Haven’t followed Okogies career much but I do remember him once giving prime Harden fits while defending him
Why even bother? I guess they need to fill out the roster, but I probably would’ve just kept some young guys around
I don't know if anyone else listened to Gatlin's podcast last night but he was claiming that the main weakness the rockets have at this juncture was not shooting or ball handling but a point of attack defender. He claimed that our only point of attack defenders are Fred and Amen and to a lesser extent DFS. Since we don't want Fred chasing quick star guards for 36 minutes a night and often times Amen will be busy locking up wings, etc.. He was lobbying for someone who could possibly go multiple games DNP and that could be thrown out situationally to combat small, quick guards depending on matchups and could keep Fred/Amen fresh and focused on other things. Ironically he did not mention Okogie, but he does seem to address that issue entirely as a very good point of attack defender. I really like the move. I don't think a player like Brogdon would have addressed this. I don't know if melton was realistic at the price point plus there is a scary injury risk and I like him more than Gatlin's suggestion to get GP2. I always liked Okogie when he had a chance to play and the best part is he's only 26.
Just looged in to say this. It's hard to imagine a situation where we'd need to bring JO in as a shooting wing, but v. easy to imagine a situation where we need him to guard the point of attack.
Updated for Okogie Name ______ Height ___ Wingspan VanVleet ------ 6' 0" ------ 6' 1.5" Holiday -------- 6' 0" ------ 6' 7" Sheppard ----- 6' 2" ------ 6' 3.75" Tate ------------- 6' 4" ------ 6' 8" Okogie --------- 6' 4" ------ 7' 0" Matthews ----- 6' 7"------- 6' 11" Finney-Smith - 6' 7"------ 7' Thompson ---- 6' 7"------ 7' Eason ----------- 6' 8" ----- 7' 2" Green ----------- 6' 9" ----- 7' 1" Smith Jr. ------- 6' 10" ---- 7' 1" Capela --------- 6' 10" ---- 7' 5" Sengun -------- 6' 11" ---- 7' Adams --------- 6' 11" ---- 7' 5" Durant --------- 7' 0" ------ 7' 5" Rockets message to league - MUST HAVE ~7'+ WINGSPAN TO SIGN HERE Name ______ Height ___ Wingspan Okogie --------- 6' 4" ------ 7' 0" Matthews ----- 6' 7"------- 6' 11" Finney-Smith - 6' 7"------ 7' Capela --------- 6' 10" ---- 7' 5" Durant --------- 7' 0" ------ 7' 5"
We have a few different sauces to choose from. I recommend Tari-yaki glaze or Kevin-du-ranch-ula. Hehehehe.
They might value Okogie as a better tradeable asset than Burks for future trade opportunities...otherwise in my opinion, I would say Burks would supplement our bench scoring better than Okogie. This roster construct is bringing back Jeff Van Gundy vibes...
I guess when looking down the bench in desperarion for a stopper, Okogie is a better option than Cam Matthews.... Offensively I'm starting to wonder about the bigger plan. Is it Jabari Tari and Reed to be given a bunch more shots? If one of them makes a step offensively, Okogie is a master-signing.
When the Rockets first option in FA appeared to be a 3 & D veteran over any guards, I excused it as a Brooks replacement. When Capela was picked up again over a guard, I excused it as doubling down on the defense, the two big-lineup and Adams insurance. After Cam got shipped out and Reed did not perform so well in summer league, I thought for sure the rockets would pick up a guard with the last roster spot. Seriously. WTF. We need more insurance in the backcourt than another defensive wing. At this point, Ime has a fetish for defensive wings who are 0s on offense. Cannot expect Durant to carry the entire offense. Even though this is the smallest of the moves from the offseason, it pisses me off the most. There are still solid guard vets that could fill a position of need. Hell, I would take Cam Payne over Okogie at this point.
This is a secondary insurance plan. Insurance for the insurance. Already got Tater. This is a bewildering move. You would think after signing DFS, trading for KD, trading away Cam, and Reed's piss poor performance in summer league, a guard would be picked up with the last roster spot.
That is not the point, man. The point is that the FO is clearly not valuing offense. We lost to GS due to offense not defense
Houston Rockets really is a big fan of advanced stats. And they will win the possession game for a long long time.
The problem though, is that if the Rockets need to play Okogie in the playoffs for any long stretches, then they're kinda screwed. Okogie is just not overall good enough to be a serious playoff rotation player. Yes, the Rockets can use the point of attack defender. But that guy should've gotten the Rockets MLE or S&T money in DFS and Capela. If they didn't try to address it back then, they probably don't care that much about it. Okogie looks like a good guy to have as the 10th man to soak up regular season minutes, but you don't want to need him for the playoffs.
Anyone saying "but we have tate" is insane. Love it. Premier defender. We're gonna be a lockdown d with KD/Sengun halfcourt offense while Amen will sprinkle in transitions off breaks. Love this team
