Who Belongs In The Houston Rockets Starting Lineup? Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, Or Tari Eason?

Who Belongs In The Houston Rockets Starting Lineup? Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, Or Tari Eason?

On today’s show what are the possible changes head coach eeme udoka might make to the Houston Rockets starting lineup post Allstar break is jayen green starting spot the only starting spot in danger or could somebody else also see some time on the bench we’re going to go

Through the pros and cons of Min Thompson cam Whitmore and tar een taking one of the Rockets five starting spots it’s all coming up right here at lockon Rockets this is Mission Control Houston ignition sequence start throw it up Jaylen green shenon here in the short

Row oh my that’s the no look Jabari for three and the win look at 15 seconds guidance is internal the Houston Rocket select amen Thompson and cam Whitmore one thing I have never done is not made the playoffs and so we want

To take that step here as well 6 5 4 3 2 1 what’s up and welcome to another edition of locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native houstonian and credential media member I’m also the

Host of locked on NBA Mondays be sure to follow along on Twitter at JT Gatlin and the show of course at lockon Rockets free and available wherever you listen to your podcast including YouTube and as always thank you so much for making lock on Rockets part of your day every single

Day whether it’s on your way to work on your lunch break in the gym thank you for being an everyday or and making the show part of your day every single day joining us now is none other than your weekly co-host the ex as an o man

Himself Alyan bani who can track down on Twitter Rockets Insider here to tackle what could be a new revamped looking Houston Rockets team once we get back from the allstar break we had oka’s postgame quote after the ugly loss to Ali Memphis Grizzlies uh depleted Memphis Grizzlies I should say uh and

Eay talking about potentially needing to make a change to the Rockets starting lineup so let’s go ahead and we’re going to run that back we talked about it in our last episode The recap of that Grizzlies loss but let’s go ahead and revisit that quote right here from the

Jump and we’ll do the entire quote this time where em odoko when asked about Houston’s lack of energy responded it’s definitely a concerning problem maybe I have to look at the rotation and the lineup I have out there starting and try to get competitors out there at one time

To avoid poor starts like that I will look at all of that over the break look in the mirror at myself and figure out the best way forward to get us off to better starts alakan right out of the gate how you feeling about this this this Oka

Kind of addressing the slow starts like this by basically saying yeah I might have to change up the starting lineup absolutely Jackson it’s inexcusable that on the road you have this many poor starts it’s inexcusable able that you start playing in the second half and you start competing whenever you’re you’re

Trying to come back into a game the Rockets don’t need to be the best three-point shooting team in the league don’t have to be a really good shooting team they if they let their defense great for their offense and let their effort kind of dictate their play

They should have at least five 10 more wins than they do right now and it is absolutely inexcusable at the lack of effort that we see at the start of games you you let Memphis a team that was struggling struggling offensively have one of their best games offensively of the Season against you

You’re supposed to be a team that’s one of the best defensive teams in the league and and I I think eem is right there needs to be a change and it’s not change for the sake of making a change it’s it’s change for the sake of accountability we can see in the

Starting lineup and it’s not not just one player two players is pretty much everybody in starting lineup who except for Fred Bay fleet when healthy who most of the time not competing there there are lapses and ultimately if you want to win games and you want to send a message

That this is how we’re going to play you can’t have those lapses fully agree with you there and I do think honestly a change to the starting lineup is probably long overdue I think there was a level of the Rockets wanted to stay committed to their their starting five

You know Fred Jaylen Dylan Jabari and shenon uh and I think the the elephant in the room here is that the obvious candidate unfortunately to swap out in the starting five to make some kind of meaningful change to that starting fiveman group is Jaylen green because

He’s the the one of the starting five so far this season that has largely underperformed relative to his expectations but my question for you alyon is is there anybody else in that rocket starting five that you think would could potentially warrant a shakeup either because they just haven’t

Been playing well as of late or maybe you think their role would be better served coming off the bench or just again maybe one of the other possible candidates here that we’re going to be talking about whether it’s Amin Thompson cam Whitmore tar een Health permitting uh one of these other guys would

