Guess which player shot 47% from 3 - and only got 4.8FGA a game

I mean…jabari?

 

Our best shooters Smith, Sheppard, and Holiday barely got minutes.

 

I have been saying this all year while GS is whupping our asses with players like Hield and Post who can't play D, we have Shooters on our bench that are better than our starters that can't get a whiff.

Ime is the problem he OVERVALUES defense and undervalues scoring.

DD

 

I got sick of the narrative that this team doesn't have shooters. It did, but most of them were either sitting on the bench or barely playing.

When Fred is hitting 67% of his outside shots or Jalen is going off for 38, Ime has the luxury of sticking with his usual rotation. When that isn't happening though, he has to make adjustments.

What drives me crazy is that he occasionally showed he was willing to do so. In Game 6, he benched Dillon in favor of the double big lineup in the 4th and gave Aaron first half minutes. Why not show that flexibility all series?

 

We got worse once Amen replaced Bari in the starting lineup - Bari's shooting balances things....out....and Brooks also shows what happens when athleticism in the playoffs matters, he doesn't have it either.

Time to jettison the old and let the young dogs eat.

DD

 

Hoping Jabari can continue to grow and develop some of those handles. He started showing the slightest ability to drive but really… 1-2 dribble jumpers are enough to attack a close out.

Tari is a spaz of a defender but also a spaz on offense. I think Jabari got kind of a raw deal losing his job to injury. Maybe this was the step back to get a running start though?

 

Amen is the wrong player to pick on. I think you take out the other forward spot and have Amen and Bari start together. That means Brooks coming off the bench.

 

NOT picking on Amen - saying by replacing BARI with Amen it hurt our offense - if you want to start Amen, replace Brooks.

DD

 

Maybe Jabari could get more shots up if he stopped dribbling the ball off his own foot.

 

And went 1-5 in a game 7 elimination game and can’t really create their own shot.

 

Jabari is certainly not a good dribbler
Jalen isn't a good dribbler or shooter
Fred can't get by my dead grandmother
Dillon isn't a good dribbler or passer
Alpi has no 3pt game
Amen still can't shoot an outside shot
Tari isn't all that smart, and makes stupid decisions
Steven - can't shoot either

Our entire 8 man rotation has major flaws.......we lack

A penetrating guard who can get by his man and force rotations
Shooting all over the coart
Nobody Ime plays has a middie game - Holiday and Reed do....but they don't play

Our team is broken, it just doesn't fit, we aren't a team built around Sengun, nor Jalen, we are a team half assed around defense.

DD

 

Brooks is our best 3PT shooter, far better than Jabari this year

 

Not when teams pressure him, he is not a great athlete, and can easily be shut down with simple attention to him.

He would be great off the bench.

DD

 

I don't understand not playing Jabari more either. Cam I can kinda understand, but Jabari? He is probably our best all around young guy and most versatile along with Alpi. While he can't create or do much creating for others he defends all the positions well, spreads the floor with a respectable 3 pt, and has that nice little KD style jumper.

 

Bari is our most underutilized player on the team. It was one of the few complaints I had about Ime. With that being said, Ime was the perfect coach for us and I am extremely happy with what he did this season. A+ for him imo.

 

At some point it will sink in that the Rockets - as were constructed in the 2024-2025 season just were not a very talented offensive team. They lacked a real offensive hub/creator and they lacked a franchise player.

 

I was at the game and whenever Jabari came onto the court Steph immediately called for an iso on him and hit threes. He was way too slow to keep up with Steph and when we had Adams out there it was a defensive nightmare.

Also Jabari tried to post up 2-3 times and had 2-3 turnovers because of it. He needs to be more confident in his handles before trying to handle the ball in a game 7. Bari is definitely our best shooter but when he wasn't hitting shots and was turning the ball over he had to sit down.

 

The Rockets lack shooting and a perimeter playmaker. The problem I see is that the defense needs every bit of switching and ground coverage that it has. I think the Rockets need to add an offensive engine (either internally or externally) and one deadeye high volume shooter without sacrificing ground coverage and switching.