greatest current need for this team heading to playoff run

That guy is like harden or jokic racking sht tons of of points/stats carrying the team to victory. Sengun isn't at that level yet he has the potential.

There are games where he shine but there are games where he's okay also.

 

We're way too bad at offense for a 3&D guard off the bench to move the needle. I'm guessing if it's for the playoffs you're talking about changes that won't majorly set back the rotation's chemistry (as in no expensive trades). You can't send Sengun out there with 4 guys who can't create their own shot, that's criminal. He's the only player on the roster who for the majority of his minutes plays with 4 shooters. Given the worst of them - Jalen - is making 37-38% of his catch and shoot 3's, that's always a good situation for Alpi.

We need a 6th man of the year type C who can be a backup but just as easily start in a double big lineup with Sengun. That way we can generate two more lineup options with 4 shooters so the wings can benefit from it for 20-25 minutes too. IMO the perfect guy for that is Vucevic or Isaiah Stewart. Vucevic reportedly available for multiple second rounders and nothing else. Even if the stretch 5 only shoots 35% on good volume, it will have a MUCH greater impact than a guard making 38% on the same volume.

When your SG can shoot, he's just taking a perimeter defender to the 3PT line with him so the spacing is not as good because the rim protector gets to play drop coverage and disturb everything. When your C can shoot, he takes the opponent's rim protector with him to the 3PT line. That's a whole dimension of difference. That means when Amen/Green blow past their own man by loading up, a 7 foot rim protector has to outsprint them to the basket in order to bother the shot. That ain't happening. That's how they do it for Morant. That's how they do it for Giannis. That's how they're using Westbrook by bringing Jokic out to the 3PT line, so Westbrook doesn't face much resistance in the paint. That's how they create offense for slashers who are shaky shooters. I hope it doesn't take Ime 15 years to figure this out like it did with Thibs - who BTW was visiting MDA and consulting with him prior to taking the Knicks job. He even came to Rockets practice once. That's a man who put his ego aside about what he was taught about winning basketball and opened his mind to concepts that may even worsen his defense, but not by as much as his offense would improve. Udoka must do this I want him to reach his potential.

If you get a stretch 5 it creates spacing for Cam/Green/Amen/Tari who have been DYING for this and deserve it. If you bring in a guard, you're taking minutes away from these guys before even seeing their true potential in a mediocre spaced offense. Not the way to go. Our 4 slashers are way underutilized and our backcourt is shooting way too much.

 

The biggest need is clearly a pg that will allow Ime to not play FVV 40 minutes per game.

That pg might be Amen by end of this season. The Rockets are not serious championship contenders this year, so they might roll into the playoffs this year with Amen as backup pg.

 

33 Games played.....49 left to go.

I think a closer not necessarily a star should come in handy, someone like Malik Monk.

But Derrick Whites do not grow on trees either.

 

Since the Reed Sheppard experiment has either been aborted or shut down, we probably need a guard somewhere between Alex Caruso and Derrick White. An experienced player with size and some shotmaking ability who is always in the right place on offense and defense.

As much as I don't like seeing FVV launch hail mary-like 3s both early and late in the shot clock, I despise seeing FVV guarding Klay Thompson as a first-matchup or on a switch. Veteran guards know how to overcome a 5+inch height advantage.

We won't win a playoff series with the perimeter shooting and defensive liabilities we have at the PG position.

 

fox might be the answer if they can get it done before the deadline: .https://www.si.com/nba/kings/sacram...n known as,his defense usually goes unnoticed.

 

Playmaking guard in close game situations.

-Too much iso FVV (and I love FVV he’s just not that guy)
-Sengun needs someone to take pressure off to create in post ups/iso
-Jalen isn’t consistent enough as an iso creator
-Amen isn’t really an offensive player yet but love the potential
-Cam is still untested and undeveloped as an isolation scorer/creator
-Reed sadly looks like a big belly flop of a draft pick

Obviously trading for a superstar like a Luka is the ideal but I don’t think it’s necessary to spend superstar type of assets just to get a decent iso scorer who can help in close late game scenarios. The Rockets are going to eventually develop effective closers with their talented core. Just need a little help.

 

I'd say a PG or a SG that can take on ball reps (i.e., capable of running the offense without FVV). I don't think Amen will shoot well enough by the end of the year to be a PG other than spot duty.

If Fox is available at the trade deadline, I'd try to get Fox and Ellis. Ellis has near zero playmaking, but would fit with either Fox or FVV on the court.

 

I haven't watched the Nuggets lately, but earlier in the year, Westbrook would bring the ball up the court and pass it to Jokic. Westbrook didn't face resistance in the paint because he didn't have the ball in half court settings.

