I keep reading the oversimplified version of having player X bring the ball up and chuck it to Alpi so he can go to work .... as a team they averaged only 6 post up possessions per game last season. That's not really the staple of the offense - that's the pick and roll and where Alpi was best statistically (as the roll man). The team had roughly 80 half court possessions per game with 20 of those being pick and roll sets last season - that's a quarter of the half court offensive sets. Problem is, last seasons best option as the ball handler with .92ppp is gone - that's Jalen by the way (and we all know I've been highly critical of him), only 2 players in the entire league had more total possessions as the ball handler in the pick and roll last season. The next best option is lost for the season - FVV at .87ppp on 5.46 possessions per. Those ppp numbers are fairly average. But it drops off from there, with the guys we expect to get the majority of those minutes / opportunities this season - Amen .82 and Shepard .70. Average to not good. Then there's Holiday, he actually had the 2nd highest ppp on the team, behind Sengun 1.11 and 1.04ppp respectively - both on very low volume, Holiday 1.16 possessions per game and Alpi 0.71 possessions. Alpi can't pass to himself. KD was equal to Jalen in ppp at .92 but on much lower volume, 3.77 per game Vs Jalen's 9.3 per game . I'm not sure any of us want to increase the load on a 37 year old with his injury history. It aint as simple as chuckin the ball inside to Alpi and letting him take a beating all year, that's 1990's NBA stuff ....
Jalen Green in pick and roll action was not efficient. Though, he improved last season, Jalen missed quite a few bunnies around the basket and was below par in getting the ball to Sengun when rolling to the basket. If Amen's mid-range shot improves from last season, his action in pick-n-roll with Sengun will be more efficient than Jalen. We'll miss Fred's ballhandling more than Jalen. I argue if Reed shoots the ball at a high percentage, FVV will be an afterthought
For the record, I was one of the first posters to criticize Jalen - particularly his inefficient shooting, going back to the middle of his rookie year. I'm no JOF .... and I never said Jalen was efficient. What I said was that he was mediocre / middle of the pack in terms of efficiency in that particular offensive set. But the fact is that he was the most efficient Rocket, as the ball handler in the pick and roll, by a considerable margin and on nearly double the volume of the next guy. He produced 11% more ppp than Amen and 6% better than FVV in that set. I'm just giving you the raw numbers. Make of them what you will. I think the guy they needed to replace in FA wasn't Brooks - they have a backlog of wings as it is, they needed to replace the things Jalen did "on the ball", other than just scoring. More often than not, when FVV was off the court last season, Jalen was the primary ball handler. Now FVV is lost for the season and his backup is the likely starter and not much behind him and the other guard is questionable too.
Yes, you said it but I say it again. Not everything is bad and not everything is good.....there are things such as durability, Dillon's edge and getting off his shots, mediocre but okay ball handling ...cannot be replaced easily....
I’m predicting a j. Tate I imagine Amen will get his share of Pick and Roll possessions and will be better at it with practice. I do hope it is less of the offense than last year. They should run a lot of isolation with Amen and Durant on ball.
I think its more likely than not we add another guard during the season either by trade or buyout. But, as it is im not too worried about replacing whatever Jalen brought. I think whatever "prowess" he had as a ball handler was mostly gained through repetition. I dont think hes innately better as a pnr ball handler than Amen and probably not Reed either. I think they both have potential to far surpass him in that area once they get the amount of time doing it in practice and in games.
The best thing that could happen to Reed and the Rockets is have Durant here. My concern with Reed's shooting was that he would be surrounded by guys like Jalen who don't have the skill set to improve Reed's game and was going to run off on him in the wrong way. Having Durant, the quintessential professional and one of the greatest shooters of all time for Reed to elevate his game to is an absolute blessing. Thank you Stone for making that happen.
https://www.reddit.com/r/rockets/s/Q5feh5KLUH You can see the playmaking potential with the types of passes Reed and Amen make. Fred and Jalen did Yeoman's work, but Reed and Amen have much higher ceilings as playmakers.
I think this is a case where the eye test has to come into play a little bit. I don't know if Reed and Amen and whoever else will come out of the gates light it up as a pnr ball handler, but I don't think Jalen nor Fred set the bar very high to where there will for sure be a significant drop of this season. So here are the Rockets numbers from last year for pnr ball handlers: Here's some other guys from around the league who Jalen AND Fred average more PPP than as a PNR ball handler according to the stats: I think this points to two things...One, these guys had a smaller sample size and that may skew the results some and two I don't think that losing whatever PPP Jalen and Fred generated in their pnr ball handler opportunities are indicators of offensive success. I wouldn't take Jalen or Fred as offensive players in any set or situation over Harden, Steph or Ja. Here's some other guys that were marginally better than Jalen and/or Fred statistically as far as PPP: I just highlighted a few guys....But as far as PPP all these guys are at least within the realm of JG and FVV....I just highlighted a few names that stood out a little bit. Even though for this one play type they are close to Jalen and Fred statistically, I wouldn't consider them all that close as PNR ball handlers despite what the PPP say. And again, moreover I think a few of these guys VASTLY clear them in overall offensive impact.
