I wonder if Udoka is beginning to not have fun (as EG would say) and maybe regrets taking this job over the Bucks and Sixers jobs. We are still quite a ways away from real relevance where we can get the type of superstars to take us to the next level. Alpi is 100% legit and a future all-star, but Green is usually a playable semi-bust and Jabrari is skinny with an inconsistent outside shot and good defense (but has improved to regular NBA starter class under Udoka) and FVV is very good but not an all-star. Tari is great and is loved by the fans for his hustle, but is not a superstar. All NBA teams have these types of guys so we are in no way dealing with better talent, just good solid NBA players. Based on history, we can’t count on draft picks to save us, so our pathetic GM should consider dialing for dollars and trade some of this wealth of youth and picks for legit all-stars.
It is too early for him to give up.....all he lacks is a true Superstar (assuming Sengün is a perennial All Star) Then he would need another All Star...... I think Ime might have thought about going to the Bucks.....they would need someone like him. But he would not have long term job security over there..........
Great point….after Silas I think Udoka will be given a very long and lengthy tenure to get this ship righted. I tend to be impatient as a fan, but have been very impressed by his coaching and even loved his move to bring in Holiday for the free throws (took out all our clutch choker FT guys) and bringing in Maronovich for the inbound pass. He did all he could to win, just had a freak prayer go in.
I wonder how we are when fully healthy... and the dead weight at the end of the bench were serviceable players.
When healthy we replace some of Jeff Green, Amen and Cam time with Tate, Tari, and Jabrari. Better, but not earth shaking difference. We are going to need a splash type of trade to get us to the level where we’re not biting our nails at the end of regulation against the injured Pistons and Blazers.
Indeed. We are the 10th ranked defense, with the 4th least points in the paint allowed, that has been missing it's 3 best defenders for a meaningful amount of time. We have also been playing 6 guys under 22 years old in the rotation.
I love your level headed optimism! I was about to leap off the 16th floor of my building within sight of Toyota Center We are gonna be ok. We are gonna add pieces to backup Alpi and Fred without such a huge dropoff and Tari, Jabari, and Cam are gonna grow into their man bodies. Alright Cam is already there but J&T are gonna get bigger.
Yes, Tari being healthy all year would make us a couple wins better. But also keep in mind, we've had extremely good injury luck this year in aggregate (the last few years actually). Our starting 5 has played 201/215 available games. I think a lot of this commentary and trade deadline discussions etc. are similar -- accurate, but missing the point a little bit. Yes, adding a reliable guard who gives us some acceptable offense creation would make us a little better. Adding a solid backup C would make us a little better. But this team is something like the 19th or 20th best team / -2 net rating level right now, and those kind of tweaks will maybe get us to neutralish and the 16th or 17th best team? Yeah we should do it, but it also doesn't really matter much for our organizational goals. The bar is high in the NBA. We're already like the 95% maxed out version of how good a team can be by just playing hard, coaching hard, and playing solid NBA contributors at all times. To be actually good, you have to have multiple players who are currently undeniably great, even against hard playing, well coached, solid NBA teams. Everything this year is about setting us up to get those players either by giving our young core the competitive reps to develop into them over the next few seasons, or show enough that we can trade for one in the future. I judge every game and the season by how much it advanced that goal, and it's correlated but not exactly the same as wins and losses or making the playoffs vs. not. IMO, last night all the young core looked good, Jalen looked good which is needed to maintain some trade value when we move him this summer, Dillon kept up his shooting which is critical to keep his trade value up this summer, and Portland made wildly unsustainable shots and their (actually talented) veteran group beat our injured frontline in overtime. Fine with me, it happens.
Growing pains hurt. That's why they're called growing pains and not growing ecstasy. Here's the solution: Give this team another year or two. See who warrants keeping and who doesn't. Let them grow.
Vegas is usually on the money with their predictions and their preseason prediction was that this would be a team picking top ten again with a good chance of picking top 5. If you look at NBA pre-season predictions this is what you'll find. Spoiler The most optimistic of predictions is what I've always said. Rockets will compete for a play-in spot, which they are doing. I thought/think they will miss out based on frustrating losses like last night. Rockets are playing better than many thought they would. Barring a major detroit like losing streak they should beat the betting odds and reach over 32 wins, a massive improvement to be sure. The only prediction that I see that's been wrong is Jalen Green. Most people thought he'd be imrpoved and basically would be the Rockets best player but...that's been Sengun. So yeah, that is off... I'd argue that if Jalen took the jump ALONG with Sengun we'd likely be well entrenched in the playoff seeding battle, but...yeah. Overall, we are doing better than we should be and still at a point in the season that anything can happen. The bottom can fall out and we could go on a 9 game losing streak that destroys the confidence or we could do the opposite and surge. So at this point I'm happy with the team. I hope their February is a lot better than their January.
I guess all these downers forgot where this team was the last 3 years.(Maybe they didn’t watch) I’m happy we have exciting basketball and know good things are to come.
Warriors are a game behind us and they're playing well again so expect us to be a bottom 4 team in the West again at All-Star Weekend. If the Grizzlies weren't so injured as well as Morant missing 1/3 of the season due to the suspension, we'd easily be bottom 3. Facts are the signings hasn't panned out as Stone planned because the West is way too tough and we're still way too young. Major trades will have to happen before the deadline if we still want to make the play-ins.
Honestly, we were banking on Jalen Green to be that star to replace James Harden and it just didn't come into fruition...time to change our roster to build around Sengun and bring more players in that fits Udoka's philosophy
Cleveland is probably the best team at playing 2 centers lately. They were able to do it because Mobley and Allen are good defenders, and Garland and Mitchell were so good offensively. Though, lately without Garland and Mobley, Mitchell has been tearing apart defenses with the increased spacing as the Cavs play as good as they were with two centers despite less overall talent on the team.
they then proceeded to get exposed in the playoffs, barely averaging over 94 pts. Those two playing major minutes together will never work unless one develops to a respectable floor spacer
In a Make or Miss league, who would thunk that the other 29 or so teams have that same identity, which goes back to the 60's era when teams would shoot 40% as a collective Gotta take shots to make shots (or miss), bball is such a simple game
The signings? Landale I think is the only one of the signings underperforming. I'm sure there are other reasons, but these are what I see as problems: 1) Jalen's offensive ability has disappeared the past 30 games or so outside a handful of games. 2) Tari, Brooks, and Jabari have been out or playing hurt lately. 3) Jalen's offensive ability has disappeared the past 30 games or so outside a handful of games. 4) Starting lineup can't handle penetration. A lot of this is the same as number 2, but overall starting unit has been getting toasted. FVV has helped out in a lot of areas, but his point of attack defense has been getting exposed more lately. 5) Jalen's offensive ability has disappeared the past 30 games or so outside a handful of games. 6) Jeff Green is fine as a backup center when Tari is out there, but it is rough out there without Tari.
Morey should have fired Doc the moment he landed in Philadelphia... and never should have given a job to McHale or JB even as an interim... but getting D'Antoni and Adelman were solid hires.
