He's done a great job as coach, but he's at a spot where he wants to play FVV, Green, Amen, Brooks, and Sengun. The early returns for that lineup have been horrendous despite Amen earning a starting role. It is still a small sample size, but early returns this bad are challenging to turn around by the time the sample is a decent size. In my opinion, this lineup (whether Brooks or JSJ) will weaken the Rockets in the short term. He either has to take a chance on doing something drastic that could help or hurt a lot, he can revert to the old starting lineup, or he can try to get players to work harder, hoping that playing more together develops chemistry soon to overcome whatever is wrong.
Concentrating on wins this year is his job, I guess. I think it is an organizational mistake to not start preparing for next year by maximizing the opportunities to create synergies with our future starting core of Amen, Jalen, Jabari, and Sengun. FVV is not a starting quality Pg on a championship contender. Maybe Amen isn’t yet, but he and Jalen are the backcourt of our future. FVV and Dillon have surpassed expectations in my opinion for the re-build, but Ime is falling short as an offensive coach. Basketball is played on both sides of the court. If FVV is starting next year both Stone and Ime should be fired. Making the playoffs just to be embarrassed 4-0 is not worth wasting a moment of developing your young stars.
I'm sure Amen can be inserted in the starting lineup and work well eventually (although we don't have a lot of time left for adjustment before playoffs begins.) My question is about the drop off on effort and defense. Rockets DefRtg Oct-Nov 103.7 Dec 109.8 Jan (missing Jabari) 113.3 Feb (missing Fred and partially Jabari) 111.8 After ASB (Jabari back) 110.6 You can see the defense drop off since Jabari and Fred were down. But look at the difference between Oct-Nov and Dec. It's already trending down before the injuries. And it matches the eye test to me. You can maybe out-hustle your opponents in the regular season. In the playoffs, everybody is motivated and plays hard. I hope the Rockets don't fizzle out in the first round. If they are eliminated, I hope to see them fighting hard and last at least for 6 games rather than getting blown out with their heads hanging.
Show the DRTG during period Alp was injured too. https://www.si.com/nba/rockets/news...-sengun-quietly-having-great-defensive-season I completely agree that Rockets defense is a huge concern. But Rockets greatest weakness has been offense since first day of the season, especially in clutch time. "Shooting was the name of the game for the Rockets, and poor shooting in the fourth quarter told the story. They shot 39% from the field in the last 12 minutes and just 43% from the field in the game. The Kings shot 50.6% from the field, and also dominated points in the paint with 58, compared to Houston's 44." https://www.si.com/nba/rockets/game-day/rockets-fall-to-kings-sengun-scores-30
Without Jalen Green, the Defensive Ratings are as follows: - November: 92.9 December: 102.1 (I suspect this drop-off is due to Tari’s health as well as November's results being unsustainable) January: 104.2 February-March: 105.2 For the Primary Starting Lineup, the Defensive ratings are: November: 103.8 December: 106.5 January: 122.0 February-March: 118.2 I’m most concerned about the defense's drop in the starting lineup. The team's performance in November and December was solid, but it has not been very reassuring from January through March. Without Green, the defense has gone from being the best to the second-best in the league. This drop is likely caused by Tari getting hurt, and subsequently, Amen is playing more with Green. I believe the starting lineup from January will be used for the remainder of the year when healthy, and I don't anticipate positive results based on what happened in January. Maybe January was just a fluke or Udoka can fix the problem with coaching.
Confirms the eye test. Rockets starting 5 have been abyssmal in 2025 defensively. And while Jalen is weakest defender in starting 5, defensive slippage is not only on him. Meanwhile, Rockets offensive ineptitude continues to be ignored due to slippage of elite defense. https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?Month=3
While we can not say with 100% certainty it is due to Green, it is rarely the case when Green isn't in the game.
