Jalen Green listens to Ime Udoka. Plays hustle defense on pick and roll, tries to rebound more, ball handles more from the backcourt. Jalen is slowly developing. Cam Whitmore doesn't listen to Ime Udoka and keeps driving through Traffic and puts up brick floaters. Doesn't hustle laterally on defense at all. Just jogs back casually.
Yes, agree that the Rockets need to keep working with Cam. Now that Amen Thompson is currently suspended, and Tari Eason's return (from injury) is not certain, it is very likely that Cam Whitmore may see more playing time. I get it that he may not start. But given his ability, Ime Udoka has to consider giving Cam Whitmore more playing time.
I have been a doubter of Jalen Green's ability to retain a spot in the Rockets roster for the last two years. But as you have pointed out, I too see that Jalen Green has greatly improved on many of his weaknesses this season. I too hope that Cam Whitmore will have the same trajectory of improvement like Jalen Green or desire to learn to get better himself. Both are young, and can only get better.
it’s clear your bias is the last sentence; could have just rolled with that. Cam means: Plays poorly - doesn’t know if that changes anything Plays avg - doesn’t know if that changes anything Plays well - doesn’t know if that changes anything Plays great - doesn’t know if that changes anything i agree with him. I won’t make the other 100 assumptions you did; perhaps he and his agent have gone to IME - perhaps he already is the first in the gym and last to leave. I don’t know and neither do you but one of us wrote a thesis using those assumptions as support lmao You’re hating on a 20 y/o. Sad. It sucks this was public. I hate that. I also hate there are 2, 20 y/o on this team and one is immeasurably more NBA ready and productive than the other and yet the playing time reflects the opposite.
Who wouldn't be frustrated? He played great the first half and watched FVV (who has sucked all year) play the entire 3rd quarter and most of the 4th quarter on a team absent 2 SF's which is the position he is best suited for. He probably has voiced his frustration to the coaching staff as well. He gets sent to the G-league while Reed has been with the team all year and getting a few minutes off the bench. Ime should not get a pass on his stupid rotations.
Cam will make his mark on this league, just not right now....here or elsewhere..... He is like a combo of LBJ and Carmelo.....more Carmelo with LBJ body. He is going to struggle in this league and that will make his later success sweeter. Easily rootable.
Ime is a huge upgrade to Silas and a great defensive coach. That is not the bar, though. We need a coach that can take us to a championship. His offense and rotations are clearly some of the worst in the league. He shouldn't get a pass for his weaknesses just because his predecessor was one of the worst coaches in the history of the game. Ime needs to improve.
And folks thought Jalen green was a diva. Who tf btches to media about his mins after a good win against a division rival? No wonder some whitmore fans likes him, share a common theme, I guess. The need to btch after wins. I like what Whitmore can bring to the team but his mindset isn't like a team player. U don't see Tate or holiday btching about their limited roles
People saying it's a bad look that Cam complained after a solid individual performance. Imagine complaining after a subpar performance. That would make even less sense. I am sure he felt vindicated, and rightfully so. A súper talented player like Cam should be given a way longer leash. Rockets have been patient with Greens horrible play for 4 years and FVV's abmissmal play this year yet Cam is held to a higher standard. Rockets should be investing more in Cam as he is a hell of a talent.
What exactly do you want out of Udoka….has basically the second best record in the West with zero all-stars on the team. I’d say he’s doing a phenomenal job!
Only delusional fans are calling for Cam to take Jalen's place right now. Reasonable fans do question Ime's preferential treatment to FVV, Jalen, and especially Reed. Ime needs to improve just like his players. His offense and his rotations are pure sh*t. Look how much better Boston's offense got when they jettisoned him. Cam is an immature 20 year old that got benched for having a great 1st half and had to watch Ime's teacher's pet, FVV play the entire 3rd quarter and watch Jalen go into a second half slumber. But, but, but we're third in the conference. We won't be at the end of January and if FVV doesn't have a revival, we won't make the playoffs and that will be on Ime and Stone. Cam shouldn't voice his frustration in the media, but man Ime calls out guys in the media all the time. He preaches accountability, but I've never once heard him take accountability for himself when behind the mic. This upcoming off-season is huge and Stone and Ime should be arming themselves with the best possible data they can on their young players. That means they should try and see what Jalen can do with a different running mate. What can Cam do with consistent minutes? Can Amen be the main facilitator? How does a PnR with Amen/Sengun or Cam/Sengun work? Will a Tari, Jabari, Sengun frontcourt work as a starting unit? There are so many questions that could be answered and still remain competitive. We can't win a chip just playing good defense.
