Ime Udoka after Raptors loss: "It's Game 51. We have to see some growth"

I agree. Surround an MVP candidate with the correct system/coaching/starters/role players. Rockets with Hakeem is an example us local Houstonians fondly remember. I don't think the Rockets are anywhere near the Jokic/Olajuwon level at this point and shouldn't try to go all in just yet. If the Rockets start competing somewhere down the road, I think the most likely path would be to develop a balanced team of 2-3 All Stars surrounded by good role players.

 

Unlike Udoka, I see growth. Tari, Bari, Sengun, Cam, and Amen are way better than they were a year ago(beginning of year for Cam & Amen). Even Jalen is better. The team is just not that good yet. Before the season, I was in the mid 30's win camp for this year. After the good start, I thought maybe they win 40 and make the play in. Most growth happens in the off season and that is where Ime's worth will be shown (or not). I see... with Adams healthy and a couple of competent 3 point shooters acquired in the off season - whether in the draft, by trade, or with the mid-level exception... I see a 50 win team next year. I just fear Stone/Fertita will mess it up...

 

It says jsjt as much about Ime than the players: he doesn’t have a system in place.l on offense. Our offense has been jsut as bad as the Silas era. He needs to hire an assistant coach this summer who can implement a system. Theyre free styling out there. Don’t nobody want to see Dillon Brooks turnaround jump shots.

 

The way this team disintegrated without Fred is worrisome.

Sengun is not there yet. His amazing stretch early in the season generated more noise than was warranted. Two things: 1. a couple of months of beasting is not enough to proclaim somebody a bona fide Wheep-dee-dooo. 2. His hot streak benefitted from Fred keeping the ship together and having us in the playoff mix. Sengun would not have been considered for All-Star without Fred, nobody pays attention to trash teams.

Bottomline for Sengun is: not there yet. Scottie Barnes is currently the better player from that draft, it’s just plain obvious.

Jalen Green is pathetic.Recently, somebody here posted that he’s supposedly way better than Quickley. I hope seeing the two players head-to-head cleared things up. There is still a lot of Jalen Green delusion on this message board.

 

I can see an argument for Barnes. For plain obvious...they both still need to make a leap in consistency. For a guy with Siakam and Anunoby, he had more top end talent around him and they sucked most of the year before those guys were traded. Sengun's problems are defense and his teammates that he plays with mostly suck at shooting.

I get that Brooks is hitting a good efficiency, but those are because his man isn't guarding him tight and his release is just too slow for him to punish teams with a high volume. Green....man it has been bad efficiency compounded by a huge volume. Jabari has hope, but the offense isn't smooth enough to get it to him as a teritary option often enough to see if he can hit a high volume. The Rockets best 3 point shooters have issues defensively except Holiday (well he's good on the small pesky guys...bigger guys not so much).

 

They had already disintegrated before Fred got hurt and his putrid 3;pt shooting his last 10 games was part of it. Injuries did derail this team, but it was Brooks’, Jabari’s and Tari’ that did the trick. I also believe Sengun is ailing too and that one is on Stone for not getting an adequate backup center long before the deadline.

 

The old tradition of running players into the tomb (not just ground) continues sadly.

 

I do see growth, but then I see regression.

What is lacking is sustained growth which probably only time and experience will fix.

 

Fred being such an integral piece to our team is pretty worrisome, it means we can't function without a floor general.

Amen will hopefully reach that age some day but he's still got years to go, we might have to end up picking up Fred's options down the line to keep the ship afloat.

The good news is Amen doesn't necessary have to play point guard because he's pretty versatile which means we could still make a blockbuster trade for a star PG in the future. I wish we had the assets to get Haliburton at the time because he's 23 (fits our timeline) and is arguably already a top 10 player in the league.

 

The way everyone else is playing, it wouldn't matter if we had a superstar.

 

The early success was mostly due to defensive intensity. But if you have to be highly stung up and motivated to play good defense, it's not gonna be sustainable night in and night out for the entire NBA season no matter how the coach tries to push the buttons.

The offense has never been good. Some of it is youth. Some of it is simply not enough talents. And some of it is coaching. Udoka is not a creative offensive coach. That's fine. No coach is perfect at everything. He should get some good offensive assistant to be in charge of the offense. Just preaching "don't play selfish" "make the right read" isn't enough, especially for a young group. You have to give them some system that maximize their strengths.

 

After watching Green laughing on the sidelines and Cam's progression, Ime should be starting Cam moving forward. It doesn't matter who is in front of him, he holds his own offensively and defensively. Green survived the trade deadline and followed it with this....ghastly performance.

Incredibly displeased with Sengun the last few games. Jock needs some run. He isn't worse than Alpy defensively and we haven't been getting much offensive production out of the 5 spot anyway. Sengun needs some fire under him and he's probably gotten a little too safe. Doing the podcast rounds and the All Star push. You're not there yet.

Amen 6 TOs is brutal but he's learning the hardest position. He's at 50% FG for the season. He knows his role and knows it well. Green is a disaster and Sengun without his training wheels looks really bad as well.

 

Rafael Stone after Raptors loss:

 

The team is just not ready for Phase 2 or whatever....

FVV and DB are 2 massive bandaids that can lose their stickiness.....

 

I completely agree with you. I'm not smiling or laughing about ****. We are losing games and the faces of the franchise are playing poor. With Jalen Green playing as trash as he did you would expect to see a guy channeled into what he needs to do to get better. It's not year 1 or 2.

Look at CJ Stroud and Will Anderson's reactions and actions after they lose. It's the end of the world you can see in their eyes and in their communication post game interview. Jalen Green is a little boy that's the age of a grown man. I don't respect it and I'm tired of seeing this weakness in a Houston Rockets uniform. I'm hoping Ime Udoka does the right thing with this child with an aggressive sense of urgency.

 

Udoka was the wrong guy for this job. He’d rather die on a hill of mid ass vets then spend the necessary time showing the youngsters HOW to win in every conceivable situation. What the fk would be the Udoka offense if Sengun PNR wasn’t saving him? Overrated.

 

We need more data and more of Boban to assess the real situation.......more years of Boban.

 

Sengun needs to step his game up

 

Boban would be unstoppable. I've seen enough. If only Udoka wasn't too stubborn in not playing him.