Agreed. We had 2 problem children last year. Wood and Porter. I hope Porter got the message when Wood was shipped out that that $hit and gonna fly here. One more slip and there goes that big new contract.
Surprises me that you guys that have been on the KPJ roller coaster think a supreme defensive talent/sniper like Jabari Smith will perform worse than KPJ, who was historically bad for most of last season. Jabari Smith is a teenager, but he might as well be KPJ's Daddy when it comes to their maturity levels. One is a winner right now, the other is a child that has yet to put his life together and become a man. Prayers up for KPJ, but JG/Jabari/Sengun are on a different planet when it comes to talent and playing winning basketball, IMO.
I think it is dangerous to talk numbers with KPJ. Terrence Williams could put up numbers with the keys too. I want to see KPJ win games. If he is as good as some of you guys say he is, we should be winning some damn games. He has to stop the Fonda Rec loser tempo, or we need to pop Tyty in there.
I think the challenge is KPJ is definitely more offensively talented than Jabari as of right now, and if I had to put money on which player will likely look like the better offensive player this season, I'd easily put it on KPJ. However, Jabari's biggest strength as of right now is his defense, and since defense is quite team oriented, it's much harder to measure his impact if the Rockets are a losing team. It's quite similar to Evan Mobley last season when Jarrett Allen was injured, all of Mobley's defensive metrics cratered without Allen on the court. I do think that in the context of winning basketball, if I had to pick one of the two, I'd go with Jabari Smith any day of the week. Smith's strengths are very geared towards winning basketball, and winning basketball values versatile switch defenders a lot.
Ima b really realistic with u. No matter how negative u r about kpj its extremely rare for any rookie to come out the gate like a superstar. Sure he might come out looking like a defensive God since everyone else sucks at it but I don't forsee him surpassing green and especially kpj at offense. Regardless of maturity level.
To each their own. I'm just saying if people choose to claim 26 games is the equivalent to a full 82 game season......then I choose to hang my hat on the last 39 games as a good assessment of a player becoming a good point guard In today's NBA. Which is good a combo guard. Put Porters numbers and play next to Marcus Smart who went to the finals. Just because something is new like TyTy; does not make it better. It's a learning process to play PG in the NBA. Porter is far ahead of the curve right now compared to TyTy or Scoot Henderson. But it's always greener on the other side of the pasture. If Cade Cunningham played winning basketball.....why didn't they win? If Suggs played winning basketball....why didn't they win? If Giddey played winning basketball.....why didn't they win? Answer: we were all tanking....duh.
I still do not get people bringing up Scoot Henderson when discussing KPJ. Kid is 18. If not for Wemby he would be the projected no.1 in a stacked draft. Being compared to D Rose and Prime Westbrook. The two are not the same. And again he is only 18. Not the same.
Come seasons end, there's going to be whole lot of people who look silly for their position on this subject .....
Being compared to Westbrook and Rose is a harsh criticism, he's gonna have to shoot better than 17% from 3 this season or that criticism is going to stick and I'd want nothing to do with him at any point in the draft. There's a chance he has a bounce back session and shows he's more than just raw athleticism.
I know the numbers dont agree with your eye test. Thats the pesky thing about stats sometimes they show us things that we didnt want to know. Eric Gordons defensive rating and defensive box +/- are not good. He is versatile on defense and can at least get in the way of opposing top options from time to time, but its been a long time since Eric Gordon was considered an "awesome" defender by objective basketball fans. He doesnt get many steals or interrupts the passing lanes and himself is a 3+ turnover guy with far less usage than some of the younger guys who get crucified for their turnovers. Didnt even lead the team in defensive win shares (not saying much because the whole team sucked on defense) -- just something to consider. As others have said its hard to quantify defense into a neat, convenient individual stat, but you can certainly paint a picture with multiple metrics and come to a sound conclusion. I like Splash - fan favorite, but we have to keep it real.
Yeah being compared to two MVP's is harsh criticism. Sorry Bobby but that might be the dumbest thing you've ever said.
Scooter with a reported 11.8M in "real" value vs his contract amount. Yes it takes into account off court issues. edit: Jalen led team in this "stat" in overall money amount -- 12.7Ms "real" value compared to his 9.4 contract edit 2: Now the blowhards like him again! LOL
I mean, you may look back on those players favorably, but the flash over substance when it comes to both of them was exposed long ago. You can fool enough people with athleticism to win an award, but being a godawful chucker doesn't lead anywhere good. Rose and Westbrick are two of the worst chuckers of a generation. The fact those two were given the MVP is an absolute embarrassment to the award. Westbrick has a career .527 TS%, Rose has a career .528 TS%.....those aren't the kinds of players ANYONE should want to be compared to. Those are the kind of players where defenders and entire crowds laugh when they attempt a 3.
The comparisons are for pre injury Rose who won the MVP and led his team to the top seed in the east with 62 wins. Was one of the most gifted players ever. He attempted 4 3's a game. Most of his 25pts a game were mid range, at the rim and the line. Had the quickest first step in the league. No one could stop him before his injury. That comparison is legit. The other is Prime Westbrook. 31/10/10 Westbrook. He has been a chucker, but this is more about his athleticism and overall skill with the ball in his hands. Henderson is not a chucker. He only attempted 2 3's a gm. TS% 58. He's a much better, willing passer than Westbrook. Has the same quickness, handles and burst as both those guys in their prime and he's 18. He's got plenty of things he needs to work on. His defense and 3 Ball top the list, but again he's 18.
Pre-injury Rose was still a godawful chucker....people were still blinded by the flash. Same goes for "prime Westbrick". Chucking your way to inflating your PPG and other stats at the expense of your team was what Westbrick made a career out of.....and it's why none of his teams ever made it anywhere. As to Henderson, you can't be a modern guard if you can't shoot 3's because they'll just give you the Westbrick treatment where defenders lag off of you to cut down your driving lanes and laugh at you if you are stupid enough to attempt a shot. The flash over substance BS used to be popular, but the league has gotten smarter over the past 20 years. You just can't be that kind of player anymore as a guard. You'd have to be a freak like Giannis to pull that off.....and time will tell how long he's able to do it. I wouldn't imagine his game will age well at all once he starts to get past his prime.