Potentially just be a better fit in the starting lineup over any of these other guys besides just Jaylen green it’s I think it’s a complicated question and I think three c three people who I have as candidates right now are Jaylen Dylan Brooks and Jabari Smith Jr um and I’m

Not putting oper and shenon there even though honestly there are times where Alp has defensive lapses and he should be playing better defensively and the only reason I’m not including Alp in this list is because there is nobody else behind him besides Jeff Green who can start

Form and and also Alp is right now clearly one of your better not your better your best offensive player and you need still need to be able to have his ability to create and do things but Alp is not lacking a fault as well in terms of these the the defensive miscues

But if we’re focused on and I want it’s also not just defensive miscues it’s it’s across it’s the energy effort it’s the right being being locked in right making you know Silly mistakes exactly yes okay yes absolutely yes thank you for correcting me um and you know for for Jaylen it’s it’s you

Can’t you have to be good at something when when you’re struggling offensively whether it’s good at rebounding whether it’s good at things I mean he’s had a good stretch recently but whenever you’re not playing well offensively you have to hang your hat on something and what is that for him right now whenever

He’s struggling I think it’s like that the competitive nature like what what is he going to compete on if he’s shot and struggling Dyan Brooks if you’re going to get beat by defensively you know you have to make sure offensively you’re letting the ball come to you and you do

Things yeah attack mismatches yeah you know you know get get your pull-up threes you know you can hit those from the top of the key but you have to be able to limmit some of those shots shots right um Jabari Smith Jr having a heck

Of a season these last 10 or so games he’s been he’s been struggling shooting the basketball he he has not been the same since returning from injury unfortunately his numbers are down across the board since coming back from injury his rebounding numbers have taken a significant hit since coming back from

That injury I I don’t know if it’s because he’s maybe playing through possibly a little bit of pain still or some discomfort so that could be a factor or maybe it’s even potentially a factor right maybe he just doesn’t trust that that ankle the same way right since

Coming back there’s there’s variables at play here but he’s he’s definitely another candidate where you could look at it and you can make a very strong argument hey you know maybe tar over Jabari or something at that four spot quite possibly I have a question for you Jackson and I haven’t mentioned him

Because I don’t think he should go come off the bench but is Fred a candidate to come off the bench to you I think the only way that Fred Van vet is a candidate to come off the bench is if the Rockets really wanted to shift kind

Of their goal their mentality for this back onethird of the Season whatever into seeing which combinations of the young guys really work well together and getting a a a really good look at say like a starting back court of maybe a Min and cam if they re if they’re really

All in on those two guys and excited about their future then you want to see 25 30 games of those two guys playing heavy minutes with each other in the starting lineup then possibly yes and I don’t think Fred’s I I I think Fred is a mature enough adult that he can

Understand hey okay The Season’s maybe a little bit lost we don’t have a shot at making the play in tournament anymore they’re going to rest and kind of conserve me a little bit so that I don’t you know have an injury here at the tail end of the season that’s already kind of

Lost I I think Fred’s an adult enough or adults enough to understand if they wanted to do that I don’t think that they will because here’s my the way that we saw eay kind of bench Jaylen green there against the Grizzlies I think it tells me eeme still wants to gun for

That final play in spot even if it’s potentially a little Out Of Reach at this point for the Rockets I think E’s goal is make the play in not at all costs but get get there like I think that’s what he wants out of this final

One third of the season is to make a a good good faith effort push to be in the playing discussion I don’t think you get there by benching Fred Van it’s it’s gon to be interesting to see I think even more importantly than making the plane is you want to play for

Something right now right if even if they are close to playing for the playin this will give us the the data that we are looking at in terms of figuring out which of these young players are successful when paired together absolutely and that’s something that we’re going to kind of discuss here

Coming up in these next couple segments is which players make the most sense to potentially inject into the Houston Rocket starting lineup we’re going to go through some of the pros and cons of am men Thompson cam Whitmore and T een we’re going to get there in just one

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Eligible items only exclusions apply and continuing on here at locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball now alak you brought up a really good point there in the first segment when we were first talking about Alper and shingun right there’s not a guy behind

Alp who can do what he does on this roster there’s just not and I think the same argument applies for Fred Van vet as well so when you asked me about you know could Fred be a candidate to come off the bench I think if the Rockets goals are drastically different in the

