Great discourse here, and I agree with most of these points. Shooting is our biggest need, and to win you need true star players agreed. The key is that team shooting for the Rockets and all the final four in the NBA playoffs is that the shooting needs to improve from the players who take the most shots, role players don't really move the needle as much. We can get Sheppard and he can help shooting, but to really help the team's shooting, internal growth and shooting by those who take the most shots is what will move the needle. Our young team needs to develop into true all-stars with shooting as well as the all-around game. This draft will bring complementary players to help win the series, athletic bigs like Gordon, Porter Jr, Naz Reid etc. or a role player shooter like Reed Sheppard to help their teams. I personally would like an athletic big that can shoot and spread the floor. But the heart of the team has to elevate, the main thing is still the main thing. Core superstars who can shoot with volume are needed to win championships. All of these teams, the Stars take the most shooting and 3pt volume. We need the same to move the needle the most there IMO, role players can only do so much. Minnesota Dallas Boston Indiana Houston
If that’s the case then who starts? You can’t play Sengun and another big who can’t stretch defenses together. That’s why Sengun is a conundrum and the dilemma is whether he is the center for this team moving forward. Just drafting a big that can defend and rebound won’t solve the Rockets issues of not being able to stretch defenses and allowing opponents to pack the paint and sag their players. Perhaps they draft a big for the future or insurance in case Adams doesn’t work out or they trade Sengun. If you look at the top teams they either have a good defensive center that can play high screen and roll/lob threat (gobert, lively, hartenstein) or they are a stretch 5 (Porzingis, jokic, embiid, turner) or in some cases both (turner, embiid). Jokic as discussed several times in several threads does some things similar to Sengun as he is a good short roll guy but he is a stretch 5 and defenses play and react to him differently on the perimeter. While limited defensively he still deters more players in the paint being heavier, taller, and having a longer wingspan than Sengun. It will be interesting to see what this team does moving forward.
By bullying Kevin Love...Adebayo was the only Big that was effective, that's why I said "Bigs" in plural context because you'll need a village to be effective
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was a salary match throw-in in the Mike Conley trade and then ended up being a decent 3&D role player. What a time to be alive.
Definitely need your main players to shoot well, but if you look at Dallas and Minnesota it was really the "others" that helped get them further. Shai and Jokic both played very well in their series and both still lost while Luka and Edwards had meh shooting performances. But personally, i dont agree with capping Reed as a complimentary player. I keep seeing people label him as a super sub or complimentary piece and talk about him coming off the bench at Kentucky...but i think it could be argued he was Kentucky's best player and should have played much more. Even though he came off the bench he was third in minutes. Only a 5th yr guard and a big man played more minutes and Reed was only 2 mins/gm behind the top guy. He led their team in several categories as a true Freshman. I think if he'd have officially been given the keys Kentucky would've been even better. I personally think he can be more than just a role player on this team.
"They're built to beat us" Joker is an all-time great but it was a tough series and although he's impossible to stop, they did as good a job as a team has done on him recently.
We'll see, if we draft him I hope so. But to be honest, I think there are players in this draft that I like better as prospects to pick up, you never know though if he wasn't used properly.
Out of those 4 playoff teams you show, none of those 20 players have an average as low as Jalen's. None! We definitely need our better 3 PT shot takers to take more of the shots, but we also need another more proficient shooter on our team. I really want Sheppard bad! We need another guard who can shoot 3's really well. Fred isn't enough. But....we also need our coach to make that happen! Jalen has no business taking 600 3PT shots! It's sickening to watch. He thinks he is so great at taking 3's and he isn't. I'm sick of "Primadonna on a Pedestal" for 3 years doing whatever the hell he wants and a coach that just lets him chuck chuck chuck away.
Well put. Sengun’s inability to shoot or defend makes it impossible to make him the franchise of any organization
Out of a sample size of four teams that's a rather arbitrary stat. What's more reliable is what is Jalen Green's effect on offense for the season in things like points per possession and off drive rating. Jalen Green needing him to be a more consistent shooter doesn't dismiss the aspects of his game currently that benefit the team's offense. I went to ask you something. What is the one talent that Green has that is not replicable on this roster that Stone was referring to? Keep in mind you can believe his assessment is wrong but what do you think he is referring to? It isn't athleticism because we have other elite athletes like Cam and Amen. Don't throw the baby out of the bathwater just because he needs to be a more consistent shooter.
Absolutely right. The biggest weakness of this team is outside shooting, and not from the center positions necessarily, but from all positions. There is no significant outside threat from anyone on the roster. The defensive ratings of the team are excellent and can be considered on an elite level. But the offense is atrocious. The team needs to leverage its assets to get bonafide shooters.
You must be reffering to the young guys then. Because FVV this season was 39% on really high volume at 8 a game. That's great efficiency from 3. Where he's atrocious is at the rim. Basically the opposite of Amen.
I think Denver won last yr because they had athletic bigs around Jokic, in Gordan and MPJ. Which I think is the approach the Rockets need to take if they want to keep Sengun. Surround him with bigger forwards or another backup big. Denver and Minn were basically even, Minn just outlasted them because Jokic played extended mins and Denver didn't have a quality BIG to back him up, whereas Minn had three bigs.....which is why I think we need Clingan or Sarr.
FVV is the only really good 3 PT shooter. We need more. We already have guys who can score at the rim.
Very true, indeed. It's hard to fathom why there are folks who can't see the forest for the trees. One poster who keeps harping on the need for a center is a rabid anti Sengun but doesn't provide a coherent reason for his posts.
there is a difference between finishing at the rim and creating opportunities at the rim for himself and the team. Outside Sengun, Green is the only one with that ability at the moment. He is the only backcourt player who is capable of this even when defenses are collapsing on him. He is the only one capable of these type of plays on this team. Creation off the dribble even when teams are doubling and game planning for you. Mainly watch the second half highlights when defenders are really hard doubling and having all eyes on him. He is the only one who can score at the rim or create for others with teams squared in on him through pure self creation off the dribble outside of Sengun of course. That's why many see those two as the two most important offensive pieces at least. Fred is horrible creating at the rim btw That is what Stone means by a "not replicated skillset on this roster currently"
Like I said a million times already, like him if you want. I don't. I don't give a damn about a skillet of some guy when he takes 600 3PT shots at a bottom tier level percentage. It's ridiculous. That crap won't get us far enough competitively.
