This is so well put. I think there’s two reasons: - It’s part of KPJ’s (and Silas’ to a lesser extent) deep down preferred philosophy of basketball. There’s an on ball initiator, a potential PnR lob threat, and everyone else spaced static at the three point line. This is just how they see offense, and it’s not necessarily wrong if you have Luka or peak Harden; but running it with KPJ just leads to a below average offense that’s ugly to watch. - KPJ believes anybody else with the ball is worse offense. Only Jalen he trusts. Like you see KPJ look at Jabari or KJ or Tari on the second side after the defense has shaded to him and think “nah, a contested iso play by me is better offense than giving it to them”. The problem is that for a lot of his Rockets career, there has been some truth to that. This has been self-reinforcing. I think #2 is fixable, and he has gotten better on this front recently. #1 I don’t think is fixable, but you can make it work as a 6th man.
Every instance of KPJ's pouting/quitting on plays negates any positivity in his play for at least that game and likely beyond because he is showing himself to be an unreliable and untrustworthy teammate. It's definitely on Silas too because he should be immediately subbing him out when he does it. It's almost like watching/hearing a child having a fit at a restaurant while the parent does nothing.
I think you’re right on KPJ’s current value, but Dejounte is instructive because I think there’s a ~25% chance KPJ could get near there in a season with better surrounding cast, continued improvement as a shooter, continued development away from selfishness on offense, and no off court issues. Just the halo effect of being on the perceived “surprising up and coming” 32 win Rockets instead of the “dumpster fire” 22 win Rockets would flip things. Like if KPJ is in a 3 man guard rotation with Jalen and Harden/Scoot/FVV next year, and averages 18/6/6 in 28 mpg on 58% TS (all slightly ticked up from this year) with average defense, we could get a couple firsts for him IMO. Since his contract is amazing. Things flip quickly in the NBA. Look at the Thunder and Magic.
Murray had Jakob Poetl and Derrick White, which objectively is a better surrounding cast than our rookies; but they're not superstars. Agree on the system more; as Poetl, White, Murray, they all just seemed to look better... and in turn Spurs got more trade value out of them.
Them comparing Jabari to Robert Horry is a bit odd. Loved Horry, but Jabari has way more offensive potential, and he's probably going to make more of an impact on the glass. Horry was an incredible roleplayer who was an important piece on a lot of championship teams, but Jabari if he maximizes can be an all-star, second best player on a contender. Although with all of that said, Horry would have scored more in today's NBA since players take so many more catch-and-shoot 3s these days. So maybe the comparison isn't that far off if you're just talking floor and ignoring potential upside.
The only similarities are they are both long stretch bigs. Horry was an athletic beast in his youth and a significantly better cutter and finisher compared to Jabari. Bari meanwhile projects to be a much better defender and shooter.
Yes my mind is clearer now that I understood this better. I was actually As you said, this type offense is an option but 19/6 is actually not good at all for this type of offense considering the resources you use and opportunity cost. For the second point, it is irrelevant what he thinks. The coach must force him to the right play. Very few nba players can figure out the best ways to play themselves. It is what the coaches do.
To me, this is the thing with being a PG. No matter what you do, people are going to analyze you AND over analyze you. To me this statement is OVER ANALYZATION. "He doesn't pass to move the ball. He passes either to make an assist or 'give the turn' to the next player without creating an advantage if he thinks he can't create something" How a person can determine why another person is passing the ball is beyond reasoning. To me this is the thought process of someone who is looking at the game from THEIR point of view and not at what is actually taking place on the court. We all have our points of views but for some to be able to say why another person is passing the ball is INCOMPREHENSIBLE
To me, this is the thing with being a PG. No matter what you do, people are going to analyze you AND over analyze you. To me this statement is OVER ANALYZATION. "He doesn't pass to move the ball. He passes either to make an assist or 'give the turn' to the next player without creating an advantage if he thinks he can't create something" How a person can determine why another person is passing the ball is beyond reasoning. Especially when an assist gives the other player an advantage to score. To me this is the thought process of someone who is looking at the game from THEIR point of view and not at what is actually taking place on the court. We all have our points of views but for someone to be able to say why another person is passing the ball is INCOMPREHENSIBLE
Nah, makes complete sense. KPJ holds it too long — too many of his passes are a second late or are as a last resort / bail out after he’s tried to create an advantage and it didn’t work. To be fair this is true of most of our players. The offense is: guy tries to do his thing —> if it doesn’t work pass it to the next guy who tries to do his thing —> pass it to the next guy who takes a shot forced by the shot clock —> hope for an offensive rebound and putback.
