Going back to last season, Wood has 23 straight games scoring at least 18 points. In 20 out of those 23 games, he has scored at least 20 points. He's shot at least 40% from the field in each of those games, and above 50% in 16 out of those 23 games. That consistency is pretty remarkable to me. I hope this isn't a jinx thread. How do people see his development on the defensive side? Can he become a plus defender? How close is he to that right now?
Listen, forget the stats. The facts. This board told me he's not a star. Obviously, this board knows more than reality, right?
His defense has been a lot better. Changed a lot of shots tonight and I was worried that Adams would bully him but that didn't happen (mainly because the Pels didn't even try...) but he's been better defensively definitely. Again, the only reason people are downplaying his potential is because of where he was drafted.
CWood is the Rox new franchise player. He is our Zion Williamson and tbh he is much better than Zion both now and in the long term as well (lets face it Zion will be lucky to get a 10 yr superstar career). He is the reason the Rox are winning so many games and why everyone is so positive imo. Dude is averaging 23 10 on 61% TS. At that clip you can be a defensive sieve and still be a positive but Wood is also improving on the defensive end, rn he is -0.1 defensive plus minus so he is almost there. The crazy thing is Wood is actually underappreciated in the offense, he gets ignored by Wall and Dipo on a regular basis so he can still up those nos if he is made more of a focus or as the teams offenss improves. At 25 he aint a rookie but this is only his 2nd season as a full time starter so he still has a lot of potential and room to grow. Getting him is prob gonna be one of the highlights of Stone's GM career.
I knew he could score and I knew he had a lot of physical talent on the offensive side. The Rockets tried hard to trade for him last season. What has surprised me has been the level of maturity. I thought he would be more selfish based on what he has said and based on some of the games he had last year. I really expected a certain level of babying needed and some personality and work ethic flaws we would have to accept. To his credit, so far he hasn’t had any issues with effort or consistency and if you watch him defensively he is adapting and is paying attention. He doesn’t appear to be taking any short cuts. So to me, that has been the most pleasant surprise. Early in the season he was very effective against teams that either lacked high quality of smaller bigs. He really feasted on them but struggled defensively and on the boards against the more physical players. I felt that is just who he was because of his lack of strength. We saw it at times against Portland as well, but Wood did enough to keep it from being a game changer. Then tonight, against a very big and physical interior he played even better. So now I am not so sure. So on the offensive side he has exceeded my high expectations and he has done it without being a selfish player. Defensively he really struggled in drop 2 early this year. He was pushed around inside by bigger players and really was a detriment at times. Since then I noticed he has gotten a lot better knowing how far to come out and drop out. His instincts are still not great defensively but they are average and that is a real improvement. I still think overall, right now he is close to an average defender depending on the match up. As far as his defensive upside, if the Rockets put the right 3 and 4/5 next to him, he can be a very good defender. He is extremely long and can block shots and is capable of being an excellent help defender if he has the right teammates next to him.
Wood has AD potential. Im serious, he needs to get in that weight room. Look at AD's body's now compared to his first few seasons in the league. i feel like the Wood should follow that blueprint, we dont want wood gaining to much weight like Yao did and breakdown.
His defense has been good the entire season. He’s doing nothing better or worse than before. The rest of the team is way better
I want to see those stats coupled with wins. Hes doing well so far but its too early to tell if hes an empty stat stuffer (Westbrook) or meaningful (Harden) I dont want him to be that star player that puts up decent numbers but cant put his team over. I'm rooting for him GO ROCKETS
I simply just do not see many flaws in his offensive game. He dribbles well, catches the ball well, able to shoot 3s, and takes smart shots rather than forcing it. He is also a willing passer if he is not able to get good looks.
This guy is a legit star and everyone should know it. How does he shoot 85% and only have 27 points?? My man shoulda had 40 today. Get him the damn ball.
His defense has improved a lot since the beginning of the season. After the first five games I thought he was one of the worst defensive bigs I’d ever seen, he looked completely lost, he didn’t even try to contest shots, he was out of position constantly. I thought he might be the worst defender on the team. But he seems to get better every game and in the last 6 or so games he’s actually been a huge positive on defense. Very pleased with his development. Just goes to show we should give people time to get comfortable with their new team, scheme, coaches, etc.
Great post. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by a number of really good passes and decisions on offense - even adapting during games. He’s not a great defensive player yet, but the defensive lapses have really been cut down. I think the waves of perimeter defenders have helped him a ton by reducing the amount of decisions he has to make on that end. I’m sure he’ll have set backs, but the little things are trending in the right direction. It’s still a bit odd, as the Rockets have effectively 3 big men playing - Wood, Cousins, and Tucker. House/Nwaba/Tate play a bit of 4 as well. I don’t know who the optimal 4 is next to Wood, but but ideally it’s a durable defender who can also stretch. In some ways, Covington’s length and weak side defense next to Wood would be very intriguing. Also, it’s been sad to see the lack of alley oops to Wood. You realize how much easier the game is when Harden is on the court, but his numbers haven’t really dipped.
