Not sure why it's 2026 and you are dismissing the fact that Amen and Sengun also playmake so it's not just Reed being the sole "contingency". You can be over 6'4" and still be a playmaker. Defense isn't a position but the point remains.... players missing an entire season is way different than missing 20-30 games. Ty Jerome or whatever slightly better off the bench point guard option than Aaron Holiday wasn't saving this season. If we were actually all in competing, you'd be onto something..... but we ain't.
I didn’t dismiss anything. I simply said there was no contingency plan for Fred. I didn’t say anything about playmakers. Playmakers aren’t necessarily always point guards. Those are 2 different things although not necessarily mutually exclusive sometimes. The only experienced point on the roster was Holliday, which we prioritized an inexperienced Sheppard over. Or we played Amen who is inexperienced in that role. My point isn’t about Fred being injured the entire season. It’s about not having an experienced backup period especially in case he goes down. OKC at least has experienced guards like Wallace who played admirably during SGA’s absence in the reg season. Spurs have redundancy in Castle and Harper if Fox goes down. To rely on inexperienced players and a center to fill that role is absurd. They couldn’t play high screen and role because of the lack of skill and experience of their guards. They didn’t have a guy to get players in their spots on both ends and set up the half court offense. This killed them all year.
Here’s the report about Mobley wanting to play for OKC only and didn’t even want the Cavs. Just think it’s interesting and contrary to many Rocket fans thinking he didn’t want us only. This is why I believe firmly we didn’t want Mobley especially as a foundational piece in our first big draft post Harden. And especially when we traded for Sengun to get a guard and a big. https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/onsi/news/nba-insider-reports-evan-mobley-wanted-land-okc-thunder
While I don’t think Stone and his team are as bad as people say, there’s a lot of questionable decisions they made. It’s always easy in hindsight to dissect someone’s decisions but there’s been some glaring missteps as well
There was absolutely a contingency for FVV, you just keep dismissing it. You keep bringing up literal guards in your example and just conveniently have brought up two of the best teams in the league. How about Detroit? Cavs? Lakers? Boston? If you actually look at how the Rockets play, Amen and Sengun are doing a chunk of the playmaking even with FVV last season. These aren't rookies but third and fifth year players that we are hoping keep improving at playmaking (and shooting). We also have Reed and would like to see what we have there. It's only absurd if you are going all in and not trying to develop and see what you have in the young core. Do I think the Rockets should have the same approach next season? Obviously not since we saw how well we played.
We were picking in the top 3 lotto the last thing you want is a zesty pick lol In the top lotto the players should be consensus, you dont want Stone wasting the 3rd pick on somebody like Tidjane Salaun because he is a risk taker. Do you remember Morey picking baby Melo over the consensus and safe guy Kawhi Leonard? Dumars picking Darko? Atlanta picking Zaxharie Risacher over Sarr? lol In the draft the top 2 or top 3 are more less the consensus guys already. Whether Lebron or Melo, Kd or Oden, Chet/Jabari/Banchero etc the top guys already got identified.
No I understand what a hub is you sre the one who cant understand why that is relevant to the Rockets having bad offense. Its up to the coach how these players are used and Udoka just doesnt know how to make an offense that maximizes his players strengths.
We should have the same approach since season long injuries cant really be expected. That dude is an Udoka fanboy thats why he wants to blame Stone for everything wrong.
I have absolutely no issues with how he picks at the top of drafts. I'm just pointing out that's how he does stuff. My issues are more about how passive he is in season.
Well you need to have context right we are 1M under the apron and we just lost our 6th man center and starting pg for the full year. A rental wouldnt really do anything to save the season and would just cost us assets. A lot of the common complaints why we didnt get Jose Alvarado, Ayo Dosunmu, Keon Ellis etc all those guys are unrestricted free agents thats why their teams traded them for cents on the dollar. We wouldnt be able to keep them as we are capped out moreover they wouldnt play next season with FVV returning. I mean they could be the backup pg I guess but then that means Reed Sheppard gets sidelined once again. I rather invest in Reed and see if we have something there than get a rental.
Reed isn't a PG he's white Landry Shamet. He's a 2 and would develop better if we just accept that fact and let him be who he should be. We could've signed a veteran PG near the playoff deadline but we gave JD Nevergonnabearotationplayerson a regular contract instead. You don't think getting 2nd round reps would've been a good thing for Amen, Jabari, Sengun, Reed's development? A playoff series against our would be rival OKC? So what if we can't keep them. Roll the dice that's what I'm saying. If you keep playing safe you get nowhere. We just needed someone who could dribble. Even someone like Monte Morris, Corey Joseph, Reggie Jackson, Micic. They could've been signed once their prorated minimum contracts were under 1M. Not having a point guard in 2026 is inexcusable. Being short doesn't make you a point guard.
