I get it, but I think it’s too early to claim he is a disappointment at PG. The passing will get better and less panicky when he settles into his role. Also he should be looking to shoot more in the lane. Right now he is being too unselfish and the defense is not collapsing on him like they will if he starts shooting those shots at the rim. I think you have a really good eye and would be surprised if you haven’t noticed how often he is passing up shots he should be taking. It’s about confidence, not ability, right now. It’s not surprising since he wasn’t even a starter half of last year (mostly in the dunker position) and has played a total of 6 games as the lead guard this year. People b**** about what Ime did with Reed and Cam last year, but the bigger mistake was not getting Amen more experience as a guard and moving FVV to off-ball. By the playoffs last year, Amen would have been comfortable and we might have made some noise.
-Sengun is a monster in the making. He will be in MVP discussions this year and will be the MVP within a few years. -I am not sold on Amen as the PG of the future. -Reed is going through the growing pains he should have been allowed to go through last season. Thankfully Ime is not yanking him too quickly when he makes mistakes like last year. -After a slow start, Tari is playing great. He will get a good offer in RFA and it will be interesting to see if the team matches. If DFS plays well, he could be traded for a vet PG at the trade deadline if Amen has not cemented his spot as PG and Reed continues to struggle. -Steven Adams is playing very well. -Okogie is playing amazingly well. I hope his 3 pt percentage can stay above 35% for the season -Capella started of slow but is getting better. We have an extremely strong center unit -KD is playing great and is just what this team needed. Subtracting Jalen and adding KD will have us going toe to toe with OKC to the end.
I'm not too big on the is he a PG or not argument as I just want him to play the way he plays regardless of nominal position and want the best guys around him as possible. In general, he needs to settle down some. That said, I think Durant slowed up on the play you are referencing as he was not expecting to be in the play. Creators have to anticipate, and sometimes they will make make mistakes when others don't do what they expect.
Yep. Durant even indicated he was at fault not for the sailing pass, but that he was not where he was supposed to be. It all comes with these guys playing together more. The eye test shows that the offense is still out of sync regardless of the no. 1 offense stat. That stat is strongly influenced by schedule this early in the season. The eye test also shows that we are spacing the floor better and the ball is moving as opposed to last year’s dribble, dribble, dribble chunk offense.
We look VERY strong, but, at present, have obvious needs that shouldn't be an issue when it comes time to dispense with OKC come playoff time. (Yeah) Assuming health, a combination of organic growth, chemistry, and tweaking the roster should catapult us where we need to be. Amen isn't going to be our "PG"...this takes away a lot of what makes him so special. It's temporary, as the current situation dictates. His will is already reminiscent of the great ones. (as displayed against GS before he got hurt) This kid has superstar written all over him, and won't be pigeonholed into a traditional position. Let him evolve. He's got it in spades. What can I say about Alperen? His development allows us to run so much through him....outside/in...or inside/out. Adding the J, and facing up, along with his post game...ALL NBA player. KD is the closer we needed, easily STILL a top 10 - 15 player in the League, and has learned what he can and can't do out there, while staying healthy. But, he can't be playing so many minutes. This should be alleviated with the return of DFS. Jabari continues to get get better. His strength and conditioning allow him to execute on defense things where he was a little late or slow last year. On O, we see him blossoming before our eyes. He couldn't have a better mentor than KD. *We need ball handling and shooting out of our guards....not a traditional PG, as the offense runs through Sengun, Amen, and KD (who is an offense unto himself) Okogie has been a Godsend. A dawg with a J... If he can finish at 40+ from downtown, it'll go a long way. Reed is going to get there eventually...what that ultimately looks like and how long, I'm not sure. But, I'm positive he's best with the ball in his hands. Coming in, I was concerned about him getting his shot off, and his D. Now, it's only the defense that gives me pause, but there's improvement there. Again, I'm not sure how long before he's ready....and our window starts...now. So, anything could happen. Perhaps he gets sent out. I hope it doesn't come to that. After a rough start, I'm liking what I'm seeing in Tari. That J looks pretty good. Nevertheless, I believe we were right not to pay him. The downside risk to injury, along with availability on back to backs leads me to think he gets moved at the deadline. On FVV - I don't think we're as boxed in as some might think. We've done him right, and come the deadline if we need his Green light, I'm sure it's there.
If a player is the difference between winning and losing a playoff series, that player is worth star money. At least Sengun's $30mil if not flat out max. Adams being paid $13mil to be impactful for 20mpg is pretty in line with market rate. Now one can quibble with the Rockets spending all that money on the center position, and I have many times questioned the choice to play lineups featuring mostly bigs and big-wings. But as long as the Rockets want to play super big, the choice of Adams makes sense.
The KD trade was the best offseason move in the entire NBA Alpi has become a top-15 player in the league. However, he is still initiating the offense with the ball too far away from the basket due to our lack of a qualified primary ballhandler. His improved 3-point shooting elevates our ceiling to championship contender (along with KD). Amen is awesome but playing out of position which is compromising some of his effectiveness. Okogie has exceeded expectations but still isn't respected as a 3-point shooter so isn't helping spacing. Having DFS enter the lineup will improve our offense and given Amen and Alpi more space to get to the rim. Everyone who criticised Tari because of the first two games of the season should look in the mirror and promise themselves that they will be less reactive in the future. Tari is one of the best backups in the NBA. Jabari this season is not the same as Jabari of last season. That is a good thing. Reed has improved somewhat but is still not better overall than Aaron Holiday. That is not a good thing. We sorely miss FVV despite all the stupid takes by hundreds of posters on this board. You know you all are. Did you think that Reed would be an upgrade over FVV? If so, you are stupid and likely believe playing poker with Chauncey Billups is a good opportunity for you. We are a qualified starting point guard away from being the 2nd-best roster in the NBA. The rest of the roster is stacked with size and talent.
