Nah- I’ll be cautiously optimistic until the Rockets have a player emerge as a franchise player. Once they have that I will view them as a real long term threat to win a title.
Saying you "seriously doubt" one of Sengun, Green, and Thompson will develop into a franchise player given how they are playing is not "cautious optimism." It's idiotic pessimism.
I'm not even cautiously optimistic when it comes to Jalen. Just cautious. I was optimistic last March....cautiously optimistic in November....now just cautious.
I don't think it's "idiotic" to have reservations about players, not everyone has to be a huge Rockets homer or always assume the best will happen. The fact that everybody has differing opinions or differing shades of red-colored glasses but still want to see our Rockets succeed is the reason why it's fun being on sites like Clutchfans (when we do well).
Sorry, no. This isn't about having "reservations." It's completely understandable to say that you don't think a current Rockets' player HAS developed into a franchise player. It's completely understandable to believe there is a chance one of our prospects will not develop into a franchise player. What Nook said is he has serious doubts one of Green, Sengun, and Amen will become a franchise player, while he's also saying that he's "cautiously optimistic." Sorry, no. I do think that's pretty silly. I think it's far more likely two or three of them become franchise players than none. To expect that kind of reversal in development for three young prospects is simply not rational. Green is currently playing like a franchise player. Sengun has played like one many times. And I, personally, think Amen has the highest ceiling of all three. And all three are under 23 years old. So, yeah. Sorry. That mentality is for last year. This year, it's absurd.
The short answer is that it depends. There are currently 25 players averaging 23 points a game right now. There are like 15 players averaging around 25 points a game. If Green averages 25 a night and defends at average - and is efficient- then I think he is certainly in the conversation for being in that group. You look at guys like Jokic, SGA, Giannis, Tatum, Durant, Wemby, Davis, Edwards, Davis, LeBron - those are the level of players that you want/need a player at. I think these guys are two levels above Green at this point. The question is whether Green, is going to be a player like Fox (a number 2) or is he going to be a #1. I think if his shot falls he is a #1 at his peak.
lol, whatever you say, Mr. Fake Insider. Tell us more about how the Suns’ swap this season is worthless.
But seriously how are you at this spot when the team is a second seed with the second youngest team based on usage rate in the league with teams like the Wizards and Jazz in the top 3? The Jazz and Wizards are what a team is supposed to look like when you are one of the youngest teams in the league based on the offensive possessions the players take up. No one is saying it's a guarantee but doubtful is a extreme take also give basic probability math that is additive. One of Amen, Sengun, Jalen being franchise level players means if you place even a low probability for each one at 20% that is still .2 +.2 + .2 = .60 or 60% chance. Odds of all these in this scenario would be ".2 * .2 * .2 = .008 or .8% chance. So if your claim was all of these guys become franchise players, sure doubtful is reasonable.
Green has improved defensively and his handle has improved so I am cautiously optimistic. However, does that mean he is a franchise player? Maybe but odds are odds.
You'd need the odds of each player becoming franchise level player out of the group of guys that have that potential(3 in Amen, Sengun and Green) to be around less than 16% for each player to below 50% for any of the guys here to be franchise players. And that's if "less than 50%" is "doubtful".
You have to understand that reasonable people aren't like you, they need to see a decent sample of quality play before they ignore over 3 years worth of poor performances. Meanwhile, you and the cult after every single made basket in Jalen's career....
How? The Rockets have a very good coach, they have a lot of athleticism and a lot of depth and talent. They also play very hard. They are well built to win a lot of regular season games and they are consistently elite defensively. The Grind and Grit Grizzlies were like that and there were some others as well. The Rockets are going to need a top player to have a strong chance to win a title and contend for a title.
This is what I don’t quite understand about the skeptics. Since turning 22, Green has averaged about 22 ppg on a .56 TS%. He is top 15 all time in 30 and 40 point games before turning 23. Are there many players with that profile who did not go on to become franchise players? Since turning 21, Sengun has been a walking 20/10/5 machine. If he regains his efficiency, he’ll pretty easily average 23+/10/5-6. Is there another player of that profile who did not go on to be a franchise player? Amen is obviously more of a projection. But I mean, come on.
The pragmatists in here dwindle by the day. If you judge a player by his body of work you are deemed a "hater" for not having blind faith. Kinda cult-like. We currently do not have a franchise player and we will see what that really looks like when teams like Denver and Dallas lean forward and actually try. We already saw it vs OKC but no one seems to want to use that as data even though it's the closest we've been to a playoff like, must win situation where our "star players" failed in fantastic fashion.
What's the difference between you and me? When I say he has been somewhat disappointing for his first three seasons in terms of efficiency why am I not labeled a hater? When I say that Sengun objectively deserves more praise up to this point in their careers why am I not labeled a hater? Let's not rewrite history that you were some cautiously optimistic observer of Green. Clutch has servers that has the evidence that you are trying to rewrite history.
