Ranking The Houston Rockets Core 6! Was Ime Udoka the Right Hire and Tanking for a top 4 Pick?!

Ranking The Houston Rockets Core 6! Was Ime Udoka the Right Hire and Tanking for a top 4 Pick?!

Oh Welcome to another episode of rockets talk I’m back with you here with my boy roou what’s good bro chilling man another long day I haven’t really slept much lately so um you know but I’m excited to take some time to talk Rockets how about you is that a lie bro

You really excited to talk about the Rockets after I mean excited am I happy I’m not happy excited but it is like it’s one of those like let’s get it out let’s yeah yeah for sure for sure I mean yeah yeah I mean coming off of uh as

Everybody knows the Rockets are in a stretch of games where uh it’s really kind of spiral out of control as far as where we were at the end of December to where we are now and I’m going to admit something when we were uh we were doing

The Twitter spaces late into the night you can tell we’re dedicated Rockets fans staying up to 1:30 talking about the Houston Rockets um after a loss something like we were going through like some of the stuff um as far as like where we started with the re build and

It kind of dawned on me that we ironically are in the exact same spot that we started in in at the beginning of this rebuild which is and you had pointed this out after the wow factor and all that stuff try to win we were so bad that we basically had to

Make the decision whether we wanted to tank forget this a top four protected pick owned by Oklahoma City which ended up becoming Jaylen green and 3 years later here we are how crazy is that bro man the craziest part to me first of all it’s insane right so we spend all this

This you know you have all the prospects you spend all 60 million at the cap which when you when you think okay they spent all that cap money they got that’s what they went in terms of free agents so that’s off the table like that’s a crazy feeling because you’re like okay

That you can’t do that anymore unless you make some serious trades and open up some cap space but yeah they’re in a position where it’s like maybe they should tank what is so interesting interesting to me is I don’t know if you remember but I remember when they got

Jaylen green when they got that pick right like like simply on draft night or on on lot night when it became clear that Houston was retaining its pick and not taking the 18th overall pick from OKC it was like who hallelujah amen like cool we can start this thing off right

You know and now three years later it’s like that pick that guy that was picked that night at with that pick like is he even really going to be a part of this thing in the future completely up in the air so it’s almost like getting that

Pick didn’t really end up mattering in the end maybe um but yeah it’s crazy man um you know it’s been a long like people say oh you got to be patient you gotta be patient teams turn it around in this time frame you know good teams figure

Out how to turn it around in this time frame um this is basically year four of the of the rebuild theoretically it’s year three but it’s year four being this shitty and that matters um both for how fans feel and both for how public perceives you and you know I mean I said

This in my in a tweet I was like nine first round picks over the last three years 60 million plus spent in cap space um to go from 14 to 12 you know like that doesn’t sound impressive you know so I have to imagine if they get in a

Position where they’re going to really tank and shut things down for the rest of the season which arguably it might be the smart thing to do because they have top four protection on their pick right as we discussed they’re in the same position um but to think that that’s

Where they are I have to imagine that that’s not how they thought the season was going to go yeah I think if you gave them a lie detector test no I don’t think anybody envisioned this um it’s I think and and the you know the question

Of tanking or selling the rest of the season because I don’t think you can tank at this point it’s basically an organizational decision it’d be a white flag on the year um is is that the right move and I think that’s that’s the question that the Rockets are going to

Have to answer because with the bring you brought in Fred enily you brought in Dylan Brooks um you have all these guys that you’re were trying to build the culture um you know there was a lot of discussions during the actual when we were actually tanking about whether it

Was the right way to go about building this thing out and to me I was thinking about this today because you were brought up that we should you know this is a topic and it’s a very interesting topic I was thinking about this today this year we just had right now is

To me a tank year for an elite team and I’m going to explain why I think that because basically you got the best of the first half of the season with competitive play um you have the veteran structure around you have a good coach um you have a young budding star

In Alon changon and you made the decision willingly hey you know what guys let’s just stop because we have a outcome that we deserve desire this to me is what a good tank would look like if this was 20 20221 this is what the rocket should

Have been this is what OKC did because OKC had to sit SGA a lot of those years because they didn’t want to win and when you have to be and this was when I was watching the team I was telling people there’s one thing to tank because you

Just suck and there’s another thing to like where you got you could be better but you’re stopping yourself and I to me that matters um and uh for us to be four years and be at this point to make this decision I I the the ramifications of course are going to be

Different than in year one of a real tank because Fred is a vet has his name on it e may has his name on it um I just don’t see a world where they can even make that move because there’s so much at stake and it’s kind of embarrassing

At this you know I mean at the end of the day uh and you could do it and the pick is top four protected so you could do it and get the fifth pick and then you just did that for nothing right I think logistically it’ll be tough to

Even do because and by the way when I say tank I don’t I just mean shut down Fred and Dylan basically right um and like not play Jeff Green um or Aaron Holliday but that’s why it becomes tough to do because then it’s like well who do

They play so I don’t even think they can do it Fred Van vet Dylan Brooks Jeff Green Jon Tate um Ain holiday Reggie Bullock Jack landale those aren’t young like draft picks so they got to play some of them right so it’s like why I I don’t know I have a tough time

Logistically seeing it happen when you put it the way you put it I think that’s really interesting it’s like this is the way an elite team tanks right they have the veterans there bringing people along they have the breakout season from a guy like shenon where you can get some

Confidence and say okay maybe we got something here to build around um you get some data you get some reps on all the other guys they get a year older they’ve improved Jabari plays better you’re playing with house money because tar hasn’t even really played he’s only

Played what less than 22 minutes per game in only 22 games so far this season he might not play another game this season um and then you go add the pick on top of that and then you come back and and that that’s actually convincing

To me so that that could make me look at it differently but like you said it’s almost embarrassing because that would indicate this is one this is Phase One B right one one a was like be terrible and accumulate the talent and now you’re still in that tank phase but you’ve

You’ve leveled up a little bit and you’re taking like a material step forward um so it’s 1 a it’s like almost like one B right but they didn’t say that they said phase two and so I think that they may in their heads have either skipped the step or just crossed their

