Ime Udoka after Rockets fall to Thunder in NBA Cup 12/14/2024

mcveigh would be a serious upgrade to starting lineup at the 2

 

Didn't get the measly $500,000 but get to play FTA (some other poster gave Sga that nickname, i'm still laughing) two more times? Yeay for us.

Adam Silver running better scams than princes.

 

Udoka can't make open 3s for his players...we're getting the looks, but our players aren't great 3pt shooters...in addition, it creates poor spacing for Sengun to operate in the paint

 

Udoka must have not studied Rockets lore. Or he'd know that once a guy put on a Rocket jersey, he'd instantly forget how to shoot. It's black magic.

 

Then maybe he needs to create an offense that takes advantage of his players strength or try some different combinations and rotations. Jabari is hitting his 3's, Brooks is hitting his threes. Maybe the offense should run plays to free those players up to shoot instead of FVV and Jalen dribbling the clock off and chunking up misses. Ime shouldn't be getting a free ride for this miserable offense. We are only 3.5 games from being in 11th place. If our offense does not improve, we will not make the playoffs and may not make the play-ins. We are second in defense. We are 27th in offense.

 

The guard play is most definitely holding the team back.

This starting guard pair are shooting a combined .308 from distance while both take a large volume of those shots.
What might be worse is they both shoot far below league average from 2 as well - .467 combined while league average is .542

This makes it all the more difficult to win games, really shows how good their defense has been.

We hear a lot of trade talk about Jimmy Butler, Brandon Ingram and others but those dudes don't really fix the problem, the problem is the guard play.
Right now, Jalen is a sunk cost - for the rest of this season at the least, it's so complicated to move him, but FVV isn't so hard to move .... it's a straight forward salary match rather than jumping thru the hoops of staying below the apron and matching the poison pill .... but you have to get a point guard in return - there are no other options on the roster.

 

FVV is a career 37% 3pt shooter. He did fairly well last season. So there's hope that he will get out of this shooting slump. Jalen's shooting on the other hand is right in step of his career pattern. I have given up hope that he will be a reliable shooter for us.

 

Get on the phone with Portland about Robert Williams ..... then ship Adams & Landale out as salary filler on some other trade package for an upgrade at PG or SG.

Yeah, he's been a better shooter most of his career but he still has holes in his game and has been terrible all season long, I keep waiting for him to pull out of this funk but it continues game after game.

Even when he is shooting his normal percentages, he's still kinda mid as a point guard and is probably the easiest player to upgrade (aside from Jalen but that's more complicated). I don't believe he's part of the long term plan for this team - they really can't keep him at $45.8m next year either.

Wouldn't hurt to explore the easiest position to upgrade .....

A few guys I'd like to target between now and the trade deadline -

Robert Williams - Portland, a really great compliment to Sengun.

Bones Hyland - LAC good PG, shoots well, defends well and doesn't make a whole lot of mistakes. Could be a starter down the road a piece.

Ayo Dosunmu Chicago - two way player at the SG spot, insurance for Jalen.

Trey Murphy New Orleans - another two way player at the SG/SF spot. Imagine the defense with him at the 2 with Amen, Tari & Jabari ....

None of those are the big trade that would ship out FVV or Jalen .... just fringe guys that I think could be part of the future.

As for those FVV / Green swaps - Fox or Lamelo, just don't ask me why either team trades them.

 

I think everything you said is accurate other than we have to have a pg in return. If we get shooter(s) in return Amen and Sengun are capable to run the half-court offense. It's all a pipe dream anyway. We aren't trading FVV or Green during the season. The best we can hope for is a sensible trade for a decent combo guard and/or backup big. I don't even see an available star that fits in the off-season.

 

The Rockets are winning on defense, offensive rebounding, and low turnovers. FVV is not an easy replacement for defense and low turnovers simultaneously. Sure, Amen can replace the defense while adding a lot of rebounds, but then the Rockets turn into one of the most turnover prone teams when FVV is off the court (also, Amen can play defense and rebound with FVV on the court). FVV is still by far the best guard (guys who mostly play guard[i.e., not Amen]) on the Rockets by default. Maybe if Holiday played more, there would be some competition for top guard or if Amen replaced Green as the SG. Even with FVV shooting poorly, I think there is clear demarcation with FVV, Amen, Brooks, Tari, and Sengun as the best 5 Rockets so far this season and the rest of the team.

