Just re-watched the game and our rotation was a mess. I want coach Silas to succeed because he seems like a good guy but I am afraid he just doesn't have a clue about his rotations. 1. Gordon should start. Theis simply could not space the floor as well as Kelly O. House is washed. Tate hasn't shown me a reliable jump shot yet and you can't have 2 guys who can't shoot on the floor at the same time. So Gordon is the only viable option. Even if he won't have the ball that much he can still stretch the opposing defense. 2. Sengun is probably better than Theis both offensively and defensively. He was physical. Theis is just plain soft. But I am not against Sengun coming off the bench because he could generate some offense for the 2nd unit from the high post. One thing I noticed that was the opposing defense really stayed close to Sengun. My concern is that once teams figured out he can't hit a jumper, they may sag him off and it could hurt his efficiency. 3. Brooks needs to be in the rotation. I don't care if he's a liability defensively but clearly our team needs some shooting. I love Nwaba's energy but he really is Corey Brewer 2.0. He has a slow release and was always not confident enough to pull the trigger. Putting Sengun, Nwaba and Tate together is a recipe for disaster in terms of spacing. If it is up to me I wouldn't even play Nwaba at all. Terrible signing. Should've retained Sterling Brown and Khyri Thomas. Doesn't Stone understand we need some shooting?! My 10-man rotation would be: KPJ/Augustin Green/Brooks EG/KJ Wood/Tate Theis/Sengun
Maybe stone signed all those defensive minded guys because he knows we aren’t good enough yet and he’d rather have guys that can instill defensive mindsets in the rookies so that in a couple years when we start to compete, they have those good defensive habits and skills.
I don’t think losing by 30 every game is good for development. Eventually guys become chuckers because what’s the point in playing within a system that doesn’t produce wins anyways? It’ll just be freestyle, bad basketball.
I would prefer to see the Rockets have 2/3 guys on the floor who are committed to playing hard D, all of the time ... and rotate the rookies through. Tie increased PT with D effort. The rooks even if they do not work on the D end should still see 24m/game. That in no way would stunt their development viz-a-viz getting 36m/game.
Agree wholeheartedly. Reward them for their efforts and how they practice. If someone out performs in practice over Green, that person should get more minutes. He supposedly has good work ethic already, but you should still make him work for his minutes to keep him focused and the effort up in practice. Rookies can learn a lot more in close games than they can in wide open blowouts where the other team doesn’t care anymore. Those close games make each possession more important. So Green may turn it over and it means more and then he learns what not to do in that situation, as opposed to being down 30 and turning it over and it’s like meh okay now we are down 32. So what? losing close games has a lot of teachable moments. Eventually those rookies learn how to WIN those close games.
If Gordon is not traded, he should start because he could keep the pressure off Green in the game. However, everything starts with KPJ. We played well against Washington and we won, we was focused, serious and aggressive. In the Heat and Raptors game he was not focus, passive and child like attitude. He is a good player but he is very, very unpredictable in his play every game.
While I agree to an extent, losing by 30 every single game is probably an exaggeration. This is a rebuild. Winning this year isn't the end goal. Getting another top 5 pick in next year's draft isn't a bad idea.
So perhaps mixing the vet defenders with young rooks is a GOOD idea? Instead of playing ALL the best defenders together only in the 4th quarter after game is practically lost. Scoot/Green/Augustin Snipa/Tate/JC EGo/Nwaba/Exum Sengun/KJ/Garuba Wood/Theis
Start either grouping then make whole line up changes and then teach while the other “team” plays. Keeping a fresh “team” on the floor at all times. Mid way through the 4 quarter play the “hot” hand. Spot minutes for Brooks when needed. Porter / Gordon / Tate / Garuda / Wood Porter & Wood P&R with Gordon coming off of backside screens. Tate mopping it all up, Garuba get covered up by the others and gets valuable experience and in time he adds defense as he develops into a better Tucker type role. Christopher / Green / Nwaba / Sengun / Theis Run a Rick Adelman offense through Sengun. Christopher &Green hard cutting off screens for 3s or to the rim while Theis pulls the other big out. Nwaba picks up the top defensive assignments.
Brooks /christopher Kpj /green Ego /green Tate / martin jr Wood. /sengun Run the floor. We're young! Run run run! Move the ball. Space out the floor. Honestly if Wood can't handle being the big man in the middle then trade him..
I love Wood, and would only etertain moving him for a no brainer type deal. I know its only pre season, but his lack of defense is a HUGE black hole for this team. With two offense minded guards who havent shown a lot on the defensive end, having a defensive anchor is a must. Wood isnt it. Grabbing someone like Isaac (blerg anti vaxer), Turner or Siakam (pipe dream) would help a lot in my opinion. Then you can run Sengun next to that defender. Theis is fine, but hes not enough of a game changer on the defensive end.
Wood has looked terrible this preseason. This team has no idea how to play with each other and make each other better. Looks like another tank season so I'd play to develop the young guys and hope we trade Gordon, House and Wood and get something for the future out of them so I'd showcase them and run every play we possibly can through them to artificially inflate their value. So maybe rotation is: KPJ/DJ Green/Brooks EG/House Wood/Tate Theis/Sengun
As currently constructed we're most likely going to have some spacing issues regardless of who we put out there because we just don't have enough good 3 point shooters on this team. If we're going to have Sengun come off the bench then we need to make the most of his minutes and talent by making him the primary playmaker for the second unit and surrounding him with players who can shoot or cut to the basket. Last year KJ often played the pick and roll with Olynyk which led to some easy lobs at the rim for him. I think he could also do this with Sengun. Tate, Christopher, and Nwaba can back door cut for easy opportunities at the rim. Armoni can be a good kick-out option for when Sengun drives and the defense has to help. Augustin shot 38% on 4 attempts last year so he can do the same I like Gordon starting because based on what we saw in the pre-season we need some veteran presence to help our young backcourt when they're committing turnovers or don't know where they should be on the court. Plus he's not a negative defender most of the time.
Silas has him playing new position, stretch 4. Brilliant move. Take a guy who was in consideration for MIP and All Star accolades while averaging 20/10 with 2 blocks at the 5 last season and move him to stretch 4 where he is averaging half the production and replace 5 spot with a journeyman vet who averages single digits in points and rebounds. Silas is a genius.
Names have changed but we still the same problems. Maybe a different system is needed. Our current one we are using is perfect for winning at the lottery.
