and some posters are very arrogant about what they think they know vs the coaches who are with players every day and are actual basketball experts.
Ime is not the feel good coach who is going to let you play just because your feelings are hurt and you want a shot. Especially not this late in the season when playoffs positioning is critical. You either play the way he wants you to play or ride the pine. I see why he does that. There have been so many players I've watched over the years who were just like Cam. Young, aggressive, talented scorers who were bone headed and immature and though they got on with a team that let them be themselves and just play the way they wanted to, they never took the team anywhere and in fact, hurt the team. Every few years years they get picked up as free agents with hefty contracts cause they can put up big numbers in bunches but they are selfish and spoiled. Ime comes from Pops school of - play right or park it, I don't care who you are - and I respect that.
Cam probably isn't going to be in Houston long term. It's a shame because he has as much potential as anyone out there, but it's clear that there are some underlying issues. Udoka and Cam do not appear to always be on the same page, and Cam isn't going to win that battle. On a bad team, Cam starts and averages 20 easily. He's going to be in this league for a decade plus barring something unusual happening, but I can't imagine that it's going to be here. My guess is that he doesn't make it past the next trade deadline.
i'm incredibly annoyed that we didn't deal him at the deadline if all he is going to do is rot on the bench.
Not Cam related, but this is something I've been struggling with the past couple of months. Not saying I agree 100% with how Ime plays Cam, but it isn't like Cam has a super long track record either for me to be too firm in that opinion. Mostly, I think the Rockets have had some trouble with certain units that Ime seems to be content with trying to work through the issues than just play combinations of players that have worked really well together.
I think that is fair. He definitely doesn't like to change things up quickly and sometimes has to have his hand forced by injury. But the idea that it is personal to Cam is silly - at least the idea that it is personal and undeserved. Cam clearly is showing multiple problems that make Ime unwilling to play him. We see some of those (blackhole, inconsistent defensive effort, missed rotations) but I imagine there are both big things we don't see beyond the games and small things we don't notice because we aren't professional coaches. It is certainly possible to acknowledge both that Ime can be stubborn and also that Cam has earned his lack of minutes.
Can't help but wonder if he's part of a deal lined up for the summer based on the fall of the NBA Draft (Phoenix pick). Not sure why he can't get any playing time at all since Amen and FVV are out, but either he's really #1 on Ime's s**t list or the organization doesn't want to bother with him too much since he'll be gone anyway. Both?
The only MENTAL issues Cam has are he wants to play. He should be playing -- all year, he would have settled into his role and he would be NBA tested, he needs minutes.....to get there, same as Reed. We should move on from FVV and Brooks ASAP, they are not part of our core......and we won't win a ring with them, there are younger higher upside players that need that time. DD
I just think Ime wants to play a certain way, and he now knows what he has in Cam.. where he isn't the tool he needs to make the machine run at the moment. I see Ime trying to shift the style of play to a more playoff grind it out style of play, and doesn't want to play in more of a run and gun style with the players he has. If Cam could play a little more within himself and be defensive focused like Tari and Amen can, I don't think we'd see him riding the pine. But Ime knows if he puts him in, he'll be shooting Five 3's in 2 minutes of play, and defensively the intensity will slip a bit as he goes for more steals to get fast breaks instead of grinding in the paint, etc. I don't think it's personal, I just don't think he's an Ime type of player right now. Ime is too good of a coach to fire or micro manage over a prospect like Cam, so yeah he probably should be traded this summer regardless unless another trade happens where there is a significant need for someone who can score on the perimeter.
Some guys just aren't capable of NBA level game processing and never will be. His immense physical tools allow him to usually have an impact on the floor, but he does a lot of things that would drive a coach crazy. I kind of get both sides of the argument, I don't think Ime's style of coaching has been good for him or Reed's development, but given the team's overall and clear improvement since he got here I have to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
Among non-centers, I think Amen and Tari are Top 15 defenders. Amen being the best POA defender and Tari being more chaos, help defense oriented. That is a high bar that the vast majority of players can't attain. On shooting 5 threes, I have a problem with him not making enough of them than the volume. If he gets up to 40% (not this year), he's going to be a tough, tough defensive assignment. Not saying he doesn't have space cadet moments, but teams just aren't exploiting him close to as often as last season. I don't watch Cam exclusively on defense so maybe he hasn't improved and teams have just decided against attacking him. Maybe he gets exploited if he's played in the playoffs. However, I'm much more concerned with the shooting than the defense at the moment.
Perhaps the reason Cam isn't playing is probably the same reason that so many GMs passed on him in the draft. I don't know the specifics with Cam, apart from his occasionally surly personality, but when an obviously talented player falls in your lap on draft day, you've got to question WHY that happened. I suspect this situation has more at play than just a stubborn coach.
He has to be allowed to get minutes while he learns, same for Reed..... We drafted him, he shows out 2nd half last year then gets benched for 30+ year olds - we are supposed to be BUILDING a championship contender.....Brooks and FVV are now in the way or slowing that down. Cam and Reed should have been getting 12-20 mpg all year long, and letting them grow as NBA players.... Instead we wasted an entire development year, devalued our assets, and overplayed journeyman players because we could win a few more games but will create a much lower ceiling overall. This was TERRIBLE player management. DD