Fingers hoping that they could skip a step knowing that they might not be able to um but yeah so if that pick goes to OKC right they still get the Nets pick but they lose their own pick and then at that point you gota you got to Hope like

We can be happy with the Improvement shanon’s made and I am and and Jabari and like there’s a lot to be happy about but how much longer do you see that kind of unfolding taking to unfold before it gets you back to that level and I think

One thing we discussed um also yesterday was about setting the context for said trade or Star whatever it is that player that you’re ideally looking for to come to the team usually guys that are that good coming out of situations where they’re probably just maybe they didn’t

Win to the extent that they like they’re not trying to go to a lottery team right that that is is just coming out of a season where they won 30-some games so um realistically for the Rockets I mean we just have to be real on the market

How many guys are really goingon to want to come down to Houston um unless it’s something that has to do with e either em oroka I think that’s the only draw we have and I don’t know what his extent outside of the Celtics locker room is as far as what his relationships with

Players to want to make a guide like say I’m going to Houston um and then the way it’s the way it’s described to me is that he has a real influence players really respect him players really do want to play for him which by the way

And we’ll talk about okkan in a little bit but when we discuss him keep things like that in mind versus other coaches but but from what I hear that’s that’s a real Factor right and that’s a big I mean he would be the only draw because you look at our roster there’s not

Really anything maybe shenon I’m not sure he he hasn’t really made a name enough yet in the league where player I mean a lot of players do compliment his game um and maybe there’s a guard out there that that sees that maybe there’s a agent out there that says you know

What I could put you where Jaylen green is playing right now my client two guard score and bro you could average 30 over in Houston right now and get get the big bag so um you know those are the things we have but to me the most important

Thing is really that culture you’re trying to establish the reason I don’t think they can shut them down and I don’t think it’s feasible is because you spent all this time on all this work trying to coach these kids out of these bad habits trying to build winning

Mentality um in in this and to me it would it would really reverse some of it now I don’t mean shutting down Fred in last 10 games that happens teams do that all the time um but to like if we went all out on and I

Don’t think we’ll do this I I just feel like we have too many guys with pride if we went all out on actively trying to pursue that top four pick as much as whatever the odds are 20 something percent or what whatever it could be or

However you know I’m not I haven’t done the math on it I don’t think it’s worth the potential damage it could cause not only to the reputation of the franchise uh with the players and to me the the young players most importantly um we’re getting to the point where you know guys

May just not want to play in Houston anymore after being here x am amount of years you keep losing every single season and you know it’s it’s never like any progress going forward so we have to start cultivating that winning culture and some people may not agree I know for

A fact especially like a lot of the Rockets watch crowd are very very into like the numbers on uh odds and things like that I’m not I’m I I’m into that but I’m more about the feel of the game bro like I’m not like balom stop blend

Yeah I’m a BL yeah I’m not bot on stop I’m not saying you know I mean he would have I don’t know yeah I’m not bot on stop but he’d be cooking some time so I actually think that I agree yeah there there are some some art and chemistry

And basketball and I feel like that would disturb it man look I agree with you right like I’m I’m into the numbers as well but as a tool um and that goes for anything so it’s like you have to you have to evaluate reputation is Big

This is a closed circuit right you know how it is like when you’re athletes in the same conference or in the same like you always play each other you talk to the same people you run in the same circles people talk right and if the vibe coming out of Houston is oh man

That place is still just just a clown show which I’m not saying that’s what what’s happening but you risk getting the reputation for yeah we’re just going to tank and that that can be damaging and I think also that um em OD DOA totally guessing here but I feel like em

Odoko you know if they came to him and they’re like hey we’re gonna shut it down because we’re g to try to maximize Lottery odds he’d probably be like no not that’s not that’s not what I came here for right I cannot imagine that that was a part of the discussion when

They hired him so um I feel like you risk I don’t know if losing eay would be the right way to put it but I feel like you risk that Rel relationship you know like if Stone we’ve speculated and guessed about Stone and eay based on the trade deadline because it seemed like

Eay wanted to do something and it seemed obviously like the front office did not so I feel like there there’s potential for friction there just guessing um and if that would if that is true if that would be the case you could you could see a world where the front office

Shutting down players would further that friction right so I just think there’s a lot to to risk there and I agree with you the the the potential to move up we had our own pick maybe but the fact that it’s top four protected only it’s like

Sunk cost to me like [ __ ] it you know take it whatever let’s just focus on getting better winning more games building morale and building something for the future so that these guys are all excited to be here and motivated to get better together that’s kind of how I

See it and that’s a I mean you think about what the Suns did to close out in the bubble a nice streak at the end of a year could really Propel a team into you know I mean I think those things are valuable you know I mean just even

Getting on a Groove where you beat a couple good teams and route to closing out even though you don’t make the play in so I I think I’m I’m with you with the eay part I I don’t think especially as a guy that’s I’ve never made the

Playoffs he’s a papovich guy he’s not a guy that’s just a sponge for bad records like a Steven Silas was or Rael stone is as a general manager where you’re just a warm body there to take L’s for a franchise his goals he’s actually I’m

Sure he has his own Ambitions as a coach I’m sure he wants to be a Hall of Fame coach etc etc ET ET um so I I I don’t think that but we can stay on the eate thing at this point um a lot of uh kind

Of mixed emotions about the fan based on on how the team has looked obviously we’ve kind of um brought up some of our grievances about the offense offense that uh they’ve employed um but just overall I’m curious to see what is what do you what is your perception on em Oka

And what do you what do you think he stands right now um as the coach for the rockets and like his Outlook going forward with that man so I yeah I you you might have seen it I’ve seen some of it where people are suggesting oh em Oka

Might have been the wrong guy to hire or Oh e mayoka this this and that like I think offensively they need to get a little more creative I agree with that um I do think that honestly is a question of because I don’t know but

It’s a qu and someone should ask by the way uh if we could get someone to ask a good question this might not be the worst question um but the lack of offb movement the lack of creativity and design the fact that they overly rely on

Like one basic set of you know pick and roll between shenon um and Fred and then the alternate is basically facing shanon up at the free throw line and then he just kind of works they make a couple cuts and like that’s it those are basically two things they do whether