Isn't a very likely possibility just that a 20 y/o Cam Whitmore isn't the best communicator? He didn't sound upset or sour. His words were not positive, sure, but I wonder how much of that is just him being a poor communicator, as most of us are at 20.
I want him to develop a decent offense, quit deferring to vets who are playing like crap, and develop for the future. We are third in the West after playing a weak schedule and catching team's without their stars. If we end up third in the West then you're argument holds water. Come at me again around the all-star break when we are again going to be fighting for a play-in spot. Ime is a good coach that has improved our team immensely, but he has to take the next step in his development to be a championship coach. Playing FVV 40m a night and Amen averaging less than 30 minutes, not sending Reed to the G-Leage and giving Cam his minutes, overusing his players to the point where Dillon Brooks is even complaining about being tired is not championship coaching. I'm grateful that we have a competitive team after the Westbrook/Harden fiascos and I credit Stone for sticking with his plan to re-build which we have done in record time. I am not satisfied as a fan in mediocrity and next off-season is critical to this team. We should be improving our offense, not just being satisfied with getting a playoff game or two.
Nobody on our team is a pure pg including FVV. The NBA has evolved and traditional roles have blurred into basically backcourt and frontcourt. It's not as simple as Cam doesn't play FVV's position so he can't take his minutes. Amen and Jalen could play together in the backcourt and Cam could get some minutes at SF. He could also take Reed's minutes as a guard. I would love to see an Amen/Cam backcourt to see how it would function. We should be experimenting with all kinds of combinations to inform our off-season. We are not contenders this year, unless we pull off a miracle trade for a tier 1 star. I personally believe we are going to be a play-in, not play-off, team this year. There is absolutely no reason FVV should be playing the monster minutes he is playing.
The question is does it off-set the sh*t on the stat sheet. Does it off-set his hero ball and logo 3 pointers down the stretch? Does his playing time hold back the development of our future stars? If you want FVV to be a coach, make him a coach. He doesn't have to on the floor 40m to be a coach. We are not a championship contender this year and maybe not even a play-off team, so playing FVV superstar minutes at terrible production is counter-productive to our future.
I had an opinion reading the comments until I actually listened to the video and thought… well that’s kind of a mumbled mess. Yes you can clearly see that he’s expressing displeasure with not having a larger role or something about his role, but the context is unclear because he really isn’t communicative at all. If I was Ime and Stone for sure I’d take notice and pull him in for a meeting to be like dude… what’s the problem?? Can we explain to you how the NBA works to help you have a successful career? Can we talk to your agent if you’d like us to communicate with him on a development plan for you to earn your extension in a couple seasons?? We see players like Cam flame out all the time in the NBA because of poor management and communication though. You get guys all the time that are as talented as gifted as anyone in the league, but have poor communication skills, a giant ego, poor agent management to work with the team and help you manage development KPI’s… and every time these players say some mumbling crap to reporters way too early in their career, get on the bad side of the coaches, then the GM trades them because they now know the coach won’t play them, then the same thing happens at the next stop and the next until they are playing over in China or wherever. These kids who literally are incapable of communicating clearly (can’t blame them. Anyone right out of high school can’t be expected to be media professionals) need the structural support of management like nobody’s business if the NBA wants better talent groomed long term instead of constantly churning young immature poor communicator after another because of stupid crap like this. Unfortunately I can’t see Cam being here too much longer unless he has a strong support system on his side personal who can help him better communicate with the team, set goals, and expectations more clearly. Ime has a giant ego too and will end his tenure here pretty quick just like most nba coaches do when a young prospect mumbles the wrong thing to the media.
