Could be 1 out of 3. Jalen green is one of the worst defenders I've ever seen. He hasn't gotten any better this year. His lack of activity, poor anticipation and cluelessness may be ingrained. His BBIQ is painfully low...even on offense. He is headed towards being a "good stats, bad team" guy or an "instant offense off the bench" guy. Until he shows the potential to be a average defender, Im not getting excited about his future.

His ceiling is a more athletic Gilbert Arenas. His floor is Tyreke Evans.

Al P is our best player and it isn't even close right now.

Sengun is clearly our best player but he is also awful on D. He might figure it out on that end though, doesn't seem like Jalen ever will.

I believe every single word he says in this interview thread.

Ya, that MFer is right.

Funny response, I suppose, to the guy being "professional"

I thought we were cool @JohnWall https://t.co/ERKt1IcKkw

— Justin Patton (@JustinPatton17) January 17, 2023

ETA: Patton and Wall started 3 games together that season.

The other starters:
Danuel House, PJ Tucker, Eric Gordon
House, Tucker, Oladipo
Gordon, Oladipo, JaeSean Tate

I heard an interview with Silas on 790 this afternoon. first of all the guy doesn't have great presence. Might be a great coach, might be a great guy…but not a great interview and doesn't feel like a leader.

He said last year John Wall just went home to Miami for Christmas and stayed. Didn't come back. Didn't have any contact with the team, just peaced out. The best part is Silas says "but when we played at Miami he came out to see us and everything was cool"… I guess he was trying to show that it was amicable and that no one had it will towards each other but I don't think it's all that "cool" when you're paying a guy 40 million to hang out and mentor the players and he can't even do that…he just leaves.

The highlight of the comment section is "at least he remembered your name. He didn't even remember the fourth guy!"

Up 7 at the half vs Charlotte. Trying to move out of dead ass last place in the league into a tie with them.

Should have traded Garry Bird & Jae'Sean Tate while they had better value. Those two guys could help a contending team.

Somebody is going to take EG this trade deadline right? Feels like we should have unloaded him a long time ago.

Wait, KPJ is a hot commodity?

Its all relative. He's still only 22, extremely talented and clearly can be a starter in the league or microwave 6th man so yes, he'd be a hot commodity. He's been playing out of position and has put up some numbers.

Doesn't he have an extremely team-friendly contact that can be opted out of by the team yearly? Unless that's got a weird salary cap consequence I'd think a lot of teams would want him.

Have no problem moving on from KPJ. Him not being a point guard and being on the floor with Jalen so much seems like one of the many things stunting Jalen's growth.

In my opinion, everyone is for sale except for Jalen, Sengun, Jabari, Tari and TyTy.

AG@RICE said:

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In my opinion, everyone is for sale except for Jalen, Sengun, Jabari, Tari and TyTy.

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I agree. And guys have to get minutes. Some rambling thoughts:

Surely Gordon is gone in the next few weeks and that opens up a starting spot and 30 minutes assuming you trade him for either draft capital or expiring contract(s), but also:

1. We have talented players that could be starters and maybe stars in this league and need to play so we can figure that out.

2. You can't have 5 guys like that on the court at the same time. There has to be some veteran presence on the court and in practice and they have to have agency and clout or they will end up jaded and desperate to get out like Gordon has.

3. #2 starts with a change in leadership. Silas ain't the guy to lead a team of pups. He's a pup himself as a coach and is a buddy sidekick that might work for an already accountable veteran team or one with a player/coach LeBron...like a young Spo, and he might develop into a full-fledged Spo but right now he's not it.

4. You can't just keep drafting and accumulating talent. At some point you have to shift gears and say, "OK we are ready to win now" and if the culture continues to suck, the fruit is going to rot on the vine and that's going to become impossible to do. For example the Spurs suck and I don't love Pop, but at least you know that if and when they do get a better roster, that culture is going to be in place for that roster to thrive.

I got a terrible trade idea: Ben Simmons. I know...he is awful on offense, can't shoot and has a massive contract for 2 years after this year.

But....he might actually fit really well on a team of ball-hog, shoot-first, children that can't play a lick of defense. Also the stakes are incredibly low, so there is literally no pressure on him. We could possibly fix him and flip him (also known as a Presti) or just let his contract expire in two years. A high quality free agent isn't coming to Houston next year, so even though he ruins our cap space for this offseason its not a big deal.