That’s a function of emay wanting it to be that that stripped down and that narrowed down or whether he thinks that the guys can’t pick it up or whether he’s trying to tell the guys to move around and it’s not working people forget that part we talked about it

Right moving off the ball you can’t just like run around and Tada we moved off the ball right there’s an art to it there’s a feel to it there’s a level of IQ required to execute it so I give him the benefit of the doubt on that it is

My criticism there’s also sometimes rotations where I’m like I don’t like this rotation um so those are all valid criticisms and by the way every great coach has their criticism so don’t forget that I would I would say keep that in perspective because if fans try to run em odok out of

Town Houston the Houston Rockets are like in for a a stretch of incompetence right you you do you do not want that to happen as far as udoka himself though on the whole so I don’t think the roster offensively talented enough for him to come in and just like boom let’s turn on

The lights guys are scoring like we talked about this they have one guy scoring over 14 points per game efficiently right I was arguing with somebody about um whether or not the Jazz were more talented than the rockets and I was like Yeah The Jazz are like

You know League average in offense they suck on defense but they have Lowry Markin in 25 points a game on like 63% TS they got Colin ston 17 points a game on like 61% TS they got John Collins third option our second option Jaylen green is their six man Jordan Clarkson

With very similar not even at this point not even but yeah go but um and so my point is offensively they’re struggling but man I think people forget they only added Dylan Brooks and Fred Van v and they lost t e basically right so you have to keep that

In mind and yet I think they were 29th in defense last year and right now they’re still number eight even as bad as they played lately they’ve been a top eight we are 71% of the way through the season so far 58 games out of 82 they

Are they have been a top 10 defense all season and that is to me that is one of the quickest reflections of coaching right Dylan Brooks all defense type player no one else though and you lose tar een and you’re playing guys like Aaron Holliday you’re playing Jaylen

Green heavy minutes 30 minutes a game you’re playing shenon 30 something 32 minutes or something like that per game and you still have a top eight def defense and you don’t even have an actual Center to back up shenon and Dylan Brooks has been hurt for like 10

Or 11 games Jabari Smith has missed like 10 or 11 games you know what I mean I think people forget that and that’s a real Improvement so everything else aside he’s taking a a roster that’s very very flawed and he’s got those boys playing top 10 defense so

Far 71% of the way through the season I think if nothing else feather in his cap for that but I don’t know how you feel yeah it’s it’s a hard hard for me to gauge obviously with the talks of him like being fired that’s just or anything

That’s kind of dumb like what are we talking about um and I think I’ve said this from the start he’s the biggest acquisition the Rockets have made probably in this rebuild for the next few years he’s going to be because a coach transcends the game and trans because

They touch everything they touch players as far as like what they do on the court they they’re going to be in the front office make helping make the decisions and kind of let lending their insights as to what the organization should be doing um they’re like you just pointed

Out recruiting with uh their you know especially with eake a guy that’s been around the league in locker rooms as an assistant as a head coach on the Spurs um he’s respected around the NBA um I think he brings a a certain uh culture he brings he’s a certain he brings a

Certain view of the rockets that we didn’t have before he’s tough and I just saw a thing about him leading all the NBA coaches in in TCH which is funny uh but like he he’s he’s a he’s our brand right now because honestly we don’t have a brand so if you

Had a picture of the Rockets it’s email Oka to the national public to the National media um we haven’t had a player that’s kind of reached that Pinnacle yet to take um so he’s fulfilled and the defensive thing I think that’s the hardest thing for to to

Do is to turn a team into a good defensive team an offensive team is Personnel based you can have have a middle of the- pack offense just by having the right Personnel it’s no uh it’s it’s not a coincidence is most of the worst offensive teams are teams that

Have a bunch of young players or teams that have a bunch of bad players and I think for the Rockets where we are right now it was Illustrated in the OKC game Shang gun on the court we’re scoring we’re generating open threes we’re getting to the free throw line when he’s

Off the court it just goes completely to nothing and we lost the game basically when he sat like once he sat down I don’t give a damn what the box plus minus or whatever says if you watch the game when he sat we just got demolished and by the

Time he came back into the fourth and start turning the B it was already kind of like we were down by like 11 or 12 so this just lends me to believe I don’t know the answer about whether it’s EES like is he just not a good offensive

Coach I think there’s a lot of that but I also think that the roster is just bad because the Celtics I know will hardy was there with him but they also they have a bunch of players a good players and they were like a top five offense

For most of the year you know what I mean and so if he can do it with them if he’s smart enough to know what it looks like then I’m sure that how smart as we think we are we’re not as smart as him

To say like oh do this and do that and like he doesn’t know that I just think the roster is just really bad yeah and I think um the main way to underscore that if we’re talking just scoring points right at the in the NBA which people forget man the NBA is good

Just because these dudes we like them and this is our team like every night you go out there tyus Jones had 17 dimes the other night like just dudes all around the league play at a high level um we have one guy who can both dribble and score sorry dribble and shoot SL

Score at an elite level one guy and he’s six feet tall you know like if that doesn’t tell you all all you need to know about the roster and how hard it is for this team to get points like they got one guy who can do both of those

Things at a high level and he’s six feet tall and you can’t really lay the ball up so um and that’s why also when when people talk about oh we should assigned James Harden all James Harden does is is replace Fred Van vet and maybe you get

Better offense I think you lose defense and I think instead of the 24th or 23rd offense maybe you’re like 18th or 19th maybe and then instead of being the number eight defense you’re probably like the number 17 defense right that’s that’s how I kind of view that but but

Yeah I mean they just don’t have go-to scores every offensive option they have is shenon can’t shoot even though he can still obviously get his by the way you remember earlier in the season when I think we were in space and I was like man they got to post shuna basically

Every play because when they don’t Things Fall Apart so I don’t know if you if you agree with that now or maybe are closer to agreeing but that’s really all they got they run through shenon everything else is a roll of the dice Jabari driving and doing that like you

Know he he goes he holds the ball low and he gets ripped because he’s too tall and too long to be getting that low um can’t Whit more still needs to be able to create instead of just score Dylan Brooks is Dylan Brooks obviously you know Fred is Fred like you already know

