Ridgeback85 said:

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Jose Cruuuuuuuuuuuuz said:

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Feels like Jabari Smith is going to come home from the gym one day and find Amen Thompson living in his house. Guy has completely taken over.

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This is crazy. How can the Rockets take Amen off the floor but Jabari is playing the best ball of his career. What a great problem. I am not sure what the right answer is with minutes. I think Whitmore is one year away from being a dominant player also. This team is on the rise.

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Eason gonna screw around and find himself odd man out.

If Rockets really want to win a championship, it's there to be had. They have so many young stars growing up fast - they've got an insane amount of trade capital if they want to go after "win now" stars.

It would get real tempting.

so, Sheppard goes from 49pts to DNP-CD?

FrioAg 00 said:

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If Rockets really want to win a championship, it's there to be had. They have so many young stars growing up fast - they've got an insane amount of trade capital if they want to go after "win now" stars.

It would get real tempting.

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Giannis ftw

Jalen has been absolutely en fuego this month, and against some of the best teams in the NBA.

Clearly he reads texags .

Let's hope he can keep this rolling.

Silent For Too Long said:

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Jalen has been absolutely en fuego this month, and against some of the best teams in the NBA.

Clearly he reads texags .

Let's hope he can keep this rolling.

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He must have another kid on the way. That seems to be what kicked off a good run for him last season.

FrioAg 00 said:

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If Rockets really want to win a championship, it's there to be had. They have so many young stars growing up fast - they've got an insane amount of trade capital if they want to go after "win now" stars.

It would get real tempting.

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Rockets need that #1 scorer like Booker or something.

Guitarsoup said:

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FrioAg 00 said:

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If Rockets really want to win a championship, it's there to be had. They have so many young stars growing up fast - they've got an insane amount of trade capital if they want to go after "win now" stars.

It would get real tempting.

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Rockets need that #1 scorer like Booker or something.

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They need a second point guard. Maybe Shepard grows into that but they sometimes struggle with Fred on the bench.

Guitarsoup said:

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FrioAg 00 said:

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If Rockets really want to win a championship, it's there to be had. They have so many young stars growing up fast - they've got an insane amount of trade capital if they want to go after "win now" stars.

It would get real tempting.

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Rockets need that #1 scorer like Booker or something.

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Depends if Jalen can ever find consistency. If he does, their #1 need is another PG.

When Jalen plays like he's shown he's capable, the Rockets' trajectory looks way different. Unpopular opinion on here, but I'm glad they are holding onto him so Ime can keep working with him.

Ryan34 said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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FrioAg 00 said:

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If Rockets really want to win a championship, it's there to be had. They have so many young stars growing up fast - they've got an insane amount of trade capital if they want to go after "win now" stars.

It would get real tempting.

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Rockets need that #1 scorer like Booker or something.

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Depends if Jalen can ever find consistency. If he does, their #1 need is another PG.

When Jalen plays like he's shown he's capable, the Rockets' trajectory looks way different. Unpopular opinion on here, but I'm glad they are holding onto him so Ime can keep working with him.

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Not sure I felt that that before the season started but I agree now. Jalen is frustrating but he has shown too many flashes of really nice potential that you can't just throw him away.

Over the last 5-6 games, its hard to say to get rid of him. I have been the biggest Jalen hater for the past 2 years, but I will quickly change if he can be this kind of consistent scorer that this team desperately needs.

Seems weird to bring Reed back up and them not play him. I don't really want him in huge games like last night's, so why not keep him down in the g league? Get him playing in short bursts so he can learn how to be prepared the second his name gets called so he can do so when he is back up.

Ryan34 said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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FrioAg 00 said:

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If Rockets really want to win a championship, it's there to be had. They have so many young stars growing up fast - they've got an insane amount of trade capital if they want to go after "win now" stars.

It would get real tempting.

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Rockets need that #1 scorer like Booker or something.

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Depends if Jalen can ever find consistency. If he does, their #1 need is another PG.

When Jalen plays like he's shown he's capable, the Rockets' trajectory looks way different. Unpopular opinion on here, but I'm glad they are holding onto him so Ime can keep working with him.

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We are 3.5 years in on Jalen and he is still the same player he was when he was drafted. 32ppg on 53/48 shooting and he gets cold like the previous 5 games . 18ppg on 41/32 shooting (which included one hot game where he scored 30 on 6/11 from three.)

