He’s looked pretty good thus far. He needs to work on defense... a lot, and hit the weight room, but the dude has been HOU’s second leading scorer every night in this short season. It’s been a min since HOU had a talented 4-5. It’s pretty awesome.
Nothing Detroit did this offseason made sense - they were the snarky punchline of most offseason analysis by real basketball analysts(not the talking heads on TV but X and O guys like Zach Lowe, Nate Duncan, and some of the Athletic’s writers). Don’t read too much into their decision to pass on Wood.
There have already been a few articles about Wood’s emergence that covered some of this - he was immature and didn’t have the discipline, drive, and attention to details to get better and it wasn’t until he was on the verge of being demoted in China that he got his aha moment. In short he learned he couldn’t just be good - he had to put in work too. https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/11/24/21591549/christian-wood-houston-rockets-nba-free-agency
I think with the right vets around him, he will be okay. But one thing I've noticed is that on every inbound, he is there waiting for the ball. Not sure if he's doing that bc he wants to bring it up or bc he's trying to help but I've noticed the PG is usually there waiting anyways and Wood isn't really needed. It would make more sense for him to just run up and get in position for offense. But anyways, only been a few games so maybe its just me
This. I heard him talk about himself the other day saying he thought his defense was pretty good against Sacramento... He thinks he's the sh*t but has not played a playoff game ever, he has a lot to learn about competitiveness, about what it really takes to win big, about him... to become a really respected player. He may never have learned that on a losing program. He's at the correct place. Right now all are compliments, but at some point that will convert into pressure and higher demands. ... Like it happens with many young players. Treat him like a player at his rookie contract and you got a pretty regular situation.
Wood is a great weak side shot blocker . Tucker is 100 on his comment ... and too thin to guard the post . I wish they could play him strictly the 4 except small ball teams. Imagine Cousins on this team 4 years ago and Wood at the 4. “Drools”
James Harden is a good defender... and he is also constantly talking to his teammates and showing them when they are out of place or if they misread the defense
I’ve never seen a player nitpicked this much. It’s the most obnoxious thing I’ve seen NBA fans do. People really slept on this guy so the first instinct is to find some non-existent fatal flaw to feel better about being CLUELESS to what talent is. It’s happening on this forum especially. He’s good on both ends. We are talking about basic experience and weight gain to see this guy improve. Which is obvious. Pretending he is some dolt with his awareness or some all-time flawed guy in any regard is absurd. Wood has been a bright spot defensively, and he’s been ignored for most of his games so far offensively and still this good. It’s that simple. Those mystery red flags are the only thing with credibility as far as criticism. Anybody saying he isn’t a good defender just does not know what they are talking about at all. His raw rim protection has been elite: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-lt6/?sort=FGA_LT_06&dir=1 That has value. A lot of it. It’s very unlikely to be a bad defender while ELITE in some regard. Especially if that regard is defending shots at the rim. He’s defending the MOST shots in the league. https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall/?sort=D_FGA&dir=1 Which isn’t a good or bad thing for him. What it jives with is the fact that the Rockets perimeter defense has been atrocious and he’s been left to clean up and insane amount of messes and it’s made him look bad to people who don’t know what they are watching.
Skal Labissiere is another guy who came out way too early. Dude has legit all-star talent but Calipari is awful for player development
It's really weird that this is his 6th NBA season and he is on his 7th team. How could so many experts not see that he had in him to do what he is doing now?
So far the only thing that has triggered my attention is his constant complaining about non-calls. Anyone noticed this?
By his own admission he didn't work has hard as he could in the earlier part of his career. He got cut in China after all.
CF just want to be miserable all the time. If a player is doing good they gonna nitpick that dude all to hell. If a player is doing bad then they gonna act like its the worst player who ever stepped foot on the court. If its a player from another team then he is da bomb and why didnt our FO get him etc. The same people talking about Woods' nonsensical "Red Flags" would be the same ones belly aching if Stone failed to sign him in the offseason. All y'all can take your red flags and put it up your ass cuz Wood is balling outta his mind, extremely engaged and even trying hard to defend. Clearly the steal signing of the offseason and if you dont think so then you just dumb AF.
