Okc was just playing with us this game. That may be the softest defense they have played all year. I was glad that Reed was aggressive and confident, but I would slow the role that he would or will be doing this given the minutes. I’d love for him to get another 20-25 minutes against Indy, who is going to be playing with playoff intensity. Even if he fails, I want him to get all of Holidays minutes going forward. I also think we should play Dante as the backup center to see what we have for next year.
Agreed. I get it earlier on but the fact is Holiday really isn't that skilled as a true PG anyways so as long as Reed is hitting his defensive assignments, and rotating effectively, I don't really see the benefit of giving the minutes to Holiday. Of course we don't know exactly what rotations Ime is calling out on D in the moment so we don't always know when someone is missing assignments unless it's obvious. That's a part of it too, but at this point it looks like Reed is figuring it out on D at least from my perspective. Give him some burn. Let's see how effective he is against other defenders, and then this Summer give him something to work with on his development path. FVV ain't going to be around forever, and we already used a top 3 pick on him so lets see what we can get out of him moving forward. With you on Dante too. Jock plays better the more he plays, but Dante doesn't seem like much of a drop off at all, and has some areas he's got more potential on for next year. So why not? If we are going to be making the playoffs this year though, and not just a play-in team, I do want Adams to be ready to go. We'll really need him in a slug it out playoff series. What do we have like 14 games left?? I don't want Adams riding the pine much more, and want him ramped up to play.
Some people forget Reed and Cam were the first players off the bench in season opener. Clearly Ime hasn’t got anything against them. They played themselves out of rotation. Maybe it was Ime’s style that ate their confidence away? Maybe so, no one knows for sure. But his coaching style brought us from sucking mightly to fighting for home court advantage in the PO. It frustastes me that he cuts slacks for vets and benches our young guys for much less, of course, but I still give him the edge as being a positive factor in developing our young players. But don’t get me wrong. I’d love to see both hit the flor for ~20mpg, I’d really love to see Holiday and Tate behind them in the rotations. The first two belong in our future, the latter doesn’t. Maybe yesterday’s game was what we needed.
I was impressed and I'm glad he showed SOMETHING! FInally!! But please stop with the Steph comparisons. Lets just enjoy the fact that he showed up
Agree on the first half. and late in the 2nd half regarding OKC being lax on defense. Reed played himself out of the rotation. Cam, in my opinion, is more in the numbers game. I think he does things that frustrate Ime regarding inconsistent focus. With Amen and Brooks getting the minutes at the 3, and Tari and JSJ sliding over to the three some, Cam's play has not been good enough to guarantee himself minutes.
Cam is like a young Ginobli in that he does stupid stuff, but his competitiveness helps in ways not measured. Reed looks like he belongs now, and is unafraid, this was OKC - not some bottom dwelling team...and he looked great. DD
He led his college team in assists despite the fact that there were two other PGs on the team ahead of him.
Yesterday was not the real OKC. They were like a cat with a mouse. A motivated OKC would have beaten that team by 40 and no way Reed ever makes it to the hoop.
It's arguable how much of this is on Udoka and how much of this was spending $80mil on FVV, Brooks, and to lesser extent Adams/Landale/Jeff Green and natural development of players. Just look at the record and the level of play once FVV is not playing. Coaches do a lot of stuff but their most important role is to play the players who get him the most wins. And his response to FVV's injury wasn't to ask the next guy up, but to play his other starters more minutes. If you don't look at record and just look purely at the development level of our young players, it's not nearly as rosy.
The fans are so emphatic about these 20 year olds improving, but give Ime a pass. He is a great defensive coach and did a great job changing the culture. He may be the worst offensive coach and bench coach in the league. He needs to improve in both aspects next year or we need to look for another coach. If we run out the same rotation next year with the same offense, we will be back to the play-ins and everybody including you will be screaming for his head.
I feel the same way. I think he was great at instilling a culture here, but the X's and O's are definitely lacking. There have been multiple instances in recent memory like this: Mark Jackson ---> Steve Kerr Ime ---> Mazzuola JB Bickerstaff ---> Kenny Atkinson It would be great if Ime could lead us to a championship, but that won't happen without some major changes. I'm open to it, coaches can get better at their craft just like players.
I hope he can get better. It’s only his 3rd year as a head coach, but, man is he stubborn. Like Thibodeaux stubborn or Jeff Van Gundy stubborn. The NBA has passed up coaches like that. He needs to adapt or be gone.
Good analysis. You're 100% correct in the Ginobli and Cam comparison. Let's just hope Ime decides to play him more. They need that pop off the bench
Reed played well. Give the kid a chance. No reason for the Reed hate. Let’s see what he looks like next yr. Small guards never do well their rookie yr. Trae Young is the only small guard to ball out his rookie yr in the last decade.
I want Reed to shine as much as anyone, but his defense is atrocious. I can't think of a worse defender in Rockets history. He has no desire to stay in front of his man. Reed gambles with swipes more than any player I've ever seen, including Harden. I am sick of seeing these steal rate % posts, he is gambling on every possession. He does have good timing and hands, and I appreciate the way he can break up plays, but he has refused to play real defense since day 1. There is difference in how players get their steals. Look at a 5-steal game from Dream, look at a 5-steal game from AI. I need to see more commitment from Reed in just staying in front of his man. Dude is making Curry look like The Glove.