That said, FVV shooting below his normal percentages is probably a third to half of the reason the Rockets aren't a Top 10 offense. Personally, I think if the Rockets added a star SG, FVV's shots would go way down and likely becoem more efficient. Even without an efficiency boost, just shooting less would make FVV more valuable.

For the short term, the Rockets need FVV to shoot better going forward. I just don't see trading him getting much in value and I see the Rockets as a team that needs FVV's skills as much as any other team.

 

Rockets offense with Amen, Sengun and no FVV yields an offensive rating of 110.3 which would be the 24th in the NBA versus Team offenses. With FVV on the court, the Rockets offense is 112.4 or would rank 15th best. The big difference between the FVV as PG and Amen as PG lineups are the turnovers. I will say the No FVV lineups play some great defense, but that is mostly because almost all of them play 2 of Brooks, Amen, and Tari. The Rockets starting lineup needs to have 2 of Brooks, Amen, and Tari, and I don't think FVV should be the one to go.

 

I agree with the guys saying Jabari is the answer. Everyone wanted him gone after 4 games this year, but he unlocks everything. He needs to be the backup Center at this point, and spot minutes go to Landale for bigger matchups. Adams is washed, and that's okay. He can still be Bobi for this year's squad. Jabari will space the floor and open up all kinds of lanes for Amen and Jalen, as well as provide the ultimate switchability on defense.

With Sengun out, the lineup should be

Amen
Jalen
Dillon
Tari
Bari

Fred and Alpi should play together so there's a rim protector playing with Fred and they can run their two man game when the pace slows up. When they go to the bench, it should be full speed ahead, a huge emphasis on pushing the ball and getting up shots.

 

Still a small sample, but I've thought Adams has looked better than washed not counting the Clippers game lately.

 

I just mean his movement. He can still set decent screens and of course box out and grab a few rebounds, but I'm deeply concerned with how he's moving out there. Can't close out, no lateral movement whatsoever, standing rebounds. He looks really bad trying to contest shots at the rim right now. I just don't see it, but Father Time is undefeated I guess.

 

I don't really disagree with any of this and you are also correct that this team needs a steady hand at the point more than most.

But there's also the question about the future - Is FVV part of that? I don't think they can afford a non-star at the $45.8m he's going to be earning if his option is picked up - that's a cap wrecker and what's beyond that when Tari & Jabari are on new deals the following year?
What does an extension look like if you decline the option year and resign him instead?

If he's not part of the future and there is no desire to extend at a lower figure ..... You can't do nothing and let him expire because you have no way to replace the salary slot above the cap if you do - letting him walk you don't create enough cap space to sign a competent replacement, you give up the MLE for the room exception as well as complicating the following offseason ....

Bottom line, if you feel he isn't part of the future, you are trading him between now and the 25/26 trade deadline, the only question is when.
IF his shooting doesn't come back to norm soon, I don't see how you can move forward with him as the starter even at a reduced rate - and expect to win. 47 days to the trade deadline to find out the answer ...

 

He's been solid in the paint, but he hasn't been able to close out on shooters .... He's not for long. Can't see him on this team next season.

Because of that, I'd prefer to move him now for a contract to fill that salary slot rather than simply allowing his to expire and get no return at all.

 

While I'm not for trading FVV, if Stone is calculating this as an option, then in the next batch of games, I'd need Ime to try more lineups where Reed and Aaron run the point a bit more.

Can say it is in the name of not running FVV to the ground, but really to see if team can sustain and not completely fall apart.

 

Jabari cannot play the 5 well. The defense is worse when he’s at center. He’s not good at positioning to guard the paint well and still gets pushed around easily. There’s a reason why if Ime uses him at the 5, it becomes short lived because it turns into a layup line.

 

Effort - defense and coaching only gets you so far.