The phrase, "KD is alright" should be nominated for understatement of the year. Durant is one of the most explosive players in basketball history. A little more respect, please. Upgrading the Rockets' offense by adding a generational talent should "help." I agree with others that it is up to Ime to fine tune this group. But I think the roles will be clearer, and we should have fewer aimless possessions, which accounted for 10-15% of the time we had the ball last year. When in doubt, find Durant, then Sengun, then everyone else. DFS will bring a clear set of skills to the court on offense, and adding one guy with a definite sense of purpose will simplify things for younger players like Sheppard, Sengun, Smith, Eason, and Amen. If DFS is here, I should be over there.
Ultimately, yes, a generational scorer lets everyone else play off of that. Sengun isn't a first option but is great as a second. Etc. I am worried about there being enough spacing to let Durant operate in the ways he prefers. Too many non-shooters to gum up the midrange. But a 7' shooter who can just rise up over whoever and shoot 50/40/90 will figure it out.
Efficiency is usually measured by ts% and Brooks was below average at 55.5%. The bigger problem was that Green, Sengun and FVV were all even less efficient. Durant in incredibly efficient and he can almost always get his shot. We just need all the returning starters not named "Amen", to be more efficient.
You can't WAVE Whitmore - well you can, but his money doesn't come back to be used as he has a guaranteed contract. DD
With the 14th worst FG% in the entire league among qualified players (42.9%) and the 143rd best TS% in the NBA (55.5%). The offensive rating metric, by itself, is heavily influenced by teammates on the court with a player. It's clear by looking at all of his truly individual numbers that he was nowhere near an average efficiency scorer. I'm not saying the metric is useless, but when it says the exact opposite of basically every other metric that attempts to measure offensive efficiency, it should be viewed as an outlier
A lot of folks going to be surprised by the offense this season. The team will actually be playing on that side of the ball without a ball and chain wrapped around their ankle at the SG position. They won't need to consistently go out of their sets and what's been working for them that game, to appease a subpar SG.
I'm fully convinced it's just rage bait at this point. Every thread I've seen is just the most asinine take imaginable.
Everyone! Please read the post above and understand the concept of addition by subtraction as it applies to Jalen. Also, if you don't believe there will be group improvement between Amen, Alpi, Jabari and Reed, you are unrealistic.
I think we are gonna have problems generating offense when KD is out. Sengun is the key. A lot will depend on him developing a mid-range game. If he can do that he can be the offensive hub when KD is out. For Amen, I want him to pressure the rim constantly.
I did some quick math right after the KD trade and just subsituted KD's efficiency onto Jalen. Jalen and KD shot roughly the same number of shots per game last year so it was an easy comparison. Basically the Rockets get up to about 7th place on offense last year with KD instead of Jalen's efficiency. Now this year you expect KD to regress a bit but also presumably bake in some improvements or regression upward from the rest of the roster. This should be in the 5-10 range in terms of offense.
I'm not sure the offense is good enough and I'm worried about Durant being healthy, but assuming health and effectiveness, Durant is an ENORMOUS upgrade over Jalen offensively. Jalen might have put up points but he was very inefficient. Those possessions being used by Durant and anyone else is going to lead to more offense.
I think it is just master(maybe not that great) level trolling to mock Jalen Stans. Don't feed the Troll!
Brooks TS was 4% below league average. To say he was above average offensive efficiency is a straight up lie. The rockets offense also was better when he was off the court.
Just with KD on the court it is going to open up all type of driving lanes which will lead to more open shots. I want to see Amen be more aggressive breaking down the defense and generating shots for others and himself at the rim. Overall, we should be able to generate offense because our defense will still be elite.
Durant averaged 5.5 more ppg while taking basically one FG less and one FT more than Jalen Green. The difference in points / game from Durant to Green is the same as the difference from Green to Christian Braun or Myles Turner. Even with some regression, that change alone will be a massive boost to the offense. Hopefully Amen continues to get better, and Sengun remembers how to finish.
