You dont see the correlation between rebounding and winning? Rox offense is efficient because they get the boards which means multiple attempts. It also limits opponents from having multiple attempts making their offense less efficient.
All eye test: I think Amen has looked really good so far this year. You can definitely see he is still learning what to do, but it seems like he gets a little bit more polished every game. I do think Amen still needs to learn different ways to create pressure points on the defense to draw doubles that help his teammates out. He looks like he is still thinking in terms of probing for seams in the defense to score as a forcing function to cause the double, but there is some merit in just making a defense collapse on you in a space you never really thought you had an opportunity to score from anyway. Maybe this part of his game will start to open up a bit as he learns he can overpower one and even two defenders fairly easily. FWIW, I think the offense looks WAY better this year than last year. Obviously KD is a big part of that but we seem to have a FAR more varied ways of scoring and the ball is moving on a string in our best moments this year much more than last year. I think Fred would make us better as a different style of player to bring out there, but I don't think we necessarily need to rush to the trade market to find another PG. I also don't think Amen looks like the future PG so much as this roster is making me think maybe the need of a traditional PG is not as critical with this group. All that said - those first two games OKC and Detroit were trying to pick us up at half court and were really trying to prevent us from getting into our sets and were trying to put pressure on those non PGs. Subsequent teams have not done that as much. I wonder if there is still a skills gap we have but the teams we have played on this win streak were not necessarily the teams who have personel to push us there...but trust it will come back up against better teams. ...also really liking Alpi bringing the ball up from time to time - I never thought downhill Alpi would be a weapon but he processes reads so well and has such smooth footwork that it's a legit tool of creation. Alpi really is making the case to say he thinks he can be our team's best player and I'm starting to buy into that by the way he continues to improve his game. One more observation - I think our zone defense is getting better. The criticism of the zone is you might lose the rebounding war when you don't box out since you don't have a man assignment but Houston is both playing swarming zone defense with that length and limiting extra opportunities on the glass. I think they need to get into passing lanes a bit more to disrupt those a bit more but other than that I'm REALLY like the look of this year's zone defense. Okogie and Jabari have both been amazing so far this year and to think we get to add DFS eventually - that's a solid group of 3 and d guys to add to the terror twins.
Yup. That is the best eye test of all. The Rockets suck when they lose, they are great when they win. Morey's bogus analytics do not measure up to this metric.
Eye test tells me OKC isn’t missing a beat this year and is the best team in the NBA. Sucks to be second best and maybe had FVV not gone down there was a chance. Sucks for everyone else but they are head and shoulders above the contenders.
eye test: negative nancies in the game threads are worse than ever. And that's WITH Orissa Kelly as halftime entertainment.
Dallas Mav sees two superstars on this team. When was the last time opposing teams doubled two Rockets in the final minutes of a game? Yao and T-Mac?
Josh Okogie needs to stay the starter when DFS for chemistry purposes. He is the x-factor on defense for the starters. He is doing all the dirty work. I think DFS will boost the bench majorly with his shooting and defense.
Amen Thompson has improved as a ball handler and creator, He isn't amazing at it, but he is clearly better than last season and I expect him to continue to incrementally improve. He still has a long way to go - but he hasn't plateaued at this point. I don't think I want him running an offense deep in the playoffs at this point though. Sengun is a good player -- rebounds well, can score in the post, passes really well... seems a little bitter better at all of these things.... but I still have concerns over his perimeter shooting and free throw shooting. Sheppard gives me a migraine headache. He still needs to get more consistent of his shot and be more aggressive. Having said that, he is clearly better than last year - his three point shot looks strong, and his passing is also better. He actually leads the team in ASS/TO ratio. I think that if he can keep shooting well from 3, that his mid range and inside game will improve -- but he has to do it. So I would say overall his improvement has been solid, but not spectacular. The sample size is small again though.
Eye test reveals that Capela is vastly out of shape as he's huffing and puffing his way through 11 minutes of action.
I said this during a game thread. Maybe he'll finish up over 30% for the year. His shooting touch in the paint and mid-range has not improved at all, which is a huge disappointment. On the other hand, Alpi's playmaking has leveled up.
Harden definitely was. But I don’t remember CP3 getting doubled in crunch time when he was with the Rockets. Can't really compare a PG to a big, but if it’s 2018 CP3 vs. 2025 Sengun in a playoff series, I’m going with Sengun. Heck, I’d also take 2025 Amen over 2018 CP3.
