I know it sucks that FVV tore his ACL, especially for him. He is a good leader, and a steady hand at the helm. However, he is gone now, so what does that mean for this season? I have seen many declaring that is it, we are done, no more contender for us - and I could not disagree more. Every single year, with roster turnover, you have to find that chemistry, the fit, and we have had major turnover by adding KD, DFL, Clint - losing Green, Cam, Brooks, Landale etc. It is major turnover, roles will change, dynamics will change, and even with a healthy FVV, no guarantee this team will be the same, in fact, you can guarantee it will not be at all the same. FVV was probably in his last year here as a starter, he would have been slowly transitioned out in the hope that Reed becomes ready, but barring that, you still have Holiday as a 3rd string emergency point, and Amen also can play there. Now they are not FVV, so what does that mean? If Amen starts, it means we are better defensively, faster, more athletic and will push the ball - getting up early shots - and now we have added two elite 3pt shooters in KD and DFS, that along with Bari and Tari's improvement seems to me we will be BETTER than last year even without FVV. Or, if Reed proves to be ready, now you have a guy that is quicker, more athletic and a better shooter off the dribble and in catch and shoot - again, with others added, we are better. And if NONE of that works, we have Holiday and his 40% 3pt shooting to bring the ball up. And, if we are talking PnR, that doesn't have to be the PG, it can be KD and Sengun, or Amen and Sengun and...well you get the point. So, the Rockets will be different, but even without FVV they will be better than last year at least they SHOULD be..... And if all of that fails, we can trade at Dec 15th for a PG if necessary when all the summer signings are available to trade or be traded for....... So, sit back, the season starts very soon, and the Rockets are going to still be very good. No, the sky is not falling - it is just as sunny as it was 2 days ago. DD
For whatever struggles Reed had against Detroit in Summer League there’s not going to be a single team willing to throw that much attention at him when you’ve got Durant, Amen, and Sengun on the floor.
I think we've gone from contender to playoff team just like that with Fred's injury. And that sucks. KD does not have a big window (or an extension YET) and losing a year of contention with him is terrible. Reed is not ready to start. No. Holiday is not really a point guard. Neither is Amen, but I think he's our best shot at this point. It's not ideal, but it's what we have. We should look for a PG at or before the trade deadline. It kind of depends on how well the team is doing to decide how much we need one. (Ok, I reread your post. We agree on most things, except: "it is just as sunny as it was 2 days ago." I just don't see it.)
I just wish I had more faith in Reed or Amen to run the point on a team that is supposed to compete at the level we're supposed to compete. I just really don't. I'm not sure it's not time for point Sengun.
Reed has a high IQ - I want him to start and let him cook! Our spacing will be even better, can be our JJ Reddick...its not like JJ was beating his defender off the dribble, but he was super effective in coming off screens for pull up 3s! KD and Amen will be our primary ball handlers in the halfcourt. If Reed sucks, we can package him along with an expiring contract and draft pick to trade for a point guard...would love to get Colby White and the salaries are close to make a deal for him!
The Rockets upside (and any chance of making the finals increase) IF Reed or Amen take over the point spot and explode... that was the only way the Rockets would make the Finals anyway. FVV is a good player, but not a great one.
No hard loss. Only thing that sucks is the wasted money but this rips the bandaid off and forces Ime / Stone to develop Amen or Reed for the "PG" position Toughest loss is looking at our depth now after trading Cam. Cam & Reed could've been competing for the backcourt position as Amen is kinda a lock already. I always thought Amen & Cam would make a sizable backcourt I just hate we allowed Ime to prioritize Fred & KD and now Fred will probably never play again for rockets lol. I think we all saw it coming and half of us knew FVV signing was bad. If we didn't trade Cam I don't think I would even care that Fred was hurt This is also why I said we should've traded FVV for KD and kept the youth even if we had to sweeten the deal with a extra pick or so
Trying to stay positive: it's better that this injury happened in September than after the season began. Rockets go into camp knowing that FVV won't be available, so they have that dedicated focus time to figure out what they're going to do. They can't sign anyone right now, so they need to work with what they have. Everyone on the team, including Ime, is going to have to step up. Ime can't leave Fred in the game for 38-40 minutes night after night now. Ime will need to accept growing pains just like he tolerated with Jalen Green...who already had two full seasons of playing 30+ mins per game when Ime took over. I don't think there's any question that Reed has a higher b-ball IQ than JG, so hopefully he took that rookie experience and got guidance from the coaches regarding what he needed to work on this summer. It's not like they run a super complex ball-movement offense. Reed needs to avoid dumb turnovers, get them into their sets quickly, not be a turnstyle on D, and hit 3s at a better clip than FVV did last year. Ime needs to tolerate some defensive mistakes from Reed and let him actually learn. God forbid Ime schemes to protect Reed the way GSW has schemed to protect Steph Curry for the past 12 years.
Silver lining: FVV was at best the Moses for the next great phase of Rockets contention. This iteration of the Rockets will be at their peak when Sengun and Amen are the superstars, guys like Jabari Tari and Reed hit their primes, and KD is still around playing an ancillary role but still an absolute beast at the end of the shot clock, because his game will age gracefully like Dirk's. Two things will get Amen and Reed to their peak performance: 1.) playing time, and as many minutes to figure things out and work through mistakes as possible; and 2.) exposure to playoff games, particularly the later rounds of the playoffs. Losing FVV might limit how much of #2 we can give them, but #1 all of a sudden went way up this year.
I agree up to a point. I disagree about being so iron clad about the Rockets not having a chance because bad things could happen to OKC - SGA or Chet going down would make the field wide open. FVV is out. Haliburton is out. Tatum is out. Embiid goes down every year. It happens that contenders lose key players. The goal is to be a contender, get hot at the right time, and then get lucky. We just need more luck than before FVV was injured - but only OKC is a vastly better team than the Rockets and they could have a spate of bad luck also. I am looking at the silver lining and hoping to see more growth from Amen, Reed, Tari, and Jabari due to this injury. I will enjoy the season and know that the (very bright) future has been brought forward a bit due to FVV's injury.
I'll take it a step further and say its what the young guys needed to finally grow up. As long as FVV was on the court they would defer to him. Now they all have to grow up knowing their Get Out of Jail Free Card isnt there. I never did like the idea of "title or bust" this year. KD is a hired gun. He should not be seen as our SGA.
Statistically, it's clear that FVV is declining. I wish him a speedy recovery, but this injury gives minutes to higher-upside players (Amen, Reed) who can get us to a title if they live up to their potential. It accelerates Reed's development in particular, but with a strong supporting cast, he's ready to make the jump.
If they think 37 yr old KD is to be put in the same sentence as SGA, then there is really something wrong with y'all's brains......
