We looked lost. It's 4th quarter against the Suns earlier this season and someone (probably Chris Paul because he's on ball at the time) shouts, "Go 3". Chris Paul, who has showed us how to break a team down over and over(while he was a Rocket)... breaks us down. CP3 runs a pick and roll and the roller has number 3 (Kevin Porter Jr.) isolated on him and he easily dunks while being guarded by Scoot. It was embarrassing. The game was over after that because it was late in the game. Crunch time. They made KPj look like a league infant even though he's been in the league a bit. I personally think that Scoot knew that it happened to him in the moment, was embarrassed, adjusted many things defensively as a result since then, and our team equipped the methodology adding it to our own arsenal as well. All of that was a result of being dominated in a moment by communication. It has long felt like we're young but that we're learning. I know a lot of us see that learning, but we're wondering when that kind of organized vet abuse will end. When will we figure it out? When will we know if these lessons we're being killed on will result in adjustments that make watching games far more enjoyable. Are these lessons paying off even a little? That's a legit source of a lot of frustration around here on ClutchFans. At the close of the half against OKC you can hear Jalen Green say, "Where are we going KP?" Kevin Porter comes forward from a 5 out set with Jalen up top, sets a false pick, isolates on a notoriously bad defender (Trey Mann) and KPj scores easily. That's how we ended the half. That's veteran minded play. Communication is improving. Figuring out how to get an easy bucket from time to time is improving. I'm also hearing it during rebounds on the defensive end. Say what you will about team sports anywhere, but something that seems to ring true about all good teams in all of sports is good communication. We're doing it. Listening to Jabari call out rebounds, to Jalen picking the weak link, cheering on every play whether you're on the bench or on the floor... this ain't CP3 barking at Harden anymore. This is a team. A team that's figuring out how important your teammates really become when you're trying to win big. Verbal communication is going to be paramount to our future. Light fans won't do it, but plenty of y'all out there will start hearing it too. Plenty of you heard it before I typed a word. There's positive behavior happening if you pay attention. I know the top fans see it. Bottom dwellers? Yeah no. Here's to calling out "Go 3" on Chris Paul and making him look ridiculous.
Man...seems so long ago but it's still only 4 seasons ago when we had CP3, PJ, and Ariza barking like crazy on defense every game. The defensive communication on that team was unreal (although I think I prefer the 08-09 team with Battier, Artest, Yao, Chuck, and even Deke yelling in his old man voice). You are right though, the communication and the vibes on the team is a lot better than last season (good riddance CWood). Definitely seeing Jalen and Alpi talking a lot more and taking ownership on both offense and defense and can tell Jabari has been really vocal on both ends as well even with his rookie mistakes and being out of position at times. The team seemed pretty tight even through all the losing, but Dejounte upped the Rockets vibes a notch lol. Hopefully this keeps up throughout the rest of the season.
good points. I always thought Tate is our best barker (EGO is not), but the kids seem to be starting to figure things out on their own. Maybe good time to trade Tate to GSW. Crowder and Tate for Kuminga seems fair. (EgGO going to PHO). It’d be good for Tate to pickup some nuance from Draymond, be on a competitive team, and eventually become Draymond’s replacement
It's good to see some growth. I just wish one of our main guys was a natural vocal leader. It's probably one of the bigger downsides of losing out on Banchero. I don't know if the top guys next year are vocal leaders, if not, we'll have to trade for it eventually.
By all accounts, Jabari is and always has been much more vocal than Banchero and has always played with a lot more competitive edge throughout their young careers. We didn't lose out on anything.
I don't know if any of that is true, but it was refreshing to read. It makes me want to read it again.
You guys may be more familiar with how these guys are in practice or how they were in high school/college. I was just going by watching then on court, on the sidelines, and in interviews. All of our main guys seem rather mild mannered lead by example type guys. In games Tate always seemed to be the most vocal guy and visible leader. I didn't mean it as some big dis to Jabari. I like Jabari.
Smith didn’t have the best summer league but showed he has leadership skills and was vocal. Never quit.