He's super talented, but I don't think that consistency where he can be a 20/4/5 player on 45/36 shooting is ever going to come. I think his best role would be as a microwave 6th man type guy, then he can also go crazy against 2nd teams, which might help with his efficiency.

But I don't think he is ever going to be the #1 or #2 scorer needed on a team really challenging for a title. But I think he is interesting enough and has a short enough contract that a team will talk themselves into him + picks for someone more useful.

A lot of times his points come in burst. 1Q where here scores 20 and then he disappears the rest of the game.

Friend and I have been calling him a 6th man candidate all year. Heat check dude, like Lou Williams and Jamal Crawford. That's been my opinion of him forever.

But that stance has taken a lot of heat this January

Ryan34 said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Ryan34 said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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FrioAg 00 said:

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If Rockets really want to win a championship, it's there to be had. They have so many young stars growing up fast - they've got an insane amount of trade capital if they want to go after "win now" stars.

It would get real tempting.

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Rockets need that #1 scorer like Booker or something.

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Depends if Jalen can ever find consistency. If he does, their #1 need is another PG.

When Jalen plays like he's shown he's capable, the Rockets' trajectory looks way different. Unpopular opinion on here, but I'm glad they are holding onto him so Ime can keep working with him.

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We are 3.5 years in on Jalen and he is still the same player he was when he was drafted. 32ppg on 53/48 shooting and he gets cold like the previous 5 games . 18ppg on 41/32 shooting (which included one hot game where he scored 30 on 6/11 from three.)

He's super talented, but I don't think that consistency where he can be a 20/4/5 player on 45/36 shooting is ever going to come. I think his best role would be as a microwave 6th man type guy, then he can also go crazy against 2nd teams, which might help with his efficiency.

But I don't think he is ever going to be the #1 or #2 scorer needed on a team really challenging for a title. But I think he is interesting enough and has a short enough contract that a team will talk themselves into him + picks for someone more useful.

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He's the #1 scorer on the 2nd place team in the West and 4th in the NBA overall. Absolutely he needs to be consistent, which may never happen, but he has flashed every year in the league. I think the 2 years under Silas stunted his growth, and maybe the G League as well. Giving him some time under Ime makes more sense to me than trading him.

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Regular season <> Playoffs.

Do you want to count on him to be your number 1 scorer to win 16 games in the playoffs? He just isn't dependable. He is 30th in the NBA in scoring this year with a few big name players not qualifying like Luka and Embiid (which is up from about 40th after 5 hot games). He has a negative +/- in about half his games. He fails to score over 15p in about 1/3rd of his games. Game on the line in game 7, do you want the ball in his hands with SGA or Dort guarding him?


I would argue that Rockets are winning because of team defense more than individual scoring. Rockets' eFG is 28th but opponents eFG is 3rd. Rockets are cleaning the glass, getting 2nd chance points, and not fouling.

IF you have a chance to move him for a high level scorer/creator, you absolutely do it. If not, you hope you can get someone with the PHX pick this year that can be a good excuse to move him to 6th man and hope he flourishes there.

Jalen does seem like a great fit for a 6th man but he also doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would take being removed from the starting lineup very well.

Jalen has had streaks of good to even amazing play going back to his rookie season. But the overall season always looks to be about the same. And it's not good enough to be a primary scorer for a contender.

He's just not a good enough shooter to consistently score with his game and I think his size also causes issues.

dont even begin to compare them to someone of that caliber. you lose all credibility.

He's only 22. He's got all the talent in the world. I'd trust Udoka.

Woods Ag said:

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dont even begin to compare them to someone of that caliber. you lose all credibility.

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How does he compare to Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, and Russell Westbrook at that age?

They dont hit their peak until about 27, but that doesn't mean they are negative basketball players to their teams until 27. lol

They just aren't at their peak powers. They still resemble the player they will become and are plus players.

You are intentionally missing the point for some strange reason. Message boards are wierd sometimes.

I'm not. You took justified criticism of a player that has been a negative contributor to the Rockets for all except the past 14 days and said "look up Michael Jordan and Dream's stats at 22 and get back to me"

That's so over the top crazy to even put him in the same breath of those 2. You can say that about any player ever - at 22 they are not a finished product, but you chose MJ and Dream.