What that is um Aaron holiday Aaron holiday is our second best Creator off the dribble crazy that’s crazy right and obviously I haven’t mentioned Jaylen green but um because he hasn’t really been playing well either so it’s like what are you supposed to do with this

Offense I mean I think they need to move obviously I agree with that amen Thompson can’t can’t shoot obviously either um I think they need to do some cutting they need design action but it’s hard to just you know Implement on the Fly and then execute especially with the

Young team um especially when you’ve been playing a certain way that was winning games people forget that right like abandoning that is is kind of a tricky thing to do as a coach and as a team in general in the middle of the season so there’s a lot that goes into

That and I think we’ll learn a lot about e um in terms of like like he’s still he’s still developing people talk about being patient with the players I’m if there’s anyone I’m going to be more patient with than anyone is em odoko because I like you said he’s

The brand I trust in him um he’s proven to me already like getting a team of basically the same level of Defender um and then increasing relying on weaker Defenders while getting a better Defender like Dylan Brooks it all kind of offsets it so to me going from 29th

To eth in defense that tells me that when he speaks they listen like he’s got them bought in you know um and that’s a big thing cu Ste silus didn’t have them bought in like we talk X’s and O’s and all that throw that out the window can

Stepen silus get a team bought in can your head coach get that team bought in and then when things are bad can he keep them bought in right it’s not that’s one of the hardest things to do especially in today’s level of professional uh sports right and he’s one of the guys

That I think so far he does that his reputation hasn’t soured so that I mean that’s a great Point um I think one of the defining factors to me of a good head coach is to be able to like like motivate and make lead men and I think

That’s where a lot of like Stephen Silas was a like genius like as far as offensive there’s tapes he has on these like coaching clinics he is really smart when it comes to basketball but just knowing X andos and and actually being able to get guys to listen to you and

Buy into what you do those are two different skill sets and I think for a head coach for me personally having that uh being able to lead men is more important than the exos because and I think you know your assistants and some of the hires down the staff I think Will

Hardy was important for him in Boston because to me I look at what Utah is doing and a lot of the motion a lot of the movement generating threes is kind of what Boston did um in a better brand it’s like so we’re trying to run that obviously they have better players than

Us but I could see will Hardy’s imprint on that team and I I’ve watched some interviews with them where he was basically like their co-head coach like they they split it down the middle and he he was um he was very involved in that team um and I’m not sure um who is

That for us I don’t you know I think people I think it’s Ben Sullivan um the way they interact on the sidelines um but I I would like to see a lot more but it’s it’s really hard to gauge with young players and then the lack of just

NBA level just high level Talent on the on the team and so I’m with you I think udoka he’s gonna be here longer than probably anybody on the roster that’s not a player that’s going to be here for a while and what I mean by that he just

Got here I was I had to go back real quick um I was I made a video like a year ago and I posted it on Twitter called how would the rebuild end and I went through all the like different rebuilds over the past like 20 years and

Looked at the different GMS and coaches and like how they like who got fired who got every single coach got fired that started a tank so so we we’re there like step stus is gone and this was before this was while stylus was the coach the

Average time frame for a coach during a to work on a like be part of a tanking team is two years that’s across multiple teams it’s two years most teams that tank go through about three or four coaches the number two thing was the general managers three three or four

Coaches over how long of a stretch at time uh it it just ranges some of them um some of them one or two um I use the cut off point is making the playoffs so before they made the playoffs um some of them would be like one coach some are

Two coaches some are four uh and this kind of it gets like that’s why like you point out about the timeline thing with like it’s five years and next you know it’s 10 years that’s how it happens you look at some of the teams in involved in

That uh like Detroit you know Orlando um you know some of the team Phoenix yeah that you look at man they’ve had you know they’ve had this guy’s a coach that guy’s a coach they had coaches in interm fired in like one year some of them had

Coaches for six months um you see what Brooklyn’s going through right now that’s kind of uh one of those type deals um but the GMS two and a half years this includes everybody even the the Sixers the Sixers went through four general managers during the process everybody quotes the process as well you

Gotta they went through four GMS looks like they didn’t trust their own process yeah so people got to keep that in mind they look they focused on the years of tanking but they don’t see that number one they actually got a player that they were going to build build their

Franchise on and even after that they were tanking some more they fired people you got to ask yourself what were they assessing huh talking about Joel the Sixers yeah Joel even though he was hurt Joel and then like you gotta ask why what would the Sixers assessing in their

GMS while tanking that still made them fire them so those are questions you know people just got to look at but I’m not you know this is not about raell Stone per se the point I’m saying is that um these things happen over time and a coach coming in I think as the

Second coach as long as e Oka Trends this team in the right direction he’s going to be here the common denominator right now is going to be refel and I think this summer for him is going to be so important as to what imprint he can

Have on this team to say that he needs to be part of like the front office and everything going forward and that could lead us to our next topic which is a decision that stone will have to make which is how do you build this team and

I’m going to set the premise for you before we start okay so we have you know there’s been a lot of discussions with the coric you know people say they want to build around jaari do shangom people want to build around am man Thompson um and uh you know nobody really said

Jaylen but uh a lot a lot of people want to build around different players with this collection of talent if you were the general manager on the Rockets how would you build um this team out and I want you we’re going to go through we’re going to take turns you’re

Going to prioritize from the number one like Prospect and downwards as far as priority on building a roster and why you think I’m gonna start with player A and B and C and Z so I’mma let you go first who is your if you had to pick out

Of our six players which player is the priority Senate they don’t have to be quote quotes the centerpiece but relative to our team who is the guy that you’re going to prioritize um when you’re building out your roster going forward okay last thing I want to say

About Oka by the way is the Rockets don’t have a top 10 player but they do have a top 10 coach so don’t forget that maybe even maybe even top five don’t take that for granted um okay I’m gonna start with the philosophy each the the reasoning for

Each player will be different um but the reasoning is baked into the player I’m picking if that makes sense right so I’m GNA and I’ll explain that I’m going to start number one with shenon the reason is because out of the class I have right

