My theory is that starter minutes open up at the 2 fairly early in the season. If that comes to pass, other guys including Dillon may get some playing time there opening up more minutes for Amen at the 3. So you may get what you want without having to demote Dillon or cut his minutes severely.
We'll see, but I don't think they'll bench Jalen early in the season unless he totally flames out, which is doubtful IMO. I said before last season he would struggle early in particular, because his role on offense would change the most (and he's never before played disciplined basketball in his career). Some Jalen-lovers didn't agree. After experiencing the ups and downs of last season and with the hope of an extension staring him in the face, Jalen has zero excuses left. I fully expect him to hit the ground running from game 1. Another thing in his favor is there is still no other player on the roster that represents what the Rockets need in a starting SG. (Sorry Cam fans).
I don't totally disagree with that, but I think someone(s) might emerge. There are others on the team poised to break out.
Whenever you think this guy is out, he prepares and fights relentlessly. I thought Tari was going to get his job easy but Brooks has shown up in the best shape of his entire career. He looks slimmer and stronger than ever. Could easily see another uptick in 3PT% due to fresher legs and fewer shots. Hard to hate the dude. We still may have to deal him but he's earned every penny of his declining contract so far.
Tari is not his replacement this year, Amen is. Tari is destined for a very good bench player in my opinion. If he can improve at his weaknesses he might start when Amen moves to guard.
I don't hate Brooks. But he happens to play the position of several of our young guys. A lot of us see him as someone taking away the young core's precious developmental PT. This season is crucial for the future of the team. We still have a lot of moving parts that have question marks. Will Jalen pan out? Will he be with the team after this season? Will Amen learn to shoot and be a perimeter player? Will Reed learn quickly to be our future PG? Will Jabari be good enough to be our future PF alongside Sengun? Will Tari be starter material? Will Cam become a smart player? Will we keep FVV for at least one more year after this season? Will we trade for a star? Nobody knows for sure the answers to these questions. But a confirmed answer to even just one question will have huge impact to the future roster and lineups.
Yeah but I think the organization has moved on from this mindset. We're at the tail end of Phase 2 from the sounds of it. That means you haven't earned minutes just because you're one of our draftees. Other than Amen/Cam/Sheppard who you can say deserve a minimum of 15 minutes because they're still new. As far as the others go, if they can't beat him out on and off the court, I don't want them starting. I'm 100% about prioritizing the best overall player AND BEST FIT. That includes performance on court, in practice and preparation and an ego that doesn't need maintenance. I don't want our corner shooter to wish he was Luka Doncic. Dillon shows up having done all his homework and the extra credit. He keeps improving at this age. He keeps improving his fitness. He does not complain. He yells and moves people into place on defense. He's an all NBA calibre defender according to a panel of 123 writers and broadcasters. People who probably love Lebron James. He makes his open 3's at a very good clip and his overall average is decent now. Doesn't crowd the paint. Doesn't hold the ball. Happy to act as corner spacer - someone who brings wins without requiring usage or caring too much about stats. He has his flaws of course (rebounding, transition) but he's earned that spot. Amen is one of the worst shooters in the NBA which is a far bigger flaw than rebounding. Tari was not healthy and has his own transition issues. I know Amen and Tari are headed for greatness, I'm just saying at this young age they have not beaten out Brooks. I would still bet that Tari is the better player by mid season but I truly respect Brooks for being such a great professional. Teams with multiple elite 3&D options at the 2/3/4 almost always beat expectations. Very happy to have this problem. Whichever 2 out of these 3 who win out will be a success for us. The best of them will be elite and the backup will be by far the best such backup in the NBA. Just thought Brooks deserves a little pat on the back for earning and fighting for his minutes. Showing up in prime shape. Always knowing the opponent playbook inside out. He gets way too much flack on the board for a measly $20m declining salary.
I would start this with I am not a fan of Brooks instead of not hating Brooks. He can stay but has to figure out a smaller role, his Offense does not wow me. Bigger, better Tate with tunnel vision and agenda. A journalist coined this for JaeSean and I think that comp hits the spot, Tate is just a lot more selfless, more intelligent, low maintenance.
For all the replacement talk, DB has been a damn good signing for us. I am a fan for life. He has busted his ass for Houston. He would have fit right into that 2018 Rockets team. 100% dawg.
