[The Athletic] How ‘The Manimal’ got his mojo back and started draining threes in Houston

ok...how do you sustain any kind of long term chemistry year in and year out with such high roster turnover every year because you cant/won't re-sign these guys ? next year it will be a new batch out outcasts to surround an all-time great player with instead of a legit star in the league.

I wont say this team won't win a title this because we still really dont know what this team is because we are only just not getting all the pieces and still have a lot of things to figure out, but I have a hard time believing this is a formula for success. what if they do win a title ? we still won't re-sign these players.

 

It’s the beginning of February and Kenneth Faried is walking down a ramp on his way to the Houston Rockets practice court. Beside him is Nene, giving Faried a hard time because his hair is allegedly not as luscious or as free-flowing as the Brazilian’s. Faried simply laughs it off, knowing that the two have often been mistaken for one another.

In 2012, when both were playing for Denver and on a road trip to Houston, ironically, Faried turned in a 16-point, 11-rebound performance in an impressive 117-105 victory, and when the media went to go look for the rookie, some reporters actually mistook Nene for him.

“Yeah, that wasn’t cool at all,” Nene joked. “I mean, look at him. Then look at me!”

Anyone looking at the Rockets these days has been fixated more on the team’s newest free-agent signee than the 36-year-old Nene. Check out this play against the Lakers over the weekend.

That’s a flare screen being set by Nene for Faried, who had made only three career three-pointers (on 25 attempts) before coming to Houston on Jan. 21. Since then he’s hit five of 11, shooting at a Splash Brotheresque .455 clip.

“I put in time in the gym,” Faried explains simply. “So it’s interesting to see now everybody saying, ‘Oh, where did this come from?’ No, I always had it. I could always shoot. I could always score the ball. I could always rebound — like that was my main trait. I could always defend. People just stopped believing in me.”

In 14 games with the Rockets, he’s averaging career highs in points (16.0) and rebounds (9.9), including nine double-doubles. Over the weekend, with James Harden out sick against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, coach Mike D’Antoni slotted Faried into the starting lineup at the 4, pairing him with P.J. Tucker and Clint Capela in the frontcourt. He simply responded with 20 points, 10 rebounds and two 3s made in 33 minutes of action.

“It’s different,” Capela said. “When I run, I see another big running. When I jump for the rebound, I always see him behind me. I feel like there’s two (of) me on the court. “It’s funny sometimes. I think especially on the rebounding, it’s huge.”

That was two nights after Faried had 13 points, six rebounds and sank his only three-point attempt at the Lakers.

“People always said I couldn’t shoot the three, and it wasn’t that. I just never took them,” Faried said. “Now that I’m taking them, people go, ‘Whoa, your shot is nice actually. Wow. You have a soft shot.’ I always had this, I just never did it. It was a respect thing — I knew how to get on the floor for my coaches.”

He knew what they wanted out of him coming out of Morehead State and he provided it.

“When I was a rookie, everybody said, ‘Know your niche, and expand on it later,'” Faried explained. “So I learned my niche, got on the floor for George Karl, did what I had to do and played the four, with a five who wasn’t dominant but who did things and was there defensively. I was still able to score on those teams, and I was looked at as an All-Star at one point, and an Olympian. I don’t know how in the world everything just fell off the hinges, but Houston took a big chance with me and they’re getting a big reward.”

When Faried first got to the NBA eight years ago, before, as he put it, the hinges fell off, the New Jersey native had one objective on his mind: more.

He wanted to run faster than you. He wanted to jump higher than you. He wanted to dive for loose balls harder than you. He wanted to dunk on your head, with no regard for human life — word to Kevin Garnett. He did so with such ferocity and intensity that he earned the nickname “Manimal.”

“‘The Manimal’ came when I was a rookie [in Denver],” Faried said. “An old vet gave it to me.”

That vet was Makhtar N’Diaye, the first Senegalese-born player to reach the NBA. He played college ball at North Carolina from 1996 to 1998. After going undrafted in ’98, he agreed to a free-agent deal with the Vancouver Grizzlies. He was out of the league by the next season and went on to have a lengthy 10-year career in Europe, eventually transitioning to Wasserman Media Group in 2008.

