Another issue with KD is that he has the slowest average speed on the entire roster when he's on the court. Sheppard and Amen have the quickest average speed among players who actually play. There are guys busting their ass out there.... and then there's KD and Sengun loafing about aimlessly.
Bari... just isn't important enough that keeping him or not keeping him matters that much. Bari may not be good enough to build around, but he just does not make it difficult to play other players (except Tari who is in the same boat), either.
Amen and Reed also share the ability to run a fast break. Sengun is the odd man out (as is old man Dickerson). Amen/Reed present one way of constructing a team. Sengun/Dickerson/FVV present a different way. The reality is that....probably the best way to win moving forward for the rest of the season is to bench Amen when FVV comes back and run FVV/Tari/Dickerson/Jabari/Sengun. Then Amen/Reed/Capela can take advantage of tired legs with their speed. What would it lead to? Who knows but it'll for sure go farther than Sengun sharing a court with Amen or Reed for long stretches. Then you trade Sengun in the offseason while his value is high on the back of a hopefully decent post season run. The team isn't dumb. They know Sengun doesn't work with these cats. But like Jalen before him....we need to figure out a way to plump up his value before trading him for Boozer or Wilson or Dybantsa.
I'm not reading that entire tantrum, but I have a feeling it's the same BS we'd hear from Lin fans when they'd get called out for ******** on Harden to try to prop their boy up. I'm sorry this is happening to you, it must be traumatic. I wouldn't know because I've never been a player first fan.
Might not be the worst thing if we come to accept something Tillman is a disgrace of an owner and will likely swallow Udokas contract Sheppard is succeeding despite Udokas braindead offensive schemes etc, he’d be better off somewhere else and I’m sure Udoka is itching for another DFS type forward. They need to blow it up to be honest. Faster rebuild that way
When you look at the on court offensive/defensive ratings one of those guys was a negative despite who he was with … it wasn’t Sheppard.
I notice the same thing. I feel like our entire team and Sengun in particular busted their ass way more last year. Fred and Dillon aren't perfect players but you know you are going to get effort. And effort is definitely contagious. I don't remember thinking Alpy was dogging it much last year. This year KD picking his spots has led to Alpy doing the same and the lack of intensity is trickling down to the entire roster. Even Amen, Tari seem far less engaged than they used to be. The only rotation guy that consistently goes hard is Okogie
Udoka may be the worst coach on the planet for Reed's offensive game. I get the stats police will shake their fists at the sky over this, but the Rockets have a Defensive Rating of 104.3 with Reed when Sengun is off the floor. Adams and Capela aren't Wemby. I have confidence that Reed can run an offense with some shooting with Udoka as coach. I doubt the Rockets can continue to play that well defensively with Reed and without Sengun, but I think Udoka has proven he can build a defense with Reed on the court.
I think Amen's level of engagement is still about as high as it was, but he's having to expend a lot more energy on the offensive end than last season, so there's less remaining for defense. He's also #2 in the NBA in total minutes played, so that can't be helping either. But I do agree with your overall point. The culture has shifted, and losing Fred and Dillon as the veteran leaders and having old man "just gonna get my points and climb the leaderboard" KD instead is probably why. I remember worrying about this when we were all talking about trading for him. He is a "me" player who is just running up the high score until retirement at this point. He's not a team-first guy.
Minutes played is a concern. Reed as well. Going from an inconsistent 15-20 to 30+ with primary ball handling is a big jump. I mean, he’s not logging tall timbers but…
I told folks that we are better with Capela starting.....in my Sengun as a 6th man thread and got laughed at......DD on fire. DD
He is a shooting guard that can really pass well and do lead guard stuff......the whole team is not good defensively so his D is also emphasized..
I don’t think anyone other than Amen is untouchable, but the return for Sengun or Reed needs to be substantial like 26 top 4 pick substantial. Jabari isn’t going anywhere with all that potential and a very reasonable contract at age 22. I think Tari’s body language and poor play lately has really cost him a lot of money. He’ll probably end up signing a qualifying offer and go to free agency next off-season. The most likely outcome is we run it back with FVV’s and Adam’s heralded return.
Just thought it was worth posting in this thread. We all know the Rockets are 8-2 with Reed as a starter. Well, maybe Ime doesn't know, but everyone else does. The record of the starting five that Ime seems to have fallen in love with since Christmas Day at the Lakers(Alpi, Jabari, Tari, Amen, KD) is 8-7. That's right. Our coach continues to insist on starting a combination that's only 1 game above .500 during a sample size of nearly 20% of the season. EDIT: I also decided to look at the Rockets' record with Okogie as a starter since he's been out there a lot, especially early in the season. They're 18-9 with him as a starter. Ime has for whatever reason settled on arguably the worst possible combination as his starting 5 and nothing short of injuries will make him budge.
Remember when we were 11-1 when Okogie started? I want Reed to start, but that is a stupid stat to make the case. We have 3 major problems: 1. Ime 2. Stone 3. Sengun playing terribly (for whatever reason). Starting Reed is the right thing to do for his development and our future. This team is screwed this year and probably next. I knew the 2nd seed last year was fool’s gold. We need to be planning to compete in 28 and not blow it up for a Giannis or Jrue Holiday while employing this head coach. Maybe Reed will play so well, that Tito will force Ime to start him over FVV next year.
Hey, if you give me a choice, I'm starting Reed. But if the feeling by the coaching staff is that we need a scoring threat off the bench(which is a fair take), then start Okogie and bring Reed off the bench(but give him 30+ minutes a night and let him close if he's got it going). My point is that this current lineup that Ime is fixated on is NOT WORKING. Even in the games they've won recently, it's because the bench came in and saved them(Charlotte, Orlando). We have a thick-skulled, one-dimensional coach who only cares about defense, so he's opting for a starting 5 that he thinks is great at that end of the floor when in actuality they're not able to stop anyone, not even the G-League Warriors(whom even Utah was able to beat last night). And they're horrendous at the offensive end, so we wind up with the worst of both worlds.
