KPJ and Wood have always been low character guys known throughout the league. But there’s always hope and redemption.
Narratives only suit the author. The guys who were down from the start - the RGV Crew - knew what KPJ could be. If one were so inclined they could see some of the contradictions and backtracking just by revisiting the thread from the beginning, but who really cares? LOL KPJ is playing great and whether it came game 1 or game 20 fans just needed to support him instead of showing their fangs. Rockets fans these days are pretty ruthless!
And if reverse, if Jalen Green was playing with this new spacing by made 3's..... he would be killing it also (with Porter sitting). In fact Green was killing it that very game as he was going off for 11 points in 10 of the first quarter prior to tweaking the hamstring. It's just problematic to have both on the court at the same time. You separate them and then you bring them together after they get confidence. It wasn't always easy having Harden with Lin or Harden with CP3 or Harden with Westbrook. Often we had to stagger substitution their minutes....and they were further along in their development as point guards compared to Porter/Green.
Jalen just needs to regain his shooting touch and he will take off like the rest of the guys have. 41 offense is the way to go with this team vs 5 out and infinitely better than the 3 out 2 big lineup he started the year with. I feel KPJ and Jalen will groove with the space needed. KPJ is tightening up his passing and I think they will get in sync.
Well since October I've said the players provide no spacing. I pointed out how Tate was wide open in the corner for the final play vs Denver and the jackalope came diving to the rim. Brought the blocked shot to Jokic. The 3's have been open all season, but now we are making them. Thanks to Garrison Mathews. He has that "Big Shot Rob" mentality after he was traded to Detroit but then was not. Robert Horry said, "what's the worst thing Houston can do to me if I take the 3 and miss it?........TRADE ME? Yeah, they already did that!" Now Brooks has settled down. _________________ Jalen Green (first 14 games): 36% (FG%) (3 games w/o Porter): 44.1% (FG%) (Porter back, Theis out): 80% (FG%) ___________________ Tate (First 17 games): 1.8 assists (3 games w/o Their): 4.7 assists ____________________ Tate (First 17 games): 26.2% (3P%) 3 games w/o Theis): 20.0% (3P%) __________________________ Theis shot 33% from 3 on 4.7 3PA's per game his final 9 games. You just can't have Porter, Green, Tate, Theis all starting and struggling from 3. Turnovers galore. Theis was brought in to be the Roll Man in Pick-n-Roll as he is 72.6 in NBA percentile and Wood is 57.5% and Sengun is 27.4% in NBA percentile. But I'm not sure we will see much of Theis again. Where Theis is better than Sengun as Roll Man, Cutter, and Transition; Sengun is better at Isolations, Post Ups, and Put Backs. Roll Man Theis 72.6 NBA percentile Sengun 27.4 NBA percentile Cutter Theis 81.2 NBA percentile Sengun 13.3 NBA percentile Transition Theis 11.8 NBA percentile Sengun 2.7 NBA percentile ----- Isolations Sengun 73.4 NBA percentile Theis ----- Post Up Sengun 43.2 NBA percentile Theis --------- Put Backs Sengun 85.2 NBA percentile Theis --------- ______________________________ Why neither Sengun or Theis are getting much minutes is because of PACE. Rockets were one of the fastest PACE teams before sitting Theis.....now the Rockets are killing teams with Pace. Kenyon Martin jr being one of the best in Transition as he scores as 96.6 in NBA percentile with a 19.7% freq. *Side Note: Theis was suppose to be the good defender. Theis has a 111 DRtg......Sengun 105 DRtg. Assist% Theis I like 5%.....Sengun in the 20's. Not sure if we see Theis much, moving forward.
Like I said… we were going to give KPJ the season to see what he’s got. These last games have been much better, due mostly to the improved spacing, but it’s still a long season.
True, but we see major growth and so can the rest of the league, so we might be able to flip him if we decide not to keep him. https://www.espn.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/hou He needs to shoot a LOT better. DD
It's not even really about shooting better so much as being more selective to take good shots. He takes a lot of those fade away mid range jumpers that are poor shots....some of them are at the end of the clock because the team doesn't have many end of clock options outside of him and Jalen but the point is he has to show more discipline on the unforced ones.
Oh I totally agree, so many of his misses are when he bowls into the lane with nowhere to go...if he had a floater, or a tear drop, or even a stop and pop inside the FT line like CP3, his numbers will go way up. DD
I wish we knew whose idea it was to keep playing that lineup night after night as we sunk to 1-15 playing all-time bad basketball. Either Silas or Stone was dead wrong about something and I'd like to know who to blame. I don't think we know enough to assume, although lineups and rotations are usually a coaching decision, front offices can and do interfere.
Nailed it - he absolutely needs one go to mid range move like that. I would also like to see our guys hanging out at the 3 pt line on drives to actually move instead of ball watching. Once KPJ starts driving most guys freeze in place - few players cut and decent defenders know to cover passing lanes and it leaves KPJ little to work with. He shouldn't force the issue like he does, but it's worth noting inexperienced players generally do a poor job at this and we know this team is full of inexperience. Would like to see that become a focus area for the coaching staff and generally implement more options for KPJ or Green in those situations - maybe utilizing the "dunker's spot" more consistently, etc....
Well sure, no one is untouchable on our roster. KPJ is due a contract after a team friendly option next season so this is a perfect “what are you” type of season.
I can't act like assist count is the end-all-be-all of good decision making and a PG skill set, it can also be the result of ball dominance, but I agree, he is slowly maturing into a good hybrid PG. No reason to stop the experiment.
Only speaking for myself. The jury is still out on KPJ. Him figuring out last few games is good for the team. No complaints there. One surprise, is him showing ability to throw lobs to different teammates. The vertical threat can open up more possibilities. I need more consistent play to forget that really awful stretch at start of the season. That said, I'm NOT for Wall taking KPJ's minutes. I rather know now if KPJ is worth it than later. None of this wishy-washy, swap with Wall every other game, where at the end of year, Rockets don't know if KPJ is being good at PG.
