year at the expense of maybe some of what made him special in the first place. Defensively I think he looks much better on screens in open space meeting ball handlers at the level - he is being more active with his hands and I think is mostly executing the defensive scheme but in my mind he is still just a little slow to everything and it felt like he wasn't tall enough or strong enough to bother Zach Collins who had a game. Maybe Landale gets more minutes in those matchups?

- Felt like Houston was generally out muscled for most of the game although they were active and swarming and they were trying to get chippy back with the Spurs which I think was great. They played aggressively and you can really see them fighting MUCH harder to prevent the offensive from easy handoffs and passes to start the offense but it did make them very susceptible to back door cuts and we got beat several times that way. I think that's where our defenders need to work a lot harder to help protect the rim. Feels like that communication is still iffy and the rotations are a bit slow.

- Jabari feels like he got caught a few times overplaying the defender and it took him out of place in the play and he doesn't have the speed and athleticism to recover like some of the other guys - but it was small tweaks I think for him. I really like how he plays tall near the rim and doesn't reach to pick up fouls BUT he still needs to put on some muscle to be more effective here. He also does a great job cleaning the glass. In related news, Amen had the same overplaying problem but his recovery was INSANE. There was one play where the defender had him beat by a few steps and somehow Amen managed to get back in frame and contest enough to force the miss at the rim.

- FVV really does set a hustle and effort standard that was sorely lacking the last few years. Aside from maybe wishing he found a better shot than a few mid rangers, I have no complaints about his effort and play so far - he's just a smart offensive and defensive player - love the angles he takes to get back in the play on fastbreaks.

- back to Jabari - it felt like he struggled a bit more with Green's gravity out of the lineup - he didnt take terrible shots but his rhythm was definitely off tonight. Its nice to see him trying to take a dribble more or two into traffic but he is generally not doing much with those possessions - feels like he needs to commit to one dribble max and then either pass or shoot because his ball handling still isn't quite there in traffic.

- Amen looked much better this game offensively. The shot still seems like a work in progress but it also looked pretty on target. I suspect the next mission for him is to speed it up a lot more because it's definitely still slow. I would also like to see him work on his ball handling in traffic a bit more - it feels like he gets the ball poked out a lot and it negates his athletic gifts if he is fumbling to regain possession of the ball. It also feels like he struggled to find clean lanes again to drive into - I was hoping his ability to get to the hoop would create gravity for open shooters but so far he has mostly not been able to convert as much in the lane. He needs to get A LOT stronger there because he loses the ball after bumps in mid air against most defenders. He also seems to be more of a system guy - doesn't seem like he is the one man offensive wrecking crew of a guy like Green or Whitmore.

- shot creation seemed like a struggle tonight with Green out - the spacing felt much more cluttered than in previous games.

- Cam came back down to earth but also literally jumped over McDermont on the most exciting charge you will ever see. I feel like he needs more active hands defensively - he seems less engaged there - stays in front of his man but isn't necessarily trying to make things difficult if you know what I mean. He also missed a few boxouts when he was rotated onto a big near the rim.

 

i think it's because Ime wants Amen to get used to coming off the bench as backup PG. Preseason is a way to work on what you will do in games.

 

I think he also said that he wanted to give Bullock some time with the starters to see how that worked. A good opportunity to test out different lineups.

 

Yeah if this was the regular season where we are trying to win then start Amen and then play Holiday over Bullock off the bench. May take a month or so until they fully give up on Bullock though.

 

Seems like Sengun lost his confidence. It’s been three games in a row IMO where he just doesn’t have the same instinctive play around the paint. He needs to get it together. Big part of our team this year.

 

Exactly thats what preseason is for.

 

Fell asleep in the middle of the 3rd down 10.
Woke up and won by 10.

What happened?

 

The 8th string came in.