Now I know that that kid can give me 219 and five and I know that if I optimize an offense I feel like he’s the only one so far that’s proven that you can actually put a real offense around him um and he can score and Dish and you’re

Seeing Kendrick Perkins talk about sabonis you know why isn’t he an MVP candidate whether that actually happens or not I mean we’re seeing joic Maybe sabonis yic as obviously MVP maybe sabonis as a candidate if you have someone in that potential mold and he’s the furthest along out of all of them

Offensively I got to go with shenon but that’s because I value an offensive centerpiece to build around that’s also why I pick shenon first right I value that over maybe like a defensive centerpiece or an all-around type player so as we go down it’s it’s it’s not it’s

Equally about the reason as it is about the player but for me okay I’m might have to bop you there uh Chang for me as well many of the same reasons I think the hardest thing to find in an NBA is a player that can help you generate

Offense you can find every type of archetype you know like people talk about having this like Rim running shot blocking Center I mean that’s a diad dozen bro there’s a lot of guys that you could just draft that that do that what you’re not going to find is is um a guy

That has that much gravity that that just out the blue you can’t go find those guys on the streets or just oh there’s a free agent out there if I’m building a team and as with these guys I think you want to start with offense first because then you can supplement

Everything else I’m going to go shenon same reasons you said we haven’t seen him with better players we haven’t seen him with shooting um he’s the part of a top 10 defense so I’m good there um the playoffs are still yet to be seen I think there’s going to be some obviously

We’ll we’ll find out his limitations there when teams start hunting him but I’m going to make this comment I wanted to say this earlier when I was watching that OKC game bro there was only one player on our team that looked like they belonged in the fight yep and it was him

Yep compared to the talent on the other side there was only one guy that looked like oh yeah he he this is he belongs like on this stage and it was only him there was nobody else nobody else in our roster everybody else looked bad short

Scared he’s the one that it’s like one on Three like him versus Jaylen Williams SGA and ch so yeah I’m I’m rolling with him and for that same reason by the way people talk about the playoffs maybe he gets defensively hunted what we’ll have to find out hopefully we can find out one

Day um but man he also strikes me as the type of cat that like when he gets a bunch of post-ups and it’s physical and it’s like something’s on the line you know that the European the fob in him and I can say that because I’m Middle

Eastern the fob in him will come out and he’s going to be banging and like you know I feel like he’s going to be a beast scoring in the playoffs and dishing and rebounding you think he’s a a playoff like where he RIS Rises his game i’ I’ve kind of peeped that about

Him when the stages like he he shows up I know that you know how I know that because first of all I have to this one I’m not so sure about but I feel like in the playin games against the Pelicans specifically I feel like in the playin

Games though he was like a dog right but the reason I know that is because when he was playing all these International competitions for turkey we would run them in Rockets watch and I watched him like when when country was on the line I watched him get down and I mean he and

Against you know weaker teams so that’s the that’s kind of the the question mark But attitude wise he was like no give me the ball he was boxing dudes out physical like you know he he he relishes the moment so um do you want to go snake

Style so me go one and then you and then you start yeah we’ll just go back and forth yeah back and forth okay all right so so so I go first every time all right all right yes yes yes you’ll set the P okay um and you got the white shirt on I

Got the black shirt so it’s like CH light background I’m the good you’re evil okay so um number two I’m GNA go amen Thompson I’m gonna go amen Thompson because so I didn’t put a men one because I don’t think a men’s ever going to be able to average 20 points per game

Or more not ever but I feel like it’s going to be very difficult for him to hit that right I think it’s possible technically just really difficult um and you to build around a guy that can’t give you 20 plus per game every

Night to me is is more of a risk I feel like a man is going to be at his best excuse me at his best when he’s in like a Draymond type role he can anchor a defense defensively he’s special um he can run an offense he can dribble

Obviously much better than Draymond but he can’t shoot as well as Draymond did in the prime years in Golden State um but he can you know Ben Simmons type all the archetypes we know about difference is he’s 67 if he was like 610 I might I

Might have put him first but to to be that type of player without a shot at 67 to me I think he’s more of like a secondary tertiary type player on a championship team though I mean he’s he’s a hell of a player so um so I go a

Men second the versatility the skill set the athleticism the motor the IQ the defensive versatility um I value that second with the rest compared to the rest of the field okay so it’s our top like it might be boring I think it gets exciting towards the end but I’m going

To go with aen as well um I think amen Thompson is for me he’s the the most is just Prospect like if you want to define the prospect as I think he’s our best prospect on on an allaround basis I mean when you talk about the physicality the

Athleticism the IQ I think there’s a lot of room for his whole game to grow and um he to me I you know I judge if I’m going to judge a prospect I’m looking at physical stature mental makeup and then you know obviously the on court stuff I

Think he checks off more boxes than anybody else but um you know this list is not for me not based on like who’s the best player and you know theoretically you I think a lot of people get caught caught up in that on that but I think a man is a good balance

Of uh future um like he has a chance to be really really special but also at Baseline he’s just a really damn good player and yeah I would be with him and ironically enough shenon and a men little uh Sixers uh Simmons and embiid kind of a Walmart

Version that’s pretty funny true have you noticed I mean to me I’m just saying if you want to pick a build I know we talk about Denver and all these other teams but I mean that that Philly team that um you look at how they built it

Out after they actually got both of those guys healthy it was JJ reck you know they got the the Jimmy but like you that’s an interesting roster to me to look at as far as what you might need I never thought of that so I’m gonna have

To sit down and think yeah you got just just just just look at it a little bit maybe that’ll that’ll look at but I’m goingon to go with a man Thompson I’m gonna go with yeah and I agree with with all of that that’s interesting that’s really

Interesting um so okay number three and I could have gone a couple ways on number three but um I’m going to go with Jabari I’m GNA go with Jabari because um I don’t think he’s going to be a scoring star I do think Jabari can maybe give

You 18 to 20 a night if you use him correctly um and so basically he’s my 610 611 stretch big who I can also use as a movement shooter and and Bas and make him unique in that way um kind of like the six 610 611 Klay Thompson

