I'm not saying it didn't I was specifically talking about a few possessions that ended up with very bad shots cuz he turned down the wide open three.
Agree to disagree, this post has more glaze than a donut shop. I'm very happy he's bought in, and very happy he's progressing but it is among the most room temperature of takes to say he played like a selfish dummy for way too long. I'll take Fred's post-game word for it well before I go off believing something that is so demonstrably false as this claim.
The problem with someone with tunnel vision and don't know how to really run plays is that defenses don't need to play them for the pass, making them much easier to defend. If Cam can continue to be efficient despite that, then it's not truly a major problem. I can see him carve out a Jamal Crawford type of career and be a pretty awesome bench duo with Tari.
I like how these mofos that laughed at our picks suddenly have the best interest for us when suggesting these lob sided trades. I don't want your life!!!
In my opinion he is starting to look like a normal basketball player to me. Albeit one that is 20 years old and is a non-creating scorer. Again just my opinion.
Whitmore is looking a lot better in that includes his passing as well. I’m just not positive. He will ever be able to get around people to go to the room consistently in the half quart set. However, he may be able to bully them a little bit and get to the rim depending on the matchup. I’m seeing some small gains in his passing as well. That being said….. im curious what Brooks+Cam+Uncle Jeff and a first might net us on the trade market.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6070316/2025/01/24/rockets-cam-whitmore-defense-jay-huff-grizzlies/ … Solving the Whitmore equation was never about shot selection. Whitmore has a penchant for letting it fly, and when he feels as if he’s not involved offensively, his body language and actions show it. But in a tight rotation with players battling for minutes, Udoka and the coaching staff cared far more about Whitmore’s ability to defend within the team concept. As a rookie, he showed flashes of defensive playmaking, but Udoka cared less about gambles that paid off and more about the team’s cohesion. Sometimes, Whitmore let his frustrations on one end carry over to his effort on the other, but other times, it was simply about understanding the job. “It was always his recognition,” Udoka said earlier this month. “It’s hard to communicate when you’re a step behind yourself. So awareness, recognition, reaction — all those things that we’re doing off-ball (were crucial). It was more about off-ball defense and team defense in general. He’s a big, physical body and is going to take on challenges one-on-one, but that’s not how we play. We don’t just fight and get through every screen and stay with a man, we do a lot more communication and stuff to be proactive. He was a little slow with those initially, (but) much better now.” … Since so much attention is focused on Whitmore’s offensive contributions, his effectiveness at the other end often goes unnoticed. Per Bball-Index, he falls into the 90th percentile of defensive positional versatility, which often reveals itself in how much trust Udoka places in him on any given half-court possession. Pay attention to Whitmore’s communication in a stretch where he’s asked to defend three different Mavericks and finish the job with a contest. “I just had to be locked in for real,” Whitmore told The Athletic. “Sometimes I’m in la-la land a little bit, but that’s just on me. I owe it all to my (lack of) effort and laziness, but effort is free. It’s just something I had to do, dial in on it a little bit more and try to get on the floor with that.” Keeping Whitmore’s effort and engagement consistent when he’s not the primary defender is half the battle. The Rockets coaching staff is well-versed in his on-ball abilities, ranking in the 80th percentile in deflections per 75 possessions, 84th percentile in passing lane defense and 73rd percentile in overall defensive playmaking, all according to Bball-Index. Combine this with his underrated rebounding ability (7.2 per 36 minutes) and it’s clear why Houston’s defense gives up a stingy 107.8 points per 100 possessions while Whitmore is on the floor.
I guess so, in one game I saw him play active defense when his man didn't have the ball. I saw him rebound a ball that wasn't really near him. I saw him DRIVE the ball. And I saw him drive the ball fully intending to kick out. I feel like Ime or someone told him to quit ****ing around. He is incredibly athletically gifted and his shooting stroke is pure. All that to just be a guy who gets a couple 6th man votes but never wins would be a travesty.
100% . It seems like he has the chance to be a special special player. It’s going to be so I interesting to see what kind of player and stats he is putting up when he is 25-26 years old. The dude could be at 26 ppg or more.
Seems pretty risky, depending on what we get back. What type of player would you be content with getting back? I think this is a new NBA, where certain players are taking longer to develop. for various reasons, and teams are not giving up on them as easily as they use to. Jalen has shown improvement under Ime, even improving his FT% from 80% to 87% in a season is extremely impressive, if that translates to his shooting next season we have no idea what we really have in Jalen at all. Under Ime the younger guys are being forced to focus a ton on defense, and some of these guys have never been taught to play this way, so it is new to them. Parts of their game may take a temporary step back, but once it becomes second nature I think you will see offensive improvements from everyone. Just looking back at guys like SGA who did not look like this his first season and then going to OKC and learning to play to his strengths. Scoot looked so bad last year, and through a quarter of this season, you see a change in his last 10-15 games though. There is this perception on here that players somehow stop improving once they are 22 years old, to me it seems ridiculous. Someone said there is 0% chance Jabari ever becomes a 15 ppg guy, when hes 21 and averaging 12ppg. Did SGA stop improving once he was 22? What about every other SG super star in the league? Who they were at 22 was not who they were at 25-26.
