ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Lakers - Vegas Summer League 7/12/2024

Maybe I should not have stated athleticism but physicality. And yes, Cam had a rough end to the season but was mostly consistent, especially for the youngest member of our team and a rookie. Meanwhile, Jalen is an elite athlete but slender like Kevin Martin which means he avoids contact and can't really take bumps. 3 years in, he has progressively actually gotten worse since his rookie year shooting the rock. Even with the awful ending to the season Cam was still the more physical player and the better shooter by several percentage points, and he was just a rookie. It took Jalen a super hot 10 games to get close to his rookie average.

 

Great debut by Reed. I'd play him alot in sl. I mean he needs experience

 

Reed looks like a walking bucket. If all he is doing is making daggers from long range all game. It will open up a lot of space cause you wont be able to cheat off of him.

 

Havent seen it as I am in Germany in Koblenz atm but looks like we did ok.

DD

 

Rondo and Perkins. Parker and Duncan.

You can play two non-shooters and have a championship caliber team, especially If you have:

1. High IQ players
2. Off-ball actions, inverted actions
3. Ability to function in a system.

Jalen Green has a lot to prove on all counts. The man is simply not known for his feel and basketball IQ. Hopefully this is the year.

 

They're going to press him off the line. I just hope he's more than just a shooter. He's a natural shooter, but as I said, the difference between Korver, Paxson, Kerr, and Heild vs Steph, Allen, Mullins, and Price is the handle to create space. I don't expect him to be that year 1 or maybe nit yr 2 either, but he will have to progress that way. I still think they need to clean the roster up. Maybe not this year, but after. They have too many guys who play the same position imo. FVV and Brooks are valuable right now and in a year or so because of their contracts.

 

I feel like that's all I've heard the past few days, is how he's a defensive monster.

Bronny is the definition of that meme with the guy laying on his side drying his tears with dollar bills.

He's not good, like at all to his peers. But he's going to be richer than all of them undeservedly.

 

Watching the highlights, the thing that stood out to me about RS is how in control he appeared. Specifically using de-celeration on several possessions to create spacing while players are flying past him. Honestly, a type of "pocket poise" I haven't seen very much in any of our young core. He's obviously undersized but I think pairing him with FVV is going to pay big dividends.

 

Looking forward to a game without Scrubby James being 60% of the commentary and 5% of the impact. Bring on game 2.

 

Looking at the stats, Daishen Nix, with Minnesota, had a far better SL debut in Vegas than Bronny (26 minutes 14 pts 5 rbs 5 assists 3 steals). They are probably on the same level, though Nix might be a better shooter at this point in his career.

 

I see a little John Stockton/CP3 out there at his fullest potential.

He really doesn't need to play any more games. He is that much better than everyone else on the floor. Game was way to slow and I don't see the benefit.

His issue will be defense for obvious reasons. He will need to get close to FVV in that department in order to take his starter minutes.

Smart players with High BBALL IQ win a lot of games.

This team could be so freaking good if Jalen can just be the guy we have seen for those 10-12 game stretches which require him to be a 36-38% type of 3 point shooter.

 

@Clutch Thanks for hosting. Never been on that platform before. It was kinda kool to see fans talking in realtime about game play.

 

Do you think Can is taking the same type of shots? Had the same type of defensive attention?


So is the 36% 3 pt shooting as a role player that much more important to you than 34% from a dude who played starter minutes and all 82 games and exerted more energy ton both sides?

What is the point of Cam's physicality if he has worse finishing numbers in he restricted area compared to Jalen and has significantly worse assist to turnover ratio?

Cam has a worse fg% inside the restricted area by 6 percentage points than Jalen this past season and that's with Cam getting most of his buckets at the rim in open transition and from attacking closeouts in half court sets while Jalen gets a lot more of his at the rim buckets from attacking set half court point of attack defenses.

So where is that physicality showing up?

 

Genuine question, do you think it's as important for Jalen to shoot 38% (which almost no star shooting guard last season scored, most of them are around 35-36, which is literally 1 extra made 3 every 4 games for Jalen) when we have Reed to take that shot instead? Which makes more sense:

Scenario 1
Reed Sheppard passes to an open Jalen Green for a 3 pt shot

Scenario 2
Jalen Green collapses the defense driving to the basket, kicks out the ball to a wide open Reed Sheppard

I'm a huge Jalen fan, but we should not be using him to shoot all the 3 pointers. We should be using him in a 2 man game as the ball handler with Sengun, then either he or Sengun's scoring at the rim or kicking out to Reed, Jabari or Cam all of whom are more than equipped to hit the open shots. Seems so perfectly designed role-wise it's almost insane that nobody can see it through their ridiculous benchmarks they're proposing for Green...

 

Bronny is undercooked. The whole thing is just LA pageantry. Sucks for the kid. He should be in college.

But enough about him. Knecht looked like his college self - smart but slow and will struggle to get open against NBA athleticism. Will drop in tough contested jumpers. Can't defend.

Sheppard was very promising for a first impression in Rockets red. Loved the confidence and interactions with teammates and roundedness.

Cam had an enigmatic game but I think people are overreacting to the summer league opener given than he was consistently good last year. Team is figuring out dynamics. I'll raise my concern level after game 2.

Williams was the clear third best player on the team and continues to slowly develop into a possible bench jack of all trades piece.

Dante has upside as a bench bruiser and I'll be curious to keep watching for why Rockets locked him in on a two way before SL.

 

the first look was promising in that regard. He made 4 3FGs: 2 off the catch, 2 off the dribble. Also, attacked close outs very, very well.

 

Or if our starting center can develop a 3pt shot & get stronger in the paint. Also needs tremendous work defensively

 

Bronny is going to catch grief because of his name but I'd still take him over KJ both in skill and who's the dad. Lebron is a basketball genius. Not only would I trust that he's going to teach his son how to process the game, I trust that Lebron is both wise and influential enough to stay off some schmuck old head podcast spouting off about his son's business to stay relevant.

As far as Bronny goes, it's obvious some more college experience would benefit him and that they wanted to get the father/son thing done. I don't think he's untalented though, I think he's just a bit overwhelmed.

Both are better than Jordan's kid though lol

 

jalen needs to improve his three point shooting and take less of them. He doesn’t have to be a 38% shooter from three, but he can’t have like 40 games under 30% like last year. He needs to improve his shooting % from every place on the floor other than the restricted zone to be a star. Ime loves his ability to break down defenses, but he won’t be effective unless he improves his shooting, period. If he doesn’t he will be gone. It was one SL game, but Sheppard showed what having a mid range game could do for Jalen.

 

How did that in any way answer the question I posed? If you're not going to actually address a post, don't bother quoting because I'll return the favour.