Comparisons that people were trying to make before the draft right um and then he’s a two-way big right so he can defend I think with him you can you can easily picture the type of Center you’d want to put next to him and very easily construct your front Court he doesn’t

Need a whole lot of touches so you can go get a ball dominant player to kind of bring with him um I don’t think he’s a number two on a championship team but I think he’s a super legit number three right as like defense you know every

Five six games he’s going to go off shooting 36% from three so far this season TS is like 56 57% um so yeah I think he gives you a solid defensive two-way big with offensive upside and it makes it easy to build the team out around him that’s a

Good pick and this is where we’re probably going to part ways um I’m not I’m gonna go with t een uh for my third player and to me I just the reason I’m picking the three most impactful players like right now and because I love Jabari

And I I think you’re right in everything you said but he he really doesn’t impact much as far as winning right now even with his good games like he could have 20 and 20 we get blown out by like 25 uh like it doesn’t you know I mean it’s

Just kind of like oh wow damn Jabari had a good game and we’re like down 30 um you you know what’s interesting you know what’s interesting is is e plays him a lot like the most yeah because he’s so versatile like he could play the five he

Could play the four he could play the three he can guard multiple positions and and you love that I just think that tar een can do a lot of the same things um he’s obviously he’s not as tall but he’s a better Defender better on ball Defender more chaotic Defender I think

His shooting is uh you know not as great like I think he’s lowkey this year not withstanding he’s been a pretty reliable shooter and he just makes things happen rebounding um I think you know at this Jabari is getting up there tar is still a very elite rebounder but the defense

The fluidity of his game I think tar can unlock some uh some uh self-creation with working on his handles I think that’s still in this bag I’ve seen him kind of do some things where he can you know get into a mid-range pullup um all of that is still

There my biggest issue with T is like some of the uh the CTE plays he has uh during the game uh but aside from that and missing layups I think he’s a special player and if I’m building a roster like I I really value guys that impact winning Young young because I

Think that scales up um so I’m going to go yeah I’m gonna go with tar so let me just recap for the everybody we both got shanga and am Mana as one and two your third was Jabari mine is tari so we got uh we got three more guys so I’m I’m

Curious to see who’s your number four so everything you just laid out makes me want to say tar number four I didn’t I didn’t initially have him number four so I’m going to stick to what I had but but but your argument I mean and I’ll tell

You why I’m gonna go cam Whitmore at number four now I’m gonna go I’m going to go Boomer bust here though so and what I mean by that is I’m taking the upside swing at the expense of the guaranteed winning contribution and production that tar gives you I’m going

To take the upside swing and hope that hey maybe this kid could be you know 25 Point per game legit uh Alpha scoring Wing like Do-it all kind of guy um and that’s the only reason right there is now the bust is he could just be like

Six seven cam Thomas you know so that could also be the case um like I saw I saw you compare him to JR Smith actually uh we were in Rockets watch and someone put the tweet in uh they were like oh Frank says um K with more was it cam

Whitmore that you said that about yeah cam cam like yeah I I think so yeah yeah and like I was like J.R Smith and then I looked at it and I was like oh yeah that’s I can see that because J Smith coming out of high school I mean he

Could do it all and it looked really pretty right um but he’s just a scorer basically and that’s fine but that was his role you know that dude that dude Jrs me just real quick there’s a i watch battle rap okay uh there’s a line by this dude named Hitman Holla he says

Shoot shoot soon as I get in like I’m J.R Smith that’s what I think about every time I see he was talking about going into a club but he was saying shoot soon as I get in like I’m Jr that’s what I think about when I think

About cam Whitmore bro like this man you remember you remember watching the the McDonald’s All-American Game when JR Smith was in it like yeah yeah I’ve watched it yes man I didn’t so I didn’t know who he was and I watched it that night and I was like yo that’s the first

Guy that I can like remember in my brain the picture seeing that dude pull up from like half court in a game I was like what the you know what is this guy doing and and he was dead serious about it too yes not no step like like that’s

He thought that was a good shot bro and he hit like six of them in that game and I remember just being like yo this is crazy and so I started that was the guy that made me try to do that like before Steph was Steph so I think I want to

Give jarro Smith his props there um Jared Smith was crazy though man the dunks like he was he was electric but cam Whitmore is basically that he comes in man shots go up um and sometimes they fall and sometimes they don’t and sometimes he doesn’t make the right pass

And just steps back when he shouldn’t um I think as of right now he’s averaging 0.9 assists per game per 36 so oh Lord when you take his stats to 36 minutes he doesn’t even hit one full assist if you can’t get one man yeah that’s crazy you

Know what I mean so that’s the downside because I think it’s going to be a hard thing for him to to develop I got like if he jump to being a you know 20 something points per game five something assists per game type guy that would be

Wo to me um but either way I’m going to take the upside swing on C more so that’s why all right I’m not mad at that um I’m gonna go with Jabari for my number four uh for all the things you said I think Jabari um at to me

Personally at the end of the day when it’s all said and done he’s GNA be a just a he’s a power forward I know people want him to play to three I don’t think his point of attack defense is good enough to guard threes uh fully um

And like yesterday he was getting cooked um as good as he played like OKC was working him um and uh I just I don’t think that gets much much better I think what he can get better in is get stronger for post against the post-ups I

Think the weak side help can be better and that’s just instincts um I think he can just learn to be a better team Defender I’d compared him to Robert Covington um kind of and that’s a mixed comp it’s not I don’t know some of it might be a compliment maybe it’s not a

Compliment Robert Covington’s a in his prime great Team Defender weak side shot blocker deflector steals long wingspan not really super athletic but his length just bothered a lot of shots and at The Rim as well um but he was not a good point of attack Defender and um if you

Guys remember in the in the bubble OKC was they were running train on him they were taking turns with uh with uh what’s brother name Schroeder CP and were just one hunt like when I talk about hunt they were hunting this man I remember point where they almost they

Should have probably just benched them um but you know we need him but I think Jabari is I like him I think him and shenon have the most seamless pairing on our team and that’s kind of disappointing going back to adoka why we haven’t explored that more you see the

Inside the the three-point line um screens that they run big on big screens that stuff is easy like those are such easy buckets and and um I think they can explore that more and you know that’s another grievance of mine like our team is so guard oriented but um I think

