If Jabari keeps playing like he did in the playoffs he will be the starter. If he doesn’t he’s gonna be 6th man and Tari will start. They are going to let play on the court decide early in the year, and that’s great.
Part of Jabari's 45% shooting figure was also coming off a broken hand so I don't know if that number is the most accurate of where a healthy Jabari is. Similarly for DFS, he looked very slow in LA with the eye test - he didnt look like he would be able to defend anything more than slower 3s, and 4s, and maybe smaller 5s. I don't know if I just caught some bad games or he was still playing himself into shape from his previous injury but I have a hard time thinking that version of DFS would be more useful than JSJ as a switchable defender but again - it could be a most injury/recovery look for DFS and not illustrative of his value today.
If Jabari doesn't command that 5th spot and retain it, that would be pretty disappointing. I mean the guy was the #3 overall pick.
I didn't watch DFS guard guards recently, but he was great on the 3s, 4s, and backup 5s that I saw. Length and size just gave skilled players problems. I thought he looked better guarding 3-5 than Brooks last season. When he's on a guy, the guy feels it, while sometimes JSJ will be stuck on his man, but just not bother them. I'd have some concern with him swithcing onto guards, but I have that same issue with most of the 4s on the team. Always in the right spot defensively. This skill seems highly valued by Udoka. Doesn't rack up a ton of steals, but is in passing lanes preventing passes. I think DFS's off-ball defense is more valuable than him at the POA even though he doesn't put up gaudy stats. I will say that JSJ worked incredibly well with the double big lineup.
I'll refrain my judgment on DFS until I see whether he can break the shooting curse in a Rockets uniform.
He did get surgery this offseason to address an ankle injury he has been playing through that has been causing various lower body injuries over the last few years. I imagine he starts the year with more recovery minutes but agree he has demonstrated he is a high level switchable defender in the past. Hoping the surgery restores a little of that agility he had because this team is a defensive monster pairing a somewhat healthy DFS with guys like Tari, Amen, Jabari, Okoro, etc.
Okogie was very underrated signing. If Reed doesn't hit the ground running we might see a lot of him.
This seems logical to me. I love what JSJ did for us in the playoffs and he definitely earned a lot of respect but I could see us starting DFS too.
Is it even a curse at this point? I think there's got to be some investigation into the personal on the coaching staff to ascertain why our training actually lowers a prospect's shooting ability to the level of two whole generational college shooters becoming completely mediocre after joining the team. 1 time is a coincidence, but for it to happen to Jabari who was incredibly hyped and then to happen to Reed who people were legitimately comparing to Curry? Nope, that needs looking at. Any competent business would see there's a process flaw in there somewhere and adjust accordingly.
I don't know. It's not just the young kids. Vets come in here and forget how to shoot. Ryan Anderson pretty much ended his career here because of that curse. A guy like Garry Mathews, a 40% 3p shooter turned into a 35% guy and jumped right back up to 40% once he left. FVV was okay in his first season with us. Then he caught the bug and started to shoot like Jalen Green. I have begun to believe that if Steph Curry played for the Rockets instead of the Warriors, he would not have been recognized as the best shooter ever. The only player I can recall who actually shot better was Dillon Brooks.
I actually think that supports my theory more than yours though. We're teaching players how to shoot worse than they did before they came here. It's not a curse, we've got trash coaches when it comes to shooting, or trash methods or something. Or the arena's ****ed up in some way that makes it harder to shoot if you don't have a big ass Beard.
DFS was brought in to be a 3&D role player off the bench. I think it’s fairly obvious our starting five will be FVV, Amen, Durant, Jabari, Sengun. DFS will probably play about 20 mins a game until they are sure he is in game shape coming off the injury. We have an extremely deep team and could easily play a ten man rotation. If Ime makes FVV or Durant play ironman minutes, he is a moron. I don’t think he will. I suspect Amen will be the only one playing around 35 mins.
I wouldn't be so sure that Udoka won't start DFS over Jabari. We all know how much he prioritizes defense over offense. If DFS proves to be a more versatile defender than Jabari, and not a liability on offense, he will play heavy minutes whether he starts or not. Also, don't forget about Tari. Udoka loves the Terror Twins. It'd be his wet dream that the TT could play the majority of minutes together. Personally, I hope Jabari earns the starting spot, emphasis on "earn." That will mean that he is fulfilling his full potential when he was drafted.
