Does Ime change the starting 5 after the all-star break?

He is already being benched....

It is now benching him during the game VS potentially benching him from the get go.

He is already frustrated shown after the Philly game ....going on Twitter and interacting with some dude.

The 6th man role or tag is just one FORMALITY.

That ship sailed, you can end the season making him happy and let him stat pad all he wants though, that is on Udoka.....as long as you do not give him that max contract because honestly they would be dumb to do that now knowing that he got no leadership.

I expect more out of a 22 year old dude, the NBA expedites your maturity, at least it should.

 

If you're fairly set on trading him in the offseason, then sure, I guess that could make some sense.

If you're not sure what you're going to do, and there's a high chance that he ends up being benched in favor of Amen/Cam at some point in the near future (say, during preseason ball before next season), I don't see much benefit in waiting. If he's going to pitch a fit about it, it's actually better to have him do so during a season where we're probably already out of the playoff picture.

If, on the other hand, he's going to accept the change in role, then benching him now probably helps with potential contract negotiations in the offseason.

 

He ABSOLUTELY NEEDS to! That front office can B*tch and complain all they want. STONE can cry all he wants about his battered ego. The whole selling point of this season was a culture change! " People earning playing time. ""Winning as a priority." It's time the Rockets prove that it wasn't all talk.
The Miami Heat drafted Michael Beasley with the 2nd pick of the draft. I guarantee those Heat fans aren't mad at all with that pick now since they corrected that mistake.
Egos be damned, make the roster change Ime!

 

Jeff Green is awful as a starter this year though. Like barely above Jock Landale level. Unless he's been hiding an injury, his play has really regressed of late. Can see Tate getting that role as much as Jeff

 

Ime is highly regarded in the NBA. In one season in Boston he won 62% of his games. He made it to the NBA finals. I doubt Houston was the only team in the NBA he could’ve come to. Ime didn’t come here to add a bunch of Losses to his pristine coaching record.
In the off season the team tried to add Fred, Dillon AND Lopez. Not to mention the number of vets they signed.

Anyone that thinks this team didn’t start this season with the goal of winning as many games as possible and pushing for a playoff spot is out of touch with reality.

They definitely did not want to give a conference rival, that also has a young team with a similar timeline, a top 10 draft pick.

Stop the insanity.
What they didn’t envision is Jalen being as bad as he’s been, Landale being completely useless 99.9% of the time and injuries to all the best wing defenders at one time.

That said, I believe at some point they scaled back the expectations. So I do not believe changes will be made unless they are pretty much out on Jalen.

 

Jalen and Jabari are our weakest link. Soft on defense and dormant on offense

 

Lol and Uncle Jeff looks like a 50 year old at times and like a 20 year at other times.

 

I’ve been an unwavering supporter of Ime since he was just a candidate to come here, he has not been perfect but happy with him overall. However, all the talk about accountability will be a joke if Jalen isn’t eventually benched. He will lose the respect of the rest of the team, and his supporters like me.

 

Good thoughts. I’d just say, I don’t think an organization that’s trying to build a winning culture should make these decisions based on the worry that a player might not like it and pout.

 

My guess is Cam or Amen will be replacing Jalen very quickly. Perhaps they give Jalen another game or two but it will not be long before he goes to the bench, likely forever. This is a move that is long overdue. Seeing how Jalen handles it should be interesting. Hopefully it will motivate him. I would love to be proven wrong about him.

 

Need to move Roosh Williams into the starting lineup so he can mentor Cam like he did Jalen

 

I think the FO will ask @RooshWilliams to keep counseling Jalen before they decide to bench him. When you have access to a basketball giant like Roosh, it would be criminal not to use him.

 

Was on a business trip last week, so I was just able to watch Knicks game from last week. Amen's defense was amazing, but the steal he made where he dove on the floor and nudged the ball to a teammate for a fast break was the kind of effort this team needs to start winning again.

I voted "No" but if FVV returns I could see Ime making the move to Amen. Defensively this would be a far superior backcourt and with Amen starting to jell with Alpi it will be a lot of fun to watch.

However, I'm trying to picture Jalen, Cam and Holiday trio. Very dynamic for sure. Perhaps if Jalen becomes the playmaker it could work well, especially if Jalen takes less 3pt FGs and focuses on driving and kicking to C & H. It might just work.

 

That strategy made somewhat sense up to the trade deadline. Now that it is past there is no reason not to make changes that make the team better. I think the move would have happened already if not for injuries to Cam and FVV.

 

I think this is the reason he is losing the confidence from the team. You can tell they are frustrated that Ime keeps parading Jalen Green onto the court, while he continues to be vastly inconsistent and a negative.

The irony here is that he is a positive on the defensive end, yet a big negative on the offensive side of things. And his defense can’t be confused for anything other than merely solid; it definitely not lockdown good.

 

He is not a positive on the defensive end, he is a net negative overall.

DD

 

Fred
Dillon
Amen
Tari
Alpi

Probably our strongest starting lineup right now.

But I could also see

Fred
Amen
Bari
Tari
Alpi

going forward.

Eventually,

Amen
Cam
Bari
Tari
Alpi

 

Jabari has potential to dominate on both ends, he has shown that a few times I just think he is focused on trying to do the right thing a play his role but Jalen has been given the keys and is soft on both ends. If they tell Jabari that they are going through him and he needs to lead us then we see a different Jabari

 

The only reason he looks like a positive on the defensive end is because he shares minutes with guys who actually play defense, like Sengun, Brooks,, Bari, FVV.