I'm not saying I blame them, but we were trying to play a basketball game. Silas had to pull him out, maybe one day he'll let him finish (the game).
I think it was a good signing but for the wrong team. I would bet by the summer of 2023 sengun and garuba will be the center rotation, we will want to clear cap space, and will have to part with some asset to move off thies' last 2 years. I'm afraid we might have to move him next summer with 3 years left. wood, sengun, garuba, Martin, are already a 4 man PF/C rotation. then add a likely top 5 pick which again are mostly bigs: Chet (PF), Banchero (PF), Duren (C), nsoza (C), hardy (SG), jovic (PF), smith (PF)... I don't see a role for thies as early as next year, they'll have to get him out of the way just like they did with wall.
My post was specific to bigs coming over from international play with no college experience. Ayton played 35 games at the college level. While ostensibly most international professional leagues have a higher level of competition than the NCAA, the adjustment period seems to be much higher. Whether this is because of culture shock distracting players off the court, coaching bias against certain styles, or conditioning, historically it does take a bit more time for them to get up and running. Honestly, I haven't looked at the past numbers, but I'd strongly suspect that even getting 30+ minutes as a rookie portends very well to future success, almost regardless of how quality those minutes are. And it's not because playing more minutes = development, but that you don't get to play that much if you're a net negative on the court. There is a pretty insane study out of baseball that shows if you are even capable of earning a single at-bat at age 19, you have about a 9% chance of being a future hall-of-famer. If you manage to earn 250 at bats (about 1/3 of a full season), you have about a 1/3 chance of being a hall-of-famer. SOURCE I'm not in any rush to overload Sengun right now. As a fan I would love for him to be playing 35+ per game, but that would be an historical anomaly. I will say however, if the chemistry between Theis and KPJ/Green continues to look as bad as it does so far, I wouldn't be against them trying Garuba under the "how much worse could they look on offense" theory...
I'm not really worried about Theis (being able to move, or him being a future cap constraint), but early returns are that the Rockets free agent scouting folks really sh$t the bed with this gamble. Would have been a better bet dusting off 55 year old Scola since he probably would work harder than anyone else still... if the signing was just about veteran influence.
Folks, you asked for BANGER PF to put next to Yao and you got it. Time to face the music. Small ball haters, this is your song.
I was wrong about Theis. He doesn't add anything to this team in terms of winning basketball, rebounds or even defense. And he stifles the youth development.
In todays cesspool of toxic masculinity disguised as an insecure need for validity among strangers - I salute you! Takes a REAL man to say he was wrong or made a mistake. Cheers bro! I had higher hopes for Thies BTW .. that pick and pop ability I saw early in the preseason was just a mirage.
Listen when you're 6th in steals and youre only getting 19 minutes your coach should have the awareness to start you. Silas has no such awareness. He's slower than Mchale at adjustments and player ability awareness. Theis should be splitting bench minutes with Garuba and then traded.
skip to the traded part. we're heading for a real logjam at the 4/5. wood is best at the 5. sengun needs significant minutes. garuba will deserve a backup role next year. that's 3 guys playing center without counting in thies. if you want wood as a full time 4, tate and KJM are best at the 4 too. and even if you think tate could just stay at the 3... most of the top draft prospects this year are 4's or 5's.
