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

I guess "sure likes him" is really subjective, but not really? He's right around 0 on their scale, which would make him a middling player, which is what I said.

 

He really was the head honcho.

“Last season, Porter was the highest-paid player on the roster, occupied the biggest locker in the locker room and had his name introduced last in the starting lineup.”

Spoiler

https://theathletic.com/4695570/2023/07/17/rockets-cam-whitmore-dillon-brooks-mailbag/

Will Kevin Porter Jr. accept a sixth man role? Is there a chance Green comes off the bench instead of KPJ?

As it pertains to Porter, nothing is set in stone yet, nor should it be. In actuality, you could make a strong argument that Porter was Houston’s best player last season, and a number of basketball minds believe this. They’re called way-too-early depth charts for a reason. In my own edition, I penciled in Porter as Green’s backup, but that’s just my opinion. It can easily change. I have him grouped with Green in regards to positional battles, and I expect a fierce fight in camp.

From everything we’ve seen and heard from Porter this summer, it certainly sounds like he’s fully aware of the change that is here and is on board with whatever comes with it. But there’s a certain human aspect of all of this that we have to consider. Last season, Porter was the highest-paid player on the roster, occupied the biggest locker in the locker room and had his name introduced last in the starting lineup. All of that might be different this upcoming season, and that takes certain adjustments. But when the practices and scrimmages that matter roll around, it’s no forgone conclusion that Green beats out Porter. Not even close. It all boils down to what Udoka thinks gives the Rockets the best chance to start games. It could very well be Green at starting shooting guard. It could also very well be Porter. The more important thing, as always, is who is on the floor when the games are in the balance.

 

I've been looking at that a bit and there's some interesting stuff there....though some REALLY wouldn't like what it has to say

Here's what they seemed to say about KPJ, Jalen, and Sengun




Now right off the top, the most obvious thing is that it seems overly harsh when it comes to Sengun. What it says about KPJ and Green pretty much match my eye test, but with Sengun....ouch.

When it comes to player progression though,





It seems to believe in the KPJ progression much more than the other two.

Also interesting, it seems to love FVV

 

biggest locker is the most important because they don't want to hide all the food in the locker room from KPJ.

 

Another interesting thing, is that DARKO seems to like Jock Landale more than Sengun

 

Yeah it doesn’t really like any of our guys which was not super encouraging. Same goes for me on the eye test, it matches up pretty good other than sengun.

 

In fairness, it probably shouldn't like any of our guys that much, no one played all that well. Kind of hard to be one of the worst teams in the league 3 years straight otherwise.

Another thing I saw on there was the trajectory of Dillon Brooks' offense



That's pretty much my exact concern with him. Perhaps Udoka thinks he can fix him, but if that trend continues....yikes.

Funny enough, his defensive trajectory is the EXACT opposite.



I still don't think there's any way this guy would win a legitimate competition for a starting role.

 

Yeah I think you’re probably lower than anyone on brooks lol. The dude is a legit lockdown all nba defender. That’s valuable no matter what despite his offensive struggles. I hope ime can limit his usage but having someone who wants that challenge to guard the best player every night and bark at the young guys to communicate and play hard is a really valuable piece. I’m personally high on the pickup…but not high on the contract.

 

I too think that while Green has insane athleticism, if Porter has that dog in him that get the victories, you go with KPJ.

Greens has to focus on giving a consistent effort regardless of who is guarding him. But that will come with maturity as he fine tunes his NBA chops.

But I am starting to lean for KPJ over Green, if KPJ growth is legit and he brings a strong BB IQ.

 

I too think that while Green has insane athleticism, if Porter has that dog in him that get the victories, you go with KPJ.

Greens has to focus on giving a consistent effort regardless of who is guarding him. But that will come with maturity as he fine tunes his NBA chops.

But I am starting to lean for KPJ over Green, if KPJ growth is legit and he brings a strong BB IQ.

 

Regarding Sengun, his A/TO is not that great, and REB% is below the Sabonis/Jokic percentages.
He has that WOW factor, but consistent production is still not there.

With KPJ it’s been the other way around, he has steadily improved in the grunt categories, but lost a bit of the 50pts/10ast WOW factor…

 

I think you're probably right about that, but DARKO seems uniquely low on him.

I guess next season will be a good test of DARKO's predictive prowess.

 

Also interesting here is you can very clearly see the “senhub” stretch on this graph. It shows how much more valuable he is when he’s running the show, and also emphasizes his lack of value when he’s not.

 

Also interesting here is you can very clearly see the “senhub” stretch on this graph. It shows how much more valuable he is when he’s running the show, and also emphasizes his lack of value when he’s not.

 

Yeah but that's a problem because that'll likely never happen again. You'll now have FVV, Jalen, and Dillon Brooks all demanding to dominate the ball on offense. That pretty much kills any chance of "Senhub"

 

SPITTIN’

 

Yeah I mostly agree other than brooks, I really hope he won’t be dominating the ball on offense at all. Sengun will really have to show out and stand out in that role if he wants to get dedicated time running the show. I’m sure it won’t be full time but he will definitely get opportunities to be the primary playmaker and set guys up. And I’m skeptical he can prove his worth if he’s not allowed to play that role, unless he’s made massive strides in his shooting. Which is actually possible, he did shoot like 40% (?) or so from January through the end of the season. This is gonna be a really interesting year.

 

Normally, I would go into the definition of the stat and understand how it is calculated but I cannot find any document on it. Any idea if it is publicly available?

 

https://apanalytics.shinyapps.io/DARKO/

 

43.8% from downtown (small sample size)