Your biggest complaint since Ime came on board is the Rockets need to play fast. They need to be an outstanding transition team. Brooks is the antitheses of that. You can’t run if you you can’t rebound. Amen’s passing ability, ability to get to the rim even without an outside shot, and rebounding far outweigh Brooks advantage as a shooter. Our “playing faster” coincided with the Brooks injury and Amen being inserted into the starting lineup. I respect your opinions, but you are way off on this one. I’ve reconsidered the need to trade Brooks before the season, mostly because I am worried that Cam or Tari need to prove they are a better option than Brooks, not Amen who has already proven it.
last year first 41 games 17.1 pts per game 14.4 FGA 39.8 FG% 6.4 3FGA 32.3 3FG% an efficient and unselfish SG who can move without the ball, cut, slash, dunk, and shoot the 3 ball at above average %?
I don't disagree with most of what you said. But Brooks is a streaky offensive player. When he hits his shots, he is good. When he doesn't he is a zero because he can't create and he's not a rebounder. I also expect Tari to be better than him at mid-season. And there's Amen. When Brooks went down last season, Amen got the opportunity to shine and he never looked back.
I think we have zero disagreements on this except a coupe of points: - I've never seen all 3 healthy and playing. So Amen and Tari have literally never beat out Brooks. It's amazing when we talk about Jalen's March, people rush to say it was the easiest teams in the NBA. That's exactly when Amen shone too. Give him a chance to prove himself too. Brooks has earned his spot by being 50% of a tandem that delivered the biggest increase in wins in the NBA. He was near or above his career highs in every category. He cut down his shots. There's no basis for unseating him. It's only fair. He's killed it. Teams treat him like he's a 36% shooter and we need that. We've never had a problem defensively and he's guarding the best wing every night. I think unquestionably, of the young guns want that spot, they have to win it in battle not on paper. Again I know they will, but they flat out haven't. - Fit is so important. The better player is not always the better starter. How many times do we have to see a team like Phoenix pairing great players together who don't fit? We have a best player who has earned the right to have the team be built more around him than others. That guy needs shooters around him. We have a SG that is infinitely better when there's good spacing. Is Amen going to jump from bench player to cornerstone without ever actually beating anyone out in a season? Because if you can't shoot, I don't care if you grab 20 rebounds as the SF. This team needs its SF to space the floor as well as guard the best wings as well as be available. These 3 things are more important than transition or rebounds. Anyways as I said earlier, this is an amazing problem and debate to have. We're swimming in luxury. If we have two guys who can beat out an all NBA defense guy who shoots 36%.. and they're both 22/23 years old... we must be so damn good.
Transition is important, but it's not more important than any of these 3 things when taking our boys Sengun/Jabari/Green/FVV into consideration: 3PT shooting Wing defense Availability We can't just treat it like we're in a vacuum. There's a job description for our SF. Sengun has earned the space in the paint, he earned that with a seasons worth of minutes. He's earned the right to be in that dunkers spot himself. Fair and square. His whole thing is dominating the paint. We would be putting a player on the floor who's man is going to harass Sengun. We can't deny that. We can't prevent that with just the occasional cut to the basket. That's our offensive pillar getting less efficient. You can totally run as a team if your SF can't rebound much btw. For sure rebounds help but it's Sengun/Jabari's job mostly. Udoka likes to rebound as a team also. The biggest point of all is we're almost 100% of the way to having a championship calibre defense and 20% of the way to having a championship calibre offense. It's impossible to argue that we should get more defensive right now at the cost of spacing. We're always having this debate but I hope you understand that at the core of it, I know Amen is an elite prospect with an elite future ahead of him. Just that now we're in full win-now mode while he still requires development, I think the quicker path to becoming elite is for him to be a 6th starter for this team as the lead wing/guard.
Just going to have to agree to disagree. I appreciated what Brooks brought to the team and was one of the few that didn’t think his contract was an overpay, but Amen does virtually everything better than him other than shoot 3’s. Brooks has terrible BBiQ, can’t pass, doesn’t rebound (Amen creates so much offense with his defensive rebounding (transition) and with his offensive rebounding. He is an elite offensive rebounder and creates so many second chance opportunities. He’s not the guy people are slacking off of to double team Sengun, Jalen is. When they do slack off of Amen he makes them pay with his cuts to the basket. To be better than last year this team needs to play fast and Amen’s defense and rebounding is the single greatest factor in their transition game. If Dillon stays it should be as insurance for Tari or Cam regressing or getting hurt, not taking minutes from Amen. If Amen isn’t getting 30+ mins a game it will be a travesty that will leave the Rockets wallowing around the .500 mark again this year.
