Why the Rockets’ Rebuild Is on the Right Track | NBA Group Chat

Why the Rockets’ Rebuild Is on the Right Track | NBA Group Chat

Rob are you a believer in what the Rockets are doing right now I think it’s all relative and some of it we’re going to get into I know if we’re going to say nice things about the Rockets we have to say nice things about Jaylen green he’s been Sensational lately not just these

Games without shenon but really going back the last three or four weeks has played his best basketball if not I mean certainly of the season and maybe of his entire career so that I want to believe in there’s a lot of things about the Rockets I want to believe in do I think

They’re actually going to catch the Warriors probably not but Golden State certainly given them a hand here you have to say yeah I think we thought we were locked in and entrenched uh of our top 10 in the west and you know it’s not just Golden State the Lakers having

Exactly you know hit the afterburners here on this playin uh ranking and so yeah they still have something to play for they got a lot of young guys who haven’t experienced much winning if at all in the NBA so it’s nice to see them still in the fight um it’s nice to see

Them still honoring the Legacy and the true nature of phase two so you know they they deserve to get some love what is the true nature of phase two well that’s the question not being the Wizards yes I think that’s it’s like we’re not some bottom feeding pencil in

A w type of team right even the Spurs like with the crazy stuff that W’s been doing lately last night notwithstanding against the um the Dallas Mavericks uh at least they have that thing going this like really cool generational talent that we’re monitoring his development you know teams like Portland teams like

The Wizards teams like Charlotte you know Memphis if you catch him on the right night it it’s just like pencil that in the Rockets haven’t reached that ner and I think that’s something to be applauded I know that’s like daming with faint praise but like it’s it’s nice

Because it’s something they actually set out to do this year Well if I can jump the line here in saying nice things about the Rockets the reason they are here the reason we’re having this conversation about them even making the play in is because of their defense the fifth best defense

In the league they obviously have Alper and shenon has been awesome this season but when I think about their defense I think we tend to key in on the veteran guys we talk about Dylan Brooks we talked about Fred Van vet we talked about IM Oka and the professionalization

Of what they’re doing but I find myself thinking a lot about Jabari Smith Jr who’s been the real deal defensively this season in a way that I think changes the complexion of what they are like he’s not a defensive anchor type although with shenon out he’s playing

More five he’s being pushed into that role a little more but to me he looks like a great utility Defender at the four switches really well keeps his hands high really challenges people and the way he moves I think is a really good omen for a big like he has a

Mobility and a capacity to shuffle and hang with guys and recover and get back into plays that to me is really impressive and if you’re thinking about the future of what the Rockets are and can be a lot of it starts with this sort of phase 2 defense that they’ve put

Together and I think jabari’s been a big part of it yeah so what do you think about the lineup they’ve been trotting out these days so post shenon injury and we should say one of the nice things to say about them is shenon looked like he

Could have been out for a while looks like it might just be an end of season sort of thing that’s a very nice thing for all of us and in particular the Rockets but now they’re going a little bit more small ball it’s Fred vanley it’s Jaylen green it’s Amen Thompson uh

Dylan Brooks Jabari Smith you think that’s changed any of the calculus with like his his defense or his play of late well I think for one thing factoring on am men Thompson is basically another big makes sense for a lot of reasons and it’s it’s part of the difficulty in

Figuring out what his role is long term what can the spacing be with a player like a men in there cuz with this version the small ball well spaced like free range version of what the Rockets can be we see am and Thompson’s athleticism in full display like he’s

Had some amazing plays some amazing dunks with all this space to work with I love that for this version of the Rockets I do wonder how he fits into things and a lot of it’s going to depend on his individual development and who he is both as a lead ball handler and

Whether he’s going to be able to ever hit like pull-up jumpers at a reliable rate but also as an off ball cutter if if his if his fate is going to be more of a two3 type or a combo or some some like hybrid positional player he’s going

To have to figure out an off ball destiny that goes beyond just hitting Corner jumpers it’s funny because under a different regime and obviously a completely different cast of players the rocket sort of pioneered playing this four out Style with a guard at de facto Center on

Offense when they had Westbrook and they basically traded all of their big man depth to you know fully optimize what he actually still did well on the court so doing a version with that of that with amen Thompson you know makes sense obviously and I think it just it just

Simplifies the roles that’s the thing about spacing man it makes all of your reads and all of your decision making a lot more clarified because the paint is less muddy so you you have you don’t have to be as crafty and dodging guys and getting around and creative

Finishing or you know just outright being a great floater or a mid-range shooter uh it clarifies your decision making in such a way for a rookie who’s Limited in the specific ways that he is obviously that’s that’s a smart thing for eoka and his staff to be doing you

Wanted to see what assar Thompson looked like in space this is what it is and like the comp is an easy one but it is so crazy what sort of pratal just feel and just knows for the ball that both of these guys have it’s just like the way

