ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Magic - Vegas Summer League 7/7/2022

This will rile up some of y'all, but Eason was a chucker out there last night. It is what it is. Good that he was rebounding, but no assists, no steals, no blocks and 2/9 from 3?? -21!! What is the antonym for 3&D? No way Eason should be shooting more than Smith - ever.

 

That would be acceptable. The NBA has a no hand check rule, which is violated by the wrestling moves of Draymond Green in the playoffs, yet many good defenders can pick Smith's pocket with ease. What's gonna happen when he has poor shooting nights?

His perimeter defense is going to suffer.

Jabari needs to run the P/R on offense with TyTy and Nix. The point guards really have to step up , I admit.

 

The egregious thing we did last night was to draft a floor general in Tyty then force him to play off ball. Almost made me puke. I hope we look more like a team tomorrow. We need to let Tyty be the starting PG tomorrow and have Jabari play the 4. Also someone please get Lamb off of this team. What the hell do we see in this guy anyways? Am I missing something?

 

He was looking to do too much on the offensive end as if he wants to prove he improved his 3pt shot. It still looks bad. His defense was outstanding though.

 

Somehow, what the team needs a PG. Tyty got game but he's not there yet. Also, the plays that the coaches run was either terrible or not executed well. Defense was weak. It's Summer League but at least the team should have some resemblance of a team.

 

Yeah but its kind of hard to keep the checks coming without a job.

 

His defense was "ok" .. cool to see him want to stand up to Paolo and take on the challenge, but he didnt really slow him down any more than Jabari. Paolo got to any spot he wanted on the court and played his game uninterrupted and efficient. +20 to lead all players.

Eason has a great skill package - just needs to put it together. Dont see a starter in him yet.

 

Shhhhhh…for years this team is always famous for its players' coach culture, i.e. no discipline, free fall games, ball hoggers matters.

Spoiler: Stevie

 

Guys like Eason and Tyty, players we have invested in and expect to contribute, im good with them jacking up shots (to an extent, now half court steph curry type heaves) because it gets them in game shooting reps that they most likely wont get in the regular season. Im NOT OK with these career scrubs doing it, I cant even name half the guards that played last night but them jacking up an insane amount of shots does nothing for the team overall.

 

A few of them (e.g. #2 and #8) also have someone open already taking an open shot. Don't see why they should have passed it up then.

But yeah, I'd take at least a couple of those look like good open looks Jabari, but I have to see them again in full motion. E.g. #3 Jabari looks open, but it seems like the defender is already moving up on him at that instance (though likely it was a good pass seconds earlier).

I definitely agree guard play hurt Jabari though. Don't think it'll be much better next game. Everybody is always looking to get theirs in SL.

 

I thought Jabari looked fine last night. It's important to take scheme into perspective. He's not a ball dominant player or adept at running an offense. He'll look a bit awkward doing those things. I wouldn't mind a bit more motion to get him an open look, but that wasn't really how he played at Auburn either. He showed some good flashes and that's all we can really ask for. It's not like he forced the issue.

 

He will have to impact the game on defensive end or sit

 

And can we all agree that Jabari is a 4? I know we are in the era of positionless basketball and he can actually cover guards, but you need better handles to play the wing. I think he’s gonna be a great 4, but let’s stop with the wing talk.

 

Thats fine. IQ was one of the concerns with Eason. Having some self awareness would help everyone around Jabari. No way we cant showcase our #3 pick the same way all the other top 5 teams have with their first pick. I was disappointed with the ball hogs last night, but I also want to see Jabari shut that sht down on his own too.

 

Man some of you guys are putting WAAAAAAAY too much on summer league, the FIRST summer league game at that. Ya'll complaining about the Gs, the coaching, Jabari not being aggressive looking to jack up inefficient shots just to do it.... C'Mon man! It's been said over and over, Jabari is not a aggressive scoring type of player. He is not a "move out the way let me create these shots" type player. Think of him as a Klay Thompson type of player. How much does Klay dribble and break down his defender to go score? Rarely happens. Everything is set up off his jump shot and ball movement in the offense. Jabari will look a whole lot better when he is playing with the other starters and they are looking for him out there. You can't expect these summer league Gs to do that, they tryna get looked at to make somebody's squad, they going for self out there. The summer league coach is just there to manage minutes and remind guys what they should be working on out there. There is no game strategy going on haha These guys have had about 2 weeks of practice, so there is NO CHEMISTRY out there. Reset your summer league expectations please.

I liked what Tari did, I liked TyTy in his limited PG time. I also liked Aric Holman, kid is long and had some good blocks and his 3 pt shot looks good (after that first brink he shot). Nix seems to be a willing passer, maybe he just needs to be out there with other better players. TyTy may have come in a passed him on the depth chart.

 

If Klay can be a wing, I think Jabari can too. If you want your wing to initiate offense, then probably not, but if you have a PG, a SG, and a C than can create, then your wing can space the floor and knock down open looks those playmakers create for him. He can pump fake a shot and attach the paint when necessary. I wouldn't pass any judgements on a summer league game or two... when he is out there with inefficient players, no chemistry, and no real offensive system. Once he gets with the coaching staff and other starters and they have some training camp time to get to learn each other, he will shine with that jumper.

 

I want to see less of Josh Christopher attempting 18 FGs in the summer league and see more of other young players that did not get much chance to play and the new rookies. Also, a good playmaker might just give the confidence that Jabari needs.

 

I don't really know, what that means. Traditionally, when I think of a 4 I think of a player that likes to post up and maybe take midrange shots. Now there are 4s that camp out in the corner.

Jabari, right now, is a perimeter player. One that excels at taking threes from the elbow - and that also loves to take one dribble to take a long midrange shot. He doesn't like to post up. Is that a 4? A 3? A 2? Does it even matter? The question is, what other players do you want to throw out there with him - and now it is mostly a question of spacing and defense. He won't hurt spacing and can defend 1-4 and on most nights 1-5. So it really doesn*t matter, if you want to go to a super small lineup with him as a smallball 5 or a super tall lineup with him next to three other 6-8 and above players.

I think we need to move past defined positions and think more about, what roles a player can fill on offfense and on defense. And Jabari should really make that easy for you, because he can play next to any kind of players, because of his shooting and defensive versatiliy.

 

Man, before the draft I was one of the few who felt the Rockets should consider taking Keegan with the 3rd pick. He's going to have a great career.

 

A 6'10 stretch big vs a 6'10 stretch big and you don't know where the comparison comes from? Really? Of course there are differences. If Smith can't dribble penetrate, and doesn't have an imposing deep post game, who cares if he is unselfish*? He won't induce double teams anyway. He will need to be selfish to contribute on offense. Defense will be the thing that takes him from role player to all star and by that I mean he'll have to be elite or add whole new facets to his offensive game. Again, I recognize we're very, very early days.

*within reason