Doubling Down on Stupid: Prioritizing Veterans Over the Future

They need to start DS over Gordon

 

Gordon should have been traded. I love Gordon. He just doesn't belong here anymore.

The team should have kept Augustine and not gotten Shrodinger also. We need one solid vet presence at the guard spot and Augustine is better suited for that role.

This way Green, KPJ and Christopher get the minutes they need for development.

But obviously that didn't happen and now we are stuck

 

Although I understand their approach of bringing in another veteran to help steer the rookies in the right direction, this summer they need to make trades to lower the number of guards on the roster.

I think they may trade EG and Christopher, instead of Shoerder. I think they are finally understanding too many rookies at 1 time is not good.

 

Because "The Process," took about 7 years of being bad to
then start working.

Drafting Nerlens Noel and Ben Simmons only to sit their first season.
This is why I don't feel so bad about Jalen Green using this season as a
transition period of getting stronger, learning the travel of NBA squads,
and opponents favorite shots, opponents (teams) favorite plays.

We are in our own "Process" as well.

 

If it's not one thing it's another. If we traded all our vets for peanuts. People would complain about that.

1 season into rebuild. Chill. It's not that serious.

 

As I said before KPJ and Wood hold this team back. It is very apparent to me and last night was another example of this. I have been saying KPJ is not the right fit at the 1 for numerous reasons and his play isn’t conducive to developing Green who should be one of the main guys to make plays. This is why I’ve advocated for Nix who with the Vipers allowed Green to play his game without trying to do too much like KPJ. I have no problem with Tate because he gets buckets and creates positive offense. But the top 2 guys are the reason this team isn’t good and don’t play as a unit.

 

Really bad situation with Gordon and Schroeder on the roster.

We need to give most of the backcourt minutes to KPJ, Green, Jaygup. Let Tate, Matthews and KJ develop at SF (yes, they'll play some backup PF too).

Wood is getting tolerable but I want Tate at the 3, Wood as the stretch 4 and Sengun at the 5. I really don't care if it doesn't look great, it already doesn't look great. Can live with Tate in the corner and Sengun setting picks or creating from high post, learning to guard the interior better.

Baffling. Schroeder would have to have the best season of his career to be worth more than a very late first round pick. Is that really worth it? Can't we develop more value than that internally giving our guys extra minutes? I can't understand a tank strategy that prioritizes a reclamation project over first round picks gaining experience.

 

I like Christopher a lot. He is well rounded as a player and seems to work very hard. He also has exhibitted the most improvement on our team from preseason to now. I am not on board with his diminished role.

 

Getting rid of Wood and finding a new coach would vastly improve the Rockets.

 

I think you like many of these people advocating Rookies to play etc are undervaluing the importance of veteran presence on the court. Schroeder and EG have a lot of experience combined and have played at a higher level and have been in a lot of big games in the past. The knowledge and wisdom is invaluable and just isn’t present on this young roster. It can be simple things as encouraging younger players to focus more or to more technical things such as being in the right position on the court or making adjustments to what defenses are doing. The play on the court with veterans develop winning habits. It allows players to have experience playing at a higher level. This cannot be measured and invaluable to any organization whether it’s sports or a company. That’s one of the reasons they signed Theis.

And remember KPJ isn’t any spring chicken. This is his 3rd year and not much to show for in terms of overall improvement. I agree to some extent yes let’s see Nix at some point. Let’s see Green get more touches. But as painful as it is Wood is still better than Sengun. And they are still evaluating and experimenting with KPJ. Until they get rid of those 2 we will see much of the same till the season ends.

And at the end of the day Silas has gone on record to say that he wants to build a winning culture. That’s what it’s about. You can’t build a winning culture with just rookies who never won before or just don’t have the savvy and experience. Almost no teams operate like this. And it’s not as if the rookies aren’t playing at all. In due time Green and Sengun will be the new stars of tomorrow. In due time.

 

Dude it’s not as simple as you think. The organization has invested in KPJ and Wood. This is the duo they are rolling with. Agree or not this is what’s happening. Until those 2 are removed you will see much of what’s going on till the end of the season. Unfortunately this has slowed the development of Green and maybe Sengun. But other vets such as EG and Schroeder are adding on court leadership and winning habits something that is invaluable to a team. Never underestimate this. No one expects to win. It’s about establishing a winning culture with a bad inexperienced young team. It’s about winning habits. So you play to win games. You put the best combinations together to try to generate wins, increase cohesiveness, and winning habits. You can’t build winning habits and a culture without veteran guidance.

