Freshman year of HS chase down block. Stretcher to the hospital… “One doctor said he woudldn’t be able to play basketball again,” according to his Dad. “Broke his tibia twice in the same year…” Simce then the legs have seemingly been okay, but still pretty scary.
Yes, I agree completely, that’s how I see it, too. Green can get easy separation with footwork, splash a middy, even a 3pt, or drive if he gets overplayed. Cam is not there yet. HOWEVER, creating a shot is not the same as making a shot. So far Green is quite mid in making them. Also, there is not much value to have a shot creator on the floor if he is a complete disgrace on D, to the extent that it demoralizes the whole team. We’re not talking a sub-par defensive player like Curry, we’re talking maybe the worst player in the entire league. If Ime is serious about winning as he says, he should at least try having Cam in the starting line-up, mostly as a finisher, as you suggest. Leave the playmaking to Sengun and FVV. Of course Green may come-in as a different man, that’s possible, too. I hope Udoka keeps an open mind in training camp and tries different things to see what works best for the team.
The compiled highlights from the game with the Jazz. What jumps out at me is his pull-up jumper at the 1:15 mark. If Whitmore has the control to get that shot, he's a future 6-man of the year. https://www.nba.com/rockets/videos/highlights-cam-whitmore-25-points
Now people are understanding why I hated our free agent signings. I've been high on Cam Whitmore and have been posting about him since June last season. Individuals know Dillon will get his minutes while making $20 mil per year.....now they want to trade Jalen Green, KPj, Tate, everyone to make room for Cam in the rotation. Dillon eats into our development stages of Amen, Whitmore. And yes I said after free agency that KPj should request a trade. Prosper elsewhere where he will be appreciated. Stone has done McLemore, PJ Tucker, Harden, Eric Gordon solid favors in sending them where they wanted to go.
He can be a secondary shot creator on the floor. Like his shot creation skills are more impressive than Jabari's for example. Out of the core there are a top three clear self creators with Green and Amen because of their elite dribble seperation and Sengun because of his post game. If you consider KPJ part of the core then it's him after and then Whitmore. Whitmore basically is a more shiftier kj Martin with a bit better ball handling and a better shot.
I am actually not sure I agree that his shot creation skills are more impressive than Jabaris. He is a better finisher close to the basket and he has a better handle - but Jabari has the size. Jabari can shoot over almost everybody in the NBA. It will all depend, on how his shot is falling and if SL was a fluke, but I would expect Jabari to create more shots per posessions compared to Whitmore. Maybe the Jaylen Brown comparisons are spot on - I haven't watched enough of Brown to be able to form an educated oppinion. I do believe Whitmore can be an all-star and a 20-25 ppg scorer that also defends the opposing teams best SG/SF. He will need some time - he needs to take good shots and keep the ball moving. I'd be fine with sending him to the G-League for extended periods. But I could see him developing into a key player for us down the line.
I think Jabari will be a better shot maker than Whitmore. Ya he can get his shot up nearly any time and it's a rather fluid effortless shot. But Whitmore can create more seperation and better ball handling to do things like beslat defenders and attack and finish at the paint. Definitely debatable I guess. Close.
Boy, we're sure gonna have about 5 franchise players on hand. 3, 4 years down the road, Tilman will have to pay up.
History has shown that this is a winning player. Jabari, Cam and Eason as lockdown defenders that can put in 22 pts/22 pts/15 pts around Amen who can put in 25/8/8 would have a championship level upside. Sengun as a Brook Lopez type would be the cherry on top.
Drafting in the top 3... yeah... you kind of worry about the selection, and potential knee issues like this. At 20... and knowing he won't have to immediately play minutes in his first couple seasons it's a different story. Especially since you don't have to worry about maxing the guy out like you would with a top 3 pick. Look at Jalen Green. Even though he's still coming along the Rockets are in the situation where they are basically going to have to give him a max extension sooner rather than later. It's a reason too why had Jabari not shown well this offseason the Rockets might ALREADY look to trade him. So I can see why Cam dropped out of top 5 because of the Brandon Roy fears. The top 15.... that's kind of insane IMO.
I think Cam likely still needs quite a bit more development in order to crack the rotation (unless things are really bad). I'd have to see how they look in preseason and everything, but I'd still prefer Brooks, Tari, or KPJ over Cam. His shot creation in general needs quite a bit of work. I think there is some potential there, especially if he's coming off screens and/or handoffs, but giving him the ball to cook is...probably not a good idea right now. Kinda like JG to some degree, he takes a bit too long to make this decision on what to do, and that neutralizes some of his athleticism IMO. I'd re-evaluate this at various parts of the season, but I'm not eager to throw him in the rotation at this point, even if he is playing very well in summer league IMO. As for long-term potential, I've thrown out the possibility that he can replace JG as the main scorer on the team (likely at SG?). This has more to do with me thinking it is time to move off of JG if he *can't* take that leap this year (I'd give JG the node over Cam in raw talent for this role), but I think Cam could potentially grow into that role if need be. He's far from being able to do that right now (22-25PPG on decent efficiency), but I wouldn't rule it out until another year or so of development. Beyond that, he seems like an average defender at worst (due to effort and raw athleticism) with great finishing skills. I think "better KJ Martin" does him a disservice (no offense to KJ, who I also love), but that does seem like a bit of a floor for him. Likely outcomes are somewhere in-between those 2. I also debate whether I like him as a SG or SF, but not sure it really matters much at this point. Again, something that can be evaluated over time. As for the knee issues, from what I understand, it is something that will become an issue later in his career, not now. Guessing a cartilage/meniscus thing, but mostly speculation.
Having a head coach with the caliber of Ime Udoka will make a huge difference for our young players. They will learn how to play winning basketball. That I'm sure about. The future couldn't be brighter, and perhaps we won't have to wait that many years.
Dillon is going to teach them how to be apt defenders and doesn't eat into their development whatsoever. They don't know anything and shouldn't be "learning on the job" like Jalen, Sengun and Jabari had to.
Agreed. Rookies very rarely play winning basketball. Amen and Cam will likely benefit from being able to sit on the bench and watch veterans play or get minutes on the court with vets that can help them understand where and what they should be doing on the court.
Sure, you keep telling yourself that. Houston fans are so gullible and believe everything they hear. You've been sold a poor bill of goods
He has done all that you could hope in the summer league -- he's shown he's a talent level above the guys he's playing with. When he decides to put his head down and got to the rim, no one in summer ball can stop him. I wonder if he's better off staying on the bench with the big club than going down to the G League. I want to see him get more time as a secondary/tertiary scorer and playing in the flow, as opposed to putting up 20 shots a night. Some of his cuts remind me of Kenyon Martin Jr. The difference is, he's got about 20 pounds more, and can also dribble more than once.
