Title Teams can only afford to have 1 Non-Shooter in their Rotation

I still think u can get away with 2 non-shooters IF they do multiple elite non-shooting things (must defend), AND IF the other 3 are elite shooters. So I’m talking about way better than Bari-level.

The rockets are very far away from this. One of our two non-shooters can’t defend. And we only have 2 elite shooters. One of them is super old and the other may only be a role player if he can’t learn to dribble at a high level.

 

Alex Caruso shot 29% from 3, Hartenstein didn’t make 1. The shooter counter police didn’t show up.

Draymond and Looney weren’t lighting it up from downtown.

We’re going to spend 4 years counting shooters and refuse to spend 5 seconds counting how many fast coordinated athletes are on the court for the good teams.

Robert Horry hasn’t won a championship in 20 years.

 

even the Bucks had to put a shooting big next to Giannis in Brook Lopez, and Giannis was far more dominant as a scorer than the likes of Amen/Sengun

Rockets play multiple weak shooters and total non-shooters

no team is even worried about Amen/Sengun/Tari/Okogie/Tate/Adams shooting from the outside…I don’t think they care that much about Jabari either, he’s average at best

that’s 70% of a 10 man rotation

 

Castle wouldn't be allowed to shoot under Ime.

Neither would Fox.

Harper would be getting tacos by Brownsville.

 

“Everyone is a threat to shoot besides their center.”

CF: THE ROCKETS CENTER NEEDS TO LEARN TO SHOOT, NOT BEN SIMMONS! BUILD AROUND BEN SIMMONS!

Funny people. They don’t want this guy or that guy because he shoots 30%-35% from three and “he sucks” but they’re also like Ameiz is untouchable and we need to build around him. If 30-35% is “awful”, what is Ameiz’s 21%?

Sorry, y’all’s boy Ameiz needs to learn how to shoot. Bottom line. Point blank. Period. Or sell high and trade him before you have to pay him $40M.

But but but his defense! Shove the D where the sun don’t shine.

And no, we can’t just “move him to the dunker spot where he excels”. He needs to learn how to shoot. Not be Mr. Mini Run-&-Dunk.

Guess I gotta cross Castle off. Coulibaly too. (32% on 3.6A)
From February

 

Not just shooting, we don't have a true creator on the entire roster.

DD

 

Please define non-shooter.

 

We have a team full of low-IQ bricklayers

I think there are bigger problems.

 

Amen is non shooter but still finds a way to contribute in other ways. Senguns defense makes him unplayable because he can't defe

 

Its been like this. We are in a weak link era.

 

Never seen a team with so many guys who have virtually no finishing ability.

 

It’s a valid concern, I just have Sengun/Amen’s 3 point shooting like 6th on the list.

I think there’s some age development potential for Senguns 3 ball.

I think they could get much more creative in the half court using Amen as a screener.

I think they could drastically increase the running and transition opportunities and play in the half court less if we had 3 fast shooters instead of 3 slow shooters.

like if we had:

Cade
VJ Edgecombe
Amen
OG Anunoby
Sengun

I wouldn’t count 2 non shooters and freak out.

I think it’s understated, how much Giannis gets off the grab and go game, rebounds turning into quick buckets before defense can get set. He’s not doing it all in the half court. I see some of that in Amen, He was 2nd in league in dunks behind Evan Mobley this season.

 

Durant, JSJ, Tari, and Reed all graded as above average in off-ball perimeter gravity last season with Durant and Reed as elite gravity. Sengun was slightly above average as well, but that is because he "sets" picks. Tari did drop to slightly below average in the playoffs, so he's a below-average playoff player, btu one should expect teams have better shooters in the playoffs.

Amen, Okogie, and Capela were all well below average. I suspect Sengun would be below average if he didn't play so much with Amen and Okogie. Adams did not meet minimum criteria. On perimeter, he only was guarded if he was going to set a pick.

Basically, 50% of the 8-man rotation was not guarded except when setting picks (i.e, one center is usually okay). 9th man in minutes was guarded tightly. Not good, but not 70% either.

 

If Amen is setting a pick for the ballhandler, the center's man sags instead. The Rockets did look great when they played small ball without a center Amen's rookie year. I miss the Amen screens, but they won't work with Sengun, Adams, or Capela on the floor.

 

It just struck me that Ime is indeed playing 4D chess. Ime has understood the whole time that our roster construction is awful, and has countered that with equally awful rotations and play calling I.e. dual bigs to control the boards and options 1-3 are get the ball to your 37 year old and get out of the way.

 

What center? You mean if Amen picks for Sengun?

Don’t complicate this. If Amen picks for FVV or Reed, he’s a classic roller just like Capela picking for Harden. There’s no difference. Same for Amen picking for Durant, just that Durant can’t make the pass.

 

This is all somewhat disingenuous. Caruso shoots 36.5% from 3 for his career and has to be respected out there, but even if he consistently shot 29% from 3 he would still be way more of a threat than Amen.

And Looney was never on the floor during crunch time - Draymond was the center in the "death lineup". Now then, if you're arguing that Amen is a poor man's Draymond, I guess I can buy that. But what is that worth? Is that player worth $40 million a year in the aprons era?

 

Unfortunately the current iteration of the Rockets cannot afford the basketball luxury of having a non-offensive player like Draymond running around playing free safety.