I think you're for some reason aiming high. I'm not talking about the difference between winning and losing a series. I'm saying we have never played even slightly better with Adams. No one is expecting him to carry anyone, but you would think if the offense is historic with him on the floor, that our wins would rise. They haven't, so something must be turning negative (guess what it is). The net benefit seems to be nothing or near nothing. We were always on the same win pace last season even before he started playing. We were slated to be neck and neck with Warriors and we lost. This season we're doing as well as we would without him. We just haven't improved at all despite his rebounding dominance.
Since the entire team has taken steps forward, when RS gambles or misses makable shots, it's glaring. In two years, he's going to be a steady rotation player, but now, we're living through a rough patch. If the coaches can get Sheppard to channel his defensive energy (and gambles) into funneling his man into our increasingly fierce weakside help, the end result will be very good. Then, he'll need to pick his spots on offense: when to space the floor, when to take the easy mid-range shot, the floater, etc. On that end of the court, he's still experimenting, thinking a million miles an hour, and his shot is suffering because of it. Stone is hoping in 10 or 15 games we'll see improvements.
The Rockets definitively played better when Adams was on the floor during the Warriors series than without him. Even without using stats, players and coaches were talking about it during the series as one of the reasons the Rockets came back in the series before losing. And if you are looking at stats, they all said he was awesome.
I don't know why it's not getting through brother, but I'll try one more time: we're always better when he's on the floor but that's not ever resulting in more wins because there are also things he's really bad at. if we're better with him on the floor, where are the extra wins? Think of it this way. Let's say he never got on the floor last season. We were already headed for second seed and losing in a series we're favored. Do you get that he could even win individual games for us and still been a net nothing on our success? He's touted for the crazy on/off numbers but his impact is invisible.
This team has more aggregate talent than most of the league, and we'll win a lot of games based on that Trying to win an NBA championship in 2025 without a true perimeter creator (i.e., someone who can dribble against ball pressure + take pull up 3's) is a pretty weird experiment to watch Amen doesn't have the natural manual dexterity to be an on-ball primary unless a team is built entirely to support it (we are not); his destiny is to be a Scottie Pippen style Hall of Famer There are other team situations out there where Reed would be a top prospect, and ones where he would be out of the league quickly; we'll give him a lot of opportunity this season so that he retains trade value, but his future lies elsewhere Okogie will not be in the rotation long because he actually can't shoot Steven Adams looks physically great right now and is a top 20 center in the league KD's most underrated impact is that we're getting referee respect now that we didn't before; our whole team is getting a better whistle by switching JG and DB for KD, because that's unfortunately how the NBA works
In the minutes he did not play in the playoffs last year, the Rockets played like a team that would lose the series 0-4. In the minutes he did play, the Rockets looked like a team that would win that series 4-0. The fact is they lost the series 3-4. So in fact, he did make a lot of difference in the Rockets playing the Warriors close. And those are actual wins. Even if it's a series loss.
It's almost as though God came down and rested Adams this game just so you'd understand. We didn't skip a beat against Memphis - the best team we've beaten so far. Outrebounded an excellent rebounding team. Capela was great. I'm sorry dude you're clearly making an emotional argument here and those don't go anywhere. For one, Jalen Green and FVV carried us to 1 victory each so how can this argument be in good faith when you say we'd be 0-4 in the playoffs? No one on earth believes that. We were the second seed with and without Adams. Appreciate that you're a fan but that's not worth debating. If you're happy to correct that, let's have a fun debate.
I expected us to struggle with chemistry early and for Amen to have some stumbles as he adjusts to his new role. Ime has talked about how we could have multiple offensive attack modes, but I didn’t believe he would actually ever embrace that change. He might not have if FVV didn’t get injured. Amen’s ability to switch roles multiple times during the game is really impressive. One time down the floor, he is playing Point (call him point forward if you want) the next he’s playing the dunker spot. This offense is almost impossible to prepare for. If you double Durant, then any of Sengun, Amen, Jabari, and Tari can destroy you. Sengun can play high post or low post and usually makes the right reads. Defense is improving as we phase out the frequency of zone. With health we are serious championship contenders.
Great on offense, great on defense and getting better - our chemistry can still improve. WOW !! We are championship contenders as we stand......and have the most room to improve out of all of them. DD
I think we are one veteran guard away from being a legit threat. Right now, we COULD beat OKC in a series, I think it'll take the ball bouncing our way here and there, some luck. What sucks is we had that vet guard in FVV...but thankfully I think we can make a move to get one. I also think the future is bright past KD in Amen, Sengun, and Jabari.
We could use a vet guard, but by the end of the year, we will be fine.... We don't need a FVV - it would be a nice luxury, probably play the pick up game after guys are cut late in the year. Bound to be someone that shakes loose that helps. DD