Final one- third of the season and they just really want to experiment and see what they have with some of the young guys and different permutations of of a of backourt matchups whether it’s a men and jayen or a man in cam or Cam and Jaylen then fine give Fred a smaller

Role bring him off the bench conserve him put him in bubble wraps so that he’s not hurt going to the offseason and keep him healthy that’s fine but nobody else on this roster provides what Fred does nobody can run the FL run the offense the way he does nobody else is a floor

General on this team even though Amin has shown some serious flashes of of playmaking ability he’s also not quite the the halfcourt offensive floor General that Fred Van vet is getting the Rockets into their sets delivering the ball to Alper and shingon in the pick and roll all these different things so

With that said I think that you have to look at when you’re looking at potentially replacing you know the the one guy that we talked about already Jaylen green you brought up that point as well of you know what else are you bringing to the table right what what

Else can you provide and I think that’s the issue and I made this argument I think like two months ago but if jaylen’s not scoring the ball even though he’s improved as a playmaker he’s making better reads even though he’s improved as a Defender even though he’s

Improved as a rebounder as of late uh finding ways to C you know get the defensive board and just take off and get out in transition to ignite his own offense to ignite the team in transition that’s all great that’s all well and good but there are other players on this

Roster who who provide other things even when they aren’t scoring the basketball and I think that’s where you get into that argument of okay if jaylen’s not scoring and even if he’s not scoring at an elite level or an efficient level whatever what else is he providing you

And I think you get into the argument where aen is giving you a lot more more than Jaylen can give you if it’s if you take scoring out of the equation for all these names a men even if you take scoring out of the equation for cam I

Think cam probably has Jaylen beat just as like a man-to-man individual Defender jaylen’s clearly the better playmaker right now um and then tari another Elite Defender right so so there’s a lot to kind of consider here which name do you want to talk about first as far as a

Potential you know potentially being inserted into the starting lineup and what it would look like and getting into some of the pros and cons yeah um I’d like to started amen Jackson that’s okay and I think if amen would be inserted into the starting lineup You’ put him

Into jaylen’s role and I think it does a few things for you and just couple things that eay has talk about over the course of the Season make it make sense for it it makes sense for that to happen um first is you have a man who is able to play off of

Shenon and play off of Fred vanin Fleet and has an ability to roam the dunker spot and also cut off the wing if needed do you think on I just I’m curious on that note do you think a Min already in this short in a short amount of time I

Think he’s already got the best chemistry with shingon playing off of shingun not not like him setting up shingon because Fred and shingon have a great little Twan game with each other but I think of players who play well off of shingun I think am Min is already the

Best one on the roster he really understands how to cut and how to operate playing off of shingun better than I think anybody else on this roster does at this point well I I also think that has to do with the fact that the cutting ability is there and that he’s

Able to finish around the rim right I think in my opinion Fred Van Fleet would be that guy if he shot a better percentage around the rim um because him and Alp would work well together right but um you know I see your point and I think right now yeah there’s a really

Good argument you can make that that’s him and Shang would have the best chemistry and that’s a big reason why he he would you know be be a part of that offensively what the Rockets have been doing with him in the dunker spot is essentially when shenon is at the middle

Of the floor right cuz he that’s where he can see a double team easy a lot a lot easier than if he’s at the Baseline even even he’s at the Baseline a man is essentially you know like shifting back and forth coming into the paint getting out of the paint kind

Of helping Alp see where is the second Defender coming from and that that that’s big because an alpie can EAS much easier anticipate where that where the second Defender is coming from and where that passing Lane will open it may not even have to be the a men but if a man

Cuts in or Dives in a little bit and he’s able to bring in a second Defender and Alie notices oh hey it’s probably coming from the wing passing Lane is open so those passing Lanes is is a big deal for me when I when I look at a men

And then lastly off from an offensive side transition he’s pushing the pace he’s doing a lot of things where he’s touching the paint and getting others involved rebound he gets the rebound he’s at he’s a walking double double at that point gets the rebound attacks touches the paint always touches the

