Jonathan Feigen: Rockets turn attention to centers in free agency

Could always be that being on a losing team with no direction can take away a players, "passion for basketball."

 

One of these days Luc is going to walk out of practice, walk the quarter mile to his car… pop the trunk, pull out a tire iron.. walk the quarter mile back to the practice floor, walk over and beat the hell out of one of these players until the cry or shot themselves and it’s going to require security to get him stop.

 

Sign me up for Mike Muscala, that dude can really shoot

 

Any interest in Bobby Portis?

 

I hope we don't sign Mo Bamba. Dumb as a bag of rocks as far as bball IQ goes.

 

Just curious. What problems have they brought up?

 

Well, Rockets isn’t going to be a winning team any time soon… Just saying.

 

KPJ
JG
Smith
Sengun
Bamba

Death lineup

KPJ
JG
Eason
Smith
Bamba

 

but rockets have a direction

 

which big man fits next to Anthony Davis and LBJ best, Harty or Big Mo?

 

If the plan is to play Sengun 25-30 minutes per night and then go small for another 10 minutes with presumably Jabari and Usman getting some minutes at the 5 spot, I don’t get why Bamba or Hartenstein would sign here.

I kinda sorta understand it from the Rockets perspective, but it seems there are options out there that fit better with what they are trying to do.

But if I’m Hartenstein or Bamba there’s probably some other situations I’d be looking at first.

 

I may be in the minority, but when Sengun isn’t in the lineup I would absolutely love our backup 5 to be a rim protector rather than some 6”10-6”11 stretch 5. Obviously if whoever that is can do both great, but if I had to pick one or the other, I’d go with rim protection.

When the second unit is on the floor (tate, back up center etc) I’d love the focus to be more on the defensive side of the ball.

 

Just to be clear, I wasn't giving my opinion about what I want the Rockets to do at center, but Ive got no issue with going small for a few minutes.

I read from feigen that they want to play Sengun 25-30 minutes and then go small for another 10 minutes. That would leave about 10ish minutes give or take unaccounted for where they could do whatever...

I'm just wondering why Bamba or Hartenstein would want to fit into those 10ish whatever minutes that they may or may not consistently get.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...an-to-re-sign-Jae-Sean-Tate-then-17275089.php

 

You're right.

No self respecting 5 would want to sign with Rockets.

Wish they wouldn't keep shooting themselves in the foot before FA signing period even starts.

It's pure stupidity showing their ass this early.

 

Honestly, if Tate can just get to 35% from 3 and cut down his turnovers, he’d be a great small forward (of course Silas would have to stop playing him out of position). I don’t think either is out if the question. But he needs to be paid according to the player he is, and that means role player money. Can’t wait to see the details of his new deal. I trust Stone on the draft, but the track record just isn’t there on this kind of stuff. Let’s hope that contract is a net positive asset.

 

Yes, I think Tate playing small forward minutes makes complete sense, if he can improve his shooting and cut down on TOs. I also wish we weren't so enamored with going small. A steady diet of 3 guards with Tate and Jabari Smith puts a ton of pressure on Smith to anchor the defense and rebounding. I'm sure he'd love the challenge but that's a lot to ask of such a young player. He did just turn 19 one month ago. Going small for extended periods of time leads to injuries.

Tate can match up with some big forwards, but he's also giving up 6+ inches in many of those matchups. He can't bother anyone's shot and rebounding becomes a chore.

It's more logical is to add a big with athleticism and get their size on the court. Why go small when you can be fast, athletic, and big?

Here's to hoping the "we want to play 10 minutes small" is a smokescreen.

 

Sengun deserves the chance to play 30+ minutes. He also wants to limit Green to 18 shots a game. I really hope Stone is lining up Silas’ replacement as we speak. Mark my words, Eason is going to get the Sengun treatment. 10 mins a game for the first half of the season.

 

Sengun tends to get into foul troubles. The Rockets backup 5 most nights might get 15 minutes, but on every third night may get 25+ minutes.

BTW whoever signs with the Rockets will know that their role is backup 5.

BTW2 when one of the worst NBA teams (Orlando) kick you (Bamba) to the curb you might have a bit of trouble signing a lucrative long term deal elsewhere.

 

Sengun didn’t really suffer from foul issues when he got the starting job late in the season. There was also a layup drill happening at our basket, because of the lack of defensive scheme. Everybody loves Tate’s defense, but he was in constant foul trouble last year for pretty much the same reason, no defensive scheme. Hopefully, Silas is true to his word and is going to emphasize defense this year.