yeah sorry but JVG was a better coach than Udoka , on both sides of the floor at least. JVG always consistent on staying 20 above 500. and he had a way better assistant staff. Udoka’s assistants couldn’t be more nameless and scrubby. those guys overachieved with the rosters especially JVG. they had respectable assistants too. Udoka is all effort and defense but doesnt know jack sht about offense. and he hates everyone so he’ll never have a respectable or reputable assistant. buncha scrubs in this coaching staff. i mean you’re telling me royal ivey took John Lucas place?…. yeah
You think that's bad? We're also 29th in 2PT FG%. Don't make me dramatically bring out my extremely telling 3-20 feet stat.
yeah sorry but JVG was a better coach than Udoka , on both sides of the floor at least. JVG always consistent on staying 20 above 500. and he had a way better assistant staff. Udoka’s assistants couldn’t be more nameless and scrubby. the rockets need actual professionals competing in order to compete if they’re trying to win the way they are. literally every team knows how to how play basketball except the rockets and this has been going on since Tmac days
I don't intend to pile on Ime's offensive shortcomings but is it just me or some others might have observed his tendency to make substitutions when the team is making a run? Another thing that I observed is that he takes out a player just as he is getting in a groove. This is especially true of Bari who gets subbed out just as he is getting in rhythm. Ime's substitutions are almost predictable regardless of whether players are starting to get hot but he sits them out at about 5 or so minutes at the end of quarters. These are just my observations and may not necessarily be correct. My biggest beef though, for now, is that he is misusing Reed's and Amen's talents regarding who should be running point. Reed has shown an uncanny ability to see and pass to the open man, make an accurate lob pass, and fill the need for an outside shooter. He just needs the opportunity and he showed against the best defensive team in the league that he can contribute to alleviate the issue of mediocre shooting by the whole team. In summary, I absolutely agree with the proposed solution to the offense by most of the posters. Stone should get a proven coach who will act as the offensive coordinator whether Ime likes it or not. The offense needs some serious overhaul.
Udoka is the biggest coaching Tyrant I have ever seen. his rotations and subbing players out of rhythms makes less sense when a player is having a good offensive game most of the time but isn’t defending well enough to stay. (Jalen). I’ll be surprised if this coaching staff gets rearranged for the better. and I really do believe in Reed’s shot making ability and passing vision more than I do any other player on this roster.
Brooks at 50% is ugh, specially since he’s gone back to not passing the ball ….same with FVV his lack of finishing and height kills our offense
I've been saying this is a team that cant shoot from the beginning of this season. This is further evidence. Also, unless they find some shooters this off-season they will never win anything with this group.
With these kind of offensive disaster-class numbers it's insane that we're even in the 4th seed (won't be for long if we can't at least play better defense).
I’ve complained about this since last year - someone can be hot or a lineup can be on a run and Ime sticks to his normal rotations - he never leaves players in. Bari can start 4-4 but he’s going to sit and Tari will come on and then 6 minutes later Bari returns and al rhythm is lost and he ends the game 6/14 same with Alpi or JG or DB (when he’s hot from 3) … last year FVV was way better in feeding the hot hand but it’s starting to feel like some players who are close to (contract years) are playing more selfishly
Calvin says it a lot - it’s very hard to ask all your players to be 2 way players .. the conditioning it takes and leg strength to go all out on both sides Might explain a lot of our 4th qtr struggles where legs are shot and we start coming up short and missing at the rim Also explains our horrible record in 2nd games of back to backs
Yeah it’s quite odd and it pisses me off, mainly free throws. Against the Pacers, seeing Amen go 1 of 4 within a minute was quite pathetic. Man that image is rough...
That was really frustrating, but at least he's shown some improvement this season with the free throws. The one who really annoys me is Sengun, no excuse for getting worse at FTs three years running. It's not like he needs to be amazing, but come on, at least clear 70%.
exactly, and with that. not every player on contending teams plays both ways in that sort of expectancy. okc and cavs are loaded with scrubs on the bench but they just move the ball and execute they don’t even defend that well individually but collectively. so if the togetherness on defense isn’t the problem here, at least stop yanking out offensive capable guys out there when the offense is nonexistent, which is more than half the time.
There is definitely something to not being able to be an elite two way player. If you even played at a varsity or Juco level, you know how impossible this is on your body. Your legs give out after defending at an elite 1v1 level for so long, rotations, pressing, etc. Then you have 4th quarter slumps, which we often do. The other issue is rotations. A lot of coaches (not just Ime) predetermine their rotations to get guys enough minutes instead of going off the flow of the game, which can lead to burning out higher performing players or not giving younger players enough time. So you'll see Cam hit a three and come out, and it's because he was always going to come out at the next whistle under 8 minutes in the quarter for example. I'm sure the players know before the game what the expected rotation is, and that it could change here or there depending on game flow. Because we've had so many injuries and were depleted, I think that compounded the issue and is a lot easier to describe than it is to solve.
