Trading for KD only to use him to prop up your team's regular season win totals is something I never expected. I could almost understand all the people who blasted me for wanting to play Reed last season even if it meant fewer regular season wins, cause Rockets fans haven't had much regular season success in recent years. But why is it still a priority this year when the team proved that it could win the regular season last year? Does Stone and Udoka really believe they would have more job security relies on Rockets regular season win totals or something?
that could be the case, especially with KD his ridiculous shot making ends so many droughts and saves so many bad offensive possessions for us so many times a possession is headed nowhere and we just dump it to KD with less than 10 seconds on the clock and he manages to manufacture a shot he hits at a 50% clip…so many scoring droughts broken by KD hitting 3 straight tough shots
It's actually a shame when you think about it in the context of a Harden or other floor general. They genuinely would get the keys with Ime because he doesn't have a license to drive himself.
I do think regular season win total is very important for this team…they’re a 1st round exit if they don’t get a good matchup, and the West is really tight we’re only a game ahead of the play-in Suns it’s a bad look if after tanking for so many years, having several top 5 picks, and adding KD you’re still just a 1st round exit truth be told, if this young core was all that, a player like KD should be that piece that’s pushing you over the top and cementing you as contender status going from Jalen Green to KD should be like a better version of going from Bledsoe to Jrue Holiday
its just premature. Our oldest semi- core member is 24. Most guys are total f*ckups at that age without millions being thrown at them.
here we go with the age excuse imagine if the Pistons added a player of KD’s caliber to their young core…they would be legitimate contenders Why? Because they have a bonafide franchise player in Cade Cunningham. Rockets already have to start thinking about a KD replacement to be their #1 option in a few years, because no one that we’ve drafted is up to the task
because we all know JB Bickerstaff was always viewed as some amazing coach… as long as the Pistons have Cade, they’re good Rockets need a 37 y/o KD to carry them on offense because half of them can’t shoot, and the other half can’t self-create at a high level And when KD retires or starts noticeably declining, Sengun or Amen will be our #1 option? Ha
Yes Amen and/or Sengun will be great options (especially Amen who is going to be a top five player in 2 years).
The problem is the Rockets do NOT need a 37 year old to get his stats - he isn't carrying anything, what we would be better at is KD taking a back seat and playing through Alpi on the post - like last year, and having KD as a finisher. But Ime seems to think KD is 27 years old.....not the 37 year old whose dribble is much slower now, who doesn't run back on D, doesn't run on O either, and is playing a great version of OLD MAN Midrange offense, but nothing else. We SHOULD be able to use that, but instead we are trying to make him play like 25 year old KD and he isn't even close to that anymore. He can still score, and he is super efficient at it, the rest though is periodic - and when he is ball dominant - the other guys don't touch the ball and get in rhythm - this is 100% why we are worse this year with him than we were last year without him. And it is also why Phx is better without him, other younger players are playing defense now.... DD
Kd is a bucket getter, off of catch and shoot really. There needs to be some action. You can't have 2 players trying to iso at the top of the key. This is not James Harden Rockets. Even that offense was unbearable to watch at times. I hate iso ball with a passion. Who can catch a rhythm off of that trash offense. First half yesterday, the Rockets were moving the ball and making the right pass. This lead to a showing of something that every fan wishes to see a beautiful ball moving offense. Screen and roll was working, ball was hopping around and 3's were falling. Here's what changed in the 2nd half. They switched, their center to Amen and the littlest guy that is supposed to be guarding Amen, is bullying Sengun. This guy is 6"11 and couldn't even get a touch in the paint. Tried to post up there but got bullied. I hate that Alpi is so soft sometimes. Why come we didnt notice this in the playoffs. He was getting pushed off the block by Draymond. Alex Caruso did it earlier this year, and I had another poster tell me that Alpi doesn't get pushed off the block like Jokic. B.S. The Rockets are also horrendous on defense when Reed is on the court with Alpi. Those 2 guys look like Laurel and Hardy out there. "I thought you were going to cut him off, no I gave him a clear path because I thought you were going to block it" horrific to watch. The Spurs pressured the ball and Reed Sheppard gets scared of it jumps in the air and passes leading to turnovers, the offense having to flash to the top of the key to get the ball. Those isos are designed to be ran from ft line for KD and low post for Alpi. Reed Sheppard scored 6 points yesterday, but was the primary defender on at least 20 of their points. That puts us in the hole for 14 points. See he has to score to justify hime being on the court. Last thing if they have a true point guard it slides Amen back to the 3. Move Jabari ass back to the bench, where he belongs. Him and Tari are the same player to me. The offense gets set and people catch the ball in their spots. Also we can hide Alpis d like we did last year. DFS and Josh okogie are important for playoff run. Their wing defense is what they are here for, but like I said earlier who catches a rhythm watching guys be selfish and be froze out on offense. I watched Tari skip over DFS for a shot and Kd got it and bricked a 3. The right play is the right play. Ive watched players for a longtime pass, pass, and bucket. This team irks me sometimes. Thats all I will say until the next game. Feb. 5 can't get here fast enough. This will let me know if we're going to be elite or 1st round exit.
Sengun post-play isn’t the fulcrum of a good offense either Sengun is a big man with 56.6% TS which is way below average, and it’s that low when he hardly even shoots from the outside…he can’t hit free throws either…and while his passing and playmaking is nice for a big man, it’s nothing special in this league in the grand scheme of things…that’s not somebody you make a hub of your offense if you’re trying to make any sort of noise or have real expectations as a team while teams are shooting threes and hitting their free throws, we are doing neither…same as last year we’re not worse this year with KD, we’re about the same…we’re on pace for 51 wins this year, and we won 52 last season…it’s a disappointment because the expectation was that we’d be better than last year, and we’re not Sengun, Amen, Jabari, and Reed all have higher usage rates than they did last season, it’s just that none of them have had any sort of serious leap in their game while Amen was being ignored last night, there were several times he just dribbled the ball behind the 3 point line looking for KD to save the possession while Wemby was camped in the paint…Reed Sheppard does the same thing constantly dribbling around aimlessly or picking up his dribble waiting for KD to come save him
This makes the assumption that the Rockets CAN get a top-2/3 seed if they just try harder. But they are already trying harder than everyone else and still, as you say, just a game ahead of the Suns. And their schedule becomes more compact going forward with fewer rest days. This is their upper limit because Amen is 2nd in minutes, KD is 3rd, Jabari is 13th, and Sengun 20th. And Sengun was higher before the injury. If this is just a matter of the team needing to give more of a damn, then yes I can understanding going for a top seed. But there's nothing to suggest the team is just lazing around and that's why their record isn't good enough. So is the answer "well KD and Amen just need to play harder on nearly 40mpg?" Or maybe take a step back and look for other answers.
Yup. The life of a 1st percentile 3pt shooter / lead ball handler. Better to start with KD to draw the double and open everything up. His assist % over the last 8-9 years is basically the same as FVV's and was 29% not long ago. Best would be get a real distributor. Also agreed that Sengun is an elite secondary playmaker in the post. Just don't make him do everything
Top 5 player in two years, huh? I don't know if you really understand what a top 5 player is if you genuinely believe that.
If Udoka keeps things going like this we'll be lucky if KD even makes it to the playoffs. 37 minutes per game on the season, SMH. #3 in minutes per game in the entire NBA. Playing him 34 minutes in a blowout against a mediocre Leastern Conference team missing multiple key players. There's room for argument about a lot of Ime's coaching decisions, but keeping Durant on the floor for this many minutes, at his age, given his recent injury history, is about as close to objectively stupid as you can be. Like watching a train wreck unfold in slow motion.