This player has been nothing other than inconsistently bad for the Rockets for his entire career save the last 14 days. He flashes, he has super talent, but he makes the most boneheaded mistakes. If he wasn't so talented he wouldn't be in the league.

Now - The last 14 days have been pretty good and his talent is such that it's really hard to say "get rid of him" when he goes on a stretch like he's been on. With him playing like this we can make waves in the playoffs.

I looked up Dream - He was in his 2nd year in the league - 23 years old
4th in MVP voting
23.5pts per game
11.5 rebounds per game (6.5 and 4.5 offensive)
3.5 blocks per game

His rookie season - 22 years old - he finished 2nd in rookie of the year voting to...

Michael Jordan. Who was hurt the next year (his year of being 22), so at 23 years old Jordan finished
2nd in MVP voting
37 points per game

Yeah, you're taking this a completely different direction man

Silent For Too Long said:

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I think the fact that some of you seem to think the jury is out on a 22 year old player is frankly kind of ridiculous. Go lookup what Dream or MJ were doing at 22 and get back to me.

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It is bizarre to compare Green's 4th season to the rookie season of two of the ten greatest players in NBA history, but ok.

Jordan came in 6th in MVP voting as a rookie (year 21 season) with 28/7/6 on 52% shooting as a rookie and was a defensive force as well with almost 200 steals (2.4/game) which is about equal to Jalen Green's career mark of 208 steals.

Hakeem's rookie year (age 22 season) he put up 21/12 on 54% with 2.7 blocks per game and was 12th in MVP voting. His second year in the NBA, he led the Rockets to the Finals and was All-NBA 2nd team and 4th in MVP voting.

Jalen's shooting rookie year: .426/.343 TS% 547
Jalen's shooting 4th year: .427/.345. TS% .553

It is amazing how consistent all his numbers that arent team influenced have been over his 4 years. Even his best scoring game of the year: 41 as a rookie, 42 each other season. The only thing that has really changed is his usage has gone up and his % of shots assisted by other players has gone down. His rebounding and FT% have both improved, but basically everything else is stagnant.

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IF you wanted to compare him to more modern players that could be more similar, what about

Donovan Mitchell: 24/4/4 on 43/36 shooting at age 22, his second year.
Collin Sexton: 24/4/3 on 48/37 his age 22 year (3rd year.)
Jamal Murray. 19/4/5 on 46/35 shooting in age 22/year 4.
Booker 27/4/7 on 48/32 age 22/y4.
Jaden Ivey 18/4/4 on 46/41 shooting at age 22/y3.
Jalen Williams 19/4/5 on 54/43 at age 22/y3
James Harden 17/4/4 on 49/39 at a22/y3
RJ Barrettt 20.4.3 on 43/31 at a22y3
Anfernee Simons 17/3/4 on 44/41 at a22/y4
Tyrese Maxey 20/3/4 on 48/43 at a22/y3
Cam Thomas 23/3/3 on 44/36 at a22/y3
DLo - 22/4/7 on 43/37 at a22/y4
Jordan Poole 19/3/4 on 45/36 at a22/y3

If I am missing some score-first SG/combo guards that were age 22 in year 3 or 4 of their career add them to the list.

Thank you. I was going to attempt to do the same after looking up MJ/Dreams stats.

Jordan missed most of his age 22 season, then came back for the playoffs and averaged 44ppg while the Bulls were ridiculously overmatched by Bird's best team. That Celtics team had 5 different players that averaged 15ppg in the playoffs plus Bill Walton coming off the bench.

Guitarsoup said:

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Silent For Too Long said:

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I think the fact that some of you seem to think the jury is out on a 22 year old player is frankly kind of ridiculous. Go lookup what Dream or MJ were doing at 22 and get back to me.

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It is bizarre to compare Green's 4th season to the rookie season of two of the ten greatest players in NBA history, but ok.

Jordan came in 6th in MVP voting as a rookie (year 21 season) with 28/7/6 on 52% shooting as a rookie and was a defensive force as well with almost 200 steals (2.4/game) which is about equal to Jalen Green's career mark of 208 steals.

Hakeem's rookie year (age 22 season) he put up 21/12 on 54% with 2.7 blocks per game and was 12th in MVP voting. His second year in the NBA, he led the Rockets to the Finals and was All-NBA 2nd team and 4th in MVP voting.

