Agreed with this. It's not like Westbrook was a scrub from season start. In the bubble, he was dealing various injuries, covid, etc. With some rest, he should be back to an MVP level.
Thank god it wasn't Lucas. As much as I loved D'antoni, and he did a great job, his offense got a bit stale in the playoffs and teams were able to adjust. Glad to have a fresh face aboard, hopefully he can bring some new ideas to the table with our unique roster.
This is some weird shade you're trying to throw. Wood in 2015 was a bonafide scrub. Fast forward even 2 years later? Still putting up bad numbers. Something finally clicked these last two years, and he's suddenly not a scrub anymore.
The problem with being projected at the MLE is that any team with cap space (or is willing to do an SnT) can offer just a dollar above that and instantly outbids almost all the competition. If that happens there's nothing more we can do to up the offer unless Detroit really wants Eric Gordon.
I guess Rockets development coach not as good as Silas or Heat's Chris Quinn when it comes to getting young players ready on contending team. Morey can only find the gems, someone else's job to actually develop these players. Would include Deanthony Melton, Gary Clark and Bruno Caboclo as well.
Luckily we can get all three of those guys on the team next year without much trouble! I say bring them all back and get Wood. Return of the undeveloped gems!
Pacers defense is similar to lakers, imo ... containing elements of Will Voigt's relatively new concept of peel switching, tagging the roll man, and x-out weakside switching the corners. lot of communication, but really helps to have a rim protector.
I’m not throwing shade at anyone. I’m simply saying that the Rockets under Morey’s leadership were very good at identifying young players with potential, but they were not patient enough to allow them to develop here. Once they finally developed, they became willing to pay expensive costs to reacquire them. The point is contending teams shouldn’t be too hasty to give up on young players with potential. It’s tempting, but it hurts your organization in the long run. You need to find the right balance of present vs future to extend your competitive window.
I don’t know enough about the Rockets’ player development system to say. I just find it ironic that the Rockets were/are willing to do whatever it takes to reacquire two players they initially had in their organization. In a lot of ways, it’s similar to a big club in soccer loaning young players out to smaller clubs to get consistent playing time, except in the NBA, you have to acquire the player back via trade or free agency.
I don't see it that way. I think the writing was on the wall when Tilman had to borrow from Alexander (!) to overspend by a good *billion* to buy the franchise. From there, the organization did not have the wherewithal to find a decent replacement for Ariza (until Covington), avoided spending the full MLE for several years and had to attach draft picks and assets to stay under the luxury tax and dicked around with Bzdelik, House and D'Antoni. Les imposed financial limits, but he never prevented Morey's front office and coaching staff from being fully resourced. Tilman has cut back in all of these areas. Morey no more "ran a game" than any other coach, player, or executive does when they move on to a situation they deem better for them.
Could be a good hire but I'm weary of guys who are satisfied being a #2 for long periods of time. 20+ years as an assistant ?!!
imo , also applied with MDA . Why invest in big guys given that when push comes to shove , MDA will always go small ? We have to get some bigger guys . skill is important , but offensively Harden should make any big guy servicable ... then the question is how much good is your D ?
He hasnt played at an MVP level for 3 years, just saying. Even during his hot stretch, he was not giving you MVP level production in terms of being a positive on the floor.
You can’t just be “big” you have to be able to shoot for one and spread the floor. You need some kind of skill. Just having a big out there just cuts down on the room Harden has to operate unless they are skilled.
Yeah, I might be wrong but the gist of this bubble experience is to integrate front court help. Let's diversify the Offense, we shouldn't be relying on his speedy layups that much IMO.
