Has KPJ Turned the Corner in Your Eyes as a Person and Player?

lol, I had more posts than most on here before we even started the like option. Nice try junior.

now go about your hating on 21 year olds who have struggled with mental health and are turning it around.

or try some growth mindset and admit you were wrong.

DD

 

I think the problem from a basketball standpoint with KPJ is that while he is "in the process" of dealing with his inner demons, other players of similar skill level are starting to refine parts of their game. That's the problem with KPJ's case from a basketball standpoint is "getting his head right" is coming at the expense of the critical time when he would be working on his game. For instance, if getting his head right means he doesn't have the time/focus for extra reps after/before practice(or worse yet he missed practice), or the thought of eating a better diet is a little too overwhelming for him, he is missing out because other players without the baggage are starting to do those things. I genuinely want KPJ to succeed at life but let's be clear that succeeding at life does not mean being one of the 30 people in the entire world who get to be an NBA starting PG. I empathize with his struggle but at the same time the franchise is maybe holding itself back if we can't see the facts that he probably won't be an NBA starter long term and we have to move on and find the guy who is going to do that for us. That's why I advocate for redefining KPJ's role with the org - be a really really good bench guy and if he does eventually up his play(cut down on mental errors in particular), then let him rejoin the starting lineup OR if he can't handle that, then trade him to another organization who may not be so kind and supportive to him.

 

No, but more than 20ppg and 6 assists per game do......which is basically how he finished.....

So, what are you basing your opinion on?

Why can't he be a starting PG, because that is EXACTLY what he is for this team, right now.

DD

 

I don't think any of that matters. He's 21. This is a results oriented business. No one cares what effort a player makes if they produce.

Harden was hitting the clubs every night. He still produced on the floor so no one is going to tell him to stop.

Inner demons giving him less practice time? Does it matter if he produces? Some players need more practice than others.

He's a solid defender, shooter, and rebounder. He has ok vision. There's a lot to build on there...

 

Loser hasn't thrown a tantrum in how many games now? = admitting I was wrong.

That actually speaks volumes to how woeful he has been in the past where a handful of games gets him passing grades hahaha.

It's ok DD. Nice try palming off the fact the majority of Clutchfans thinks none too highly of you. Numerous posts before the like system or not. Nice try senior.

I love how the mental health card is thrown around as a forcefield for all negative things these days.

Hey DD I suffer from mental health issues and didn't have an upbringing of riches, I'm so offended you said those things to me. I'm going to go heat a bowl of soup and go throw it at my parents now. But don't worry it's all good, I've got mental issues.

 

Good post! I hope he agrees to a reasonable extension, it'll be good for Rockets AND his own well being

 

Wah wah wah..........enjoy watching KPJ playing PG next year...and getting that extension........

Keep clutching those pearls.

DD

 

This post was overlooked so I'm going to double down.

Much of the improvement we've seen in KPJs game and maturity coincide with his relationship with this little lady:




Meet Kysre Gondrezick - WNBA professional player for the Chicago Sky

She's the cause for the loss of the signature wildboy haircut

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and has been keeping our starting pg tranquil and non-problematic

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Is Kysre the key to a levelheaded KPJ?

 

Agreed. It’s the perfect time to trade him, especially if we trying to move up in the draft.

 

I really hope they never break up. She appears to be the world to him and has him on the right path mentally and emotionally.

I mean dude cut his hair for her and has quietly been tearing it up on the court ever since.

 

There are a lot of guys in the league that can get away with this because they play well enough. Boogie would get away with it when he was in his prime, same with Draymond, we've seen Jimmy Butler lose it on every team hes been on including recently on the Heat. I like KPJ, I do not think he will get a max deal or anything , but at a reasonable price I like him long term if he shows some consistency next season, staying out of trouble off court is more important, the on court stuff happens with a lot of talented guys. If he still is up and down, then it will probably time to move him. We obviously have NBA players on this team, but to be a playoff team or contender you need very consistent players. We have really yet to see that from our guys as they are still young.

 

He has good taste.

 

Crux of the matter with KPJ comes down to contract. He is obviously not a star player, no where close to it. He is better than an MLE player ($10,095,000) though. I would be happy about signing him long term for about $15M per.

 

Great. So will be tanking for the #1 pick for the third straight year. YES!!!

 

Wanna bet?

And yes, his taste in girlfriends is very fine indeed.

DD

 

He wants to lead. Love what I’m seeing from the 20 year old.

 

Not saying he can't change my mind, but from what I've seen from KPJ playing paint a big part of me feels that Jaygup has higher odds of becoming a more PG-oriented than Scoot. Either way though, running a gauntlet of Green, Scoot, and Jaygup will be fun (though incredibly frustrating at times) to watch next season. Being a PG is hard, especially when you are expected to learn it at the highest level of professional basketball.

 

20ppg and 6 assists per game is like pointing to a picture of a house that has 4 walls and a roof and saying that's a place you can live in next year. Might be true, might not be true - you can't tell from that myopic view of whether that is really a house or whether that is really an NBA starting PG. I'll point to the Christian Wood example(again) - he put up 18pts/10reb a game. In general you would say that is a starting level NBA power forward but when you watch the games you realize the competition he matched up against often times put up more points and rebounds than that so who cares what your stats are if at the end of the game you are generally a net negative to your team and oh by the way, you are doing that on the worst team in the league. Christian Wood is a picture of a house from the front that doesn't actually have a real roof so when it rains you catch a cold all the same as if you didn't have a house.

Stats that look like that of players on winning teams are NOT the same as the same stats on a losing team - did 20/6 make your defense better? Did 20/6 mean you shot the ball efficiently and didn't waste offensive possessions? Did 20/6 mean you didn't turn the ball over often? Make your team & teammates better and we can talk but not a single person on this roster(Green included) is guaranteed to be a starter long term if they can't demonstrate progress doing that because ultimately being the starting PG with a 20/6 stat line on the worst team in the league doesn't mean anything if our goal is to be a contending team. I'll leave you with the points and assists generated by the starting PGs of the top 4 teams in the league this year. It shows you that 20/6 doesn't mean too much because there are people with more scoring, more assists, less scoring, less assists and ALL are better than KPJ.

13/7
13/10
27/6
25/6

 

Glad to see this but also makes me a little scared if that relationship doesn't work out. You hope he is able to do this for himself and keep himself on track but hey I know plenty of guys who are train wrecks without their ladies so you just gotta hope for the best and hope KPJ doesn't succumb to the throngs of ladies who throw themselves at NBA players and risk his relationship status.

 

The irony of you thinking this is whinging.

Whilst at the same time defending KPJ to the death.

You couldn't make up more absurd hills to die on, than the ones DD actually does.