Jalen's shooting rookie year: .426/.343 TS% 547
Jalen's shooting 4th year: .427/.345. TS% .553

It is amazing how consistent all his numbers that arent team influenced have been over his 4 years. Even his best scoring game of the year: 41 as a rookie, 42 each other season. The only thing that has really changed is his usage has gone up and his % of shots assisted by other players has gone down. His rebounding and FT% have both improved, but basically everything else is stagnant.

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IF you wanted to compare him to more modern players that could be more similar, what about

Donovan Mitchell: 24/4/4 on 43/36 shooting at age 22, his second year.
Collin Sexton: 24/4/3 on 48/37 his age 22 year (3rd year.)
Jamal Murray. 19/4/5 on 46/35 shooting in age 22/year 4.
Booker 27/4/7 on 48/32 age 22/y4.
Jaden Ivey 18/4/4 on 46/41 shooting at age 22/y3.
Jalen Williams 19/4/5 on 54/43 at age 22/y3
James Harden 17/4/4 on 49/39 at a22/y3
RJ Barrettt 20.4.3 on 43/31 at a22y3
Anfernee Simons 17/3/4 on 44/41 at a22/y4
Tyrese Maxey 20/3/4 on 48/43 at a22/y3
Cam Thomas 23/3/3 on 44/36 at a22/y3
DLo - 22/4/7 on 43/37 at a22/y4
Jordan Poole 19/3/4 on 45/36 at a22/y3

If I am missing some score-first SG/combo guards that were age 22 in year 3 or 4 of their career add them to the list.

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Anthony Edwards

1876er said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Silent For Too Long said:

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I think the fact that some of you seem to think the jury is out on a 22 year old player is frankly kind of ridiculous. Go lookup what Dream or MJ were doing at 22 and get back to me.

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It is bizarre to compare Green's 4th season to the rookie season of two of the ten greatest players in NBA history, but ok.

Jordan came in 6th in MVP voting as a rookie (year 21 season) with 28/7/6 on 52% shooting as a rookie and was a defensive force as well with almost 200 steals (2.4/game) which is about equal to Jalen Green's career mark of 208 steals.

Hakeem's rookie year (age 22 season) he put up 21/12 on 54% with 2.7 blocks per game and was 12th in MVP voting. His second year in the NBA, he led the Rockets to the Finals and was All-NBA 2nd team and 4th in MVP voting.

Jalen's shooting rookie year: .426/.343 TS% 547
Jalen's shooting 4th year: .427/.345. TS% .553

It is amazing how consistent all his numbers that arent team influenced have been over his 4 years. Even his best scoring game of the year: 41 as a rookie, 42 each other season. The only thing that has really changed is his usage has gone up and his % of shots assisted by other players has gone down. His rebounding and FT% have both improved, but basically everything else is stagnant.

-------

IF you wanted to compare him to more modern players that could be more similar, what about

Donovan Mitchell: 24/4/4 on 43/36 shooting at age 22, his second year.
Collin Sexton: 24/4/3 on 48/37 his age 22 year (3rd year.)
Jamal Murray. 19/4/5 on 46/35 shooting in age 22/year 4.
Booker 27/4/7 on 48/32 age 22/y4.
Jaden Ivey 18/4/4 on 46/41 shooting at age 22/y3.
Jalen Williams 19/4/5 on 54/43 at age 22/y3
James Harden 17/4/4 on 49/39 at a22/y3
RJ Barrettt 20.4.3 on 43/31 at a22y3
Anfernee Simons 17/3/4 on 44/41 at a22/y4
Tyrese Maxey 20/3/4 on 48/43 at a22/y3
Cam Thomas 23/3/3 on 44/36 at a22/y3
DLo - 22/4/7 on 43/37 at a22/y4
Jordan Poole 19/3/4 on 45/36 at a22/y3

If I am missing some score-first SG/combo guards that were age 22 in year 3 or 4 of their career add them to the list.

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Anthony Edwards

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26/5/5 on 46/36 shootin

Rockets about to hit murders' row on the schedule. at Denver tonight, then 3 must wins at home vs. Sac Town, Portland and Detroit.

After that it's a home and home vs. the Cavs on Jan 22 and 25, then at Boston on the 27th and at Memphis on the 30th. A respite at the Nets, then at the Knicks on Feb 3.

Sacramento is one of the hottest teams in the league the last few weeks. Would be happy to split this back to back

Also both Portland and Sacramento are road games