I'm confident this guy is going to step up in our scheme and play his best ball. I expect his added athleticism and driving/finishing ability compared to Ariza will help keep defenses even more honest. I think he is an upgrade, offensively, to having Ariza or Mbah a Moute on the court. My hope is that he fully buys-in and elevates his defensive game a couple notches (a la PJ or Bev when they joined us).
The fact that he seems to actually be able to dribble and drive to some degree I think gives a whole new dynamic to our offense. If he can give us 80% of Arizas defense I think he will be much better for this team than Ariza was. I'm excited to see Melo & Ennis share the SF position
Defense shouldn't be an issue Melo had a higher DRTG than guys like KD, LeBron, Giannis, Curry. Slight behind Paul, Harden, Ariza, Butler, Draymond and Klay. Thunder had a top 10 defense with Melo on the floor(they were 9th overall so only a slight drop off) I think with increased efficiency offensively and a similar defensive output Melo will have a very good season in terms of metrics and the Rockets should/could be better.
Interesting he used this video. He has about 4 videos on YouTube and one of them is titled " DEFENDING JAMES HARDEN." lol
I see Tucker and Melo splitting time at the 4. SF already has enough minutes distributed with Ennis, Gordon’s stretch with CP3 and Harden & Green. Feel the future starting SF hasn’t been acquired. Ryno and too a much lesser degree Nene are expendable as would a young center or two + picks. Melton, Ennis, Gordon, Green, MCW is a strong group of rotational pieces.
I find both signings interesting, specifically the MCW signing. Has Morey given the coaches, specifically Bzdelik more input into the scouting and FA decisions? Neither are amazing players, but can't discount height and length.
His finishing at the basket will be good. His shooting might reach Luc's level. Consistent defense is hard work, but if buys into that, as you said, he could become a valuable player for our Rockets.
Gordon is a shooting guard. The only small forwards on the roster are GG, Ennis and Vinny. PJ plays three positions but he's mainly a power forward. But I agree with you, sf is our biggest question mark right now but I like what Vinny can do. And we have to take into account with Harden about to make 45 mil, CP3 40 and Clint (looking like 20 mil), even though the cap will be going up this team will be heavily reliant on, per Morey, guys that we are hoping will outplay their contract. I actually like Vinny's potential over Ennis' but I'm pretty sure by February Morey will have made my take irrelevant
Not sure how much burn Melton or MCW will get but nice to have them at the end of the bench. If Ryno doesn't get traded, which imo would be disastrous, would likely have to play the 5 with the 2nd group. We can't have that contract for the next 2 years wasting away James' prime and on Paul's back 9. We need to trade that with picks for a rotation player. I'm positive Morey will make the best move so not too worried.
