The issue was definitely FVV feeling himself too often especially when he's in a shooting slump and Udoka never holding him accountable.
That's true. Fred has made a lot of poor shot selections as a leader for our young guys. Especially those early shot clock attempts, he was seriously nerve wracking to watch. Even though we still need his calming presence overall, his absence might actually be a blessing in disguise. It's definitely time for our young core to step up and take on bigger responsibilities, and we'll see how they handle the pressure. This season will be very important for getting a real sense of who has the right mentality moving forward.
He will be missed on the defensive side of the ball. He was a negative on the offensive side of the ball. Our offense is going to be much better this year. It will turn over the ball more which will hurt our defensive statistics. If Reed can provide defense anywhere close to FVV we will be an absolute juggernaut.
I think there's a chance Reed is better defensively than FVV. If you look at his metrics from his rookie season, they were essentially the same defensively... and he looks a lot better so far in his first 2 preseason games than he looked last season. His primary issue last season was a shooting slump when he was getting yanked in and out of the rotation and pulled after 2 or 3 minutes by Ime. Thus far in preseason, he's got a 61+ TS%. I think there's a good chance we don't miss FVV at all... especially given the fact that he was the last player that was NEVER held accountable by Ime. Now you have a team full of guys that actually have to earn everything. That was the main reason I wanted Brooks, Jalen, and FVV gone at the end of last season. Ime loses objectivity when it comes to them.
I feel the same. My only concern is whether we can compensate for FVV's defensive impact. If Reed can step up in that area, it would be huge for us. But if he doesn't, then Amen would have to play PG, and I don't think that's optimal because his defensive impact might not be the same as before, he'd be dealing with a lot more responsibilities on offense, and I'm worried his conditioning might not hold up this season.
The ball moves better and into open spots. I don’t know if that is the absence of FVV or higher bbIQ players on the TEAM. A much more fair assessment would be the Rockets’ offensive performance is much higher than in years past. The absence of Green and Brooks, plus the maturity of the whole team’s youth plays a very large part of the team structure and their performance. Not JUST FVV’s absence. Yes, it is different and better. Why is subjective.
Just like we knew it would be. That’s why half this board didn’t want to resign him. Ime was prepared to hinder this team for another year for his boy. I’m pretty happy the injury happened. Didn’t want Fred for anything more then a bench role Only Shame is we didn’t send him for KD like we should’ve. I’m not mad about trading Green but trading Green & Cam in favor of Fred was idiotic. Boy couldn’t even make it to the first game
Now Holiday is feeling himself and not being held accountable. I always liked Aaron but he's becoming unplayable for me. This stems from Ime not having an offense
Bless you my friend….we have the exact same thoughts. Used to love Holiday, but he is simply not a point guard. He NEVER hits the open guy with passes like a point guard should and seems to be not inclusive to other guards on the floor when passing (i.e. job insecurity). He is not a good team player as it seems he’s always playing for team Holiday. He is best suited as a third guard and not a direct backup. Only reason I would keep him on the roster is he’s a good three point shooter when reigned in. He was another player who played extremely poorly in the playoffs and that’s concerning too.
If Ime would just hand over the reins to Amen and Sengun (which he should have done last year), he doesn’t need an offense. Amen, Reed, and Durant working the perimeter is so much better than FVV, Jalen, and Brooks. Our offense is going to absolutely kill it. We will miss FVV on defense. He would’ve allowed Amen to guard whoever is the best offensive player and provide the best help defense than anybody in years. It is much more important that Reed hold up against PG’s than anything he will need to do on offense. To me he is a potential carbon copy of FVV with less stickiness.
Unless you're talking Jalen Brunson or Ja, DFS will allow Amen to take breaks against guarding the opponent's best perimeter player. Okogie will also be an option at times. I also believe Fred's defense is vastly overrated.
The difference is that Holiday isn't guaranteed to play 38 minutes no matter what. He is 3rd string depth that can shoot 40% from 3, hustle, and play good defense. He is competing with Davison for rotation minutes at the moment and if you ask me, Holiday is losing those minutes at the moment. He has looked like hot dog **** during the 2 preseason games though. Looks like he didn't practice at all in 5 months and is just now touching a basketball lol. Usually if he's chucking up shots, they aren't all bricks
While Fred's supreme confidence was good for us in Games 4-7 in the playoffs when the lights were shining bright, it's a double-edged sword. It's like he's so confident, he is also delusional and has no self-awareness when he is on an 2-14 shooting night. He just keeps chucking. Reed, on the other hand, could use some of that confidence to let it fly at times. Reed will almost never take a bad shot, meaning he will only shoot when it's in the flow of the offense. Passing up good shots for even better shots. Perfect example was that little pump fake on the aggressive close out when Reed had a "semi-open" shot and then dishes to Tari on the wing to bury a "wide open" shot. No doubt in my mind Fred let's that one fly. Reed's self-awareness will benefit the team more in the long run. He just needs the confidence, which will come with more minutes.
This thread shouldn’t even be about Fred. The offense is better because Jalen Green is gone. Jalen was the highest usage player on the team but was the least efficient. He took so many shots away from players that are better shooters than him. Now the ball is moving and those shots are being taken from better players, and now those players look so much better without Jalen which is what the advanced analytics already showed.
Amen in the open court / transition is almost unstoppable .... Amen in the half court has some turnover issues. I think we'll see a lot of pick and roll & DHO actions featuring Sengun and including one of KD/Shepard/Davison in the half court while Amen is cutting / crashing in those sets - this is probably the meat and potatoes of the Rockets half court offense.
I think Fred’s defense was overrated as well, but relative to Reed’s it is much better. Reed needs to get better on that side of the ball to be an effective starter for us. I think by mid-year he could be ok on that end. I really don’t see an alternative to Reed starting on this team. I hope he is a fast learner.
