I have always been an advocate of starting Reed since the starting of the season when FVV went down. Starting Okogie looked fine when he was shooting above his average. When he's fallen back on earth, you can see the offense started to drop. We know that Amen, KD, and Sengun are locks in the starting lineup. So if Reed starts, it's either Bari or Tari come off the bench. I am neutral between the two guys. They bring different things to the table and I like both guys for different reasons. At this juncture, I am leaning toward Tari more mainly because he is better at perimeter defense. We need that because Durant can't at this stage of his career.
As the 5th starter: Reed, Holiday, Adams, Capela: Bad [All less than +1.2 NetRtg] Okogie, Tari, DFS: Good [all 11+ NetRtg] https://databallr.com/wowy/HOU/2026/2026/regular/high/wowy/1630578/201142/1641708/1631095/1642263 Extra PGs/Centers: Bad Extra Wings & More: Good
I agree with you completely. When we lack floor spacing due to not having shooters on the court, the opposing defense is able to anticipate our actions more often and, in particular, be ultra aggressive with doubles and in the passing lanes. These are the times you see Amen make more turnovers.
Only Okogie, Tari, and Reed have meaningful sample size. DFS 11 minutes, Capela 2 minutes LOL, and you could come up with conclusions from these? Like I said, Okogie shot very well earlier and the team looked really good.
Presuming that a squad with Alpi leaks holes with another below-average defender. DFS was the most versatile defender in the league last year in terms of the positions he guarded
