Right. The big difference now is that Jalen's shots are going in. If Jalen was playing like he was earlier til midseason the Rockets would not be playing this well. Amen has also been a major contributor and hopefully, he will be able to work on his outside shot during the offseason.
Really hard to gauge who these players will be next year. Very few have been consistent all season. Landale has gone from non-factor to x-factor. Jalen has gone from terrible to good, lately. Jabari is up and down. Holiday has moments, both good and bad. Tari didnt play most of the year. Dillon seems to have waned a bit. Amen seems on a linear progression to getting better as does Cam Whitmore. FVV, essential but no superstar. Sengun is rising, but how far? Stone has a tough job ahead.
Yeah, it’s funny people bagging on Jalen when Jock has this habit of only showing up right before a contract decision needs to be made. I think the up and down nature of the team is somewhat to be expected because of the youth - interesting to see how much the young guys impact the vets on the day to day. Landale probably earns another year in that contract at this point but he was really close to being cut before Alpi went down. Can’t tell if Brooks is a good or bad contract at this point. He has grown a bit from a guy who got thrown out in his first minutes in a Rockets uniform - was on good behavior…until last night. That shows growth because I think the shenanigans that lower his value are the senseless fouls and techs. He is a solid role player when he plays within himself. …anyone know if Uncle Jeff is willing to stay another year? Dude has been GREAT this season for this young team.
The opponents are worse. Using NBA.com's stats, the raw defense numbers are better despite playing a joke of a starting unit 12 mpg. The Landale minutes mostly have been elite defensively these past 5 games.
To be fair to Jock, he was injured at the beginning of the season and fell out of the rotation due to performance because of the injury/lack of preseason. His post game comments yesterday I thought were spot on. He's finally playing the role we thought he could when we signed him. Will just be interesting to see what happens when we have Sengun back and Adams also in the mix.
Like many of you, I b****ed about him early in the season but am newly impressed and ready to ride this Jock.
as much as I shet on Landale in the beginning of the season, I think the ankle injury was nasty business and probably took him a while to get back into it
and 4 swaps picks!!?? Saw a Pre March Madness NBA mock draft the other day: had the Rockets picking 8th (Nets) and selecting Dalton Knecht I like the pick....More Wings