Paint then passes it back out he’s been right there Then defensively for me he’s one of the better Defenders on this team absolutely at this point and for me whenever he’s playing in a switching scheme he’s excelling and what that can do for you is that it allows you to

Switch a lot more of your actions with your starting lineup obviously with Alp you want to keep them away from the perimeter uh and not to say Alp has done a good job on the perimeter he’s been great on hedging and showing but you still want him to not have have to

Switch onto a perimeter player possession after possession amen can allow you to do that a little more with Fred and with Jabari and Dillan if that’s the only starting lineup change that’s made so for those reason I think a men makes a lot of sense and in terms

Of competitiveness and being an extra ball handler that e yoka constantly talks about that he wants he checks all the boxes I I I love a lot of the points you just made and and I think that for just starting with the defensive side of things right having another Defender out

There I think one you would suddenly be uh a lot bigger just at that position on the floor because right now the Rockets are undersized at 4 out of their five positions in the starting lineup uh you can maybe make an argument that Dylan Brooks is like average sized for a wing

In today’s NBA but I I really think realistically they’re undersized at four their five spots Jabari is the only guy who isn’t undersized at his position so if you add am Min Thompson to the starting lineup in place of Jaylen green then suddenly you have two kind of jumbo

Wings at their respective slots uh it gives you another switchable Defender I love watching the way that a men fights over screens and uses his length to recover you know getting back into the play and stuff so I think that does kind of help shenon as well just you know

Having another really Adept Wing Defender out there on the court with him kind of takes it takes away some of the onus that gets placed on him when he is you know maybe guarding a pick and roll where it’s it’s him and Jaylen are the two Defenders guarding a pick and roll

They’ve improved as Defenders this year but they are still two of the weaker Defenders on the Rockets roster so they can be kind of exposed at times defensively especially when a defense is targeting both of them simultaneously and this is your point about what he provides offensively I think it it makes

A ton of sense because we’ve seen throughout this year already in specifically we’ve seen Fred Van vet take less of a role or less of an on ball role when Oka has been C very clearly trying to get jayen green going whether it’s at the beginning of games

Or maybe the start of a third quarter where the first you know three four five plays are all run with Jaylen green having the ball in his hands where he’s running the offense or even late in games when we’ve seen Oka trust Jaylen green to be the primary facilitator and

Run the show late in a game Fred Van vet is very capable of playing off ball and in fact I do think that’s a way to kind of I don’t want to say preserve Fred but but use him as a weapon in a different way right because when he’s

Initiating the offense and he’s running the show and everything that’s great and he’s really good at that and he his his assist to turnover ratio is incredible he takes great care of the basketball he shares the ball well he makes sure to you know feed the hot hand he does

Everything you would want and then some out of your starting point guard but allowing him to be a I guess a play finisher instead of a play starter I think unlocks a little bit more of Fred’s scoring capabilities and kind of helps address the fact that this team

Really doesn’t have a lot of shooting when one of your best Shooters has to be the guy who’s constantly initiating offense then it takes away his ability to actually use his shooting as a weapon whereas if you started a in Thompson gave him more of the on ball reps with

The starting unit then you can have Amin and shingun as your primary creators and then you have three pretty high quality Shooters around them in Fred vanite Dylan Brooks who’s still been shooting lights out even after his two of 10 performance against the Grizzlies and Jabari Smith Jr who is who’s trending

Downward unfortunately with his shooting as of late but on the season he’s still hovering around 37 is% so that’s still really respectable and and I I I’m confident that Jabari can keep those numbers up uh so I really like it I think it’s it’s probably I think there’s

An argument you made it’s maybe the cleanest fit uh cleanest switch between the potential candidates here to take over that starting spot for Jaylen green so I I I do like your point you know in regards to amen that he opens up Fred a lot more to do different things we’ve

Talked about on the show just together you know when Fred rests or he plays fewer minutes his percentage from three goes up right and so it’s it’s it’s just the fact right that you know if you do that and allow Fred to potentially rest a little

More you don’t even just play as much but just rest a little more and give a man more of those reigns with the second unit you can allow him to do those things um and I will say one of the other things that we didn’t you know

