Who is Houston Rockets Go-to Guy? (Houston Chronicle)

whoever is on fire

 

Depends imo.

More so Jalen because he can create his own shot.

But i expect a lot of PnR late in games to get Sengun looks when the game slows down.

 

Sometimes Sengun. Sometimes Jalen. Always unnecessarily stressful.

 

“I will say this about Houston: They’re young, they’re fearless and well-coached with Ime Udoka,” Miller said. “They’ve got a player at every position. Defensively, they’re at the head of the table with a lot of these teams.

“My only criticism for Houston and I said this, I believe it was in that Laker game (March 31), come this time of year, who are you going to throw the ball to? It’s great that Jalen Green, it’s great that Amen Thompson, it’s great that their All-Star (Alperen) Şengün, I love that it’s an equal-opportunity type offense, that these guys have all had their moments. But come playoff time, when the s— hits the fan, you’ve got to be able to throw it to one person and say ‘Go get me a bucket or a series of buckets’ or ‘Get me back in the ballgame.’

“I don’t know if Houston has that. They’re going to get a team like Golden State, well, we know where the ball is going to be. And now they have one and a half of them in Jimmy Butler, because you know the ball is going to be in the hands of Stephen Curry and how great he’s been throughout the playoffs in his career.”

“You can’t say it’s going to be by committee,” Miller said. “It doesn’t work like that. The only time I’ve seen it work and they won a championship was the Detroit Pistons (in 2004) toward the end of my career. But you had a guy (Chauncey Billups) who went by the name of Mr. Big Shot, so you kind of knew the ball was going to be in his hands. But they did it by committee with Tayshaun (Prince) and Rip (Hamilton).

“But this Houston team, they don’t have a Mr. Big Shot, and I’m wondering who is going to be that guy for the Rockets.”

Fellow analyst Stan Van Gundy echoed Miller on the Rockets' apparent lack of a go-to guy offensively. He also questioned if Houston’s shooting was up to snuff. The Rockets' 45.5 field-goal percentage ranked 21st of 30 teams in the regular season, as did their 35.3% shooting from 3-point range.

“I would say besides not having a go-to guy, I just don’t think they have enough guys who can shoot the ball,” Van Gundy said. “You’ve got to understand in the playoffs, teams lock into their preparation a lot more. What we always overlook with the Warriors is how great they are defensively. This is an outstanding defensive team and I think they are going to be able to severely limit Houston offensively.”

Miller and Van Gundy will get to see the Rockets up close, with Miller on the call for Game 1 with play-by-play man Kevin Harlan and sideline reporter Allie LaForce. Van Gundy will work Wednesday’s Game 2 with Brian Anderson and Lauren Jbara. Both analysts agreed on the keys to victory for the Rockets: forcing turnovers and controlling the boards, areas Miller said “have always been the two Achilles’ heels for the Warriors.”

“Houston’s best offense is throw it up there and go get it,” Van Gundy said. “They’re outstanding there. Where Houston’s greatest strength is — and I have great respect for it — is their defense and their effort and intensity are there every night. They’re as consistent as anybody in the league with how hard they play and how well they defend. Those advantages, though, tend to diminish a little bit in the playoffs because everybody’s going to play really hard. Everybody is going to be more focused.

“Then I’m with Reggie: If you’re going to tell me I can go into a series with Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry or I can go into a series with Jalen Green and Şengün right now? I’m going to take Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry.”

 

It's a legitimate question and this series will really be the answer. If JG and AS rise up and perform in the clutch moments, well there's the answer. If none of them do, if our youth and inexperience shows up, that'll be the answer - that we don't have that answer yet. This is a very feasible scenario - our guys are just young. Curry and Butler are very, VERY experienced. If we didn't have home court advantage, I'd pick Warriors to win, but I'm hoping the home court and just the pure talent and passion is enough to overcome

 

dylan can hit clutch 3s

 

I cannot wait for this series. I am optimistic about our chances, but also wouldn't be surprised if we lost. That team just has so much experience and their scoring options are proven. But, win or lose, I fully expect our young squad to put them through actual hell, and I can't wait.

 

Well, last game v GSW it was definitely Jalen. Not to say it needs to be or will continue to be, but it’s nice to know that he definitely has a right to feel good about that performance and bring it, again

 

Whomever has the advantage that night, but yeah, we still need a Dude.

DD

 

I hope Stevem Adams is healthy and gets a lot of minutes.

 

Sometimes you, sometimes me and always us.

 

Just run the two man game between the two and let them both read and react. The team gets a lot of easy looks from Green Sengun pnr or dho. Sengun is a great decision maker in the short roll or in the hand off position and Green's threat from outside and and at the rim can create a lot of advantages.

But I'm afraid GS plays heavy drop coverage it's gonna make that pnr two man action more difficult to execute.

That's why Green's pull up when they play drop is going to make or break this series honestly. They play drop coverage aggressively against Green and that is a part of why he struggles against them. I hope he's drilling those pull up jumpers off the pnr in practice right now because he's going to get that look all the time throughout the series untill he hits it consistently.

 

Agree, this is going to be a team effort. Both Jalen and Sengun need to rise up to the competition. Sengun will probably also have to shoot some middies to establish himself so they don't pack the paint and our players are going to have to hit their shots whenever the ball gets kicked out to them. Hopefully, our team rises to the occasion, if not, at least we'll know what everyone will have to work on for next season.

 

Right now the closest thing is Sengun, but we don't really have one go-to guy.

I would lay money eventually it will be Amen (unless we trade for a superstar)

 

It's really simple: The Rockets don't have a "go to" guy because nobody on the team is good enough to take on that role. Therefore, they play the hot hand or sometimes attack matchups.

For the Rockets to be a great team, someone on the roster will have to step up next year or they need to bring someone else in.

 

Spoiler

“Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey once said, "Good teams don't win close games -- they avoid them."

https://www.espn.com/nba/truehoop/m...t=haberstroh_tom&page=KobeLeBronclutch-101222

 

In terms of usage rate, time of possession etc, there is no differentiation on who the go to guy is between Green and Sengun. Green has had long stretches this season where he dominated the ball for entire fourth quarters.


Amen is a special beast on offense but there is a reason this article didn't even once mention Amen. He still has a lot of limitations there. His ball skills aren't that of a go to guy similar to Sengun or Green. Both Green and Alpi are far more skilled scorers

 

Based on what Ime has done this year when games get close at the end, Id guess they believe Sengun is that guy.