Chicken or the egg I suppose. Me? I blame the chicken. He came here to run the helio-offense with Harden and ended up with a big pile of Oladipo, Wall, Wood, Porter and a bunch of teenagers. Instead of putting these guys in a better system, coaching to their talents he has square pegged every round hole in the building including our eyeballs. The egg trying his best to be something he is not, not his fault imo. He's not Harden or Luca (and that's ok). Request for photoshoppers: smiley Silas in a chicken suit.
We'll agree to disagree on that assessment. I think what you're referring to is more coaching. A coach can or will instruct during practice to swing the ball faster. If that's being what's asked of them. To me I think what @AlprenSengun was more or less stating was when KPJ is passing the ball, he is passing to more or less enhance his stats and not that for the betterment of his teammates. And I was alluding to the fact that that is HIS analogy. I think his assessment is bias.
It’s a coaching issue because the players don’t know what to do off ball. These guys aren’t getting taught the fundamentals or aren’t displaying them. It was aplay in Wednesday against Memphis that really frustrated me because of where we’re at at the point of this season and made me fully believe that even though we played competitively we need to move on Silas. We were in halfcourt offense and Sengun had the ball w high mid post and Memphis was double teaming and Sengun was holding the ball for a couple of secons and our spacing was decent but when double came every body just stood in place and luckily sengun got fouled but nobody moved and cut. And Sengungot on Jalen and then the team when that happened. Watching that play real time just showed this team lack of bakstball Iq of not understanding what to do in certain situations and I thought to myself only rookie on the floor was Jabari, and we were still not able to make the right reads. I consequently watched the Pistons game to see are they making these same mistakes and nope. Not nearly the talent but they aren’t making the same mistakes. This kind of remind me of Rudy T during the franchise era. He was a players coach and not very vocal. That type of stuff hurts the development of younger players. Barkley alluded to this with Francis during his DNPCD situation and basically how Rudy didn’t really get to help Francis develop. We’re goin to need somebody to come in And change the culture like a JVG( and I hated JVg as a coach)
I know the play you're referencing. And you're 100% correct, nobody cut, everybody stood around. On a play like that, it should be known to automatically cut/move. I said last yr, no players should be traded or moved until Silas is fired. I think with the right coach a lineup of CWood, Jabari, Sengun, Green and KPJ could have made the playoffs. It's not the players!
I still hope that a player is slotted next to Green that is better at setting teammates up. KPJ is undoubtedly looking better lately. Especially compared to last season. He made a few passes last night that were pretty sweet. His experience in this role could pay off. If he came off the bench for 25 min a game he could be positive for sure.
He is the only player I see that can shoot, pass, playmake, dribble and play defense. Other players have things that do well but KPJ is the only player on the team that offers something in all facets of the game.
Yeah man, it’s clear as day. The problem is his past and the fact he wasn’t a draft pick of ours, otherwise the fans would give him his credit. He still has a lot of work to do and I don’t think he’s some elite player. Still the best we have and can a part of our future if used correctly
very very very very far from "the best we have" Now, I don't know if these are entirely correct, but they would match the eye test - look at the ORtg and the DRtg - KPJ would be -10, Alpi +2.
