Hey look... AI says all the things that ive been saying... lol how should the rockets counter durant being double teamed? To counter opponents double-teaming Kevin Durant, the Houston Rockets must improve their off-ball movement, utilize secondary playmakers, and capitalize on their league-leading offensive rebounding. Offensive Strategic Adjustments Off-Ball Navigation: Instead of having Durant walk the ball up against pressure, the Rockets should start him off-ball. This allows him to catch in the post or on the move, where he can make quicker decisions before the double-team "clamps down". Active Outlets: Coach Ime Udoka has emphasized that teammates must handle "blitzes and hits" by being immediate outlets. Rather than standing around, players must cut to open spaces or come toward the ball to provide Durant an easy pass. Secondary Playmaking: Utilizing Reed Sheppard or Amen Thompson as primary ball-handlers can relieve Durant of the initial pressure, forcing defenders to account for another scoring or playmaking threat. Shooting over the Double: Because of Durant's 7'5" wingspan and elite touch, some analysts suggest he should pull up and shoot over double-teams rather than risk "live ball turnovers". ...but they dont know what theyre talking about.... lol
It failed because Ime and Stone failed. Not because of KD. They could have had an elite pg at this very moment, but they chose not.
He’s running cover , nothing else. Since Udoka has come here there’s been a big hold on insiders. The rockets punish people with access
I don't believe they could have had an elite point guard at any point this season, including before FVV was injured. They could have had a competent one tho .... big stretch between elite and competent.
not KD’s fault. A collective of players, coaching, and management. The biggest takeaway is the roster design is flawed. The most blame should be put on Stone and the management team
Ultimately, you are correct. But I believe Stone gave Ime what he wanted as far as personnel. Then there's the FVV injury, Stone probably could have gotten a guard after December 15th for that contract and didn't to appease Ime - DFS is his guy. I think Stone has to hit this offseason out of the park or he might be on the hot seat and it's all because he gave Ime what he asked for. He has a built in excuse this season and punted. Next year there's no such built in excuse - for either of them.
I’d really like to see more reporting on this, but I don’t think that’s quite how our FO situation works. My understanding is that Stone/Witus execute trades, contracts, scouting, draft etc, and are the idea guys behind long term strategy and cap planning. But Ime’s input matters, and increasingly Patrick Fertitta’s is pretty decisive on go / no go decisions like the KD trade or whether to go for it at the trade deadline. So I highly doubt Stone is close to the hot seat you’re describing, because he’s not an island making those decisions. The KD trade was definitely not pushed by Stone, for example, and the Fertittas aren’t going to fire themselves.
If so, they are cooked, because each individual is overlapping, while everyone looked like they are contributing. This is not how professional work sharing should look like......each guy should do his own work. Imagine 2-4 guys are all doing the recruitment work ....incl. Ime Udoka saying no to Harden. Saying yes to Reggie Bullock and DFS.
Honestly, I don't think the KD trade was such a mistake. They got rid of a guy on what was perceived as a bad contract who was very inconsistent for maybe the greatest shooter in the game's history (argue between KD and Steph). I still feel like they won that trade. What they didn't do collectively was replace Green as a secondary ball handler nor did they have a backup plan for FVV other than to lean into Amen and Reed - but double down on forwards that can't dribble or pass but supposedly play good defense and cap yourself out doing it. I really believe that Stone gave Ime what he asked for in that instance - and the evidence since backs that up - playing Okogie, Tari and DFS over guards while forcing KD to be the initiator and even five forward lineups, often and recently to not having Reed on the floor when you need a 3 multiple occasions. Maybe you are correct, that Stone isn't on the hot seat because of the front office structure - but someone will eventually have to be the fall guy and it won't be the Fertitta's. I don't think that happens after this season but it's inevitable. I don't think Stone has done a bad job either, he's assembled a lot of talent, and he wasn't fortunate with respect to draft position in any draft, not like the Spurs, Mav's, OKC, Detroit or even Atlanta. There was never a franchise player available when they picked and aside from Green & Garuba (Scottie Barnes and Quintin Grimes), I'd probably have made the same choices with each pick.
Agree with a lot of that, but my point is: I don’t think Stone as a “fall guy” even makes sense for these kinds of decisions - Stone is already on a path to not being the lead basketball decisionmaker anyway; that’ll be Patrick Fertitta. So the model of Stone being on the hook for outcomes is wrong - he’s probably getting judged on a) how well he executes transactions and b) how much the Fertittas like him / how loyal he’s perceived to be. My impression is that Stone indexes highly on both. There’s not going to be a new real GM if Stone weren’t here anymore. Just somebody to do the grunt work and execute transactions for Patrick and be the frontman “GM” in name only. So to the Fertittas, that might as well be Stone.
Durant had an awful series vs Celtics in '22, leading to a 1st round sweep. Been basically downward ever since. Some of the same traps we see today, but more single coverage D Yes that is Ime Udoka team stopping Durant lol. Ime should know Durant's tendencies better than anyone. Making it more odd how it hasn't worked out
