Eye test is telling me that ball handling still matters. And that we have the same problem as last year: no offensive vision. No system. Just the same ole iso/leave it up to the player to make it happen. Not having Tari and DFS is not helpful. not the best configured roster and not the best coaching right now.
a lot of rockets players spam the same move over and over and over. durant - mid range jumpshot amen - blindly b line straight to the basket euro step sengun - holding L2 from the 3pt line hoping to bully his way to the basket jabari - awkward wrong shoulder turnaround jumper what i'm talking about is when they need to get a shot off. there's no dynamic and fluidity to it. when panic sets in, bad habits come out.
The defensive problems continue and have been there since day one, with one exception: the defense was very good during the few-game stretch when Durant was out.
Follow-up. Rockets could have won easily if they decided to play defense. That said, NOP punished the Rockets for playing multiple non-shooters and guys without ball-handling skills.
It's really quite simple. Sengun KD Adams Jabari (and Clint) are strictly 4's and 5's. Only two of these guys should be on the floor at the same time. When Ime puts three of them out there together it doesn't work.
The 4th quarter lineup was atrocious. Three non outside shooters. Jabari was one of the two outside shooters but he's having a bad shooting night. Two non ball handlers. Durant was one of the three ball handlers but he's always been very shaky and TO-prone. Sengun was another supposed ball handler and he's a center trying to attack from the 3pt line. And that lineup went on for a long time even when they missed shots and committed turnovers again and again. Jabari tried to dribble penetrate. Amen spotted up at the 3pt line.
This may be an overexaggeration, but it seemed like too many plays were something like a KD iso or KD pNr, KD gets doubled, KD gets ball to center in the middle of the court (usually Adams), center drives towards basket, low man picks him up, one guy guards the statue of Jabari, one guy loosley guarded Okogie and/or Amen. I don't fault KD as he did his job in either making a basket or creating a power play. Reminded me of a game that the Rockets beat OKC a couple of years ago when OKC refused to take Giddey out for most of the game. Rockets were really outclassed by OKC. The Rockets just didn't guard Giddey and let Sengun (sometimes Tari if memory serves) just roam around breaking up every offensive possession. Lost a lot of respect for Mark Daigneault's coaching ability that day. He's been earning it back. I've not been as critical of Ime as most. Last night, was not a good Ime not to say it politely.
Like other sports... sometimes you just play conservatively to keep the lead. Credit to the Pels, they got a lot of momentum going in the second half and realized all their wing and forward could eventually overwhelm the Rockets. We don't have a real "offensive system" because we don't have anyone healthy on the roster who can consistently run an offense and get everyone in the correct places. When FVV went down, I said we went from a contender to a dark horse contender.... now we may need a significant trade to keep up as a dark horse contender.
Seems like we've been getting a lot of the following... Starting lineup not doing **** in 1st. Team looks great once Reed comes in. Starting lineup not doing **** in 3rd. Reed being MIA in 3rd. Reed playing bad in 4th. No one doing anything in 4th or OT.
I have to wait for highlights now, but I listen live. I'll take an ugly win over over a beautiful loss every time. I see this is about the Rockets, but it applies equally to the Texans.
Turns out Jalen was the only one who can consistently create pressure on the drive. he had about 10 gazillion hockey assists last year.
Sengun - offense slows when he dribbles it up court, it’s better he’s down low getting the ball than bringing it up to make plays up top. He’s the only reliable post up player on this team, depending on matchup should keep force feeding him (ala FVV). Needs to stop trying to get fouls called on every play as it’s having the opposite effect on officiating. KD - needs to be more careful when passing. Still one of the best scorers today and doesn’t look like he’s lost a step offensively. Smith - needs to stop shooting post up fade aways, these have been very short of making it. If ball in his hands for more than 3 seconds, should look to pass. Good if shooting it right as he gets it, not if he pauses. Has gotten better defensively against bigs. Reed - needs to own being the pg and orchestrate plays, seems a little hesitant to be the floor leader. Needs to take his time on drives, he has spacing to get shots off but shoots it as if he’s about to get blocked (wonder if playing against Amen in practice caused this tendency). Needs to stop worrying about what his teammates and others think, go ball like Kobe because that is the real Reed we seen from his high school and college tape where he demanded the ball and acted like he owned it. There’s clips of him trash talking unprovoked and dunking with authority in traffic, need a little bit of that aggression to come out as it will help his confidence.
It's clearly a talent issue, particularly an Amen Thompson issue who just hasn't shown to be the playmaker at the level we need be a contender. We clearly have an offensive system and vision.... you may not like it but it's there. Sengun isn't just randomly averaging 7 APG? No structure? No thought? Stop being stupid.
