I am not really blaming Stone - nor am I praising him for his lottery choices because they were, other than Green - all no brainers, and even with Green, I think a lot of general managers would have taken Green.
Finding Sengun and Tari are the two picks that I would really praise him for--of course, that was right around where they were slotted in pre-draft analyses, so not like magical finds or anything, but getting a rotation player, let alone an all-star, with a mid-first-round pick is not anything close to guaranteed. The top 4 picks have all been exactly what I would expect any "normal" GM to do though. It's hard to praise him too much for just doing what the consensus of online mock drafts say. Any of us could have made the same selections, and the majority of us would have.
Take It's not sad, it was predictable but now a reality. You can't play a man down in any sport and have success. We probably win at least 1 more game if Reed or Holiday took those minutes. Stone needed to see it, most fans already knew it. No player profile that includes, streaky shooting, right hand only / left limited loose handles, poor shot selection, limited size and strength, and small hand size has ever lead an NBA team. At best a 6th MOY candidate and worst a microwave level role player. Why Stone needed to see it as opposed to predict it is why rebuilding phase continues into next year.
Jalen may have played limited minutes, but he was incredibly impactful in those few minutes. He was able to rack up 5 crucial TOs leading to numerous baskets, miss a few technical FTs, and score 8 points while being the number one option on the team. The few Jalen supporters need to wake up. The expectations keep getting lower and lower, and the excuses are drying up. Dude is ass and seems to wilt under any pressure. Cannot remember the last time I "I have started to hate" any Rocket's player.
I have to agree. But one important thing to acknowledge is that going all in on KPJ did affect our ability to get Mobley in the building and created concerns about his willingness to happily play for Houston. Mobley was the safer pick. And Stone’s belief in Wood may have also been a factor. So while I agree that you can’t fault Stone for drafting Jalen over Mobley, I do think some of the other issues factored in. It was his most important pick and he got that wrong. Hopefully Jalen improves his consistency going forward, but going into year 5 I’d say it’s probably part of who he is.
The Cavs didn't get Mobley in the building either.... and yet they didn't blow the pick. That excuse simply doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
We can’t win without him because this isn’t 90s NBA …your best paint option can’t miss 16 shots, your team can’t miss 10+ FTs collectively, your bench can’t only have 5 FGAs (Tari and Bari) the majority of your FGA can’t come from Amen and Alpi while GS is taking 40+ 3s to your 20ish He’s the only player we have that teams fear - can’t let him going from 3… can’t let him make it to the rim cause he finishes well…and toward end of year his playmaking got good enough when he collapsed the defense Would I love if Ime was willing to sacrifice little defense for offense and play Cam Holiday and J Green … yes but we literally allow the Warriors to hang around by trading 2s for 3s and then we get cold and they hit a couple more 3s and now we losing that offensive mentally isn’t working in the playoffs but Ime is a young coach - he needs a veteran offensive assistant badly … just like Clippers got VanGundy as a veteran defensive assistant
For sure good players definitely helps. Good roster is one thing. Still using them most effectively is another. It was Kerr that elevated Draymond from bench to starter. Boosted Klay into an All Star. Put expensive "proven stars" David Lee & Iguodala on the bench. Kerr went bold using small ball starting lineup in Finals after being down 2-1 to win it. Steven Adams today is very much the Andrew Bogut approach of Kerr's teams. I dont think Mark Jackson makes those decisions I feel current Warriors bench is worse talent than Rockets, but they seem to complement their lineup better than Rockets bench. As in, Jabari is better than what Warriors have, but Jabari seems to be getting his more individually, less about coaching help. A bland Moses Moody plays within Warriors scheme better. (That said, credit to both Udoka & Kerr for not giving into "dynamic upside" Cam Whitmore & Jonathan Kuminga who dont contribute properly )
But his limited minutes sucked bad. I never get too emotional, but last night he had me screaming at the TV. It's ok to have a off night shooting (which is becoming his norm), but to suck everywhere else also. My goodness
It's because we don't have anyone on the roster who replicates his skillset. When he's playing well, he can break down/bend defenses, be a secondary ball handler, decent passer, make tough shots and play good team defense. Plus he's a decent catch and shoot player so defenses respect him and he draws a lot of attention. Unfortunately, he clearly is not ready for the moment (maybe he'll never be) and now utterly lacks confidence and aggression. So when we bench him, offense is still a struggle since we don't have a perimeter guy who can do what he does.
Except play very well when jumped out to a big lead, then sure. I loved every minute of this win and we look amazing when we shoot 70% from the field
The most notable thing was the ball movement was flowing in the first half, very little did Jalen bring it up slowly like he always does when given the ball early (when he wasn't sitting on the bench injured). No surprise the result. Others got incredibly comfortable.
It's sad we can't win without Jalen. LOL No, what's sad is this series would've already been over, if we didn't repeatedly attach a Jalen Green shaped chain to our ankles and jump in the ocean. Just think about how utterly insane it is, knowing this team would already be in the second round, if they had a competent shooting guard. Read that again - not a great shooting guard - a competent one.
