The Athletic: Bruno Fernando Will Start Over Sengun When He Returns

That's a little bit misleading - the Rockets bench units with Garuba Eason have been cleaning up on defense but trash on offense (excl. transition) but a lot of that is because they're going up against the other teams worst players.

Sengun gets penalized like Green last year for going up against 1st line starters compared to the bench - thats tank life

 

-8.3 net rating when he’s on…-6.7 when he’s off

 

he is not the only one on this roster primarily going up against starters, and most starting C’s aren’t spending most of their time playing bench players

 

If Silas actually does this...f him.

Mind-numbingly stupid, tone deaf, idiotic doesn't even begin to describe it.

He has been actively marginalizing Sengun the entire time. What is wrong with Silas?

http://www.espn.com/nba/hollinger/statistics

 

The Rockets are scoring 113.7 points per 100 when Sengun is on the court. 89th percentile for on/off difference.

Keep him in for starter reps against starter talent, so he can improve is defense like the rest of our guys.

And prioritize him over Kevin Porter Jr.

 

Even more reason to have Eason in the starting line up.

 

I am not sure that any NBA team could get away with playing EG at the SF on defense.

 

Eason +1.2 net rating when on the court

-14 when he’s off

that’s my GOAT

 

My issue with this isn’t about Sengun not starting, it’s Garuba being out of the rotation. That is not okay

 

If we want to win, we play Alpi, Destiny, Tari heavy minutes. Even if Silas wants to tank, he should do it, because it should all be about their development (and that of Jalen and Jabari - but they can help us tank, at the moment, together with KPJ).

Playing EG makes little sense, other than to keep him in shape for a trade.

Playing Mathews and Nix makes no sense, other than to use them as assistant tank commanders.

 

the sample size is small but it looks like Sengun and Jabari is bad. Sengun line ups without bari are actually very good. Bruno with bari is still bad but better than Sengun and bari.

it comes down to using tari, kmj and Garuba correctly. They are the defensive engine in this team. Bari for now does not match well with Sengun.

 

I'm quite sure Bari will come around and will work great with Alpi. Just needs reps and time. And a proper coach.

 

Have you considered that it may just be he wants to balance the first and second units and emphasize defense and rim running for the first 5-7 minutes of the game?

 

bari needs time. I think it would be the best to lower his minutes slightly and make more use of the big 3: tari, kmj, Garuba. I am going to wait for the sample size to get bigger but this big 3 made nix and Mathews good statistically. They are amazing.

 

Rockets will trade EG during this season. I believe him starting will add to his trade value. We will have a clearer picture after the All Star break. By then IMO Tari will be a starter.
I also believe that KPJ is our most dangerous scorer now. He is not a PG but by being forced to play this way his overall game is improving. Him and Green should be our main focus.
I am not worried about Sengun. He will be our future C/PF. Coming from the bench at the age of 20 shouldn't hurt him. We are the second youngest team in the NBA. Everybody has to be developed and we have 8 such players.

Please don't kill me for saying this just yet: I prefer 100% that Alpi starts (and plays 30min). But if he comes off the bench Jabari could have more leeway to get off some rust/gain more confidence - Bruno will need less touches. Jabari could add 2-3 more touches and/or shots while Alpi is out. We have a 19 year old 3rd pick who has to show his worth. We already know Alpi's worth and he will get the job done no matter what.

 

The best lineup defensively speaking is KPJ, Jalen, Eason, KJ and Alp.

When Alp was coming off the bench he, Tari and KJ had the best defensive metrics.

Alp also has the highest offensive rating on the team.
That squad above also has the second highest offensive rating together.
Alp isn’t going to fix the starting lineup defense (no one is)

 

As long as Sengun still gets real minutes I could care less.

McHale, Ginobili, Harden, Mathurin … all that matters is getting minutes

We have no backup PG, I love the idea of Sengun running the offense every time KPJ sits.

Bruno can be the starter… while averaging 16 mpg

Another aspect of this is Garuba. The spacing and offensive output between Fernando and Garuba off the bench would be a non starter, but a Sengun and Garuba pairing could work much better.

People are panicking but this could legitimately be the best setup.