It's just sooooooo hard for a center who's gonna be bad on defense to be a true franchise player. It's basically impossible at this point with how the league is. Jokic has done it, but he's also arguable the single greatest offensive player the sport has ever seen. Someone like sabonis has no chance to be a franchise guy
How many finals has Hakeem been to? How many finals has KPJ been to? How many finals has Jalen Green been to?
False equivalency, the situaiton was "it's hard for a center who is bad on defense to be a franchise player." Hakeem is one of the greatest defensive centers of all time.
Rocket fan since the San Diego days. Use to love coming to the forum and reading the fans insights. The past two years unfortunately have evolved into a bunch of 12 year olds bickering on the playground. Just like me, it's gotten old. Tired of hearing Sengun, Porter, Tate, or whoever is not a FIT. Fit to what? There is no system in place, hasn't been since Silas took over. Anyone having been to a AAU tournament will see the present day Houston Rockets. " OK kids go out there and dazzle them with your athleticism. No structure no defense, just a showcase of athletes. Not basketball players. Now I come to the site, hoping for just two things. One, sending Gordon on his way. If it's to a contender, great. If not, shrug. Need his minutes for development of others. Second and as important, I want to see a thread " Silas relieved of coaching duties ". He seems like a nice enough man. You're paying him anyway, so kick him up to the front office in some capacity. Turn the team over to Abdelfattah. With the help of Hollins and Lucas try and develop a system that relates to this roster. This team is so lacking in BBIQ and court awareness it's disturbing. That's on AAU ball and more so now on Silas. Not gonna beat a dead horse here. Give Abdelfattah the rest of the season, then evaluate the progress. This roster has talent. It is a rudderless ship at sea. If you took the time to read this entire post, Thank You! .
Jokic is a yearly MVP contender and franchise player ... but ... perhaps a bit flawed which gets exposed deep into the playoffs.
Right, okay, so the follow up here is that if even Jokic can't hang and succeed in the playoffs, surely Sengun can't? Is that where you're going with this?
Unsure if Abdelfattah can right the ship. I am sure that Silas is NOT telling individual players to take plays off on D or to just-screw-it and go hero ball on O. It might get down to the balance of letting the young players learn by doing versus deploying a more robust O and D. For example, Silas might want to install a more robust team D scheme but his players may not be ready for it and the team D will suffer for the attempt. Botton line is that some players may never be ready for more robust schemes and the Rockets will need to move on from them or will need to given them reduced roles.
First, I don't know how good Sengun will be at his peak. My best guess is that he might be good enough be the 2nd/3rd option on a playoff team. If his defense does not improve, playoffs teams will be able to target and exploit his D, which would limit his PT or even force him onto the second unit. This is less than one would expect from a franchise player.
I'm dubious on Sengun being a "franchise player" based on the results so far but I think he's done enough to warrant being the primary playmaker for the rest of the season. There seems to be a theme now where international players are coming in better prepared to play team NBA while US players are coming in and learning how to play team basketball.
Coaches also understand that Sabonis is what the King’s #1 offense of built around and that he is their best player instead of Fox.
Houston Rockets Grade: A- Houston's transition to "phase two" of the rebuild that started when Harden was traded a little over three years ago has gone faster than expected. New coach Ime Udoka and veteran perimeter players Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, who were added to the roster this summer, have transformed the Rockets' defensive culture, while young frontcourt starters Alperen Sengun, who has emerged as an All-Star candidate, and Jabari Smith Jr. have taken key steps forward. One quibble: 2021 No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green hasn't made the progress Houston hoped. https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/39377982/nba-first-half-grades-all-30-teams
