How deep were we really?

snowconeman22 · May 20, 2019

IMO we were deeper than we showed .

But our "depth" was not properly developed throughout the regular season

smp · May 20, 2019

snowconeman22 said: ↑

IMO we were deeper than we showed .

But our "depth" was not properly developed throughout the regular season
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This was my concern with sending House back the the G league to save money mid season. If he stayed with the Rockets through the whole season, he may have been more comfortable in the playoffs. MDA definitely would have been more comfortable to play him when things got tight.

You need to go into training camp with your roster set and keep it together if you can. Obviously that isn’t always an option but it’s preferable.

amaru · May 20, 2019

Mike will only go 6-7 players deep, maybe 8. That’s his M.O

elmotsang · May 21, 2019

JW86 said: ↑

People said one of our strengths compared to last year was our bench and I thought so as well, but let's break that down as far as play-offs go:

* Gerald Green - as much I love his fire, his attitude, his shooting when he gets hot, his emotions and enthusiasm and that hairdo, he's just not that good and lacks good basketball IQ to be reliable. Cannot play him in the play-offs because of defense, decision making and doesn't know when to take a shot and when not to. Was a serious momentum killer in game 6 when he botched a 3-on-1, drove it in for a contested two, lost his man and then turned it over in a span of 1-2 minutes. He actually played solid last year, even blocking shots, but didn't show that at all this year.

Verdict: garbage time / occasional few minutes player when your other bench players fail to score.

* Nene - old, still strong, rebound and can hit the occasional lay-up / dunk. I think he surprised us with some great minutes, but let's be honest: could not play him much with the way we play defense.

Verdict: sparse minutes here and there for rebounding when a team goes big, but with our system he was not really playable. I would've still taken him over Capela the way he was playing.

* Rivers - solid defender, very confident, can hit the 3 and when he makes quick decisions can get to the basket for a lay-up. However, not consistent, not very big nor strong so easily picked off and while he hit the 3 for us in the play-offs, he's overall a low 30% shooter.

Verdict: okay for a 7th or 8th guy off the bench.

* Shumpert - solid defender by reputation, far from a great shooter and actually never really had a memorable shooting performance - even with the Cavaliers during their championship run. I don't know what people expected and nor why he's so spoken of in such a positive way by some talking heads. I saw a guy who got lost on defense, got blown by, aside from one game shot poorly, questionable shot selection - even attempting Harden type threes. He was probably solid in 2016, at stealing the ball for sure and good at staying in front of his man 1-on-1, but now not really.

Verdict: maybe a 9th or 10th guy off the bench, but in our system not really playable.

* House - was a solid 3&D guy, shot over 40% on the year, but was inconsistent in the play-offs and seemed almost rookie like.

Verdict: maybe needs a year or two to grow and would've benefited from a more clear rotation, but with the injuries and MDA's favour for a short rotation he probably never stood a chance. Still, didn't prove enough to really get the benefit of the doubt.

* Faried - high energy guy, had some very solid 15-10 type of games, but on defense gets beaten and while he proved he can hit the occasional 3, he's not really a spacing big. He did well in first two games vs. Jazz and then minutes decreased and his impact went down with it. Not sure what happened there, I still think he deserved a shot to prove himself, but MDA went small.

Verdict: a solid guy to play, even in a 8 man rotation MDA system, but for whatever reason did not see the court.

Overall - I think with MDA being our coach, we were never going to go past 2-3 guys with a good 15-25 minutes off the bench, but not many guys really showed they belonged. Rivers was solid, Nene also performed mostly when he was out there, but outside of that we only got one good shooting game from Faried and House vs. Jazz in Game 1, one from Shump and zero from GG.

Defensively especially we just couldn't rely on anyone outside of Rivers and with MDA you do not get much of a chance. It goes hand in hand, but based on performance I have come to the conclusion that we were not deep at all. Maybe on paper, but definitely not when it counted.

I'll give Faried a pass here and House a bit, but based on what we've seen and MDA probably coming back I think it would serve us well if we do not count on the following guys to be part of the rotation: Shumpert, Gerald Green, Nene, House and Faried. Rivers should be back and House might show some growth if he'll accept a few million. Faried I'd give the veteran minimum though what's the point if he doesn't get playing time.
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he will not use FarIED, wtf. He just has injury and then loses the chance in playoff. Caplea sucks, we need a real all star, otherwise mda will not use it. Morey saves money is really right with mda kinds of coach

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How deep were we really?

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