That’s the agency that represents Faried, and N’Diaye was of the opinion that “K-Time” needed a new moniker.

“He gave me the nickname cause everyone was calling in during my workouts. ‘Like he’s a beast, he’s a man, he’s an animal. He’s a man amongst boys. He’s a man child,'” said Faried. “A lot of GMs and coaches were calling in because they were watching our workouts, and I was going against some of the other top guys who were power forwards and centers. They were shocked that I could rebound, jump, dunk and handle the ball. I did that and Makhtar said, ‘We’re gonna call you The Manimal. That’s your new nickname. Half man and half animal.'”

Upon hearing it initially, Faried wasn’t so keen to leave his old one behind. “At first, I was like, Wait, my nickname is K-Time. Everybody calls me K-Time,” Faried explained. “But then, it transitioned to, You know what? I like it. Half man, half animal. My favorite animal is a lion; I love ‘Lion King.’ And I was listening to J. Cole at the time, ‘Return of Simba.’ Everything intertwined, and it was cool to see.”

The Manimal was an instant hit in Denver, both with the fans and the front office. Faried averaged 10 and 8 his rookie year, playing around 22 minutes a night, good enough to garner First Team All-Rookie honors. But that wasn’t his main draw to Nuggets fans. Rather, his energy was infectious. He would roar to the heavens after a monster dunk, or after scrambling for an and-one or blocking the shot into the stands, something he’s brought to the Toyota Center since becoming a Rocket.

(Bill Streicher / USA TODAY Sports) “I just feed off the home crowd,” Faried said of his expressive style. “It’s just something I’ve always done.”

For six years he gave Denver everything he had to offer. And then some. It had gotten to a level where the thought of Faried playing his entire career for the team that drafted him with the 22nd pick wasn’t far-fetched. He loved it there, earning a four-year, $50 million extension after the 2013-14 season, a sign that the front office was fully committed and behind him.

Entering his seventh season as a Nugget, however, Faried noticed that things had started to change. There was a shiny new toy in the room, otherwise known as Paul Millsap, who had landed in Denver via a three-team deal over the offseason. Given the nature in which the deal took place, the writing was on the wall for Faried’s tenure as a starter, even though it took him a while to accept it.

“When I went to Denver [for 2017 Media Day] and had my first interview, everybody was talking about, ‘Oh, Paul’s here, this that and the third,” Faried said.

“[But] I’m still the starter. I think that way, I feel that way,” he added. “We gonna see at practice, and that’s how I felt. Politics, NBA, things happen. Whatever. I still was putting up numbers when I did play and I guess they kind of didn’t want me anymore.”

Faried gradually saw his game time reduce, eventually falling out of the rotation altogether. His 14 minutes a night were the lowest he’d ever seen in the NBA. “It was like, ‘Wow, this kind of sucks because I knew I still had it,'” he recalls thinking, “and they saw me working and knew I still had it.”

Eventually, he was traded the following summer alongside Darrell Arthur and draft picks to Brooklyn for financial reasons, clearing $21 million off Denver’s books. Brooklyn was already in the midst of its own youth revolution, and Kenny Atkinson and Sean Marks opted to let Faried sit, letting him collect DNP-coach’s decision left and right. He and the Nets ultimately agreed to a buyout, with Faried only logging 12 games with Brooklyn.

“I guess it was like a learning process,” Faried said of having to be patient and wait for an opportunity to open up. It was tough, I ain’t gonna lie. I wanted to play, and wanted to prove to myself that I could play. And I wanted to prove to the Nuggets and to the NBA that I still had it. Then it became me wanting to prove it to Brooklyn, and then I was waiting for my opportunity. ‘Hey, I’m still on Brooklyn. I can still play the 4 or the 5. What y’all want from me?’”

It was around the same time that Houston lost starting center Capela to a thumb injury and learned it would be without his services for a while.

“It’s just interesting how the turn of events happened — Capela gets hurt and they’re looking for someone to fill that spot real quick. And I’m … I don’t want to say perfect fit, but I’m a fit!” he said.

Indeed he is, no matter how much Nene may kid him about his hair.