The raptors of today didn’t come out of nowhere. They had vet leadership and tutelage from players Gasol Danny Green and Lowry. The OG’s, Siakam, Van Fleets earned their stripes playing 2-3 years under these vets to get where they are today. You see the same thing with the Suns with guys like Bridges and Ayton and even Booker for some extent who got better with guys like Rubio, Jae Crowder, and CP3 guiding them. And that same evolution is happening in Golden State with Curry and Green’s leadership guiding guys like Lee, payton and Poole who played at least 2-3 years before it came together. It takes time. Relax.

 

No JC is fine. Schroeder is an expiring contract. Not likely to be here in my opinion. But is for temp tutelage and leadership. In a rebuild you mix young and vets. Don’t believe me? Look at warriors past 3 years. Raptors couple years before their title. And Suns last 3-4 years.

 

You can get tutelage and leadership from a vet minimum player playing 10-15 minutes a game. It's an overpay and an overcommitment to something that is not going to accelerate their development more than actual minutes in the NBA. There are 5 amazing players on the court they are playing against, that's where they are supposed to learn the most.

 

No I disagree. You can’t just point to anyone and say here go out there and lead and be a mentor. This is where personnel decisions are important and why evaluations are important. It’s been reported the Rockets like the leadership and experience EG brings and I would imagine they like Schroeder for the same reason. As i have mentioned these guys have been on WINNING teams and played in big games. This wisdom means something. If you’re inexperienced and out there playing blindly against dominant teams and players more experienced sure there’s some education but the value of leadership mentorship and on court presence helps the process immensely.

I just mentioned the several teams who have mixed vets and developed their rookies who are now very good NBA players. I don’t even understand the overpay and overcommitment part you’re speaking of. They signed Wood couple years ago hoping he would be the man. They got KPJ for cheap thinking he could be something. EG is a leftover from the glory days and Schroeder was brought in to get rid of Theis’ contract. So what over commitment or overpaying are you speaking of? Like I said no teams play just rookies while giving their vets minimum minutes. You play your best players, you develop good habits, and you build a winning culture. KPJ wood Tate etc doesn’t know what winning basketball is. So here’s some guys that can help guide them along the way. Nothing wrong with that.

 

You don't have to find any bum, there are players who can do it. It's total overkill. You could make the case that one of them is helpful, but there is no case for both of them needing to be here and start and take a high number of shots/possessions. That's the over commitment. I would not care if they were both coming off the bench for example.

You're also just flat out ignoring what the rest of our rotation looks like. We have a lot of guards. If you need mentors, spread em out.

 

Who says you can’t have more than one leader? I also mentioned you play your best players. And you try to win games to establish a winning culture and develop good habits and mindsets. As much as many including myself think Wood sucks he is still better than Sengun. KPJ is still being evaluated as a starting PG and besides Schroeder we don’t have a true PG. one of the weaknesses this team has. EG plays the 3. There’s 4 guards. 2 start and 2 on the bench. Playing time dictated by game flow. Green was playing well last night and the ball moves better with Schroeder.Silas possibly wanted to see how Schroeder a true pg plays with Green and Porter if theres any plans to move porter to the 3 in the future. A lot of times coaches mix and match and see what combinations work especially with new additions to the team. JC has had decent amount of playing time this year. Let’s wait and see how this all pans out.

 

why not just find a new coach?

 

Really not sure why you all blame Silas who is working what has been given to him while blaming Stone for the wrong reasons. Management decided to trade away Theis’ contract whom many of you advocated. They brought in an expiring contract and veteran player that could lead and help the young players. They were open to dealing EG but looking for picks or more value. No rush since he is another great veteran leader. You say you want to develop players and bench vets but still advocate playing Wood and KPJ who are both vets. I agree Stone’s moves have been questionable but disagree that it’s about these small time trades before the deadline. The question we should ask and our focus should be why management thought KPJ and Wood would work? And where the organization goes from here? I don’t think either KPJ or Wood will be in Roc future. Stone already put Wood in that Laker deal. KPJ has been a low cost big reward guy that we hoped would pan out and if not he can be traded next year or no rookie extension will be given. But the onus should be on management on the Wood KPJ decision and how they may have hampered the development of Green and Sengun.