You can’t compare Edwards and JG outside of age 1. Edwards went to college, which helped his shot development and his ability to read defenses and get to his spots - not the Joke Pro AUU league where everything was fast breaks or spread offenses 2. Is in his 5th year 3. He has a offensive minded coach vs defensive 4. Better teammates (McDaniels, Randale, Reid) We wish DB was as good as McDaniels and Amen isn’t offensively talented as Randale, heck it’s close between Reid and Alpi 5.Wolves realized they had to get Russell, and Towns out of there and a PG like Conley in there to unlock Edward’s (you would think a stretch big like Towns would work but it was an Alpha war offensively) 6. His temperament is a lot more aggressive than JG on and off the court… 7. He’s simply a better pull up 3pt shooter and doesn’t hesitate to take midrange shots
The fact this comparison breaks your brain exactly illustrates the point. lol. I'm saying this team is missing an alpha dog ...and that ain't FVV's fault. I loved your #6 and #7 points. lol. That alone illustrates my point. Jalen, as it stands today, he ain't it. That isn't FVV's fault. Yes, FVV is less than perfect but that's like complaining your mashed potatoes sucked when they overcooked your steak. Sure, but you don't go to a steakhouse to buy mashed potatoes.
I was stating Edward’s development into Alpha vs JG - JG has never been the clear Alpha .. with KPJ it was Twin… with Alpi now it’s “it’s not you it’s not me, it’s US” … We have never put him in the position to be lead dog… Minn had to get Towns out or there for it to really click if we rolling with Alpi and JG and Alpi is Alpha then we need to model JG game after Jamal Murray more… if JG is going to be the Alpha…then we need to change our offense to increase his drives per game
blah blah blah. Jalen's got the DNA or he doesn't. If he got it, you don't need to "model" anything. Jalen strikes me as a really nice guy with crazy talent. Unfortunately, there aren't many nice guys that are A1 stars, hence the comparison to ANT. If you swapped in ANT onto the Rockets as a rookie 5 years ago, this whole situation is different. You know who has A1 mentality on this team? Cam.
Cam doesn’t have a A1 mentality on this team, just simply selfish …he’s Cam Thomas lite.. I agree that JG just comes across as too nice / relaxed….it can’t be a switch you turn on and off
Yea, I don't disagree about Cam. Just pointing out the difference in mindset between Jalen, ANT, and Cam. If you could combine Cam with Jalen, then you have ANT. lol. Certain guys just have the "I don't give a crap, I'm gonna go out there and murder some people" mindset. If you can combine that with raw talent and BBIQ, then you got something. Jury is still out if Jalen is that guy and the evidence is mounting that he ain't. Point being, FVV was never going to be that guy. That is the bigger problem to solve. The FVV "problems" are in the noise.
Wishing Fertitta would pull a Crane and be like yeah that's too much money. Do you know how much Bubba Gump shrimp I have to sell to afford that? Best I can do is $13 million per year. Still want him in back up role.
Apparently JG is a top tier trash talker (if you can understand what he's saying lol). I don't get it. I think the real core of the problem with JG's game is that he just doesn't have any go-to shots aside from an off-balance stepback three, which is always going to be a low-percentage look unless you're a Steph Curry level shooting talent (and JG is more like a Trevor Ariza level shooting talent). More specifically, he doesn't have the variety of change-of-pace moves and layup angles to get to the rim with regularity and finish, nor any real short midrange game like CP3's stop-and-pops or floaters. (Longer midrange shots are no bueno if you're not a great jump shooter in the first place). His ballhandling is decent enough, but again, he doesn't have the patience and creativity to utilize it to consistently get to the rim with an angle to finish. He obviously doesn't have elite court vision to set up others. For whatever reason, he just never learned those skills, and if he hasn't done so by year 4, he likely never will. You can get better at those things, but dramatic improvements usually happen fairly early. That's why I maintain that the only real hope for him to become a consistently productive offensive player is to become a very good jump shooter. And to his credit, he's taken a small step forward in that area finally. We do see guys improve as shooters in their mid, even late 20s sometimes. And... sometimes they don't.
