Using the eye test I think Udoka is more like Mark Jackson than Steve Kerr. His players love him and he gets them to play hard and compete but there are very little Xs and Os to tell them what to do to win games esp on offense. KD can just do whatever he wants thats why he just isos every play for a middy, sure thats automatic for him but when your opponents are bombing from 3 our answers cant be contested middies cmon bro. If we look at PHX, their new coach Jordan Ott is showing everyone how much a great coach can affect the team record. Like PHX roster is so much worse than the Rox but they just beat OKC and now are the 7th seed. You realize last year they were 2/14 last year without KD? OTH Rockets are just out talenting teams if everyone is healthy we can bully opponents with our size, length, energy and skill. However if we have equal or less talent to opponents we always lose to them thats because our coaching is inferior. Players dont know what to do and game plans arent clear.
Good luck, nobody and not even Steve Kerr or Udoka for that matter would have played Jordan Goodwin, a 3rd stringer..... Who happened to go off for 26-27 points and 8 treys. Ott is like a teenage reformer coach, I like that a lot. Daigneault used to be that, I think he is still 39. I think OKC has a system and when their system has one crack, and the other coach has their players outplaying, which is not often, they win. The margin of error to beat OKC is usually narrow but pretty much doable. OKC would not change its Identity and the TradeOff is there.
Its not just this win vs OKC, its the fact that the Suns have outperformed expectations when they should have been a lot worse considering they lost KD and only added Dillon Brooks, who while a good player, nobody would say he a star or on the level of KD. In fact Suns have a much larger hole than the Rockets, they are missing 35M from Jalen Green who has just played 1 game. Their bench is terrible and they even picked Khaman Maliach for the 10th pick who has given them nothing. Yet their record is only 3 wins worse than the Rockets? Meanwhile Rockets supposed to have all the franchise players lol no way DB and Booker almost equal to the entire Rockets team. The Suns coach maximizes their talent while the Rox coach just relies on the talent for wins. If we had OTT I bet this team would be just under OKC in terms of record cuz then we would actually have a gameplan instead of AAU basketball and give the ball to KD for Isos.
I don't think their net rating tells the full story this season. They are blowing some teams out, but they are also consistently struggling against lesser talent, they are losing against some pretty bad teams, and keeping it close against some bad teams as well. Their record is pretty much the same as last year to date. i look at net rating and then win/loss in last 10 or so to see how a team is actually trending, not just net rating for the season. no stats DB just seems to be showing up big for Suns and the one who is helping Suns stay consistent. His presence is missed even more w Fred out. They have similar impacts as stabilizers.
Also, when have the Rockets even had "passing power forwards" at all in their history? In past 20 years, I can only think of 1 playmaker Josh Smith (who could chuck passes into the crowd as well). High IQ Chuck Hayes could do clean passes. Maybe Scola could do some passing in Adelman offense. That's about it. Unless it's the occasional small ball lineups putting a wing player to the 4, the Rockets havent had the passing Julius Randle, Zion passing power forwards. The big men Senguns slinging passes around, Banchero with ball handling makes it look like the "league wide way". But at the NBA level, it's still not so easy for bigs. So making Jabari into a facilitator might be more bonus than crucial
Horry was a pretty great passer during the peak mid-90s championship years, although he was more of a combo forward who bounced between the two positions. But you're right, it's been a minute. I think it's fine if Jabari is mostly a play finisher who, like you said, bails us out and gets us a shot when nothing else works on the play. All he really needs to do is some connective passing when there's still time left on the clock, doesn't have to be a plus playmaker.
I was in and out watching the game, but the Rockets were having spacing issues a lot yesterday when I was watching. Three ball wasn't falling for anyone. First half, the Rockets were letting too many decent to good looks from three.
If you get a chance go back and watch the game in its entirety and make a note of how many wide open threes were being generated by Amen’s forays into the lane. Count hockey assists as well. They were just being bricked. So many on this board ignore this part of his game, because it doesn’t fit their narrative that he should be wasted in the dunker spot. His handles and passing have improved steadily over the last 15 games or so and he is getting to the free throw line consistently. Amen continuing to improve as a half court initiator is the single most important factor to make this a championship caliber offense.