 

We might not make the playoffs with this situation. They should switch Amen to starting PG right now which strengthens both our defense and introduces more athleticism into your starting unit. Jalen, Amen, and Sengun can share the initiator role in the half-court and we won't have anyone walking the ball up and eating up 3/4 of the shot clock dribbling in circles. We will commit more turnovers, but we will also create more turnovers and Amen will add to the offensive rebounding we already excel at. It would also inform us as to whether Jalen will be unleashed with a different PG.

 

If you watch this team, a lot of things are evident.

1) This offense can't function without Sengun.
2) Even so, this offense is putrid.
3) Sengun has a lot of trouble scoring around the rim this year.
4) Sengun can't shoot. Still.
5) Random dudes can wall off Sengun single handedly. His height has been and still is an issue. It's even more pronounced now that he's lost weight and can't throw it around as much.

He's the Rockets best player, not their best talent. I was hoping for significant steps forward from him (mostly from a shooting standpoint) and it hasn't happened. He's too small. He's always going to be too small. He can mitigate that by being a better shooter but he hasn't done that. Against certain teams, he is going to feast. Against others, he won't. There are players in this league that can go off against anyone at any time. That's what we need.

Sengun is not that. Not yet and I'm slowly thinking he won't be that if this year is any indication. He could be a great #2 but I can't clearly say he's better than Sabonis. Just different. He's like Jalen in that he's been given all the opportunity to become a superstar and he simply hasn't.

I'm not sure why he also has that bug of being a total zero for 2-3 quarters and suddenly scoring like 15 pts to give him a decent stat line. So many times I see the box score and he's 1/7 or 2/6. I'm not a blind faith guy. I have a breaking point when it comes to players. I'm out completely on Jalen. Jury is still out on Sengun but I'm not sold. Was more last year than this year. Not saying he won't be, just saying he probably won't be and I'd temper my expectations lest you become one of those "OFs" constantly thinking everything around your favorite player is the problem.

 

Even Gobert cannot wall off Sengun alone, as we just saw (again). Sengun is one of the most double-teamed players in the NBA. He draws a ton of double teams. The only way they can try to defend him is to throw at least two players at him. If our guys made the open threes he creates, we would be no. 1 in the conference.

The rest of your post is completely off as well.

Look at his advanced stats.

This is the year he has become a two-way player.

He'll add a few points per game to that sooner rather than later. Not nearly as important.

The only thing in your post I agree with is that he needs to overcome the slow starts.

 

Jesus. Lol.

 

-Sengun needs someone to take pressure off to create in post ups/iso
right now the most reliable/consitent 3 pt shooters he can kick out to are Jabari and Brooks. We just need our backcourt to me more reliable/consitent 3 pt shooters

barring a trade, it looks like best right now is give Jalen a chance to prove he can be a consistently efficient shooter, Amen a chance to develop his jumpshot and perimeter offense , Cam chance to prove he deserves more minutes to develop more his defense, passing, and shot selection

 

alpi needs to knock down those gimmes in the paint and his free throws as well

 

Guard play period.

The starting guard pair are shooting a combined .317 from 3.

That's just sorry.

And worse is that they are the two highest volume shooters.

 

I like the idea of adding Vucevic, but he is not the magic pill. There will be very few lineups where it makes since to play him and Sengun at the same time. Adding 15 minutes of a decent shooting center will help, but it does not address our major problem which is a starting backcourt that isn't producing. Vucevic will help this team, but not enough to propel us into the playoffs. Solving our backcourt issues is our biggest problem whether internally or externally.

 

This is correct. We can accomplish all that by replacing FVV with Amen. If that doesn't work then make a trade for a stopgap PG and save your powder for the off-season. Jalen needs a chance to play consistently with an up-tempo running mate. If it does not make a difference and he is still mediocre than you trade him in the off-season. We aren't contenders this year. There is no reason not to experiment to see who is really part of our core. The only real locks to me are Sengun and Amen. Jalen, Jabari, Cam, and Reed are the other candidates. It makes absolutely no sense to be playing FVV monster minutes or even starting him.

 

Certainly ideal, and preferable IMO to wait and see with this group.

I really... REALLY don't want to give up draft picks especially. I think we are going to need to restock our talent pool in the near future more than you think. We won't be able to keep everyone, injuries will likely derail careers, and there will be busts. We aren't as deep as we think, and I think we need to continue to add at least 1 high level prospect every year to keep that farm producing.

So yeah... I think if we could just get improvement especially from Jalen, Amen, and then Cam we have what we need long term without sacrificing the farm for this years crops. We do not have as many draft picks as people seem to think.

That said if we can make deals that do not gut out asset pool then sure, I think we should look to add a veteran here or there... unless a TRUE superstar comes available... even then, we still have to be picky on which superstar makes sense.

So yeah... stay the course, and develop develop develop.

 

A PG that can create open looks for others and knockdown the 3 would take our offense to another level.