By the way we created a special stat for Alpi. The "H" category, how many H's did he get..... It is when he throws his arms up and goes..."Heeeyyyyy" It is a bit much. DD
Just keep the same energy next time Jalen/Jabari are sat down for inconsistent play. The haters/vultures always come out when Alp has a subpar game but are real quiet anytime Jalen does (which is much more frequent)
With all due respect, Philadelphia's center Brissett played 43 minutes and made 1 3-pointer (in 4 tries). Is Alpi supposed to leave the paint only to defend a 3 point line against guards who were just lighting up? Then he would definitely be blamed for leaving paint open, no?
Their center was shooting jump shots or going by Alpi like his feet were in cement.....he was far too quick for him. DD
I agree. I've said the same things time and time again. However, if you say it people think you're discounting Sengun but it's more his style of play. I think he will thrive in a system where he is surrounded by shooters....THAT'S NOT THE ROCKETS.
Exactly, and if he stays here he HAS to have a GOOD 3pt shot....so we can keep up with teams that shoot a lot of 3s. DD
And scored a whopping 7 points on Alpi. Brissett's only 3-pointer was at the buzzer in Q1against Landale. Just pointing out the facts.
Having a 3-pt shot has nothing to do with it. Alpi must abuse small lineups in the post and make himself unguardable. He has to bring the energy from the opening tip every single night! He must punish small ball by scoring inside, drawing fouls and grabbing offensive rebounds, not by returning the favor, eliminating his physical advantage by making himself small and going out to the 3-pt line.
I figured the Senhaters would be out today after last night's game with the usual idiotic takes lol. According to them Sengun can't fit any system, not Silas ball, not Ime ball, not any ball. Meantime, NBA pundits are talking about 3rd team all NBA honors and how he has played great after ASB. All it took was one miraculous basketball game from Philadelphia in which the entire team except Tari played a horrible first half to get the Senhater juices flowing again.
Yeah your problem is the "respect" part. Unless you're going to teach basketball and unteach stubborn, awful assumption sets, there's no respect to be given to clowns. This particular clown you've engaged and the Never_Alpi cult are to be mocked and ignored. The lack of awareness to talk about his +/- in a single game when, prior to last night, he was top 3 in the entire NBA in +/- after the ASB? LMAO If we had Jokic all these clowns would ever talk about is Perimeter and PNR defense. Maybe the fact he doesn't shoot enough. Or the fact Russ can't drive b/c that Oger is clogging the paint. Or the time Embiid dropped 50 on his head, etc Jalen is awesome. Amen is awesome. Alpi is awesome. Bari has flashes of being awesome. Tari is awesome. 2nd best record in the West. Elite win % vs Playoff teams. Wins against both of the East's top 2. And don't make the mistake of thinking facts matter.
When was the last time you saw an all-star player with a $185 million contract face regular punishment despite not performing that poorly? The NBA is a player-driven league where athletes wield more influence than coaches, making it incredibly unusual for a coach to act this way toward such a high-profile player. Trading Sengun would be perfectly reasonable if we acquired someone decent who complements our team, but why commit $185 million over five years to a player who doesn’t align with our vision or match our team’s athleticism? This situation is utterly baffling. We could have waited and retained him as a restricted free agent until the next offseason. With Amen and Jabari as the next big contract priorities, preserving salary cap space for them would have been a far smarter move.
I disagree...we should play to his strengths, which is in the post. To optimize his skillset, we need to improve our perimeter shooting. Currently, we're ranked 23rd in 3pt%...teams are clogging the paint, which gives him tight spaces to operate in the post...teams are daring him to kick out it for 3. Better 3 point shooting = better spacing
Exactly right. There was a play in the 2nd half when Fred found Alpi near the paint along the baseline. Apli had a good 5 feet of space from his closest defender, was bigger than anyone PHI had on the court, and still settled for a terrible push shot instead of attempting to take it an easy dribble and work his way in to a layup. Thankfully Tate/Bari's hustle secured the offensive rebound and Fred nailed a critical 3 leading in to a timeout. But that's the accountability we need for our young guys. You can't get bodied for 3 quarters and think it's ok to take that shot. It speaks to the mentality. He just has to have it on overdrive all the time and he'll be great.
The question you have to ask yourself is was it better when he went to the bench? He was still a plus 2 for the game and he barely played. So is it his fault we gave up 137 points. The defense was absolutely not any better when he sat. Sometimes teams and players get hot and it doesn't matter what defense is played.
I think it was more than defending his man, it appeared as though with Alpi on the floor, it was 4 against 5. I said it in the game thread that Alpi was getting killed defensively, the game was too fast for Alpi. Once Ime made the change, the tides begin to turn. However, when it slowed down at the end of the 4th and Alpi came back in, he became effective. Which is and has always been my point, I think Alpi will thrive in a system where he is the focal point and he is surrounded by.shooters. The Rockets have too many KEY players who are opposite of that; Amen, Jalen, Tari, and Cam. Like "@DaDakota" said, it's going to be an interesting Summer
New to Ime Udoka? Never watched the Celtics play under him? Never watched the Spurs play under Pop? Everything you suggested is exceptionally rare and doesn't happen in fact happens all the time on those teams. And you commit $185 over 5 so you don't have to commit $250 over 5 this offseason. What else?
It is more than 1v1, teams hunt him in switches, he was a big reason we were getting killed, they were playing very small and Alpi could not keep up. DD
I love how yall can blame Alpi for bad defense and not see how the defense didn't get any better when he sat. We didn't get down by 25 cuz of Alpi, he literally had a positive plus minus in the game. The defense was just as bad when anyone else was out there because players can get hot and teams get hot. What defense was anyone going to play to stop Grimes last night? He hit some of the toughest shots. Sometimes you just tip your hat to the other player.
