The Udoka knows Sengun lack of defense is a major problem

Yes kpj was there, but Udoka said it was smart of him to be there to angle for playing time, implying that in his mind there was no guaranteed playing time for kpj, meaning he is likely a back up. Quick, let me go make a thread about it.

 

Post footwork is completely different than quickness on defense, especially lateral quickness / mobility. That's not to say I am passing judgement defensively as outside of 2-3 players our entire team was garbage on D as a whole. Green for example was a complete b**** on defense for like 99% of the season and KPJ wasn't too far behind in their dual turnstile act on the perimeter. KPJ's only blessing was that Silas would irrationally sub in GM or Nix whenever he sat. Personally, I am waiting for us to actually have a team defensive system in place AND the coach holding players responsible for their defensive roles before I pass judgement on ANY player.

 

10 % Sengun and JGreen might leave the team
20 % Jabari
25 % Tari

KPJ? 100 %.

Some KPJstans try to create a "red herring" from Ime's press.

 

I don't see it that way at all, and I'm a big fan of our Turkish big man and Mister Smith, Junior. I think Sengun and Jabari are both staying right here, but the days of the potpourri of bigs that remain will soon depart, including our beloved Boban. We'll add another big with serious defensive talent and a decent shot from downtown, in my opinion. Just don't ask me who that might be!

 

Mobley

 

Trying to be ironic. Sengun/JGreen/Bari/Tari+'23 pick is championship formula. No one should touch the quartet+'23 pick and Tari's mother (especially Ime).

Sorry for misleading.

 

Thing is I think the team is going to look much different after this offseason anyway, and even more different when we're ready to actually contend for a title. I think it's very possible Sengun will end up being traded, but I could also see him fitting what we're doing just fine. I don't think there's any reason he can't fit alongside Jalen & Jabari, if all three of them improve at defense and outside shooting, which I think they may. Whether Sengun fits the overall team concept will depend on what else happens with roster moves.

I wouldn't rule out trading him this offseason but I wouldn't be aggressive with it either. I don't have any problem with the Rockets going into next season with those three players still together. We can always make trades at the deadline or next offseason. We have time to let the team grow and make a better determination as we move forward.

 

If Udoka doesn't respect Boban he's going to find himself out of here very quickly.

 

I could definitely see Jalen + Alpi + Jabari as a team archetype similar to Kobe + Gasol + Odom. It will require better defense, and just lots of general improvement, from all three players but it is a championship-proven team structure.

 

We don't know that Udoka is a good HC or not. Boston was ready or Udoka's touch made them good still unknown.

Forcing to trade the best player of the team won't help Udoka's career. There is a possibility Ime having a short NBA career if he is not really good. Nurse would be better pick, we have to accept the situation and hope Ime is really good.

Sengun is a proven player except some self-hating Rox fans but we don't know Ime yet. Hope he success.

 

If we get the first pick of this coming draft, all problems are solved. If not this coming season, the following one, in my opinion.
"All" it takes is Lady Luck smiling on us this coming May 16th. Easy, right?

 

I want Derrick Lively with our second pick. To back up Sengun. Doesn't mean I don't have love for Sengun. I just want quality depth and a rim protector coming off the bench. I think that is all that Ime was alluding to. No big deal. Sof's are getting trolled lol. Sengun will be fine.

 

The way I heard it: ‘Sengun is obviously the most promising and solid player here. And I will hold the best player accountable as well.’

 

The quote doesn't match the title, you basically just heard what you wanted to hear.

 

Smith doesn’t suck on defense at all. He lets quicker wings or elite guys past him sometimes on the perimeter but those guys are tough covers for anyone. He still plays hard and challenges players in the paint. Green is underrated in my opinion. He seemed to play better D late this season. Does good job cutting players off and moving laterally better.

 

Agreed about Green. I think Green has shown obvious potential as a two-way player. He is not there yet and has some big holes in his defensive game, but that's common for guys his age. Most young players don't lock in defensively for at least a few years, sometimes not until the middle of their careers.

 

there are basically no metrics of any kind that support any of our key young players being good defensively, outside of Tari.

indeed eye test says there is stuff there to work with but it hasn’t translated at all yet so until it does they’re bad defensively…. Just objectively.

 

I don't think this generalization is well supported. There's lots of first and second year players who carved out a rep as effective defenders recently - look no further than some of the players drafted after Green.

 

Like Evan Mobley, who just showed he's not ready to be a lockdown defender on the biggest stage and made Bill Simmons and co. look ridiculous? (I still think Mobley will be a very good defensive player, but like most 21-year-olds, he isn't there yet.)

I also think there's a role thing going on here. Green was asked to be the #1 option on offense and has been trying to learn that role. A rookie who gets on a good team that already has leading scorers is going to be asked to focus on different things.

 

Dude he took a .500 team the previous year to the finals and almost beat/should have beat the mighty Warriors. He did what Stevens couldn’t in 8 years as head coach. His team that year also had a better offensive and defensive rating than the previous year with Stevens. And that 21-22 team led the league in lowest opp ppg.