Prior to Kevin Porter Jr. getting injured, the offense looked very different. There was clearly more of an emphasis on allowing KPJ to be the primary initiator of the offense. We have seen Sengun take on a much larger role in his absence and he has thrived. He has been making an overwhelming argument that he is the best player on the team currently. When KPJ returns do you think Silas will revert back to what he was doing before or will he continue to allow Alperen Sengun to be the hub? I think running more offense through Sengun actually opens up things for both KPJ, who is a very good off-ball player in his own right as well as Jalen Green, but Silas has clearly been hesitant to utilize Sengun this way until his hand was forced.
wouldn’t be surprised if KPJ as the same mindset as his stans…”team has been running through Sengun and still getting its ass whooped not winning a single game” catered to and placated at every turn…introduced last during warmups like he’s the franchise player…the self-proclaimed leader and head honcho I think I know what’s gonna happen when he returns
In a perfect world? They'd try to run things through him and Sengun while sending Green to the bench for KJ or Tari. What they'll do? Anyone's guess.
I try to be as unbiased as possible when I look at the guys on our team. KPJ is not my favorite player on the team. He may not even be top 3. I think he has high-level talent though. I've always said on this board that I didn't think he was a long-term solution at point guard, but I thought he was having a good season based on my expectations for him and what the coaches are trying to make him do. All that being said, I think it's time to stop using guys on this team in ways that don't play to their strengths. Jalen Green right now is not an iso scorer. He is better in pick-and-roll and dribble handoffs. Operating off the catch. Alperen Sengun isn't best utilized as a roller in the pick and roll even though he can do it. Kevin Porter Jr. isn't best utilized primarily as an on-ball player when he is even better as a secondary playmaker and catch-and-shoot guy. Silas needs to stop trying to make guys fit his system and fit his system to his guys.
Haha...I didn't realize you were back on this. Well, we saw how the Jalen Green takes got you roasted big time last season. Maybe let it play out this time around and take your victory lap at the end of the season if he doesn't bounce back?
I honestly doubt Silas has any say on this. It’s up to KPJ how he wants to play, because they seem to cater to whatever he feels like to do.
It really didn't though. I enjoyed the hot streak he had at the end of last season, but he's always been the worst defensive player on the team and one of the worst in the league....and now we have a second season where he's terrible offensively in the bulk of games while being an abomination defensively. For his career thus far, the only thing he's been good at is being a tank commander. So how was I wrong for pointing out that I had concerns about him? When I said that he was relatively unskilled, relying almost exclusively on athleticism, when I said that he was a streaky rather than good shooter.....how was I wrong exactly?
I think KPJ would thrive coming off the bench -- so even though we're still losing at least we look better and Sengun is getting a real chance to develop his skill set. Unfortunately Silas will return to the previous formula and ruin the entire team's improvement... can't upset KPJ.
Unpopular opinion: if you really want to run a PG-run offense, then you might be better running a rim rolling big that plays solid defense next to KPJ (eg Fernando, though I don’t know how good of a defender he is). kpg led offense doesn’t utilize Sengun as much to make up for potential defensive liabilities. Since the season is lost, I say you force the Sengun kpg experiment but if we were trying to win and think about team balance, I think it’s better to split those two up (unless they can gain some chemistry).
I'm almost sure he will revert to the same crap as before. A competent front office should fire him at that point, unless they are in on this nonsense. In that case, a competent owner should fire both the GM and the coach. If you look at his uncle's tweets, that's exactly their narrative.
Let's not revise history. You admitted yourself that he was really good after all star break and he improved defensively. He was at least trying. There has certainly been some regression in effort defensively this season. His offense has been up and down. I think his increased load and the way he's trying to score have attributed to his struggles. It's a lot different than what we saw last season. He's experimenting. I was ok with it, but now I think he should focus on his strengths until he snaps out of his funk. He's still ahead of where he was last season before all star break. I'll worry about it if he doesn't heat up. All I'm saying is let it play out. Historically 20 year old shooting guards struggle at the beginning of their sophomore seasons for whatever reasons and pick it up 2nd half. I'm sure you know that. Benching him is not the answer. Holding him accountable and coaching him up is.
I imagine most really dislike how the coaching staff or FO (depending on rumors) seems to cater to his every whim despite him being wholly undeserving of any of it and the rest are just responding out of strong dislike for his stans on this board. Personally, I don't want to trade away KPJ or even demote him. I actually want to move him into a 3&D role that plays off Sengun and then do his dollar store Harden shtick when Sengun is sitting while he is still playing. The question for me however is whether KPJ would even be willing to entertain this demotion of responsibilities. We all saw how he behaved when he was assigned a smaller locker and then again when he had poor effort and wouldn't be playing in the 2nd half. Kid has talent, but he is being misused and he has attitude issues.
What should he do? Make quick decisions. Learn to push the ball up for a few extra easy fast break points. Learn that he can swing the ball to force the defense to move. Simple thinking: Pass, shoot, or drive. *This is assuming Silas still has him at PG, which is a fair assumption. What will he do? Probably the opposite. The flow of the offense has been so much better and the Rockets (on offense) have been creating much less predictable offense (for opposing defenses) and the beauty is that it's repeatable. Defensively he should call Green out. Green's Defensive effort last game was embarrassing and KPJ considers himself the head honcho. Call your boy out and hold him to a higher standard. It's not just Green either... pretty much our whole defense sucks whether it's from ability or effort.
He was good offensively during that stretch. The best he's ever been defensively was still terrible. That's just how it is. I was happy because I thought it was more than just a hot streak during the part of the season where other teams were no longer trying. It's why I had such high hopes this season. Unfortunately he came out this season playing poorly on offense and absolutely pathetic on defense. It showed that maybe it was just a random hot streak instead of actual progression. I'm fine letting it play out too, Jalen's defense and Jabari's offense have been 2 of the main things keeping the tank alive. There's no point in accountability right now when Jalen being awful is helping the team land a better pick. Last season was almost ruined when Jalen Green got hurt, the team immediately won 7 in a row, can't afford to let that happen this season. Now going forward, when the team actually wants to try to win games, you make Jalen earn his playing time or get him ready for a career as a bench guy like Lou Williams. He got 2 years for free, 3rd year is when accountability has to happen.
