Game Thread Oct 07, 2024 07:00PM MT: Houston Rockets @ Utah Jazz (Preseason)

[kabenac]

Collier will be fine. He's shown he can drive to the basket at will - he just needs to finish better and that will happen. I'm excited to see what he does in the next game. He's fearless.

 

[Thee Jazz Fan]

Collier will be fine. He's shown he can drive to the basket at will - he just needs to finish better and that will happen. I'm excited to see what he does in the next game. He's fearless.

Really hope he figures it out and can be the future table setter we haven’t had since Conley.

 

[rjfan]

As far as what I could read of Cy's post, he didn't mention that Markkanen on ball creation nears someone like Kawhi Leonard, Lebron James, Kevin Durant or even a healthy Zion Williamson, nor that Flagg gonna be this good at that as these guys, either out of the gate, or at his peak.

What I could conclude out of it was that in that in the Lauri, Hendricks and Kessler frontcourt there's two guys that when the ball comes into their hands not for them to finish the play, the play is up to come to a stall, and adding a guy that's projected to have a whole different skillset than these two guys, would make a world off difference in that department. And I don't have much problem with those propositions.

 

[KqWIN]

I wouldn't want to be the Rockets though. They tanked a season for Jalen Green. Then they tanked a season for Jabari Smith. Then they tanked a season for Amen Thompson. Then they just got Reed Sheppard with a #3 pick. They don't have anyone on their roster who can be a top-40 player in the league.

People criticize Detroit, but I'm not sure Houston has done much better.

This is just the nature of tanking/relying on the draft. Everyone has it in their heads that when you tank you will draft 3 MVP’s in a row like OKC. Truth is you’re much more likely to be a Detroit or a Houston. The guys HOU has now used to be the guys people were going crazy about when they were draft prospects. If you look back at their draft record, each year picked the guy everyone would have taken (maybe not Reed but that draft was a toss up).

Draft is still somewhat of a crapshoot even when you’re consistently drafting in the top 5.

 

[sip]

I wouldn't want to be the Rockets though. They tanked a season for Jalen Green. Then they tanked a season for Jabari Smith. Then they tanked a season for Amen Thompson. Then they just got Reed Sheppard with a #3 pick. They don't have anyone on their roster who can be a top-40 player in the league.

People criticize Detroit, but I'm not sure Houston has done much better.

Damn this is a bad take. First off they already have a borderline top 40 player in Sengun that just turned 22 and should cement himself in that top 40 this season with the potential upside to be top 20 in a few years. Then you have Jabari Smith who just turned 21 and made a big leap from year 1 to year 2 and probably takes another big leap this year. Then you have 20 year old Cam Whitmore who has elite upside as a scorer in this league. Amen has the makings of an elite jack of all trades wing. Tari Eason looks like a rock solid big wing that is the type of player we hope Hendricks grows into. Worst case with Reed is probably him being an elite role player but I think he ends up as a really good starting pg and Amen is a great compliment to him. Jalen Green is weird because he may end up being the odd man out or a star for them. We have seen a bit of both from him and I have no clue how it ends up but I still love that young core without him. You are right about wishing you snagged a legit superstar with those top picks but you can overlook that when you snag likely homeruns later in the draft like Sengun, Whitmore and Eason. Sengun would be a consensus top 5 pick in a redraft and it may be the same with Whitmore in a few years.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I wouldn't want to be the Rockets though. They tanked a season for Jalen Green. Then they tanked a season for Jabari Smith. Then they tanked a season for Amen Thompson. Then they just got Reed Sheppard with a #3 pick. They don't have anyone on their roster who can be a top-40 player in the league.

People criticize Detroit, but I'm not sure Houston has done much better.

They are incredibly overrated

 

[HermanG]

Damn this is a bad take. First off they already have a borderline top 40 player in Sengun that just turned 22 and should cement himself in that top 40 this season with the potential upside to be top 20 in a few years. Then you have Jabari Smith who just turned 21 and made a big leap from year 1 to year 2 and probably takes another big leap this year. Then you have 20 year old Cam Whitmore who has elite upside as a scorer in this league. Amen has the makings of an elite jack of all trades wing. Tari Eason looks like a rock solid big wing that is the type of player we hope Hendricks grows into. Worst case with Reed is probably him being an elite role player but I think he ends up as a really good starting pg and Amen is a great compliment to him. Jalen Green is weird because he may end up being the odd man out or a star for them. We have seen a bit of both from him and I have no clue how it ends up but I still love that young core without him. You are right about wishing you snagged a legit superstar with those top picks but you can overlook that when you snag likely homeruns later in the draft like Sengun, Whitmore and Eason. Sengun would be a consensus top 5 pick in a redraft and it may be the same with Whitmore in a few years.

Whats your handle at Clutchfans? "RafaRoxx"?

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Whats your handle at Clutchfans? "RafaRoxx"?

"RocketDownMyThroat'

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

They are incredibly overrated

They papered over their disappointing draft guys with temporary solutions in FVV and Brooks as well as Udoka. Those solutions are fine for now but I think they stagnate for a few years unless Alpy becomes an all star.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Damn this is a bad take. First off they already have a borderline top 40 player in Sengun that just turned 22 and should cement himself in that top 40 this season with the potential upside to be top 20 in a few years. Then you have Jabari Smith who just turned 21 and made a big leap from year 1 to year 2 and probably takes another big leap this year. Then you have 20 year old Cam Whitmore who has elite upside as a scorer in this league. Amen has the makings of an elite jack of all trades wing. Tari Eason looks like a rock solid big wing that is the type of player we hope Hendricks grows into. Worst case with Reed is probably him being an elite role player but I think he ends up as a really good starting pg and Amen is a great compliment to him. Jalen Green is weird because he may end up being the odd man out or a star for them. We have seen a bit of both from him and I have no clue how it ends up but I still love that young core without him. You are right about wishing you snagged a legit superstar with those top picks but you can overlook that when you snag likely homeruns later in the draft like Sengun, Whitmore and Eason. Sengun would be a consensus top 5 pick in a redraft and it may be the same with Whitmore in a few years.

I'd rather have Keyonte than Jalen Green, because Keyonte is more disciplined, scores at 3-levels and has some playmaking.
At least with Hendricks, we get versatile defense and rebounding to go with some stretch shooting. I'm not convinced Jabari Smith does even that much.
I like Sengun, but I don't think he's enough to build an offense around, either by virtue of his scoring or playmaking, and he lacks the physicality to be a disruptor like a Domantas Sabonis.
Amen can't be a jack-of-all-trades wing unless he can shoot the ball. His impact gets minimized if he doesn't have the ball in his hands, but he's a nice slasher and defender.
I really like Reed Sheppard, but he's going to be limited defensively and he needs to be about the best shooter on the floor to really impact the game.

If there's someone on the Rockets to really be excited about, it's probably Reed at this point.

 

[KqWIN]

Two things are true. The Rockets top 5 picks have been disappointing and almost everyone would have made the same selections as them. That's the reality of the draft.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Two things are true. The Rockets top 5 picks have been disappointing and almost everyone would have made the same selections as them. That's the reality of the draft.

I think I would have taken Mobley over Green but other than that probably true.