Ime Udoka didn't love the play of the Rockets starters in Philly

Not good enough. Not playing team ball. Still inexperienced with 2 rookies and 2 second year guys.

 

Not sure why he doesn’t play Holliday anymore either.

 

I guess you could argue we would keep our 2024 pick with Silas because we'd be terrible again.

 

Good stats

 

This is a mystery to me, too. I know that Holiday had some questionable games as a point guard and wasted plays by being selfish but he's a season 40% 3pt shooter and 3pt is one of the things we hugely need. He really wasn't that to bad to be benched for Reggie Bullock.

 

This is such a weird thing to say when the starters played really well together. I’ll be interested to look when the stats are online but I wouldn’t be surprised if we actually won the minutes with our starting 5 on the floor. It was everything else that was the problem

 

Well, they made some mistakes, and Alpi had 5 turnovers to start the game, but somehow, it didn't get reflected in the box score, the result was pretty even when Alpi went to the bench.

We were -1 with the 5 starters, to start the game:



But then they started killing us from three when Alpi was on the bench. And it was all downhill from there.

So I think Ime should look at what actually happened vs. what his perception told him.

Jeff Green hasn't had a positive impact on the game when coming in in the last 2-3 games.

 

Once we had Tate trying to guard Embiid, the game was over. We might as well have just given the Sixers 3 points on every possession to save time.

 

This was the short time period when Sengun was on the bench in the first quarter:



Jeff Green and Jaesean Tate led us into falling behind by 12 more points. The entire team couldn't buy a bucket, only one field goal in that time period, and most telling:

ZERO assists while Alpi was on the bench. ZERO.

Basically, the offense went to **** the moment Alpi went to the bench. And the rest of the team couldn't defend Embiid, who made 5 free throws during that time period.

 

10th spot is still play in.

 

My maybe somewhat controversial opinion is, that the lack of physicality is a bit of a lazy excuse and distracts from deeper problems.

We simply suck on offense. Alpi and FVV are the only ones who can put pressure on opposing defenses. And if they have a bad night, most games are over before they even start.

You could see how relaxed the Sixers were, because they just knew that we couldn't come back even if we played with maximum physicality and great defense.

Also I feel like the early timeouts in the first quarter did more harm than good and just made the team even more self-conscious after a bad start.

 

Someone like Udoker is a control freak, and it sounds like he is losing control over parts......

 

Well, Udoker is holding the starters to the highest standards because the starters have to erase the deficits of the Bottom 3 Bench of the league night in night out.

It is unfair but what can you do, you are paying the bench minimum contracts other than Landale who is overpaid.

Sliver lining: The Rookies are playing....

 

Toughness is always there. Trust in his players is here and there...

 

Overall I like what Udoka has done to the team's mentality, but if I have to criticize anything it has to be the current offensive identity. It seems teams have now over prepared to the FVV/Sengun short roll and we have not had any counters. We still are pressing forward with running this nearly everytime down the floor. It has even gotten to the point where literally everyone is standing watching Sengun with the ball in the center of the floor.

We have to start throwing some more wrinkles into the offense because it's clearly not working. We haven't had a lead in like 4 games. Green and Fred are shooting dreadfully. Sengun hasn't been at his best either, but I don't think we're really putting anyone in a fast track to success on the offensive end currently.

Say what you want about Silas, but Sengun was flirting with triple doubles nearly every game at the end of last year. And that was by design as you saw way more cuts to the basket and movement off the ball with Sengun pulling the strings. When the looks weren't there, then Sengun would attack. It's something I'd like to see more of in the second half of the season, that is Alperen returning to being more of a facilitator than a score-first player he is currently deployed as in the Udoka offense.

 

Fear not.....Portland and Charlotte games are incoming after a few games.

 

Even the Detroit game was a struggle. We just cannot find ways to build a lead at all currently in this design. I don't think Tari coming back helps out in that regard either.

He will help keep the game close for sure, but we aren't getting easy looks right now in any capacity on the offensive half of the floor.

 

Unfortunately it looks that way......after a few games of Jalen getting hot, this was it.......the Road games are especially tragic.

Games against contenders except the Milwaukee home game are almost automatic losses.

 

I agree with you to a large extent however I don't blame Udoka for checking how far we can push that 1 play. I think we've discovered the it can carry us about 50% of the time which btw is amazing anyway. As long as he realizes this soon before it gets demoralizing, it's fine. Pushing them more is unlikely to yield much better results. If you convince a fish it can fly, it will feel like it failed every day. We don't have a second play anywhere near what FVV/Sengun can produce in an ultra slow half-court setting.

As I've said in another thread, it's time to try other less efficient things that feature more of the core and try to push THOSE things. There I can see pressure resulting in more than marginal improvement. Cam, Jalen and Jabari can try some things in the half court. The real difference maker is that we need to push the pace and Sengun/FVV have to adjust to that a bit. Faster pace is not good for Sengun's defense or FVV's rare weakness in transition, but we have to push for more of a middle ground than being one of the slowest teams that is highly inefficient in transition (4th worst).

Some suggestions:

1) For me an easy avenue for some extra offense is first and foremost transition. The core features 6 young players (Sengun, Jabari, Tari, Jalen, Cam, Amen). FIVE of those guys would thrive in a fast pace. The pace we've chosen does not suit our core at all. I can understand why our starters need a slower pace, but there's no reason why our bench shouldn't be pushing the pace more.

2) Our off ball play is terrible. Udoka is a Spurs guy. This is unacceptable if it persists. I understand he can't do magic and he's brought us so far already, so I'm willing to give him time. However if we have reached the maximum capacity of the Sengun-FVV offense, then it's time to install some new sh*t.

3) Get Jabari some more shots off screens and let the f*cker warm up. Don't yank the chain just because he starts off 2 of 5.

4) Jalen and Cam's offensive play in the last game is deserving of some more plays being run for them WITH APPROPRIATE PERSONNEL ON THE FLOOR. That means 5-out offense, fast pace, force their defender to switch. We may need to add a stretch 5 to achieve this, throwing Landale or Uncle Jeff or Tate in the 5 spot is not acceptable.

5) We are 18th in mid range FG% (40%) and 14th in attempts. Why would we shoot ourselves in the foot like that when we already lack scoring talent? We take the fewest corner 3's IN THE NBA (30th). This is stupid, garbage basketball. Mid range is the laziest, softest shot in the NBA and it practically eliminates the possibility of getting free throws with the shot. You didn't get open there, they left you open there. We don't have great mid range guys, we're not the Bulls or Suns. We need to be closer to the Pacers (5th fewest mid range attempts, lifting their efficiency to a league-leading 50% from the mid range). There's no fathomable reason we should be taking the fewest of the 2nd best shot in the NBA (corner 3).

Udoka needs to be 10-20% more MDA-minded. We need to creatively generate some easier shots and try some things we may not love but have a high potential to improve.

 

That was borderline criminal and a massive disservice to Tate. How TF is a 6'5" dude supposed to guard 7' tall 280 pound Joel Embid?! Dumbest thing I've seen the Rockets do all year. But what was the alternative? Landale is unplayable. Boban wouldn't work. I think I'd have put them both out there until they fouled out at least. The Rockets desperately need a serviceable backup big man.