KPJ: Can someone explain to me why he has become Clutchfans favorite whipping boy?

He definitely isn't a horrible dribble. Just not a primary ball handler at the moment. His handle can be creative though. It's definitely more advanced than guys like Lavine and Beal at the same age.

You don't score 60+% of your fgm unassisted by not being able to dribble.

I know you use these adjectives like "horrible" to trigger but man you are old. Aren't you past that stuff by now?

 

https://theathletic.com/4107335/2023/01/20/rockets-alperen-sengun-tari-eason/

Vecenie: Is this where you want to have that Porter talk? Learning the point guard position or not, I don’t believe in him as anything resembling a good enough decision-maker to be able to run effectively long term. I see him as a microwave scorer off the bench. And now he’s one who is aggressively paid if the Rockets want to retain him but also easily discarded if the team moves on.

Iko: Do you think there’s potential for Porter being effective with fewer responsibilities? If he’s not tasked to be the team’s primary creator and can revert to a tertiary role — think 2019 Danuel House — and still maintain his scoring prowess?

When you watch Porter, he’s in a better playing space than his days in Cleveland. As a rookie, the Cavs were six points worse offensively with him on the floor. Since then, he’s been a net positive. There have been games where he’s looked like a smooth operator, particularly at the end of 2022 (37 assists over a five-game span). Then there have been others where he gets caught up, forcing things and making mistakes. Some of the overdribbling, the stagnation and the one-on-one stuff need to come down in favor of more ebb and flow.

What do you make of his time so far? Is he a product of Houston’s bad habits? And what’s the solution?

Vecenie: You can say he’s playing out of position, and I don’t disagree with that. You’re right. He’d be way better as a secondary scorer.

But he’s a pretty significant reason for a lot of Houston’s bad habits. His play at point hinders them. John Wall put it well recently on a podcast when he was talking about Porter and Jalen Green. He said, “I had to tell them, the s–t y’all are getting away with over here, if you go to any other teams, you’d be out of the f—— league.” The number of players who are speaking up about the Rockets’ backcourt speaks volumes.

Green is a bigger perpetrator of those bad habits on defense, but Porter is the bigger problem on offense. He constantly overdribbles. He’s currently 12th in the NBA in dribbles per touch at 4.8, and he touches the ball about 80 times per game, which is 14th in the league. That’s a substantial issue when he’s also fifth in the NBA in turnovers per touch while also shooting at a true shooting percentage two points below league average. On top of that, as noted in the Şengün section, there is no synergy between the two. Porter operates best with a rim-runner. Şengün operates best within a movement-based offense where he can be a part of actions and get touches where the ball is free-flowing. Şengün is the more important player moving forward for Houston. If the fit between the two isn’t going to work — and we’ve seen them play together now for about 1,300 minutes the last two seasons — the team probably needs to shift to Şengün. The offense looks better splitting their minutes and playing them separately. It’s not an accident that this season, the Rockets have a 118 offensive rating when Şengün is on the court and Porter is off.

This isn’t to say Porter shouldn’t be in the NBA or anything. I respect his skill level as a creator. He plays at a rare cadence. He almost attacks in-between steps and rhythms. He’s a hard guard. I just don’t think he helps this roster that much. He’s not helping them win games, and he’s also not helping to foster any sort of development from the younger guys.

 

As I said, everyone realizes KPJ is a negative outside of his 6 fans here. Can't believe that it isn't obvious to everyone

 

Yeah, that is fair - that is why Porter is learning. Some people like him some don't.......I like him. I think it is a major advantage to have off rhythm players.

BTW - blaming him for the Rox losing is funny, the entire team sucks, it is on purpose.

DD

 

What is to like about him? He's a selfish quitter who only plays for himself. He shouldn't even have a Rockets logo on his jersey but rather just his name. He's garbage. Everyone sees it. I don't think anyone would disagree with the team being awful but playing him makes it even worse. Hopefully he's out for the year

 

Numbers since KPJ got hurt
Jalen Green (3 games)
30 PPG, 50% shooting, 4 RPG, 4 APG

Alperen Sengun (4 games)
22 PPG, 69% shooting, 10 RPG, 6 APG

Just saying...

 

Too small a sample size, the going rate on here seems to be 14 games before it can be propped up as legit progress and noteworthy

 

That's too bad because KPJ will definitely return before then and hog the ball / take shots away from the other players on the team.

 

This is really the biggest issue with KPJ. I know some people on here think KPJ dribbling everyone to sleep and then hitting them for a out of rhythm shot doesn't matter... but it's the second biggest issue on our team after defense.

Even with better ball movement (thus better body movement) you see and will keep seeing a more engaged team.

If KPJ can change this he's a keeper (in a different role) if not he's a goner, if it were my choice

 

And got blown out in 2 of those games. Also lost to the hornets without ball for half the game. Somebody has produce more to fill his shoes. If Jalen was hurt, KPJ would drop 30 per game.. dumb logic here

 

Just the way it is, the Rockets are all in to make the experiment work, maybe KPJ has soaked up some info with his time being out and him being the first option is to make sure the others eat (set up properly) while still getting his within the flow of the ball movement

That's what head honcho/leaders of a squad are supposed to do, especially a self proclaimed PG of the Rockets as he mentioned he was

TBD

 

you mean the rockets weren't getting blown out and also losing with kpj? oh wait

not exactly dumb logic, when their production clearly goes up without him on the floor as they should.

 

Meaning the results/outcome on the floor hasn’t changed. Shut your b**** ass up, always on my nuts.

 

maybe not, since he's going to get his foot looked at

 

the results/outcome did change. their production improved. that's the point being made

 

Team results, dummy! Someone has to make up for the 19/5/5, but the team hasn’t improved. Sit Jalen, KPJ, Sengun, and EG, I bet everyone’s numbers goes up. Please stfu

 

team results don't matter at this point when it's about player development.

They may but I bet their efficiency is trash. you can give nix 30 mins a game and his efficiency is trash. but someone like you would be like oh he dropped 20. While taking 20 shots to get there. notice how that efficiency didn't drop with JG/AS without kpj. yeah i know you didn't cause you have tunnel vision.

i do what i want. you definitely aren't going to make me do a damn thing. not sure who you think you may be but its nothing but a casual around here

 

You are talking like we did not get blown out with KPJ playing.

 

Why is LeBron scoring more since AD has been out? Oh right, bc players get more opportunities and have to step up when someone goes down

 

That’s not the point. So you can stfu too, b****