What sucks is he worked with Team USA and KD and others and you see him practice moves (specially in midrange / post) and we never use them - which makes me wonder if it’s once again /still the Rockets philosophy and only certain players been given the green light.::: He picked up bad habits on Ignite, look at Kuminga also…league should have never let that happen. I wish both players did what Lamelo did and went overseas if they didn’t want to goto college. Both him and Alpi talk about how bad development was during Silas years - specially on D … I’m viewing this as his senior year of college because he’s about 2 years behind where he should be if he actually went
Guys a couple good playoff performances, doesn’t change that Fred played poorly this year and half our playoff games and is washed as a player generally. He’s a backup. Watch the guy play over the course of a season and it’s plain to see. We need to move on from Fred.
All of a sudden, Fred in playoffs is averaging exactly his career shooting percentages. Talk about an ascension to the mean
If you watch it, it is mostly JG working his arms, waiving irrationally. Nobody knows what he has been saying.
Sure it does. Fred has played really well this series overall despite his terrible game 1. You just don't won't get over your regular season conclusions about him. His true shooting percentage is at 58.4% for the series which has been one of the best on the team and his defense is solid as always. He's limiting turnovers. He is our leader on both ends of the court. The playoffs matter more so Fred's solid playoff performance means a lot. Fred will be back next season at a more reasonable salary. He remains one of the most valuable players on the team which is why Ime literally plays him more minutes than anyone else on the team.
I think the regular season matters. FVV had a couple of bad stretches early, and came back rough from injury late. For most of the season, he was like he was last season. Once Amen and Green started to take up more on ball reps allowing FVV not to work as hard for baskets, he was 37% from 3 (29 sample since Amen became starter with an additional 5 games in playoffs at 38%). I want the Rockets to add an offensive engine or for someone on the Rockets to take that role through improvement. The big thing I noticed is that FVV is completely worthless inside the arc when the paint is packed so he's lost a good chunk of value there. FVV's ability to knock down catch and shoot threes, helps an offense get into sets without live ball turnovers, and play defense are still there despite the people that claim to base their opinions on watching the games say he washed. Those are valuable skills, even if the missed pull-up threes early in the season make his raw shooting stats look horrible.
Fred is washed in my opinion. That opinion comes from watching almost every game this season. He shot under 40% from the field over a 82-game season (which is terrible) and he missed substantial time. That’s hard to get over when u are paying max money. Anyone can string together some good games in a 7-game series. The body of work this season is not good. I think we deserve better. But obviously I hope he plays well in the playoffs.
Thanks for being a voice of reason. The regular season and the playoffs both matter. Fred is unfit to be a primary offensive creator. As you illustrate, he is much better playing off the ball and shooting open 3s. Fred driving to the basket in the halfcourt is not a good thing. One fact no one seems to mention regarding his poor shooting percentages- Fred leads the team in FGA with less than 4 seconds on the shot clock. Those are necessarily low-percentage shots because it's better to shoot a bad shot in that situation then let the clock expire. Even though Jalen takes more shots overall, Fred shoots more last moment shots. Fred also took 8 heaves this season, making none. Jalen shot zero. This also hurts Fred's 3pt percentage. Regardless, I think the playoffs show how important Fred is to this team. It amazes me how many posters defend Jalen Green and how few will defend FVV. I think the playoffs have clarified who the better player is currently and which spot in the rotation will need to be upgraded. Fred playing off-ball fits well with Amen and Sengun who I hope become more effective offensive creators with experience.
I think you can assume that most posters on this board have watched every game this season as well. There are a lot of informed opinions on this board. I disagree with your conclusions about Fred. I would prefer his shooting percentages be better but the advanced statistics show a pretty good player. Fred tied with Jalen Suggs among all point guards in DPM. He protects the ball. He is our highest IQ player both on offense and defense. We were 11-11 without Fred this season. We were 41-19 with Fred. Fred also led the Rockets in minutes per game. Ime Udoka does not seem to think Fred is washed. You are entitled to your opinions but I suggest you at least keep an open mind about the playoffs. Fred has played well during the playoffs except for game 1. Even his shooting has been pretty good overall. I hope the weather is nice in Aruba. Hopefully, Fred's performance in game 6 wins you over.
