That’s what most don’t get I think - I know they went out and said the right things after the contracts were signed, but I don’t think either should be taken for granted, and I don’t think they are as happy with Rockets and Udoka as folks seem to think. Those player options didn’t come out of nowhere.
This is a business and it changes every day......so protecting themselves from the organization is one part of being in the NBA. Doesn't mean they are not grateful to the Rockets, it is just anything can change in an instant.
I'm not convinced they're unhappy. Though I could definitely see the potential of us losing Green if he continues to blow up and we can't/don't offer him a max next time. Hearing Sengun's interviews I actually think he's sincere in wanting to be here and compete for a championship. He doesn't come across like he's just saying the right things to the reporters at all to me.
I'm not sure it's that simple. As I showed above, even shooting 45% from 3 is less productive than the ~70% guys get at the rim by a fairly wide margin. It's more a combination of things - the math for sure, and the trend in the league now, especially with bigs who get eaten alive otherwise outside the paint, they have no other option but to play that drop coverage. Imagine Jokić as a PnR defender. He has little choice but to drop. Same for Gobert and just about all the other true big centers. Capela early in his career was an outlier in that he wasn't roast duck on an island with a guard. Those guys are few and far between. Most of them just don't have the lateral quickness & agility to do anything other than drop coverage - The guy that gets picked also has options - fight thru or go under. That guys decision is more or less dictated by the quality of the shooter and the game status. Him going under is another factor on a clogged paint. Part of the problem is Jalen trying to turn the corner too fast and slither thru a keyhole - often he's immediately faced with the big defender .... instead, he flatten the angle and create space, Laterally from the pick which makes that big defender commit and cover more ground in doing so or give up a wide open shot, opening up space for the roller and now another defender has to react .... Then he has to make the right decision. I played the PG spot on a 5A team that won a state title (40 years ago) ..... watching the fundamentals of some of these young guys makes me cringe.
I love Jalens new swagger. Mouthpiece swirling about and the "F you" look after a great make. He's not hooting and hollering anymore. New deal. New Jalen. He's just punching the clock and going to work. No crying to the refs after every whistle. No sulking and dragging ass on defense. No barking at his teammates when he screws up. Leading by example and everyone else on the team understands what is happening.
Also noticed this change. For some reason, it does look like he is truly focused on just ballin this season. There may be some mental lapses here and there but I am happy to see that he never sulks after a dumb move and just makes up for it the next play
Jalen has impressed me thus far after the off-season. Idk if it's because he got paid or he's a dad or whatever... From what I can see, his defense has improved dramatically and his offense, while sometimes takes a couple shots to get into rhythm, seems to be more consistent. What I hated from him most previously was driving to the rim then turning the ball over, that seems to happen less now. Maybe it's because he's getting stronger or smarter, either way I'm all for it. If he starts getting Ja Morant type of superstar treatment (where if you breath on him, it's a foul), then Jalen will easily average an efficient 25ppg this year.
One thing I find interesting — Jalen is averaging 26 without really exploding in any game. I could easily see him going off for 35+ soon.
It's actually more than that, and it's crazy how much favorable officiating helps your game. I was really hoping we would get more benefit of the doubt coming into this season, considering we're one of the teams on the rise with a lot of young talent, I thought we'd be out of the rookie-whistle territory that we're used to. I think Jalen and Sengun both still get atrocious whistles. I don't think people really understand how much of a difference this can make to your overall numbers and the perspective of your play. But just to throw some numbers out there, here are Jalens averages so far this year- 26.3 ppg, 9/22 fg - 41%, 4/11 3pt -36.4%, 4.3/5.7 FTA - 76.5% 54.7% TS (this is bad, 2% below league average) Now if you imagine he just gets ONE extra call per game. Just one foul call on a missed shot (assume same ft%), here is what his averages look like 27.8 ppg, 9/21 fg - 43%, 4/11 3pt - 36.4%, 5.8/7.7 FTA - 76.5% 57.0% TS(this is good, above league average) Literally just one foul call per game would bump him above league average TS and essentially turn his numbers from "nice volume, but he needs to be more efficient" to "that's an obvious allstar". Just one foul call! And if we wanna get really crazy with it, here are the numbers if he gets a superstar whistle that adds two foul calls per game - 29.4 ppg, 9/20 fg - 45%, 4/11 3pt - 36.4%, 7.4/9.7 - 76.5% 60.6% TS (elite, all-nba tier) That's literally an MVP candidate. So yeah, if Jalen plays the exact same way he did in these first 3 games, but we magically pretend he got two extra foul calls per game on his drives, he's now an MVP candidate kind of player. I really really wish we could get some favorable whistles for our guys.
LaMelo has better numbers and I am not going so far to call him an MVP candidate, it takes years until he gets there. He has the god given talent to have superior vision than 90% of the NBA and he has ridiculous range. He is just always injured and his team is not really that good. Also the MVP candidate gets a bonus if he is a unselfish teammate and a great sports man as well.
The disparity between efficiency of ft and field goals is a big problem in many ways. This is for sure the most important aspect. I can't think of a reasonable solution either. Maybe change fg values to 3 and 4 points while keeping the number of free throws shot still 2 and 3 if you get fouled. Or if you miss the first one, you are not allowed to take the second one. Or a threshold for shooting fouls, like you can commit 2 shooting fouls each quarter before the other team is allowed to shoot. Something will be done eventually in my opinion.
I can guarantee you two things. First, there is 0 chance Lamelo Ball keeps this up all season, he will not average this for a full year. However, if we assume that he does, then I can 100% guarantee you he will be in the MVP conversation and he will get votes. You are completely insane if you think otherwise.
Nowadays he would not if he is on just a 10th seed........ We have not seen an MVP candidate who is not a clear Top 3 or Top 5 seed...... at least I cannot think back to the date when someone with a mediocre record was one. And a scorer who does not have at least 8 or 9 assist per game is not cutting it. But let's say Udoka builds around Jalen Green and he leads the Rockets with Alpe deferring to him to HC advantage and his assist rate checks out at 8-10 apg, then yeah he is a candidate. And that is the only way to shut every fairweather up as well because the numbers and record are meeting the standards of an MVP candidate.
Again, as long as we're playing make believe, there is zero chance they are a 10 seed if Lamelo Ball plays 70+ games and averages 32/7/7 on 65% TS. This is a stupid hypothetical anyway, but you're just being ridiculous if you don't think those are MVP numbers.