Jabari he’s a good player he’s a good player I think he’s going to be a good player he’s a solid NBA player at Baseline like you can just put him plop him on any team and he’s just there and he can play and yes so I’m gonna go with

Jabar all right who’s your who’s your number five I wonder who it is gonna be and that’s why I had Jabari at three um I’ll go tar five so everything that you mentioned is correct and true and that’s definitely one way to take it um again I

Only put him so put him beneath cam because I’m going for the upside swing like I said I put I put tar beneath Jabari um just because I feel like Jabari has a little more offensive upside like I think tar is a better Defender and definitely right now he

Impacts winning more but I still think there’s a little piece of Jabari in there that if you move if you use him as an a movement shooter and you get him cutting like it gets him going and you know he he becomes sharp he becomes

Aggressive um but if you do use him the way that he’s been used so far in his career it’s very Robert Covington yeah spot up shooting driving and like every now and then it works kind of um and that’s really all he’s been limited to but you see those flat like Robert

Comington didn’t have that mid-range game you know Triple Threat from the elbow rise up Fade Away post like Robert comington didn’t have that defensive defensively not offensively yeah sure well but but right now offensively and defensively like 13 and eight that’s that’s Robert Covington you know 13 and

Eight sometimes he hits a bunch of Threes sometimes he drives and gets gets his [ __ ] thrown like you know that’s Robert Covington so so far that’s what he’s been um but yeah tar fifth um just for those reasons I I do think you could start tar on a winning team right away

Um he might make it like a little awkward is he the four is he the three because he can’t really he doesn’t have the ball skills to me to be like a straight up three wing so you got to get that scoring from somewhere else um in

Terms of how you build the team so that it’s just a little unclear to me and I feel like Jabari I know like okay stretch four I know what type of big to put next to him I can figure that out but T’s T’s our most impactful player I think T’s um

If I had to rank our best players right now I would rank tar ahead of Javari yeah same same and my number uh number five is Cam Whitmore um I am worried about Cam’s um not really his play in the NBA but what his upside is I

Think it’s very limited by what you’ve pointed out with the 0.9 assist per 36 um like that’s that’s crazy um I I I don’t value scoring as much as other people more I like offensive creation I think offensive creation is the probably the most elite offensive skill a player

Could have um and scoring is just like I just see it as another like stat tool like rebounding or a guy that’s a really good shot blocker like it’s a great thing to have but as far as impact and winning just being able to score buckets

Really in a vacuum doesn’t i’ you know I mean that’s just my philosophy and people that watch this Chann know me like if you’re going to be a guard or a wing scorer or any type of scorer you’re either going to be need to be a playmaker or a two-way just stud to

Really make it worthwhile for the team T um cam Cam’s defense has been uh it’s been okay he gets lost sometimes but I think it’s actually better than I thought it would be I think his best route to being that player that we want him to be is going to be a two-way

Player and I think that’s still there for him where he can be uh just a guy that solid Defender and can give you buckets on a nightly basis and make the right plays not like passing the ball but just make the right passes but I’m going to go with Camp so obviously that

Leaves both of us with the same number six which is um the highest pick in the Rockets uh franchise in the past since Yao Ming um why is Jaylen not on your number one why is Jaylen number six on your list you you want me to say it or

Do you want to take it I think people go ahead go ahead go ahead you you can take these bullets from J I’m That I’m that mean where I’m just it off taking all the arrows okay so yeah I mean look all the reasons we know right okay first of

All he can’t shoot uh I don’t know I don’t know what it’s at now but I think it’s 30 something percent from three un it’s just unacceptable for the player he’s supposed to be right he’s not a threat from three on wide openen threes I think he’s shooting 27% on the season

Something like that um Al I think alren shenon is shooting a better percentage than him on wide openen threes which is how does that even happen right um he loses the ball so much when he goes up he he loses it when he catches it he loses it when he

Drives you know we we saw it last night um he has no awareness he drives in to chat three four times trying to finish and he’s just getting his [ __ ] prown left and right you know um or he’s losing the ball um he always seems to

Start turning it on he had that little stretch in the third which was good um he scored like I think six points one of them was a tip in so great hustle play but like not the you know Elite skill and creation that we’re waiting to see

On a consistent basis um but he plays his best when we’re down by by 20 like it happened again in the fourth he started he had that dunk and it’s like okay the Rockets are down I think like a 17 you know like he just feels comfortable when there’s nothing on the

Line and maybe you can say oh I’m just making some [ __ ] up that’s really what it feels like and that’s why it feels like in the previous Seasons people say oh they play with the faster Pace oh he had different coaching different system blah blah blah now the games just they

Just knew they were going to lose so he had the freedom to go out there and do whatever there was no pressure um it seems like when the pressure is on like for four quarters not just in one moment at the end of the game we we’ve seen him

Hit some clutch shots before so I’ll give him that but four quarters of pressure hey this is a big game hey this is a tough opponent hey we need to win tonight we just see him fade and it’s like getting worse and worse you know um

And then he’ll spill some buckets in at the end and make it look a little prettier than it was but if you watch the game it just kind of unimpressive you know and then you talk about you can’t just be a scorer uh I mean that

He’s just a score he’s inefficient at it and he’s not he’s been better this season defensively but he’s not at a level that his defense justifies playing him for how inefficient he is he’s he shoots the second most shots per game on the entire roster he has I think the

Second highest usage by like 0.1% behind shanon on the entire team I think I don’t know what cam cam whitmorees is but Jaylen plays 30 something minutes a night so obviously that’s a bigger share of the offense um we talk about efficiency and it sounds real nerdy

Right but what is efficiency you got to win possessions however that comes if you’re winning more possessions on defense enough to make up for shitty offense or vice versa or if you’re a two-way player and you’re you know accounting for uh you’re winning possessions on the offensive end you’re

Winning possessions on the defensive end that’s why you know if you can score and assist you’re accounting for like 40 to 50 points per game and then you’re playing good defense and you’re helping your team win he doesn’t none of those things right 52% TS uh 30% from the free