Is PHX roster really so much worse when we have FVV and Sengun out? 2 out of the 3 players who can consistently create a shot for themselves and others? LOL.... after being embarrassingly wrong about Reed.... you are just going to be embarrassingly wrong about the coaching? We still have a very young core developing and you think making things more complicated is the way to go? A key offensive player has been out for the year, someone competent in getting players into their right spots on the floor and running PNR.
Amen also is still doing the Jalen Green thing of driving hard without a plan. He has gotten better at creating for others but he still had quite a ways to go offensively. His FT shooting continues to be good so hopefully some sort of shot will eventually come around.
Eye test tells me this group isn't nearly as tough or scrappy as they were a year ago. Their identity has changed. Losing Brooks and FVV probably to blame for that, but Udoka can't be pleased. They don't look soft, but they don't have the same intensity, especially on defense.
IME gave up on innovative offense last night, starting with the 2nd half. He's going back to what he knows the best --- D D D .. D D D D D D D D D D D D
If I have time, I will check every missed three the Rockets took last night. I would already do this, but videos are not available at the moment. My eyeball test says the Rockets were pretty much average on wide-open threes in the minutes I saw. Durant took and missed a lot of contested threes when I was watching (mostly 1st half and 3rd quarter). For the most part, the Suns collapsed the defense, and tried to keep a man on Durant. Though by your eyeballs, how many missed wide open threes should have been assists (or hockey assists) by Amen, and how many of the wide open makes were assists by Amen? Shooting is the single most important factor holding Amen back from being a great half-court initiator though at least one person on the board ignores this.
Idk what I hate more. Watching Tari go for an acrobatic layup brick or Jabari shoot a flat shot to hit the front of the rim.
Amen did kick to the corner teammates when he drove. He and Reed are the ones who consistently do that but Reed doesn't drive that much. Durant would pass to a cutting man but seldom look to the sides when he drives to the midrange. Same with Sengun, who only kicks out as bailout passes.
I think it was against Indiana, but Reed's man kept helping one man away at the nail against Durant, leaving Reed open on the wings a couple of feet behind the three-point line. Maybe it was just that the Rockets were rolling, but this should be an automatic pass even from Durant to any good three-point shooter that was not being made. Usually, Reed's man doesn't help much at the nail except mostly to show (even then, it is dicey to show). When Reed is off-ball, I like it when he spaces at one of the wings instead of the corner, as it really hinders help at the nail. Also, if the low man helps, Reed's man can't effectively rotate to the corner to cover the low man's man.
I see a lot of posts about wanting more ball movement - but the eye test tells me that we are not a good passing team.... I see these lofting cross court passes - that u know someone is going to pick off... or passes into a crowd, where u know someone is going to get a deflection... i very seldom see passes go out of bounds or miss their target - which is good... but I think its more bc our guys dont put any mustard on their passes - which is why they get picked off so readily... When KD needs to pass out of a double team, nobody moves to him to get the pass,,, and while a 15-20 ft pass isnt a prob normally, its more precarious amidst a double team.... and again, if its a lofting easy to catch pass, someone cuts in front of it or gets a deflection, resulting in a turnover.... obviously turnovers are a problem for us... idk if there's a breakdown between intercepted passes vs guys just getting their pocket picked... but the eye test tells me that our turnovers are more about lazy soft passes than anything else.... Heck, even passing around the perimeter, it seems the other team anticipates, jumps the passing lane... and then its off to the races.... Which we do the same thing - hence the terror twins... but it sucks when it happens to us... Maybe its about not having a true pg facilitating... idk... Amen and others seem to do fine on kickouts... but i think more ball movement just leads to more turnovers.... we need to focus on tighter, crisper passes before we try to increase our ball movement imo....
He was not focused to start the game and was pulled by Ime before the usual 5 minute mark. Pretty sure Ime put a fire under his butt to press into the lane. I didn’t count all the game, but I do remember three straight wide open misses on wide open threes on consecutive plays created by Amen. He also had a number of nice interior passes that were blown, but he also missed a bunny at the basket down the stretch. I agree that gaining an outside shot is a must for him to take the superstar leap. Right now just getting proficient 10 to fifteen feet will make him an effective pg on a championship level team. I see progress in that regard and by the end of the year, I believe he will be initiating in the half court 75% of the time he is in the game. Durant should be a finisher not an initiator.
