Hard to believe that Morey was targeting this guy in the draft, but Pringles likes him too, so go figure. With any luck he may turn out to be a poor man's Austin Rivers, but he's going to need some D-league time. I can't believe I'm saying this but Jimmer would be a huge upgrade over Ennis.
Have you watched him play before? Rivers is a shooting guard trapped in a PG body.... Ennis is considered a more traditional point, who can actually run the offense. Jimmer is also a SG trapped in a PGs body. If you're expecting scoring and shooting from Ennis, then he'll never look good to you. Morey has been wanting a pg who can run the offense because Bev can't do it. Johnson bombed at it as well. Ty didn't work out.... We need that in case James gets hurt or needs a breather.
I only mentioned Rivers because when I saw him initially, he looked terrible but has steadily improved, which I'm hoping will be the same outcome for Ennis. Agreed that Ennis is more of a PG than either Jimmer or Rivers but he's not comfortable right now and what we need is more of a combo guard for the second unit that can hit shots as well as run the offense.
Im surprised MDA stuck with him instead of trying others on the bench. Im tired of having coaches who are stuck in one mode and cant be versatile. Im still missing Adelman.
But that's pretty hard to find...if you can shoot and get dimes, then you're going to be pretty valuable unless you're super slow... Morey went after Tyler Johnson as well but he stayed in Miami for a ton of money.. That guy can score and shoot 38% from three, athletic, and capable passer.... Morey knows we need that, it's just not easy to get.
This is what he's expected to do.. He's not explosive and plays below the rim, but can find open guys, pnr, and actually has a nice touch on the drive. He just needs to be on the same page with guys..
Its a pretty minor amount, but it should be noted that the Rockets can take back an additional 300K or so in a trade involving Ennis than if they had kept Prigioni. I think its much more likely that he's waived in order to sign a veteran mid or late season, or to make roster space for players brought back in trade, but you catch my drift here. Potential trades are always a reason why they keep one player vs another at the end of the bench with training camp cuts.
I also think, despite what they say, that the front office knows the Rockets are not going to be contenders this year, and taking a long shot gamble vs what they know in a veteran played a part here as well. The big thing for Ennis is his shooting or lack thereof at all. If he develops a shot during the season, he's likely going to look like a completely different type of prospect. That's a big IF at this point.
But yes.... Ennis is LOOKING like complete garbage to start the season... hopefully that changes soon.
Coaches must have told him to shoot the 3 if he was open. Unfortunately, he bricked both attempts last night.
co signed, never seen such a useless player on court, can't shoot, can't drive, can't defend, can't pass..........
Let me just say that I'll be shocked if he finished the year with the team. He'll be glued to the bench once Bev gets back, and my guess is that the FO thought the difference between Prigioni and Ennis was negligible enough over 20 games that Ennis' larger salary would be more useful in a potential trade?
With Pat out 20 games or so, I don't think they were confident Prigs could handle the minutes at his age and this offense.
I honestly don't mind Ennis at all. He hasn't been shooting well, but he does a good job staying in front of his man and aside from the second half of the Laker game he has run the offense and been in lineups that have had positive impacts on the game. If he ever started knocking down shots with any confidence he would be really nice to have.
I just wish Ennis would look for his shot. Look's like the typical NY PG pass pass pass and then pass again. We need him to make the defense play honest and score in the lane.