Teams can have multiple playmakers as I explained. Playmakers aren’t necessarily point guards although they can be. Point guards direct where players need to be on offense. They call out screens and set up players based on the set play or their reads. They control the tempo when to play fast or slow it down especially when team is panicking. They also direct the defense and tell players where to go on that end. It’s not just about driving and passing. Sengun isn’t a point guard. If Sengun is a point guard they would play him as point on every possession or most but he’s not. He isn’t quick to beat defenses in the fast break. He isn’t pushing tempo and he isn’t orchestrating the offense or defense. He’s a big guy with handles that has some passing skills. This doesn’t make him a point. The Rockets didn’t necessarily have a contingency. When fred went down they played point by committee and this is a fact. Durant, Sengun, Sheppard, Amen all played a version of point guard thru the season. Jenkins is a natural pg. While he wasn’t experienced in the NBA, that’s his natural position thru college and g league. Pritchard is the backup point but the Tatum injury forced him into the lineup. White is the point and they have a 3 guard rotation with Pritchard playing point when white is out. Lakers have 3 guys that can play point. Lebron, luka, smart. Smart replaced luka when he was out. All these teams have redundancy in skills. Rockets don’t. The Rockets simply did not plan for an experienced or capable point guard as a backup to Fred. Instead they relied on a committee and 2 inexperienced players who didn’t play point in their NBA careers. Again this is absurd to say you’re a contender while not having capable backup point guards or redundant skillsets while thinking 2 inexperienced guys can fulfill that position
You’re my fanboy because you keep talking about me. If you weren’t lazy and actually read, you would see that I have defended Stone and put most the blame on players. Stop being an idiot and spreading misinformation.
You claimed they didn't have a contingency.... They did. You clearly don't agree with the plan but they in fact did have one. It's only absurd to your because you expectations are different. Someone like Ty Jerome or Mike Conley wasn't going to save the season, although it would have helped. Despite the NBA media putting as contenders before the FVV injury, we were very much still developing the young core. Part of developing that young core to their full potential is having them run the offense. Yes, "point guards" setup the timing and get players into positions, but you think part of what makes players like Luka and Mitchell better doesn't involve knowing how to run offense?
To me that’s not a contingency plan. That’s like a ship not having a real backup engine but instead the crew put together a makeshift one when that main engine fails. That’s an ad hoc bandage or quick fix not a long term solution or thought out plan. I didn’t say anything about Conley or Jerome. They should have an experienced point. If Holliday was the only true point then let Holliday play. But that’s the issue. They were developing Sheppard, which conflicts with their win now approach. The Rockets themselves said they were in phase 3 winning phase not the media. They are no longer prioritizing development according to Stone, Udoka and Fertita. Not sure why you ask me that when I said points orchestrate the offense
I think, had he used assets to patch a hole on a sinking Titanic, we'd have all been complaining that he was throwing away assets. I'm not mad at him for not throwing good money after bad, I'm mad at him for giving Udoka what he wanted instead of building a balanced roster - having a competent fill in for Fred - over an injured wing in DFS or an ineffective 3rd big in Capela.
I'm sorry but I'm getting tired of it being assets assets assets all the time. At some point you need to start cashing in and I thought trading for a 37 year old meant that it'd be time to do something. We could've just signed someone who knew how to dribble, we didn't have to actually trade anything. You know what's starting to be a really important asset in the NBA? Space under the apron. Right now only Sengun was playing on his big extension. Next year Jabari and presumably Tari will be too. After that Amen then Reed. We don't have the luxury to punt seasons because eventually we're gonna have to start shedding guys for salary. The 2nd round reps would've been huge for our young players' development. The Lakers team we lost to might be the weakest 2nd round team of all time.
Agree with other points but I don’t think Capela was ineffective at all. He did his job and protected the paint. He screened for shooters and played high screen and long roll. He just wasn’t given an opportunity to play and Udoka favored smaller lineups and played Sengun heavy minutes.
I would argue they are degrees of each other. I would also argue the whole point of Reed, Amen, and Sengun is seeing if they can run an offense. I know you and @Stephen_A preferred more redundancies/a better contingency plan but the FO was also evaluating their young core while competing. Lastly, a contingency plan of trying to contend with FVV out for a season and expecting him to be out for 20-30 games are two very different things.
