In your hearts, you all know what is going to happen. Stephen Silas is going to bench Alperen Sengun. I see 15 minutes a game in Sengun's future, with an incredibly short leash. In fact, watch for Silas to get pissed at Alperen in the next couple of games so that he can make up a reason to pull the plug. He will 100% find something to complain about. While this happens, KPJ will continue to have neon green lights. If you want to play drive & kick guard ball, ignore the bigs, switch everything, and in general play like a JUCO team, Sengun is simply not your man. A Kelvin Cato prototype is an easier fit. Both Bruno and Usman want nothing to do with the basketball, and Silas and our guards love that. If we were going for a few more wins right now, the best starting C for this group would be Usman Garuba. He allows the guards to play without learning ANYTHING. In the short term, the Rockets will probably be slightly better. In the long term, we will have bad habits to break, ala Steve and Cat. I hope Rafael doesn't fall in love with Silas If we get slightly better with this formula.
Bull s**t. Regarding Sengun, I don't see that happening at all, unless Silas wants to be fired. Could happen with KPJ, though. It's what's happening now.
I dont either but I do think Silas is looking for more defense. That's why he takes Sengun out at the end of games.
Jabari needs to have an injury that sidelines him for a few weeks. Let KJ and Tari start for a while. That might be good for everybody.
Gordon shouldn't play another second as a Rocket .... Trading EG doesn't help the situation at the 5 with Sengun, Garuba & Bruno .... It does open up minutes at the 2-3 spots which might give Eason and KJ more run which will be more important when Tate returns. Also, I don't believe there's a trade out there for EG, I really think he's bought out / released after the trade deadline. His contract is just so hard to trade because of salary matching.
In my view here is the ranking on who should have the ball in their hands the most based on my view of their performance. It probably won't be popular. 1. Sengun 2. Eason 3. Green 4. Porter 5. Smith 6. Martin 7. Garuba 8. Washington 9. Fernando . Gordon, as great as he is he eats up a lot of shot opportunities for Smith. Id like to see him succeed somewhere else. Nix, he's progressing but still sloppy with the ball and slow. Send him back to the G-League Mathews, WTH happened to him? He lost his swagger over the summer.
I'd only expect them to want to trade EG. They may have to add someone else for filler though. I would be surprised if they traded away a guy like Sengun without a really good deal. I think they'll keep dealing with the logjams at certain positions this year. It's not like we have superstars that can't be flexible with PT/positions/etc
It's a bit of a logjam at the 4 and 5. I feel like Garuba will lose his minutes to Bruno which is kinda sad
KJ takes minutes at the 3 from Gordon. Bruno and Garuba will be 15-20 minutes, Smith and Alpi 25-30 minutes. It gets really interesting when Tate comes back.
I love Bruno, but it's not going to be interesting. What's interesting is the two 20 yr old prospects we have each of whom is excellent on one side of the ball and both of whom have a higher ceiling.
I have to say I actually expect this as wel. Sengun will not start anymore (will probably use the excuse of not winning and needing defense as the reason). So bruno will start. And I think he will reduce Garuba's minutes a lot. But I think Silas will use Garuba for certain matchups which will lead to fewer minutes from sengun (We already see Sengun never finishing games). Silas does not appreciate what Sengun brings to the table. He is just not a fan of him. The inability to Use Sengun properly is one of te mnay reasons I am ready to move on from Silas.
A big reason for firing Silas is the circumstance that he uses KPJ as Luka. He hides behind this smile as if that grants him immunity.
If done right, this could be something special. Garuba is a 4 anyway, so only question is: who gets bumped out of rotation? Will we see Eason get even less minutes? Sengun's playing time cut tremendously? To most of us it's easy when you would have a rotation to be something as follows: KPJ - Nix Green - KJ Ego - Tari Jabari - Garuba Sengun - Bruno I'd actually understand if we bring in Garuba & Sengun off the bench together to have the ultimate goon squad, especially once Tate returns and replaces Nix. However, you know Silas won't do that. And just looking at that depth chart, switching out KJ for Ego makes even more sense with Garuba at the 4 and Tari moving to the 3 (which is not an issue at all for Tari).
I absolutely love Eason and kept lobbying (CF) to jump on board before the draft. But he should not have the ball more. Especially not more than Jalen. Eason gets his off hustle, not by creating for himself or others. He is a horrible ball handler.