Throw line at this point like they play better when he’s not on the floor and that just is what it is um he’s undersized as well right like he’s listed at 64 180 or something but his presence on an NBA court with how like light his frame is and how kind of

Shifty he is to avoid contact he presents as like 63 175 you know like a quick guard and that’s cool but man if you’re got if you’re one of those guys you better be able to shoot and he can’t so at this point you know I see people

On Twitter sometimes they’ll be like oh Jaylen Green’s really shown growth with his playmaking because he like makes like a you know like a simple kick to the corner you know and it’s like man can we just not make [ __ ] up to just like make you know try to manufacture

This positivity he hasn’t shown it there have been games where he’s been like oh my God that he looks like a star but that’s happened like five to let’s say 12 times throughout the season like is that what we’re waiting on so that’s that’s how I feel yeah I mean I know

People um I saw that tweet as well um it’s like the make a wish tweets for um for him um I I I’m I to me like I want everybody just and people know I’ve been a jayen green like I’m not not a I still

Support him but I think we also have to be honest like this is a business as a sport we talk about entertainment as far as the NBA for y’all so we’d be doing y’all a disservice if we lied you guys watch OKC look at Jaylen Williams that’s

A young player there is an objective difference in watching a young player that you know is up they’re coming like he’s goingon to be a guy and watching what we have I think a lot of times Rockets fans Gaslight each other into this delusion about oh he just needs the

Like no you can see you didn’t have to tell me Anthony Edwards needed five more years like from day one even as inefficient as he was I was like that guy can play like this dude is he’s something johnar like all SGA even when he was a backup on the Clippers in the

Playoffs trying to lock down uh he was SGA was guarding Steph as a rookie in the playoffs before he could score so we don’t have to Gaslight each other guys like we know Jaylen is is not good right now and I think at the end of the day

That’s what it comes down to he’s just not a good basketball player at this moment can he get better we hope so um but he’s not a good basketball player and I think that where we are right now is like when you’re building out this team and this exercise really does point

To that and this kind of ties into that Jackson and made that tweet about what the front office thinks about their like we have to really make sure that we’re making this these evaluations not on like because we drafted guy certain position uh you know agency is this or I

Like this type of player let’s focus on the basketball if we look at basketball um honestly Jaylen should probably not be getting the rep se’s getting um but one positive thing and I do agree with Robert at the end of that space because these we’re at a very like it’s it’s not

Depressing because I think we have a lot of young talent but it is not a great time like we started this show telling you we’re basically in the same spot as we were when we just traded Victor o Lebo we do have these players I think the

Front office’s job this summer is as we look at this roster with these players they need to figure out a direction where are we going as an organization because this stuff where we’re giving Jaylen the second most shots he’s like the worst player on the team this guy

Doesn’t play much the roster doesn’t have shooting but you have a a bunch of your best players can’t shoot like it’s just so much like things that contradict each other where are we going and I think that’s really what they have to answer for me like going forward but at

Least they have the the talent to do it with with the players yeah I mean look it’s not a terrible spot to be in is not good though not great at least it all depends at the end of the day man and to your point this is I agree we should stop

Gaslighting each other I stopped long ago um and it really rubs people the wrong way people I people will tell me like I hate that you’re a fan you’re not even a fan and I’m like I guess man I don’t know at some point like I just

Stopped drinking the Kool-Aid and I was like all right I think it’s just when you get older you’re just like all right man I’ve seen this before like you said we were here three years ago I know what this looks like I’m not GNA fake myself into getting excited over this [ __ ]

Because I know you know that something doesn’t smell right and it comes down to what you think about the players um and the players could some of them could hit right but if they don’t right then what do you do and so when I ask myself I’m

Like all right well they have Dylan Brooks on four years 80 mil guaranteed they got Fred on the deal they got him on maybe you wait a couple more years and Fred comes off the books but you still got Dylan um you got the Nets

Picks one of them one of them is due here in a couple months so it’s like something’s got to happen soon if they want to turn this version of the team into like the contender otherwise they’re going to have to sell off some of these parts and wait for guys to come

Off the books and like kind of prolong this thing right so to your point what is the vision I don’t really know we’ve been watching all this and like yeah it’s a it’s a combination of players and they play and they play hard for the coach but I don’t really know where this

Is headed and that’s why I it’s been hard for me to be super positive and optimistic if there was a vision I could maybe buy into the vision and understand like okay that’s where we’re headed but right now everything’s like do they value shenon if they don’t okay well

What’s the vision who they trade them for what kind of person would they want to trade them for what are they gonna do with those Nets picks they just going to draft another player are they going to trade it they’re get to trade it for a

Guy like Mel Bridges like where are we headed we have no idea um and that’s not the greatest place to be right it feels like uh I think we talked about it last night but it feels like those Lakers with um Lonzo and Julius Randall and Josh Hart kma brand Brandon Ingram like

If that team stuck together do you think that they’re a contender I don’t right like they had they had good players but they didn’t have like a team of oh holy [ __ ] this all makes sense and perfectly contends and I kind of feel like that’s where the Rockets are they got some

Pieces some might not fit you might not be able to play them all um some of them are pretty pretty good some of them are just role players like joshh Hart he was just a role player Lonzo good role player but he was just a role player

Maybe that’s Jabari maybe that’s tar you know what I mean um so I don’t know but I guess we’ll find out maybe soon I’m not sure tune in next time in the next episode of Dragon Balls now I’m playing but uh appreciate you bro appreciate y’all man appreciate y’all for watching

If you are new to the channel hit the Subscribe button if you like this video hit the like button send us those comments I want you guys to let us know what is your uh your core six rank them based on how you will build out the team

Keep those comments coming good bad and indifferent we don’t give a damn we will keep making these episodes for y’all but we do appreciate all the um all the people that have been showing support and those who who uh who still watch the videos and don’t like us so uh y’all

Keep rocking with The Chop Shop we gonna keep dropping that Fire Oh

In this episode of Rockets Talk Roosh and Frank rank the Houston Rockets core 6 based on who we want to build around. We also evaluate Ime Udoka’s perfromace and whether tanking is an option for this season! #houstonrockets #nba #podcast #alperensengun

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