We’re we’re we’re very high on a Min Thompson clearly we both really enjoy watching watching him has been one of the best developments of this season but I do think there there are some drawbacks that come with potentially insert the starting lineup and one of the big

Ones here is you are then giving yourself it’s a very clear lack of shooting within that starting lineup because you go from the rocket starting lineup that they’ve used the majority of the Season even though Jaylen green isn’t shooting the ball well defenses still treat him as a shooter from the

Perimeter they still close out hard on him they run him off the three-point line they treat him as a three-point shooting threat whether they should or not is is completely besides the point Amin Thompson is not on The Scouting Report The Scouting Report says give him all the space in the world back

Six of 38 six of 38 this season from three yeah yeah so wait amen Thompson is six of 38 yeah I’m sorry Amin Thompson has the same shooting percentage on the season that Jaylen green does for the entire month of February that’s funny um sorry so uh because I I put those

Numbers out on uh after digging into why the rocket shooting was so bad in February uh sorry you said six of 38 I was like wait are we talking about Jaylen again it messed me up um anyways no but right so it becomes it’s not that two non-shooters can’t work they

Absolutely can work together especially when they have the the court Vision the playmaking ability that that amen Thompson and Alper and shenon do possess but it also really means that the other three guys that are your Shooters on the floor along those two non-shooters really have to be on their p’s and q’s

Because if you have an off game where one or two or more of those guys are struggling from three it’s going to look just as ugly as it did against the Grizzlies offensively where Jabari went 0 of six jayen went 0 of four Dylan was

Two of 10 and a men and shenon aren’t shooting threes anyways so I think that’s the one danger zone you get into with a men is is you have a clear and distinct lack of shooting in that starting lineup if you insert him there and and one thing that em Yuda has done

And I want rockets fans to pay attention to this they’re using amen very few possession I think they’ll ramp up post All-Star break that amen has has you know reps doing this but they’re using him as a screener and I think if he does start you’ll see a lot more of that of

Him being a screener for and shenon um similar to some stuff that Fred Van fleet has in in this offense will they’ll run an inverted pick and roll um I think you’ll see that and then also I think you’ll see amen and Fred Van Fleet

Running a lot more one to kind of pick and roll similar to what Jaylen and Fred have done and Jaylen and cam have done over the last few weeks so I do think those are some other extra ways to kind of sprinkle in am men’s involvement on

The ball and to keep the defense from just you know playing off completely and ultimately my biggest fear with amen is the free throw shooting we know he’s going to get to the paint we know he’s going to be able to go up there he has to shoot a better percentage from the

Free throw line and it’s it goes this one almost goes without saying but he’s a rookie rookie mistakes are going to be part of the package whether it’s a Min if it’s cam Whitmore those guys are going to have rookie mistakes but the the the Silver Lining to those rookie

Mistakes is I think both of them have shown an ability to when they do make those mistakes they’re very coachable they understand and they recognize those mistakes and they’re able to kind of iron them out even within the given flow a game right maybe you know they make a

Mistake early in the first quarter and then you don’t see them make that same mistake for the next three quarters because em odok is very active coaching on the sidelines always pulling these guys aside and saying hey don’t do this or hey do more of this this is working

So that’s at least something to consider here but we got two more names uh for your consideration cam Whitmore and tar een who would make sense to inject into the Houston Rockets starting lineup we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought

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On Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball now alecon the next name here that that I want us to talk about is Cam Whitmore and I think for cam the argument for cam makes a lot of sense for a variety of reasons one because as soon as he

Stepped onto the scene and started getting minutes for this rocket team we saw immediately he is a true blue like Bonafide Alpha scorer he is a guy that know if there’s one thing cam Whitmore knows how to do it is put the ball in the basket I think he’s clearly right

Now the Rocket’s best catch and shoot threat on the entire roster he is not afraid to pull the trigger on a shot there is not a single shot that cam Whitmore has taken that he didn’t like so however I I think that the argument that we were making there in segment two

Right for a men Thompson starting I think that would change kind of a lot of the fabric the identity of this team right where suddenly Fred is playing a significantly larger role off the ball um it changes a lot of your your approach offensively it puts a lot more