I also don't think Eric Gordon has much value right now. Nobody is giving us a first round pick for his services and we might just end up buying him out. If we send him, Bruno, Boban, Nix and KJ the salaries will balance out. Obviously, we would have to leverage some picks for taking his crappy contract off their hands. I'm not sure if it is possible, but we might be able to turn the pick swaps into fully conveyed picks.

Its probably not the best idea, but our team is terrible and I don't really see much hope in sight. Might as well spice up the pot and see if it helps. If he makes our team worse, it just means we might keep our pick the following year (top 4 protected).

Literally stopped reading after the first sentence.

The absolute last thing our team culture needs right now is Ben Simmons.

I kinda figured that would be the reaction, but we gotta do something to get talent in the building. All we are doing right now is praying for ping pong balls. Our youngsters (outside of Sengun) aren't really improving...in some cases they are regressing. If we strike out on Wemby, we are in the same place as last year. Even if we land Scoot, we aren't any better. He is a redundant talent as KPJ and JG (explosive shoot-first guard that doesnt know how to play-make or defend at the NBA level).

As far as I can tell, we are going to suck for the next 2 years. Might as well try to get more picks from Brooklyn and kick the tires on a depressed asset.

If he is a disaster, we just sit him for 2-years like we did with Wall.

Nobody worth a crap is signing with us this offseason. No sense saving cap-space when you are basically a meme of a failing franchise.

The problem is that the team culture has already fallen too far into the abyss. At this point, they are just a collection of assets and don't even resemble a team. There is no vet that can solve this problem. I love Pat Bev and I don't wish this fate upon him. His intensity would be lost on guys like Jalen Green and Coach Silas, who are just happy to have their low pressure jobs. You can bring in all the old guys you want, but that won't fix the team.

The root of the problem is that the current culture of the team doesn't seem to matter to the GM/Owner. They are ok playing a bunch of inexperienced kids with little veteran leadership. They started rookies who don't play defense. They let their guards dribble for days without initiating an offense. They are the worst defensive team I've ever seen and their coach just smiles and claps. There is no culture building happening. Everything is getting flushed at the end of the year.

The goal for the last 2 years was to bring in more talent, and there still isn't enough talent to build a real team. There is no hope for the next 2 years based on this current roster. We need to continue to reshuffle the majority of the hand and take risks on acquiring talent. If Brooklyn is willing to pay us to take Ben Simmons, it should be a no brainer.

Also, I think he would play well here. He shrinks from the bright lights....our lights are the dimmest in the league.

I agree with most of that and I could get on board with the Simmons idea if it were part of a rehab & flip plan.

I do think the right coach and a couple of the right veterans could change the culture. It would be ugly and not everyone would stick around for the change, but it can be done…especially if you're willing to clean house and you don't have any James Harden types who have more sway than the coach.

Finally won a game...

LOOK AT HOUSTON DOING THE THING. pic.twitter.com/UtJX7GGHgE

— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) January 24, 2023

42 for Jalen for a new career high. Can't lose them all.

KPJ = D'Angelo Russell lite

YNWA_AG said:

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LOOK AT HOUSTON DOING THE THING. pic.twitter.com/UtJX7GGHgE

— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) January 24, 2023

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Which assistant coach is responsible for this because this is NOT the work of one Stephen Silas.

There is no doubt that Sengun is our best offensive facilitator. KPJ dribbles waaaayyyy too much, which basically nullifies any of Sengun's positive creative abilities. We *COULD* be a better team with KPJ on the floor, but that would require both him and the head coach to recognize that he is not a point guard.

Still, we will never be a good offensive team playing like that. We need a guard who actually understands the game of basketball. We can't rely on our center to be the PG on every possession. Even the Joker gives the ball up to Murray. The difference is that Murray understands how to work off other players to get better shots. Instead of dribbling, Murray works the angles to get the ball back to Jokic and then cuts. KPJ just lobs it up high to Sengun and stares at him. In contrast, Green actually cuts off the ball, probably because he doesn't incorrectly think of himself as a point guard. If KPJ took the same approach as Green, we could be a much better team.

At the end of the day, I blame Silas. He isn't doing enough to raise the BBIQ of the team. He just claps and smiles. Like a basketball Jason Garrett.

anyone selling that Sengun bobblehead?

Just went from up 11 to start the 4th quarter to down 9 with 7 min left.

-20 in 5 minutes.

We have to be the worst fg% shooting team in the league