[Poll] What it is CF pulse on team direction/superstar?

Surround Amen and Sengun with good shooters and we will see just how good they are. I believe in them both but they are being handicapped by playing with a non shooting backcourt. Even Reed and Cam would space things better

 

I think the Green experiment is an illusion. I would not have extended him. He may be the most wildly inconsistent player I have ever seen. His contract has put the organization in a bad place. The Rockets have joined their future to one of the most erratic players to ever play the game.

 

This gamble was bad........and folks even regretted giving KPJ any contract at all, even if that contract was heavily team friendly....

The guy was so toxic you should have just let him go.......

 

I'm starting to think along these lines. Amen, Sengun, Jabari and Tari protected everybody else and our picks should be available to surround with 3 pt shooters.

 

I didn’t say there are ~15 superstars. I said there are ~15 title winning pieces. I mean players who you are confident could either right now or in the future win a Finals MVP and deserve it.

IMO that’s: Jokic, Luka, Giannis, Shai, Steph, KD, LBJ, Tatum, AD, Brown, Ant, Wemby, Booker, Mitchell, Brunson, Ja, Chet, Jalen Williams, Paolo.

Steph, KD, LBJ are basically past their expiration date.

So I think the obvious path forward is to play and develop our guys, continuously play the asset game, and work towards developing or trading for 1 or 2 of the championship level pieces.

Spending assets or time on anything other than that is a waste.

 

A lot of us do not have the perspective.....we are all or most of us are fans and fans tend to love their home grown players......no harm done there and it is not even their fault.

We need those pro folks that have perspective (Think the late Jerry West) and are not overly in love with home grown players.

 

I agree 110% with the overall point - asset management / collection / consolidation.

I just don't think there are as many of those guys as you have listed.

Several are past their expiration date while others haven't proven they are really that guy (yet?) and others just aren't in that stratosphere for whatever reason ...

Jokic, Luka, Giannis, Shai, Tatum & Ant - that's my short list.

 

Using some of the names referenced as stars. We're on Greek freak's 2016-2017 timeline where his team wins a pathetic 42 games and he has twenty two games where he scores under 19 pathetic points. Yo, you are no superstar Giannis. You'll never win a championship. Keep your sourpatch candy, bro!

 

This. It is the lack of the outside threat that allows opponents to pack the lane and prevent Amen and Sengun from dominating inside. It is obvious by now that opponents' defenses have been daring the Rockets to shoot outside while swarming Sengun and whoever drives to the basket. Outside shooting is the main flaw.

 

I also see more defensive stars than offensive stars......due to the league emphasizing smothering defense again.

I do not miss scoring 140 points a game but I do miss scoring over 120 frequently.

 

Sengun. He needs to find his touch to show people that he became a two-way player. He is shooting like **** yet averaging 19/10/5.3.

 

I think Sengun will be an elite #2, but he’s not a #1 unless he can improve the shooting and finishing around the rim.

I think Amen has the potential to be and elite #2 as well, but he’ll never be a knock-down shooter, which caps him a bit I think.

Same with Tari; penitential to be elite #2 or #3, but not the guy who’s gonna get a bucket at will. He can dominate the game through other skills like Amen, but likely not a #1.

to me those 3 are the core. I don’t see a true #1 in that group, but collectively our guys are so good, I do think it’s debatable that we needed a true #1. We may just need an elite scorer/shooter.

I think Bari is only extendable on a value deal. I think Jalen is (or is close to) a negative asset with the contract and we need to move off him and upgrade the SG position. I think Cam and Reed are stashes, but neither should be off limits if an elite shooter/starter becomes available.

We need to add that 4th core piece and it needs to be an elite shooter/offensive player. I’m not sure we need a Doncic, but we need and elite offensive player.

 

Giannis did win one recently as effectively a non-shooter mainly just due to his rim pressure and defense, for whatever that's worth. Sengun will never be that level of defensive player though, and as good a finisher as Amen is, I'm not sure he has quite that level of insane rim pressure in his future (who knows though, it's very very early for him).

I think those two are our best hope at finding an in-house top 10 player. I'd lay about 40% odds one of the two gets there.

 

Sengun is the franchise player.

It's silly that people are still questioning it.

 

He's that guy right now because there's no other option, but IMO he still needs to find one more level to truly leap into top 10 status. Right now I think he's something like a fringe-top 20 guy.

He may well get there, but I think the hardest leap for a young player to make is from "really good" to "superstar/borderline superstar".

 

Zero doubt.

 

how could it take the Rockets five minutes to cook our grits, when it takes the entire grit-eating world twenty minutes?

 

Advanced BPM has been very accurate in predicting league MVP.

Sengun in 4th. As a 22 year old.

Going back through league history its usually around age 26-27 before a player has the experience and physical body to lead his team to a championship. Curry/Durant, Lebron, Jordan, Jokic, Giannis, Tatum, Shaq. The only exceptions are Parker and Kawhi, and even then you could say Duncan was the leader without winning Finals MVP.

 

I dont think the contract will hurt much. Even if he doesn’t get any better, the cap escalates over the next 3 years and by 27-28 it’s an expiring. It may end up with a little negative value but I don’t think it will be an albatross.

 

Sengun can likely be a #1 that needs a 1B and almost certainly a 1B. Eason/Amen/Reed/Smith also part of long term core in my mind. I have Amen as nearly untouchable.