Of the onus on the shooters that are around Amin and uh and shingun whereas if you were to swap Jaylen for cam Whitmore and cam Whitmore was the player that you insert into the starting lineup I think it it allows you to more so double down on the identity of what this

Team probably should have been and could have been earlier on had jaylen’s outside shooting not not struggled as much as it did this season because then you’ve got your bread and butter which is obviously running your offense through a heavy dose of uh Al shingun

And Fred Van vet a lot of Alper and shingon postup opportunities and you’re surrounding Alp with four Bonafide Shooters who at that point then you know at least you know on paper it would work really really well with those four players Fred cam Dylan and Jabari

Playing off of Alper and shenon but it also kind of requires this team and this coaching staff to to Really lean all the way in to shenon as a primary facilitator which we’ve seen them do sometimes this season because you’re also limiting yourself at that point

Because cam is not a playmaker he’s not a dynamic Wing scorer or he’s not a dynamic Wing Creator the way that Jaylen at least theoretically is and can be you know on a game by game basis can help kind of with some of the playmaking duties can run some of the offense and

Let Fred play off ball cam is not that guy you’re not going to give the ball to cam and let him run the offense so everything kind of has to be run through some combination of Fred or alpie at that point if that’s the you make to the

Starting lineup I I I I think those are some fantastic points you’re making I think another thing with Cam is that he allows you to play quicker in transition any any change we’re talking about here we’ve mentioned amen we’ve mentioned Cam and and we’re we’re GNA talk about tar

What is the skill of all I mean what is the strength of all three of them when they come off the bench they push the pace they play in transition right and if we’re talking about cam especially cam will push cam will take a shot early on and and that’s going to be

Interesting for me to see is who is eeme looking to replace and and potentially with uh whichever player they do replace him uh that player with it’s going to really change the way they push in transition right because like you said no matter who they bring in even if it’s Fred it

Stays with Jaylen or if it’s a Dylan or J whatever happens you’re going to see the pace being pushed a lot more and that’s still going to change the fabric of the offense with Fred Van because ultimately with the Fred they’ve been one of the slowest if not the slowest

Offense in the NBA and so I I I I do think it’s also interesting to consider how old that place with the pace and and what happens there but it just in regards to cam I don’t know if I’d want him to start I think he he just brings

You so much juice coming off the bench that you need um and you want to have an identity of competitiveness not saying cam doesn’t give you that absolutely not I think amen fits that mold better and if we’re looking at Jaylen if amen is the one replacing Jaylen jayen and cam

Have played really well together as a Duo and I do wonder if offensively when Alper and shenon sits and you have Jaylen and cam together playing brings two guys who on paper can beat their man off the dribble um and do specific things so that that’s kind of how I’m

Think about cam in this case I think cam is an option but I do think he’s still better suited to come off the bench and pair him alongside some of your starters and one of a couple of the other drawbacks when it comes to cam Whitmore similar to amen Thompson you’re

Going to be you know you’re going to deal with some rookie mistakes potentially out of him um I think there’s some maybe a little bit of a lack or just the the learning curve there of some of the defensive awareness right where when cam is playing on ball

When he’s you know matched up you know one-on-one and defending like that he’s fine like he’s he’s a brick wall he he does a great job staying in front of his Defender it’s when cam is playing all when he’s you you know when he’s away from the play when he’s having to focus

On the off ball movements and switching and all those little things that happen away from the ball that’s where I think I fall into a little bit of a concern with Cam is just is he is he locked in is he fully engaged defensively at all

Times the way that you need to be with a team that switches so many of their actions whether it’s on ball off ball the way the Rockets defense does function so that is at least a little bit of a concern there and I agree with your point about keeping kind of that

Scoring punch off the bench because even though cam would work almost seamlessly as just a plug and play and you know catch and shoot threat off of the actions initiated by by Fred and Alp you then lose a huge chunk of your scoring punch Off the Bench unless Jaylen is is

Somehow going to replace that scoring punch but we’ve seen Jaylen you know be kind of inconsistent and up and down all season so I don’t think you can exclusively rely on hey okay we’re going to put cam in the starting lineup and Jaylen is going to be our guaranteed

