Out of the guys who have played regularly this season Sengun, Jabari and Okogie opponents have shot the highest percentage against them. Reed has one of the lowest fg% against him. Only other player who has been better is Adams. It looks really bad and sometimes causes a defensive breakdown but players have not just been going at him 1v1 and having tons of success when they shoot with him as the primary defender. Davison is stronger and longer than Reed. He does a much better job staying square in front of his guy. Holiday too. Okogie as well. Yet opponents are having more success scoring against them when they are the primary defender. The thunder scored 111 tonight and by the way some people act youd think they scored 50 of those points against Reed. Stats for tonight arent out yet but Im guessing he gave up 6-8 points if that. Now his shooting lately has been abysmal. So has the rest of the team. I think theres more to that, but hes absolutely got to shoot better since with how this team plays thats about the only value hes going to he able to provide.
If Reed isn’t shooting well he brings nothing to the table. That is why his role right now should be a Kyle Korver off the bench zone breaker. Of course, that would mean Ime would have to teach the team how to break a zone. If Reed is hot, ride him, if not get him out. Ime does the opposite.
So did JD, although he played like sh*t as well. Reed’s confidence is completely shot. I don’t know whether to blame Ime or DD.
Also look at how wide open these guys are. Reed is shooting bad, but man oh man does our defense suck at times. Ime trying to double SGA all game with a great 3 pt shooting team like OKC. Really stupid on his part. Let SGA work for his points with just Amen or Okogie on him, for chrissake. Forget the double bigs and the double midget lineups.
Indeed. Tonight was the latest example of that. Yes, Reed got blown by the offense a couple of times. But Amen had more blow bys, more turnovers, and missed shots. So did Bari, Alpi, Okogie, Davison, and Adams. Bari had more misses and turnovers, and blown assignments. And yet all of them were given longer leashes than Reed. KD had many defensive misses, missed shots, and turnovers, too. Ime is playing favorites, and it is not beneficial for the team going forward. Once again, the Rockets played toe to toe with the Thunder, but collapsed in the fourth quarter. Ime cannot blame that on Reed, but I blame it more on the coaching and his ineptness on the offensive side. All the losses and collapses in the 4th are a major part due to the rotations, instead of just the players.
OKC made shots tonight, but they are nowhere close to being a great 3 point shooting team…they’re 15th in the NBA this team can’t even guard Deni Avdija without doubling…Okogie ain’t doing sh*t against SGA 1 on 1, and Amen’s defense has regressed we play too many guys that can’t shoot, and the ones who should be able to like Reed can’t guard a soul and would get beat off the dribble by Nancy Pelosi
OKC amassed some fouls on their big guys in the 3rd and bricked, that made it look like the Rockets are making a real run. Missing Hartenstein already weakened their rebounding, and having Adams playing, was a huge thing for the Rockets. You could see that Shai sat down for 5-6 minutes, and him not rushing back despite Chet in foul trouble and Dub not able to score tells you they were not that worried. Their bench was not losing by much and kept it afloat.
Amen, Okogie, and Davison, too, had opponents blow by them several times. We are not even talking about KD's defense. The help defense is the main problem, and that is often due to the lack of a leader on defense. There is no player in the NBA today who can stop other players one on one. Defensive players need to communicate constantly and be ready to help. But that would need someone like what Battier did to organize the defense.
In the modern NBA you can't play good perimeter defense without fouling it is an OFFENSIVE league and we are stubbornly trying to play 90s basketball, this is embarrassingly stupid. DD
Actually there were a few instances where Amen and Okogie did a fine job 1 on 1 against SGA. Amen did allow a few blowbys this game, but did you watch the fight he was putting up on the offensive glass all night (and every night) and playing 40 mins most games. He has got to be getting worn out. Before this game, I thought we might be able to right the ship enough to finish in the top 4, but I just don’t see a solution. The Durant trade really screwed up this team’s mojo and the fit is way worse than I imagined. I don’t see a way out.
Okogie should be a spot player - he just isn't good enough offensively, defense doesn't matter if you can't score. DD
You may be right there, but his replacement hasn’t been scoring either. I think Reed should get a shot to start and see if it will help him get his confidence back, but if Sengun and Durant freeze him out like they did this game, it has no chance of working. Also, he hasn’t earned it which used to be your mantra with other players.
