Rather than posting in each individual thread (Sengun's, Green's, Christopher's, etc.), I thought it would make more sense to post what I and others have seen in the first two games in one thread. Add your own thoughts and feel free to disagree. My post is long. This is SUMMER LEAGUE, so take it with a big grain of salt. The NBA season is not summer league teams playing each other. Playing against real NBA teams will help in some ways (Sengun getting fed the ball better) and hurt in others (can we defend against NBA players and offensive schemes?). These young players will likely improve in many areas with more experience and coaching. Green-He was smooth in the first game, nervous in the second one (at least in the beginning). I'm really impressed with his 3 point shooting and ability to score when guarded. Green has trouble with the double team now. His defense looks pretty bad to me. I do think he was trying to set up teammates more in the second game, passing to them to score. The debate of defense vs. playmaking has been brought up and I think he has an easier time getting better at playmaking than defense, at least right now. It felt like he let the "rivalry" with Cade get in his head early. Cade can guard Green; Green couldn't guard Cade. This Detroit game was a temper expectations type of game. Green could face top level defense and players this first year and he will learn how to deal with it, hopefully. When people complain that he was doubled this game, well, yeah, that's going to happen. This is especially true if he's going to be a top 10 (or 5) scoring talent. Sengun-His IQ is probably his best attribute. He plays smart, knows where to be, and does not shy away from contact. His defense looks much better than advertised (as Rockets fans have noticed) BUT we will see how much that translates to the NBA regular season games. I had concerns about his height, now I'm not sure if that's going to be a big deal or not. I still think against true bigs he will have trouble (Embiid, AD) but everybody has trouble against them. He passes well. Sengun let Detroit players drive into him and did not foul them. They scored but I didn't think the shots were easy. In the summer league, our team looks much more at ease and successful whenever he is in the game. JC-I talked sht about him at the draft, I wanted to trade him for two second round picks. I was wrong. For these two games, he might have been as important to our team as Sengun (both slightly above Green). JC jacked shots in the first game but had much better shot selection in the second. It was 36-36 against Det and JC had fice positive plays before the half and it ended at 54-43 Rockets. He and Sengun really helped us get that lead. JC looks out of control at times driving to the basket but he knows what he's doing and scores fine. His defense is nails. He irritates the offensive player into makes mistakes or fouls. He might be my favorite Rocket and that's saying something. Martin-He missed a dunk and people started trashing him. I just don't see many bad plays from him. His D is strong and if he does not get a block or steal then he often alters a shot or forces a pass. I thought he played great against Det but others disagree. Lamb-I thought Lamb played well, too, when others didn't. And I'm not just talking about his shooting. Khyri-I have hopes for him as a defender and backup PG. He looked okay out there, not great. He is a good defender and we need those on this team. Foster-G league Anderson-Now I see why we picked him up-to defend Cade! I thought he did okay with that, though I didn't watch it closely. Maybe someone else has a more informed opinion. We need D, maybe goes to the Vipers? Garuba-I look forward to his arrival but doubt he'll play for the SL team due to travel.