Scoring punch Off the Bench I don’t think you can do that quite just yet so I agree with those points there uh and I do think right you’ve talked you talked about this when we were talking about a men that lack of playmaking does become a bit of an issue

Right you you suddenly you only have one primary ball handler in Fred Van Dylan can handle the ball a little bit on the perimeter but he’s not a he’s not some somebody you want with a ton of reps running you know you want him doing mismatches you don’t want him running

Your offense exactly right you don’t want him initiating plays or sets or anything like that Fred is basically the only guy that can do that on the floor if you had the three of Cam Dylan and Jabari and that’s actually also concern that you would have even if you injected

Tar een into the starting lineup because then you’re essentially running a primary ball handler a lead guard in Fred you’re running three Wings in Dylan tari and Jabari and then you’re running shingun so it kind of has some of the same stylistic properties as running cam Whitmore you just become a lot more

Defensive oriented with tar een in place of Cam U but offensively it’s still kind of the same concept where you have three guys who are all catch and shoot threats who are switchable who you know all these different things but you know does does tari fit the bill because similar

To your point about amen or sorry I apologize cam I made this argument a long time ago and I’m curious because I I just I don’t have anything to support this this is just purely like feel and speculation but I think part of the reason tar is so

Impactful in the minutes that he plays is something about that level of like chaotic energy that he brings to a game is really beneficial having Off the Bench and I don’t know if his play style is as conducive in a starting unit as it would be coming off the bench and

And it’s so weird and I I I feel like some people are going to try and dunk on me for making this comp do you remember when David NOA played for the Rockets David NOA when he came off the bench was such an impact player Off the Bench like

He was an incredible role player Off the Bench and then you threw him into the starting lineup and it was like a nightmare and part of that was the spacing and the lack of shooting and some of those other issues but and tar doesn’t come with those those issues

Right is not a bad floor space where he’s shooting a respectable percentage from three all that stuff but something about that chaotic level of energy that David NOA and tar e both kind of provide to a game when they come off the bench I just don’t know if it translates as as

Well to the starting lineup that’s my argument well a couple years ago a I was talking to a coach and they they had talked about how when you’re a starter you play with your starters you just you ideally kind of play lock step like it’s like a string you play with each other

And when you’re a bench player and you you you’re truly in an impactful bench player that’s because you’re able to break that string for the opposing team and I think for me tar is that example when tar comes in Off the Bench that’s when both teams are not are

Playing with spot minutes from their starters bench it’s all mixed together right for about a 12-minute period in between the first and second quarters and between the third and fourth quarters that 12-minute period in between is a lot of guys coming in and out and that’s when Atari can make it

His impact because he doesn’t need a play run for him and his job is to break up possessions and break up Rhythm and and I wonder if what you’re saying I wonder if how how true could that be I I I still I still think though that you

Know he is somebody who I’d like to give a shot because you need somebody and we’ve seen this from amend these last few games who who can who needs to gamble defensively who needs to disrupt defensively you you need to bring somebody in who can kind of

Force the offense to have to hold it a second or two because they’re anticipating the other Defender anticipating right and so it’s just keeping them on their toes keeping them off balance tar would provide that and also in a starting lineup with Dylan Brooks and Jaylen green and Fred Van

Fleet and Alper and shanon all four guys who like to get their own shots and create tar doesn’t need a shot for himself he’ll play off of that um one thing on Dylan Brooks I want to mention because this could be a potential person right for Dylan Brooks or for Jabar

Smith Jr if T were to start the last few games that Fred Van fleet has not played Dylan Brooks only has one assist per game when Fred Van fleet was playing he had about three or four assists per game why is that important because when Fred’s not playing Dylan is taking on

More of that onus I have to create shots not create shots necessarily for others but create shots for himself because he knows he can get himself going not in a bad way you have to play Within the role within the flow of the off no it’s it’s

It’s a little bit in a bad way it’s okay he’s reverting a little bit to Memphis Dylan Memphis game I cannot I I have nothing to say about the Memphis game but ultimately like what I’m trying to say is the more creators you have in the starting lineup the better and that is

Why all these examples you’ve shared with me right all these players we’ve talked about the amend one makes the most sense because even if you take away a a shock Creator in Jaylen green you would still be adding a shot Creator Dylan and Jabari ultimately are your

