Honestly, I think Stone need to trade some of these guys(maybe Dillon & Fred) to open up playing time for him. I don’t really mind his mindset. If I’m a coach I would want someone on the team who’s fearless and a physical bully when pressuring the paint like Cam is. The Rockets put him in a position where he barely plays and he’s forever chasing the hope of playing more minutes. We never really got to see him just hoop. We just sat him on the end of bench and forced him to watch Dillon, Fred, Jalen go iso & make the same mistakes he’s being benched for. We also haven’t put any effort into developing Jabari. The Rockets spent most of this season developing the vets, we forgot about some of our young guys.
Those are interchangeable positions, he can play either. Like any young player, he has great moments and bad ones, he has gotten tons of steals playing the passing lanes on defense and is an excellent rebounder on both ends of the floor, while he does favor offense, there has been enough defensive moments to believe he can be a good 2 way player. Whenever his minutes are extended and he is not getting yanked for plays that Jalen makes every night he settle in and isn't so focused on his own scoring, but just so you know the S, in SG stands for shooting ! He is a real bucket. Completely irrelevent stay off of social media it rots your brain. DD
Let’s agree that Cam can’t guard 2-guards and profiles as more of a small forward given his ability to bang in the paint. Also he gets his steals by gambling in the passing lanes. He gets burned a lot doing that and is often out of position defensively. He has 2-way potential, but he’s not a good defender right now. I don’t mind Cam’s aggressive shooting posture and I like his killer mentality. I agree with you that he needs extended minutes on the court next season, but he needs to take some responsibility and make his life’s work whatever Ime has asked him to do this offseason. I hope we keep Cam and Reed because I’m excited to see what our two youngest players can become.
Of course, he needs PT, and he needs to play D......those can happen together. But he certainly can play SGs.....and is quick enough laterally....... Ime should have played both Cam and Reed all year long as backups....so they would be more ready, got to let guys play through their mistakes. He does it for FVV, for Brooks, for Jalen etc....just not the young guys for some reason. DD
Dude has hardly played an entire season, too early to say what he can do over the course of a career...... Actually too early to tell anything other than his sulking is a red flag.
Sulking doesn't bother, me. He is a serious dude - just disappointed in his playing time, it shows he cares. Lots of players have sulked, some of the great, some average, some crap - nothing to see with that. DD
I really can't blame him for sulking when he's getting no playing time and has an incredibly short leash. Not to mention that the main thing we struggle with (scoring) is his best skill. Playing time will hopefully solve a lot of those issues.
I was a big Cam supporter and thought he would take a big leap his second season. He ended his rookie season on a high note and looked pretty dominant in summer league. Unfortunately he improved on nothing and the contrast was stark when compared to Amen and Tari, who played the best basketball of their careers and had huge impact on the floor. Cam had his shot after returning from the G league, a 25 game stretch where he got the minutes that would normally go to Tari. His defense was weak, three point shooting and finishing were average, he had more turnovers than assists, and his shot selection was as poor as ever. The chemistry of the team was excellent except for him and he would sulk to the media even after wins. If his attitude is the same next season he should be shipped out. He isn't a prodigy with a bad attitude, he's a wing version of Christian Wood. Guys like that don't improve because they lack the introspection that tells them they have to play better. The media asked him what he had to do to get more minutes and he straight up said "I don't know, I don't know." You know damn well the coaching staff talked to him about his defense but in his head he's already playing great. Even an actual prodigy like Amen constantly talks about what he has to do to get better.
Amen and Tari’s biggest strength is defense which is Ime’s biggest coaching strength so I would expect them to have bigger impact on a team he coaches. Cam was not drafted because he was a defensive juggernaut but because he is a talented scorer, but the coach doesn’t coach to his strengths so he looks less impactful. This context has to be taken into account. I do agree that Cam has to mature, but he’s 20…we all needed maturity at that age. He does have to do what’s asked of him but it’s also up to the coaching staff to get the most out of him and find ways to do that. I don’t have a problem with anyone calling out Cam but my issue is that no one wants to hold the coaching staff, starting with Ime, accountable for the role he/they play in Cam’s development or lack thereof.
What year is Josh Christopher in now? Whichever year lines up with Cam's current year, that's what I think is likely to happen.
