Play 5 out.

Remember when the Spurs didn't care about the season and let Sochan play PG just to try it out? We should do all kinds of goofy stuff now that we have nothing to lose.

 

Five out or small ball, Hell yea!
Hey…Hold on, ain't that heavily relies on high 3pt percentile? Pfffffffff
Anyway let's give it a shot whatsoever ime ain't got no better options.

 

Forwhatever reason, Udoka does NOT want to play Smith at the 5. I've seen it literally once this season and that came like a week ago for 3 minutes.

 

I realize he's been better lately. I still don't consider him a part of our future and don't care to see him playing 35 minutes a game.

 

Rockets played a number of non-Center lineups this year. Aside from some Eason bench runs, the results have been - not great.





[/tr]

Rk	Lineup	MP	PTS
1	D. Brooks J. Green A. Sengun J. Smith F. VanVleet	754:08	-1.3
2	J. Green A. Sengun J. Smith J. Tate F. VanVleet	174:58	-5.1
3	D. Brooks J. Green A. Sengun J. Smith A. Thompson	79:20	-14.1
4	D. Brooks J. Green J. Green A. Sengun F. VanVleet	77:15	+5.1
5	J. Green A. Holiday J. Smith A. Thompson C. Whitmore	67:46	-9.0
6	T. Eason J. Green J. Green A. Holiday J. Tate	40:34	-3.7
7	D. Brooks T. Eason J. Green J. Smith F. VanVleet	34:51	-0.9
8	D. Brooks A. Holiday A. Sengun J. Tate F. VanVleet	34:24	+3.1
9	D. Brooks J. Green A. Holiday A. Sengun J. Smith	34:18	-28.2
10	J. Green J. Green A. Sengun J. Tate F. VanVleet	31:56	-4.2
11	J. Green A. Sengun J. Smith F. VanVleet C. Whitmore	30:47	+8.6
12	D. Brooks T. Eason J. Green A. Sengun F. VanVleet	28:22	-14.7
13	T. Eason A. Holiday A. Sengun J. Tate F. VanVleet	27:55	+37.0
14	D. Brooks J. Green J. Green J. Smith F. VanVleet	27:41	-9.2
15	D. Brooks J. Green A. Sengun J. Tate F. VanVleet	27:09	-26.6
16	D. Brooks A. Holiday A. Sengun J. Smith F. VanVleet	26:55	+27.1
17	D. Brooks J. Green A. Sengun A. Thompson F. VanVleet	26:33	+18.9
18	T. Eason J. Green A. Holiday J. Tate F. VanVleet	25:49	+31.1
19	D. Brooks J. Green A. Holiday A. Sengun F. VanVleet	24:57	+16.2
20	D. Brooks J. Green A. Sengun A. Thompson C. Whitmore	23:37	-18.9

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/12/2024.

This lends support to my theory that Sengun is the rockets most effective player overall.

 

i would just like Bari to get the ball more with Sengun out.

 

Still seems weird to boycott games just because Jock is playing.

 

I wouldn't even call it a boycott. I just don't have any interest in watching a team in which the guy who will likely be our third string center next year is playing starter minutes. What is the point in that? I've watched enough tanking these past 4 years and I was supportive throughout the process. But now I'm ready to watch competitive games. So I'll just take a break until next year if that's the route they go. And I'll turn my focus on to the upcoming draft and free agency as well as who might demand a trade.

 

Basketball Reference suggests that 22% of Smith's minutes this season have been at C. There have been quite a number of occasions that he played an extended stint in the middle.

 

This could be Jabari's opportunity to start breaking out. He's still way too thin to effectively guard the 5, but if We go with starting Amen (which IMO is the way to go), We can survive.

Looking at the remaining schedule, apart from Wemby and Bam, We don't face big men that will overwhelm Jabari. I think he can hold down the 5 the rest of the season.

His offense, though, could explode. With Alpi out, Bari becomes Fred's #1 pick and roll option. I'd like him to get the ball more, and try to get him involved on offense early. He can get going from the high post, and then move behind the line and clear the lanes for Amen/Cam/Jalen to attack. I'm hopeful he takes the next step. We need him to, and he's shown he can make a difference when he gets going as a primary option.

 

He hasn't looked good at the 5 - he isn't strong enough yet, and he has a poor center of gravity. He is far better defending the 3/4 and then coming over to help the 5.

If the Rockets go with Smith/Brooks/Amen at the 3-5, you will likely see Brooks covering the 5 and maybe even Amen before Smith - Amen is actually as long as Jabari and longer than Brooks.

 

Agreed, at least initially on plays - a lot of times he ends up on someone else. He hasn't been terribly good at it IMO unless he is playing another non center.

 

Yeah, Jabari is still a couple years away from having the sand in his pants to play the 5, though I do think his long term future is more of a PF/C than a SF.

 

Cam Whitmore has other ideas.

 

So you are a Sengun only fan and don't care about the other members of the team? Sengun is the best player but to act like Jock Landale is the only player left on the team is honestly insulting.

But that's fine there's only a month or so left anyway so your boycott won't really matter. I was just curious to know why you were obsessed with Jock Landale.

 

Because we lack spacers if you make Jabari the C there's nobody to play PF and spot up anyway so it is pointless. Jeff Green and Tate can't shoot 3s. So Udoka reverses it Green plays C and Jabari is the full time PF.

Maybe when Tari comes back he can play PF and Bari can play C.

 

It's not that. It's just Jock Landale is not a starter quality player. If they opt to make him a key feature of the team, we will not only not be competitive right now, but we won't be fun to watch. And I don't care to watch anymore of that. I'm not quite sure why you're taking that so personally.

 

Wait, hold up. There are circumstances under which it would matter if I stopped watching the team? What would happen?!?!

 

An international player has never been considered the face of the NBA. As such, people in the US turn to Jayson Tatum or Anthony Edwards to fill that void more often than not. Golden State Warriors forward Dario Saric thinks the ever-increasing expansion might be stopped at some point. “Obviously, the gap is closing because you learn to play five-on-five basketball in Europe. [Here in the US,] they actually learn a lot to play one-on-one basketball, it’s the kind of difference between the NBA and Europe, they are probably more skilled in one-on-one.”
Source: BasketNews

 

He isn't strong enough to play the 5 against strong centers. Against someone like Wemby and Chet, he should do okay as his shooting drawing them out should cancel most of him getting killed inside. The problem is that he can't draw them out if there is a non-shooter on the court (i.e., there is no point in going small if you don't get a skill advantage). The Rockets have played 4 minutes with Jabari at the 5 with 4 other shooters assuming Brooks is counted as a shooter.

Last season, Smith looked better at center, but Silas predominantly deployed him there in good matchups with KPJ, Green, KMJ, and Eason (granted that isn't that great a shoting lineup, but better than what he's played with this season). Eason helped a lot defensively. That was probably the best lineup the Rockets had last season outside KPJ, Green, KMJ, Eason, and Sengun. Missing not having Eason.