Shooters you don’t want to bring in a shooter who’s like if you bring in Camari you want to make sure that the drop off isn’t drastic in terms of your shooting ability I think one player we haven’t talked about who I think is a legitimate option to start especially

With a recent stretch is Aaron holiday I think Aaron holiday is a legitimate threat to be a starter um post Allstar break considering the shooting and off the ball and the ability to be a lead Regard in certain situation just wanted to put put that out there I and look and

And shout out to Aaron holiday who has far exceeded any level of expectations that I had for him as a a you know vet minimum signed third string point guard he has been Sensational this season I think some Rockets fans have been unfairly critical of him when he doesn’t

Have these you know Monster performances off the bench because again he was supposed to be your third string injury Insurance point guard and he’s really stepped up in a big way early on with the Amin Thompson injury and and even now filling a void with Fred Van vet

He’s had these insane posters he’s been playing out of his freaking mind so I agree with your point about it I I don’t think Aon makes a ton of sense if only because I I feel like starting a a backourt that is of two six I agree I

Agree you’re you’re you are at that point ridiculously small I know you can get away with it for certain stretches of a game because they age Fred and Aaron both play a lot bigger than they than their listed Heights they’re better they’re better Defenders than all that

But I I just don’t think it makes sense from a starting point and also it’s also important I think to keep that shooting coming off the bench right if Aaron’s going to stay in that role similar to the cam Whitmore argument I think you got to space out that shooting um I

Think we’re both in agreement here though I think that the clear candidate that makes the most sense to be inserted into the starting lineup is more than likely amen Thompson for all the reasons that we’ve highlighted in this episode for what he brings to the table from a defensive perspective the rebounding

That he brings the fact that there’s no not going to be a drop off from a play making perspective in fact you can make an argument that there’s actually an uptick in a playmaking uh capacity with Amin Thompson over Jaylen green yes you do lose some of the potential outside

Shooting but then that also gets offset by playing Fred vanit in more of an off-ball role next to Amin Thompson in the starting lineup it’s all about whether or not Oka thinks that’s the right pathway forward for this team to to remain competitive and to again get

The most out of this group of guys and again potentially putting Jaylen green into that six man Roll Off the Bench and giving him a change of scenery and being able to approach and attack the game in a different way you brought up the the string comment right if you know the

Five starters all playing on a string attached together if jaylen’s coming off the bench he doesn’t have to worry about that string he doesn’t have to worry about fitting in with the rest of the five starters he can just come in and do his thing he can check in and just you

Know try to take over the game try to score and if it’s not there that night then cool eay can go to a different player he can he can reduce his minutes whatever but if he is on one if he’s locked in that game if he’s on it if he

Can’t miss if he’s unguardable then cool you ride that hot hand and he can win you a game or two by himself probably so I do want to hear from our listeners though if you’re listening to this if you’re watching on YouTube I want your thoughts I know I already asked this

Question last episode when we first kind of presented oka’s postgame commentary but we spent the entirety of this episode kind of presenting evidence and and numbers and all this as to why some of these changes would make sense what changes we would ultimately like to see so I want your thoughts which starting

Lineup would you like to see post Allstar break from this Houston Rocket scene what change would you like to see eme udoka make let us know in the YouTube comments but alyon you know the drill let everybody know where they can track you down at you can follow me on

Twitter Rockets Insider and we’ll see you next week that’s going to do it for another edition of locked on Rockets as always thank you so much for checking out the show if you haven’t done so yet please consider subscribing whether you’re listen to your podcast or on

YouTube just search lock on Rockets be sure to like comment and subscribe but as always thank you so much for watching thank you so much for listening and we look forward to having you back right here at lockdown Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets Basketball

Who Belongs In The Houston Rockets Starting Lineup? Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, Or Tari Eason?

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) is joined by weekly cohost Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) to discuss Ime Udoka’s comments about changing the starting lineup, why Jalen Green is the most obvious player to move to the bench and which other starters could ALSO get get moved, pros and cons to each of Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, and Tari Eason and how each one would fit with the other Rockets starters and more.

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