So are we doing the thing now where everybody forgets how good Ime was for us last year and how instrumental both he and FVV were for our turnaround from laughingstock to up-and-comers? I swear, most people on this board have the memories of goldfish.
We also remember that the team starting playing better when they started playing faster. Has Ime forgotten that? Ime helped turn this team around last year, but fans have a right to be frustrated when they run the same crap offense out there to start the season. I have high hopes for Ime, but FVV has always been a stop gap. His contract will be gone after this year, so Ime has to start getting the guys that will take his place the minutes to get comfortable. It was shocking to see Sengun sit and FVV get yet another 40 mins to play like crap. Stone is culpable as well, since Brooks was necessary last year, but should have been traded in the off-season. Why waste so much time on guys that won’t be on the team next year and letting another year go by for development of young stars?
In principle, I agree with basically everything you say here. To answer your question: no, I very much doubt that Ime forgot that we were better when playing fast, nor do I think he forgot how to coach over the summer. I think he will ease up on FVV and his minutes as the season progresses and Amen and Reed earn his trust. I think people should maybe give him more than 2 weeks to figure out how to optimally deploy everyone before acting like he’s become some kind of idiot. Also, I don’t think the relentless spamming of this board from Şengün-fan twitter accounts constantly crying over Ime (justifiably) sitting Şengün down the stretch of some games is really all that productive. But what do I know?
I would like for you to substantiate why Alpi was "justifiably" glued to the bench agains the Warriors after co-leading the comeback in the third.
I like Ime as well. I just don’t understand why Amen, in particular, has to earn his trust all over again. He was one of if not the best player on the team the last 40 games or so last year. It was stupid of Stone not to trade Brooks in the off-season. I will take it back, if waiting to the deadline provides us with much better value and we are still in contention for the playoffs. If not, it was really stupid to let Ime feed his vet-itis and delay our progress by several months. Granted it’s only 5 games, but his actions last game really makes me nervous.
Perhaps Udoka blames Sengun for FVV and Jalen Green being so terrible. So you bench the better player in an effort to make the terrible players less terrible.... it just didn't work, at all.
Not sure why I should feel inclined to engage with you in good faith when you just went out of your way to insult my intelligence for daring to indirectly criticize your golden god. But here you go: - Alpy hasn't looked right physically this season to date. He is moving weirdly and the the relentless Golden State screens are not great for someone who already has some physical limitations and is likely playing hurt - the small ball unit with Jabari at the 5 was doing work and he wanted to ride that out. Now, please commence with insulting me for disagreeing with you again.
How did someone who is "moving weirdly" grab most rebounds per minute in the NBA and lead the NBA in boxouts and screen assists? Golden State doesn't really have a big center. We could have exploited that.
I don’t really disagree with the idea that we could’ve exploited Golden State’s lack of center. I think it was a strategic decision to go small with Jabari at the 5 and maybe it was a strategic decision that failed (although Jabari played well). That’s a reasonable point and perhaps you’re correct. But I would argue that sitting him and rolling with Jabari was justifiable even if it proved to be the wrong move. Are you really trying to argue that Alpy has looked right physically this year? If so, why couldn’t he post up Luka and Sochan and punish those matchups? Why is he shooting so poorly? I thought his being “off” was pretty obvious
It's a good question. The poor shooting is very uncharacteristic. It's like he has temporarily lost his touch around the basket, which is normally one of his strengths. But I don't think you can lead the league in rebounds if you are really hurt. I think maybe all the strength training messed with his touch, or it's just a little slump. By the way, I didn't mean to insult you, your post was just kind of asking for it with that rhetorical question at the end . Clearly, it triggered you, it wasn't meant to be malicious. In any case, back to the topic of the thread, I am still a big Udoka fan in general, I just find it strange that he seems to go out of his way to humiliate Alpi by not playing him in the fourth at all. I could understand it if a player clearly had shown a lack of effort or a bad attitude or something, but I just haven't seen that, up until the end of the Warriors game, when Alpi was clearly dejected for (again) not having been given the trust of the coach to play at the end of the game. I think most of us would have felt the same way in that situation. I hope that whatever Udoka is trying to do here works out well for the Rockets in the long run.
One other thing I noticed is that Fred somehow seems to have forgotten how to do the pick and roll with Alpi. That used to be our bread and butter play, but Fred very rarely does it now.
How will you know better than Ime? He made him stop playing PnR with Sengun because Fred is our Harden now so that he can take step back threes with excellent efficiency. I don't know why you never appreciate Ime for this adjustment. We know nothing but Ime know everything. I'm a worshipper, sorry.
It is a different stage now. He was very good last year. It is a different story to get from 40 wins to playoffs than 20 wins to 40 wins. He got the basics well but now his offense got stuck and he will be criticized if he can’t find solutions. That’s just normal.
Expectations changes. I like Ime, and hope he figures it all out with the lineup. Concerning FVV, doesn't really matter what he did last year if he hasn't been good this year. His minutes just needs to be adjusted and decreased...he's on the downswing.
Mike D'Antoni said coaching isn't half as complex as people make it out to be. You play talented/smart players and you let them figure it out. In our case....those talented and smart players are on the bench (Amen, Reed) or will soon be going to the bench (Sengun). Ime made a name for himself by managing Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown getting into the peak of their powers.