 

I've posted several times that Faried's per 100 possession numbers are identical to every season he's had in the NBA. He's still the same player. I woudn't want him to be the second best player on the floor. But if he's your 4th or 5th best player, your team is going to be pretty damn good.

 

How much of his defensive woes have to do with technique? Because it seems like he as all the tools to be a solid (if undersized) defensive 4 or small ball 5 (in the Tucker/Draymond mold). I mean, his shot-blocking alone seems be be quite an advantage.

I've heard people mention "lateral quickness" as a weakness, but he seems to move pretty well up and down the court on offense at least. Is there something about his technique or approach that could be improved enough by the coaches for him to at least be a competent defender in the Rockets' switching scheme?

 

How about MaNenes?

I gotta love MaNenes when they're loose on the court!

 

The Nenimal!

 

Teams have been dreaming of this since he was drafted. Like Harden, it seems to just be an ADD-like issue, a problem of paying attention consistently for long stretches. His lateral quickness is just ok, but with the reduced attention and poor positioning, it's unlikely he will overcome it imo. He blocks a shot every 30 minutes, that's not enough to matter much.

There's a very good strategy the Rockets can use to make him a more effective defender. Have him go up against less talented or more tired players (i.e. move him to bench). I'm pretty sure this is going happen. As soon as Shumpert catches a rhythm from 3pt land, we'll start him and Tucker imo.

 

Brook Lopez evolved his game by shooting 3's. Look how great Splash Mountain is doing in Milwaukee.

Faried's shooting form is good. No reason he can't be serviceable on 3's. Particularly from the corners.

 

If Shump starts with PJ our on ball defense and switching will be better, but we lose the rebounding again. With lack of defensive rebounding being the teams biggest issue couldn’t Kenneth wind up being more of a net positive to the starting five?

I guess the simple question for me is can we get boards with Shump starting? If we cannot then I would have to take my chances with the Manimal.

 

How many of those 25 previous shots were half court heaves????

His form looks good.

DD

 

don't know why, but i sang it to the tune of "i believe i can fly"...

 

yep and also can Schumpeter attack closeouts and finish at the rim...manimal is very good at it

 

I agree that chemistry is important, but let's not act like we've completely changed the team's roster. In terms of players we will play in the playoffs, we've replaced Ariza (yes, a hard loss) with Faried/Shump/Rivers and potentially another addition (house or slim chance at a buyout candidate). We've added depth, not reshuffled the whole deck (ignoring the insignifigant intermediate steps to get there - the MCW's and Melo's of the world).

Will we likely lose one (or more) of those players listed above? Yes. But, that's an outcome we have to be prepared for with the contracts those players are on and their bird rights, or lack thereof (and of course MLE's use).

Having more swings at the bat for players like those is the best option considering the constraints. Our core roster hasn't changed much from last year and unless if we upgrade the talent profile (ex: Gordon and/or Tucker + pieces for Butler) it won't change much next year.

 

I have come to the conclusion that the board is infested with Trolls
Far far too many . . "I'm a Rocket fans but . . .. proceed to **** on every rocket" - type posters

Rocket River

 

Even worse: it's probably a few bad apples using multiple accounts to piddle their psychic poo all over something that people value, and that someone actually made (Clutch).

 

Like R Kelly, Faried is making it rain.

 

Turnover?

Besides Ariza who else could you name that we've truly lost and felt a major impact with their departure?

Gerald Green was the same guy this past season, he hasn't gone anywhere yet. Remember these guys are signing with the Rockets out of free agency to be with the Rockets, they're not trade fodder that are forced to play for a team, not of their choosing.

 

Did you watch last game?

He airballed one shot, and then completely shut it down. Confidence is the key to being a shooter, and watching him leak to the rim from the corners because he was shy to shoot again has made me incredibly skeptical.

When the playoffs roll around, teams will put a stud defender on Faried and drop him under the basket, and we will be in trouble.

 

The Dread brothers (Nene and Faried) lineups have one of the best +/- of the team.

 

I saw it. The above the break air-ball. But I didn't see him "shut it down" per se. He hit that corner 3 earlier and has a green light. But he probably is a bit hesitant to shoot an above the break the same way PJ Tucker is. They'll shoot it, but only when it is organic and necessary.

We'll see how it goes. At least he has the mechanics to do it.