Yes - and it doesn't seem to be an issue or effort either. The Rockets just do not shoot the basketball well which obviously is a major problem. I believe having a true franchise player that can run the offense would open this up somewhat. The Rockets would get more easy shots, but the Rockets are missing a lot of open shots too. The second part of this is that the Rockets are likely going to sacrifice other strengths in order to get better shooting. Most likely the defense will not be as good, and perhaps the rebounding. Have to find that balance.... I will say that while a lot of defense is effort, if the shooting gets better, the Rockets will be in less close games and not every single possession defensively is going to be as intense. Udoka I am sure will not want to admit it, but if you are up 20 in the 4th, you can defend slightly less intense than it being a 2 point game and knowing your guys cannot shoot the ball on offense. I cannot even really fully blame Stone or Udoka. Jabari Smith and Jalen Green both were viewed as likely good three-point shooters in the NBA. Amen is a poor shooter from the perimeter, but he was the best player available and the proper draft pick. Brooks was a questionable fit on offense when they added him, but his 3 point shooting hasn't been the problem. Sengun learning to shoot 3's would really help the shooting issue a lot.
Remind me again how many teams JVG took to the Finals? And your nostalgia for JVG is coloring your perception of how poor those Rockets played, especially in postseason.
Yes, the Rockets do not have a lot of talented shooters and that causes serious problems. The Rockets were 22-60 the last season he was here. There was very little defense being played by either the Rockets or their opponents. Teams knew the Rockets would not defend, and that they would beat the Rockets nearly 75% of the time. They did not need to defend the Rockets well. The Rockets relative ORT is better now than when Silas was here. The Rockets coaching was terrible under Silas - I think you know that. There is a marked difference between then and now. Of course, it matters on both sides of the court - the key is the net difference. Further, the Rockets are better offensively than the Silas Rockets by measures like ORT and Relative ORT shows the Rockets have been improving for 4-5 straight years offensively. The Rockets defensive rating this year in relative DRT is way better than under Silas and is better this year than last. The Rockets are just a lot more talented defensive team than an offensive team - it isn't shocking though as they added to good defenders in Brooks and FVV and Thompson has forced himself into minutes with exceptional defense and rebounding. Udoka took over a team that won 20 games and had a terrible culture. Last year in his first season he doubled the win total to 41-41. Now in his second season they are 37-25 and are likely to win nearly 50 games in the Western Conference. That type of improvement doesn't usually get a coach fired, especially one with a strong culture. Yes - Green and Amen have improved overall, and that is in part because of the opportunities and culture of the team because of Udoka. Also - players have improved, but they still lack a real bell weather offensive player that can take them deep in the playoffs or will them to win games... Every single team ahead of the Rockets other than Memphis has a guy like that..... OKC, LA and DEN in the West all have top 5 players in the NBA.... Memphis doesn't have that type of player right now (Morant isn't playing well) but they have three very good players and are in about the same spot the Rockets are.... and they are well coached. Behind the Rockets.... GS and Minnesota have elite guys..... you have to go to Sacramento to find a team in the West where they don't have a franchise guy, and they still have a top guy arguably as good as anyone on the Rockets right now.
Nook, we've discussed this exact same thing before. I'm talking about offense, and you keep saying "but the defense and record" even though I've said the defense is good and there are plenty of coaches who can improve the net rating by focusing solely on defense. Also, we're not talking about the playoffs or winning games against contenders. We're talking about trying to win half our remaining 20-something games 1.5 years and $200m into his tenure. I know any coach can win with 2 superstars and a rim protector. I'm not having the superstar discussion. I know we won't be OKC. It's off the table, done, dusted, we don't have to debate that. It's included in the discussion. He can improve culture and defense like JBB, JVG and pre-Knicks Thibs. They can get accolades for those things when they first get somewhere because someone's got to do that half of basketball too. I got it. The offense since he joined till now has been utterly garbage and has not improved 1%. We're 28th in TS%. That is unacceptable. I'm at the point I don't know if we should put a superstar in HIS hands. Maybe it's acceptable to you, that's fine. But I never would have signed a coach who can improve the defense a lot and not improve the offense even 1% despite multiple starters improving their offensive skills. It doesn't make any sense. If you want to have a go at why it's not translating into an improved TS% we'll be talking about the same thing. But why are we going in a circle where I talk about offense and you talk about defense? We're not having the same discussion and frankly it feels like you're defensive to the point you can't even say: I did expect at least slightly better than this. If you can't even address the offense, we're literally not communicating. You seem to want to talk about the defense and the record - both of which I have acknowledged and there's no debate I have about it. I'm talking about why $200m and 1.5 years of development we're not 1% better at offense. I'm talking about how silly they must be if they think a superstar is going to force himself to a team he has to take from 28th in TS% to excellent in a medium market for a coach that thinks it's tough to trash your trade value in public after every single loss regardless of circumstances or his share of the blame.