Josh Christopher never recovered from the video evidence that he was Jalen Green's bottom. Cam would never go out like that.
Apparently he has none, even though he is one of the team's most talented players with loads of potential.
Josh Christopher sucks. Spoiler Same draft class as Green. 4 years, 3 NBA seasons (spent entire 2023-24 in G League) 1st year 2nd year Career “Pretty clear what’s going to get you on the court…very clear what’s needed” = defense, defense, defense, more defense, did I mention defense? https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...whitmore-minutes-future-rotation-20315763.php “It's a good problem to have,” Udoka said. “We added the veterans that we added two years ago, and then, because we have stockpiled so many great players, it's tougher to just get those minutes without earning them or being in a certain situation. And so where Jalen and Alpi and some guys three, four years ago had a chance to play through everything, I think we're at a different stage as far as that. And so the development will come, and we have full belief in our young guys and the guys that didn't get the opportunity to play this much this year.” On Tuesday, when a reporter prefaced a question about Whitmore by saying that Whitmore expressed uncertainty about his role, Udoka looked surprised. “I was a little caught off guard by that as well, because we've had in-depth conversations with Cam probably more than anybody,” Udoka said. “I'm pretty clear with what is going to get you on the court and what's going to help you sustain a role. So I'll leave it at that as far as that, but plenty of conversations. Very clear with what's needed. And you know, opportunities are there and not always taken advantage of, or other guys step up and play a little better at times, and you look for that consistency there. … But ton of potential there, just the consistency is the main thing. And he knows that.”
what i hated more than anything is he had some momentum and hype coming into this year and at least into the deadline. him absolutely rotted to the bench obviously affected more than just his trade value. it's either you value Cam his development or you don't. if it was the latter why did we not deal him at the deadline? i guess time will tell this upcoming season...
I don't give Cam a pass on that because Sengun's strengths were also focused on the offense end of the floor, but under Udoka his defense has improved dramatically and he is now a team leader and all-star. Sengun went from a player who was only effective with the ball to someone who can affect the game in multiple ways. Sengun had a lot of accolades as a professional in Turkey so if anyone was going to have an ego and a tough time transitioning to the NBA it was going to be him. Instead, he put his head down and worked hard. We have many young prospects on the team besides Cam and they've all seen improvement. Sengun and Jalen are good defenders now, Amen is a better ballhandler and scorer, Tari's defense is elite and his efficiency has improved, Jabari played great after returning from injury. When five prospects are playing good basketball and one is sulking and not even talking about improvement I know where the blame lies.
You left out the part where he was terrible in summer league, terrible in pre-season and was still given a rotation spot to start the season, where he was a flaming train wreck. I don't know what Cam did during his free time last summer but he was totally unprepared when it was time to play basketball again. Cam put himself into the position he is now and you can't blame the Rockets for that. He's gotta do what all professional athletes must do: Man up, dedicate himself to improving his craft, practice hard on both end of the floor and play hard. There cannot be one special set of standards for Cam that are lower than everyone else's. Cam knows exactly why he isn't playing and is lying if he says he doesn't. It's simple: (1) Improve your skills, (2) practice hard, (3) play hard and (4) hit the 3-ball. Rockets aren't asking him to be a lockdown defender but he must make an effort to play offense and defense within the team scheme. Tunnel-vision and clownish stupidity on offense and lazy gambling on defense aren't gonna work anywhere in the NBA.
We learned our lesson from playing Kevin Porter Jr too much. We may be saving Cam Whitmore from himself.
Very well put. Hopefully he’ll get his head screwed on straight. There is no reason to give him away for peanuts. Guys that ride the end of the bench, don’t have the power to be a cancer in the lockeroom.
I agree that the young guys you mentioned have improved, but they have also been given legitimate chances to show that. We don’t know what Cam can and can’t do based on the small sample size of game time he has been given. How can you properly evaluate improvement with little to no playing time? It boils down to Ime just not believing he is ready yet and we as fans of the team just have to blindly trust he is doing the right thing because we don’t know everything going on behind the scene. He could be protecting him but he could also be hindering his growth. I’m just not going to pile on Cam because it’s the convenient thing to do. His chance hasn’t fully come yet but I hope it will soon.
