...but isn't part of the reason our offense is so putrid in part because we have an abundance of defensive specialists on the roster? FVV and Brooks are both inconsistent offensive players who are better at defense. Amen Thompson is a freaking GOD at defense right now - seriously, has there ever been a rookie who you would trust guarding Durant and Booker? Great defender but let's be clear he brings NOTHING offensively. Jabari is a great defender too but is a wildly inconsistent offensive player. I mean uncle Jeff might be our 3rd best offensive player guys - let that sync in. I do think Udoka needs to become a more creative offensive coach - this was Boston's achilles heel in the lone year Udoka coached them and Brown and Tatum are two of the best scorers in the game...but the roster needs some balance and so far the young guys haven't really stepped up to be consistent offensive players aside from Sengun - Jalen is so inconsistent his nickname should be Jalen "5 game stints" Green..
We do have better defensive personnel than offensive. Udoka is good at instilling discipline but not very good at creativity. Defense needs discipline. Offense needs talent and creativity. Udoka will always prioritize defense.
UPDATE: 82 Games Played Understandably, the defense dropped off a little in the last 22 games, of which Alperen Sengun missed 17. Defensive Rating: 10th Opp Points Off TOV: 4th Opp 2nd Chance Points: 14th Opp Pts Off Fast Break: 1st Opp Points in the Paint: 12th Deflections: 5th Contested Shots: 6th Contested Threes: 8th Box Outs: 3rd Steals: 8th Opp EFG%: 5th Opp Offensive Rebound Rate: 12th DREB: 6th DREB%: 12th Opp Assists: 2nd Opp Points: 14th Opp FGM: 10th Opp FG%: 5th Opp 3FG%: 1st Opp FT%: 2nd (Thanks Craig) Let's recap, because I have heard a lot of discourse lately sounding as If the Houston Rockets were not a rock-solid defensive team while playing: SIX guys under 22 years old who were in the top eight in terms of minutes played. Six kindergartners running around out there with Fred and Dillon. Absolutely unreal. INJURIES! We lost Tari, DB, Fred, and Jabari at various times. Add a healthy Tari Eason and Steven Adams to this thing and see what happens. Off-season goals: FIND. THE. OFFENSE...
The defense was still there, just not as good missing key parts. What we saw in March was a culmination of having a good offense and a good defense. Curious what our offensive rankings where for that month of march. Defense slipped a little across the board, pts in the paint and off reb% allowed really was our achilles and matched the eye test during that run. Perimeter defense and specifically 3pt% allowed being 1 probably helped play a huge role also as @heypartner alluded to. Really just goes to show how important Jalen growing and becoming a very good player means to this team. If he doesnt, we lack the creation talent imo and would have to find it in order to become great.
To win a title, a team generally needs a MVP candidate who is at least challenging to be one of the top 25 players of all time. In today's NBA that means an offensive wunderkind in some facet or fashion. Yes, you need a coach to design a offense around them with multiple counters, but the key thing to that dictates the offensive system is the star player. It's not like there a large number of "dual threat" coaches in the NBA. Almost all of them lean very strongly offensive, defensive, or are CEO types.
LOL "NOTHING" Next to Alpi, I would trust the ball more with Amen's hands than anyone else on the team
Ime had a 7th-ranked offense and 2nd-ranked defense in the NBA his first year with Boston with star talent, and #1 SRS in the league. They were 10th Ortg and 14th Drtg, 36-36, and 14th SRS the year before him with pretty much the same roster under Brad Stevens before he became an exec. I'd say he can coach both with a roster like any top coach, having gone to the finals as well so it translated in the playoffs.
LOL - cherry picking comments from earlier in the season before Ime moved Amen to the dunkers spot and he turned into dunk god.
What about trading for an even better defense!? HOU - POR - ORL Trade out: D.Brooks | J.Tate Trade in: J.Isaac | M.Thybulle (Orlando is likely looking for a star guard like Z.Lavine so Houston could help facilitate talent to balance out rosters or could aim lower for a good guard like A.Simons) HOU - POR Trade out: J.Landale | Future 2RP(s) Trade in: R.Williams (Houston gets their shot blocking lob threat who happens to have already played under Udoka. Injury prone but would be limited to spot minutes depending on matchups) Draft R.Sheppard which would help space the floor plus a good defender in college. If the Rockets have the NT-MLE then use that for a sharp shooting SGs like B.Hield, M.Beasley, or A.Burks. C: A.Sengun | S.Adams | R.Williams PF: J.Smith | T.Eason | J.Isaac SF: A.Thompson | C.Whitmore SG: J.Green | NT-MLE | M.Thybulle PG: F.VanVleet | R.Sheppard This team would have a championship level defense and an offense better than this past year's.
O I like the roster. Depends on what it costs to get there. I am absolutely not trading the Net’s 25 pick or any of our core 6 young players to make it happen. I think both the trades favor the Rockets too heavily and you won’t get the others to bite, but maybe with a tweak or two.
I concur about not including the core 6 or BRK picks/swaps. What about (an) additional 2RP(s) plus a lottery protected 2028 1RP?