They’re just able to rack up rebounds just by kind of heat sinking missling it from the perimeter is kind of unreal and while a men isn’t handling the ball That was supposed to be the distinction between him and assar assar was supposed to be the conclusion on the play a men

Was the one driving the action uh you could definitely see like this is a skilled good basketball player that you just want on on your team how you use it is going to be complicated if he isn’t holding the ball but clearly he has value on this team definitely so and

It’s so weird with with brothers who grow up playing together you do get those complimentary skill sets a lot of times like one will lean offense and one will lean defense one will have the ball one will know how to play without it there’s some of that with the Thompsons

But there’s also like that pack of piranhas like feasting on every loose ball every transition opportunity like they know how to play alongside players like them and so that’s one thing I’m really excited to see with amen’s career and how it how it develops from this

Point is as the Rockets get even more athletic even more ferocious as you put guys you know like tar e is a great example of of the kind of player who amen could play off of on this team really effectively over time like that kind of energy that kind of chaos it

Feeds into itself W did you have something nice you want to say about the Rockets um but I just think I said what I had to say they’re playing hard still even when it seemed like they were out of a plan and again like it’s easy to

Sort of scoff at the idea that you would be busting your hump um to get the 10 seed in the west and earn a right to you know potentially maybe hopefully become Canon fod for um whoever ends up being number one out there you know most likely the

Nuggets or whatever uh like it’s easy to scoff at that but I respect the competitive nature of this group their professionalism and I think you got to give credit to the coach for steing that type of mentality and focus where they’re clearly their best player goes out and there’s still no quitting that

Team now look it’s nice when you get to play the Wizards twice and you throw the freaking spurs in there you know it’s it’s nice when that could happen but I I I tip my cat to you know this highly competitive nature because I think that’s something you need to see from a

Young team you need to see a team that’s willing to go out there not give a damn about looking cool sticking their nose in there and playing their their asses off yeah so should we talk about Jaylen green now because uh the essential question I have

Is should Jaylen green be part of phase two of the Rockets which looks a little silly now that green is on the heater that he’s on but I think it is kind of the essential question of like how this team goes from an also ran to take the

Level because what they did in the offseason I think very clearly raised their floor they are as W was alluding to the Champaign of beer of this tier of teams they are clearly at the top even if you include the the Eastern Conference teams they’re Cut Above those

Uh but how do you get to the next level well it would be Jaylen green stepping up clearly has done that of light and March 27 points per game 50% from the floor 40% from three that’s huge because he hasn’t really been shooting it all that well each of the three seasons he’s

Been in the league but West player of the week Rob is this kind of what you were hoping to see from Green all along yeah I think it’s what the Rockets were hoping to see this is the vision of who he can be and that’s a really exciting

Thing I some of it is just the jumper hitting and that’s the part that makes me a little wary because he is a streak shooter he is a guy who is most comfortable with the ball in his hands that’s the natural rhythm of his game is operating off the dribble creating for

Himself if he can do those things that are really high level it explodes Houston’s potential and that’s where I get hung up you know around the trade deadline for example there was all this discussion about Jaylen green and picks for male bridges for example like is

That is that a a package that could make sense for both parties I I’m as look I I fall into the Trap of a clean fit as much as anybody and Mel Bridges would be a super clean fit with the way Houston plays but what you want out of your second and third

Guys is someone who can pop off is someone who can transcend their role in a difficult series and I I love male Bridges but Jaylen green has the profile of that kind of player he also has a much lower floor and is much less consistent and is a much worse Defender

And so it depends on what you’re prioritizing and for where the Rockets are right now honestly they have complimentary guys they have the Fred Van vetes they have the Dylan Brooks’s I would want to maintain the potential and the flexibility and the pop of someone like Jaylen green versus banking it on

On a more reliable and better fitting player if that makes sense yeah I think the knock on jayen green has been a sort of lack of feel uh general just terrible shot diet um and a lot of it although this year it has calmed down way more so than

The first two years but it was still you know if you look at his shooting splits it wasn’t exactly like a a picture of you know efficiency and I think it’s funny because I think the type of the motive player that you would compare him to is Anthony Edwards it’s a explosive

High usage shooting guard um who is you know who’s going to have the ball in his hand and be expected to create against any set defense right and and honestly I I looked up an edwards’s year three splits where he’s at a 29.9 usage and 564 true shooting and

Jaylen green is at 27 usage and 538 like it’s worse but you can make the argument that it’s in the neighborhood I don’t think anybody would say last year’s version of ant Edwards was close like these guys were close in as far as how good they

Were as far as how much defenses respect them on a night toight basis but I think if you’re the Rockets you’re just hoping that his trajectory you know is going to be continue to be high usage and if he could just tick his his his efficiency

Closer to that 58 59 range in true shooting and not be you know playing around messing around with Jordan pool territory you know in the 51s that’s the that’s the hope There

Justin Verrier, Wosny Lambre, and Rob Mahoney discuss the Houston Rockets making a bid for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference as their rebuild continues to thrive, thanks to young stars like Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, and Jabari Smith Jr.

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