This far into the season, I expected some player(s) to have a hard time adjusting to Ime's ways. I thought some player would resent their playing time getting reduced. I expected some amount of friction from somebody. But there hasnt been (that we know of). All the guys have seemingly bought in and seem happy. That is a bit of a surprise to me. Now probably, there are a couple guys not happy about their lack of playing time. Landale and Bullock perhaps. But if they are, I havent seen it become public. The whole team is holding together. On the same page and it has seemed that way since day 1.
I knew Sengun would be good. But I was surprised he could out play Jokic head to head. Dillon Brooks is probably my biggest surprise. I am surprised by how good Holiday is. I had never paid any attention to his game before he joined the Rockets. I am surprised that Jabari has the lowest FGA among the starters. I am surprised nobody mentioned the fact that KPJ didn't even make it to preseason.
Biggest surprise is the Rox being above 0.500 after their hell schedule. If you told me the Rox had the worst record at this point Ala Pistons I wouldn't be surprised just look at our opponents Nuggets 4x in the first 21? Lol normally those would be 4 massive blowout losses automatically not to mention every match seems to always be either a contender or a playoff team except Grizz and Spurs. Kudos to Stone and Fertita for not listening all the haters the past 3yrs and always sticking to the game plan. The rebuild wasn't a OKc masterclass and relied on a hell of a lot of luck, but they still pulled through and completed it in 3 yrs.
Positives: - FVV and Brooks are doing better than expected. -Aaron means "strength of mountain" and Holiday deserves the name at the moment. -Bari finally started to grab rebs. -Tiago's presence brings peace. Negatives: -Although Rockets pays $20M/year for back-up bigs no yield back yet -No improvement from Alp in rebounding. I know box-out but his rebound numbers is not better than year 2. -Still not enough time for Tari Eason. Unacceptable. - Would be 28 ppg JGreen is not in radar yet. -'23 picks are hibernating. We are not Grizzlies. -Ime's lack of concentration at the end of 3rds and the beginning of 4ths. -No improvement at half time shows. Edit: Dislike for Ryan Hollins is getting less when you start to win. Even he and his bizarre hairstyle becomes bearable.
Not calling you a liar or anything, but how do the refs rig Dillon's shooting? Could we pay them to do the same for Amen and Jalen?
Biggest surprise how ime get this team in defence mode and they playing well. Also surprised that smith playing well and he knows his role now. Sengun playing like a all star is not a surprise for me i said it since 2 jears. He is a franchise player and abo all star he will leave in 4 jears and going to LA
Brooks and it’s not even close. Brooks was factually one of the worst offensive players of the last 5 years. He’s not some offensive savant now, but this is the first year of his entire career where he has played smart on that end and so far the shots are still falling.
I wanted Grant Williams, and he was had for a reasonable (cheaper) price (by the Mavs). A likable dude to an unlikable team. Didn't have issue with Brooks' skills, (even on offense). Very few lights out shooters came from last year's class, so was not surprised when Dillon was/is one of the more efficient shooters. Actually don't like the narrative that Dillon shouldn't take too many shots, if offense is slumping, should find the guy who is hot, including feeding Dillon if he is warming up. Arbitrary putting a cap on number of shots for Brooks (because of reputation?) is short-sighted. Have folks seen our shooting?, we should take it from whomever you can get; especially in this team ball offense. The surprise to me is the coaching. We all thought it'd be different but I didn't expect it to see results this immediatee. The defensive improvement, the getting the players to buy in. The fact that we got most of the Boston's assistant staff to come cover to a rebuild team was a big surprise.
I'd say our record, how quickly Ime has changed the team culture and Dillion Brooks. I hated the Brooks signing but he's helped the team. I knew Sengun would be good. Maybe not this good this quickly but I can't call it a surprise
It must be a sophisticated magnetic system involving the rim and ball. I always thought those Curry 3s looked like they were getting sucked into the hoop! It's all rigged maaaaan! Adam Silver is a shapeshifting lizard!
I don't think people were advocating a cap to his shot attempts. It's all about shot selection. The reason why his efficiency was so low in Memphis was because he took too many bad shots. His FGA was way too high for a guy who is limited in creating shots. He was not a bad shooter, just a bad shot selector. (I still don't believe he is a 40% 3pt shooter, yet. But he's not a bad shooter.) Add to that his quote about wanting a larger role on offense scared a lot of people, including me. So far his shot selection has been great. So far he took 15 or more FGAs only in two games, and both times those were good shots.
