Are you ready for Ime to go?

Reed played great, and deservedly played a lot. I want Reed to start, but last night was not a night that Ime went away from Reed.

 

Yes it was ....We were down 22-11 before Reed came on..and then in the 3rd quarter, same thing happened.

Our starters DO NOT FIT TOGETHER.

Reed over Tari makes the team better....we need 3 shooters in the lineup.

DD

 

Disagree.

Ime dislikes offensive players.
6~7 forwards and 3 centers...
That's all players Ime wanted.

 

Knicks came calling, agent likely leveraged that into an extension.

 

Ime would be a great assistant coach/defensive coordinator. His offense is lacking, his rotations are whack, and his ego is no longer a good fit.

 

Anybody defending Ime does not know basketball. One of worst coaches in the league without any sort of a question.

 

That starting lineup usually works great at the start of the 1st and 3rd. It and the Amen, Okogie, JSJ, Durant, and Sengun are the only non-Reed lineups that routinely work with the non-injured players. In addition, those two lineups typically work better than lineups with Reed subbing in for either Tari or JSJ. Long term, I expect Reed develops better chemistry with the starters, specifically Sengun, but right now that chemistry isn't there. Reed and Adams lineups typcially outperform their Reed and Sengun lineup counterparts by a lot.

As such, I think starting Reed is better for the long term. Last night, I don't think there was anyway for Ime to know the starting lineup would lay that big of an egg, and even if he did, the Rockets currently don't have many options when Reed is out of the game except playing the two lineups that routinely work.

 

I don't want to pile on Udoka's coaching skills. When the Rockets hired him 3 years ago, I was very skeptical, mainly because of the way he was let go in Boston. It's a huge character red flag. He talks about player accountability and discipline. But what he did in Boston was clearly a lack of accountability and discipline. How can you preach accountability when you yourself spit on accountability in your own life.

He did install accountability to a team that was run by the inmates when he took over. That's what we needed. And the result was very clear. I guess that's when the FO thought he was a great coach and wanted to lock him up. But over the last couple of years, his responses to questions come across clear and loud that he never wants to take responsibility for any failure. That does not bode well. That's a sign of someone who thinks making changes to improve is admitting failure.

 

Would love to see what this team looked like with Fred before making that decision. But I know most of you don't think highly enough of Fred to think that would make much of a difference. I think otherwise.

 

I think Fred more highly than most posters here. He would definitely help. But the emergence of Reed kind of renders Fred's importance a bit obsolete, not completely of course, but not as much as if Reed was still struggling.

Reed, even with less experience in running an offense, is clearly a better offensive player than Fred. We need Fred now mostly in playing defense in the backcourt. He would be a better backup to Reed than any player we have on roster.

 

I bet all the wannabe coaches here would get their asses handed to them in real NBA games with their so-called championship "systems".

 

I just don't think Ime has many issues playing a guy that can guard guards with Reed, so Reed can take a lesser defensive assignment. The Rockets are going to try to hide Reed, and it is unlikely to be the same man FVV would be guarding. Reed playing more minutes for Ime is basically a function of how well Reed can guard someone. FVV and Reed make a ton more sense defensively than Reed and Sengun, IMO, as the Rockets are much more willing to switch with FVV than they are with Sengun.

Small sample, but Reed and FVV lineups were great offensively and defensively last year. Reed and Holiday lineups have worked this year and last. Overall, Reed + either Holiday or FVV lineups has a Net Rating of 9.1 over the past 2 seasons in 441 minutes. The Rockets played FVV and Jalen Green a ton of minutes together. I just don't see the evidence that Ime would be unwilling to play FVV with a subpar defensive guard, other than Ime being unwilling to play Reed when Reed was playing poorly.

My only concern with FVV is his health and age. Maybe FVV and Reed can't defeat OKC or SA with Durant, Amen, Sengun, et all. I think FVV and Reed lineups would be incredibly fun.

 

I don't have issue with playing Reed and FVV together. However, starting them together will mean benching both Tari and Jabari, assuming Durant, Amen, and Sengun are all still here next season. I don't see those three guys not starting. If that's the case, we will shift from being defensively thin in the backcourt to being thin in the front court.

 

Sengun better be gone this offseason. I want him gone more than I want Ime gone.

 

Another Stone gem!!! Why am I the only one it seems who is pleading to have Stone replaced???

 

If they let Stone go, there is a at least a 50% that Patrick might take the official seat. The fan base may be divided on this.

Now, some of local Rockets media has gotten around to liking him and brush away the nepo stuff. The nepo stuff also won't mean he's unqualified.

I'm just preparing fans that the Fertitas might not shell out the big bucks for an Ujiri, Myers, or even a Calvin Booth. It's likely a raise for their own family member.

 

Great point….never thought of it that way. Gotta tell you that I think Patrick would still do better in that he wouldn’t have signed Silas, traded for Oladipo, signed DFS for 53 million, gave away Jarrett Allen, traded our top 3 Brooklyn pick in the upcoming draft, made ZERO relevant trade deadline/buyout moves in six straight years, etc.

 

Assuming it is Ime's fault for slow start for putting Reed in the starting lineup.

 

This man's NBA coaching career needs to be a case study on how far luck can take you.