The Houston Rockets Are Smarter Than Ever..

The Houston Rockets Are Smarter Than Ever..

In today’s video, we’re going to be talking about Amen Thompson playing more point guard this upcoming season. The reason why I want to talk about this is because Josh Kogi ended up signing with the Rockets about a week ago or so. And it has me thinking, clearly this team is satisfied with their ball handlers. They’ve got Fred, they lost Jaylen Green, who was their secondary ball handler behind Fred. There’s a reason why when healthy, of course, Fred or Jaylen was always on the court of all times, but Jaylen’s no longer here. He goes to the Phoenix Suns and obviously, yeah, Kevin Durant handles the ball. He’s a very good passer. But in terms of point guard, I think it’s going to end up being Fred. And then when he’s not playing, it’s going to be Amen Thompson. Reed Shepard, we’re going to talk about him a little bit later, but the reason why Amen was drafted fourth overall by the Rockets back in 2023, is because they believed that he had point guard potential, they knew, of course, he was sort of an offball forward. But the reason why he can’t keep playing that role is because it’s going to be able to open up much more opportunities for other players if he is on the ball. Like for example, Tara Een who would start on the majority of teams in basketball, but because KD and Jabari are here, that’s not going to be the case. He’s going to be the sixman, which I think is where he belongs. But think about the value for a men playing more point guard, for a guy like Tari E, for a guy like Dorian Finny Smith, because now all of a sudden they’re going to be benefiting off of that. They’re two guys that can run, that can knock down the open three, and that can defend at a very, very high level. So, if a man is playing with those guys and he’s just an oddball forward, it just it doesn’t bring out the same amount of value as it would if you were playing point. Now, this is just my opinion. I’m not saying you have to agree with me. Please let me know down below. If you guys want to debate that, I just I 100% believe that the Rockets did not bring in another point guard because Amen is going to be playing a lot a lot more of it. In terms of Reed Shepard, I find it pretty ridiculous how so many Rockets fans are down on him considering in the summer league he averaged 23 points, five and a half rebounds, two and a half assists, four steals, and a block and a half. Yes, the efficiency wasn’t exactly there. He was inefficient, but Reed showed that, hey, look, if the Rockets call upon me, I will be ready to produce. And it’s not like he has to take over games. Nobody’s expecting that out of Reed Shepard. It’s just can he play every night and be consistent and just give you scoring of course give you athleticism on the defensive side of the basketball and even playmake a little bit. I think Reed can do that. I know he can do that and I’m glad that the Rockets are going to give him an opportunity, but it should be more than enough to have both Amen and Reed and even I’ll throw Aaron Holiday into that mix behind Fred for playmaking. Like that should be more than enough because Alpra and Shenun is as good as it gets at playmaking at the big position. Yet Joic and Sabonis, there’s some very capable passers, guys that can put up triple doubles. But so can Shenun and also Kevin Durant is a good passer because first of all, I don’t have his numbers on me, but I’d imagine KD was around like four and a half, five assists a night. Certainly KD of course is going to require double teams and he’s going to be able to make that decision. So there’s just capable playmakers all over the floor for the Rockets. And you just look at value. Josh Kogi provides more value than like a Taius Jones. I’m g a Malcolm Brogden, like a player like that because he can defend and he can play multiple positions. The Rockets are betting that Reed is going to take that next leap. They’re betting Amen’s going to take that next leap. And Aaron Holiday being brought back, he’s just a solid veteran. You just, you know what you’re getting out of him. He’s going to knock down the three ball. He’s going to play good on ball defense and he’s just going to stay ready. More importantly, it’s so crucial in the NBA to have guys at the end of your bench that you can bring in and they’re just ready to go no matter what the situation. Injuries happen, of course, maybe like Reed is in a slump or something like that or maybe Men Thomasson isn’t quite ready to take on this role like I’m saying he is. You know, Aaron Holidayiday certainly will be able to provide that. So, I’m super excited about that. But I just I love how Raphael Stone has constructed the roster and we’ve witnessed this every single season to this point since the James Harden trade is it’s taken a lot of steps but it’s finally how they always wanted it. Fred of course his ability to do it all. Like Fred is just the complete package. 14 a night, four boards, six assists. efficiency not the greatest, but in the playoffs he stepped up big. And then of course you’ve got Amen who is listed as the two guard really an offball forward. I mean Amen can play pretty much everywhere. He could play the five if you really wanted him to. Um he’d be able to to defend centers like he’s that good. And know KD Jabari KD normally a four, but he’s going to play the three. Jabari is going to play the four. I know there’s been a little bit of talks about hey maybe throw Tari in there. I think Tari’s personally better off the bench. And Jabari has a ton of upside because not only does he knock down the open three, but he protects the rim so well. KD is also a very good rim protector. There’s a lot of size here, a lot of length. We’re talking about 7 foot wingspans for absolute days. Uh I’m counting which I don’t know Ki’s wingspan, but if if a Kogi does have a seven foot wingspan, that’s 10, but let’s just say he doesn’t for nine. I don’t know, man. I probably should have looked this up before I said it. But in terms of just you look at the length, the versatility of this roster, there’s not another team in the West that is going to be able to match up with that. And that the funny thing is I think the Rockets legitimately would have been able to compete with OKC in the in the playoffs. Would they have beaten them? No, I’m not saying that. I said compete with them. They matched up very well with them in the regular season. But in terms of the Warriors, they were a bad matchup. Like the Warriors were they were playing their best ball of the season. and nobody was beating them. And unfortunately for the Rockets, you know, Steph Curry just continues to time and timely shots. And but the Thunder, the Rockets essentially are constructing their team just like them. And I absolutely love that the Thunder drafted their entire team and then they go get Isaiah Hartenstein. They go get Alex Caruso. Are they Kevin Durant? No, that’s not what I’m saying. But the Rockets put themselves in a position to trade for Kevin Durant and not give up anyone. At least Amen or Shango. Jaylen Green I get was part of the core, but I can pretty much promise you the Rockets preferred Jabari. They preferred I probably even go as far as saying Dar East over Jaylen. So the Rockets wanted to trade Jaylen Green. So they move on. Dylan Brooks obviously they didn’t want to give up but for salary and just like they need someone to kind of replace KD. So, he had to go in there, you know, Jaylen and the 10th pick. The 10th pick wouldn’t have played anyway. That’s just not normal to be able to do. And Kevin Durant, I get, is what, 36 years old. He’ll turn 37 in a couple of months. But KD is the only player we’ve seen go through a major injury and get better. Like, Achilles injuries, guys don’t come back and average more points. And when was the last time KD didn’t score 25 a game? You’d probably have to go back to like 2010, guys. That is 15 straight years of 50, 40, 90 level play. Ball being an abovea defender, extremely efficient. And KD does not need the ball in his hand. So he doesn’t take away from Thompson. He doesn’t take away from Shanguan. I said this at the trade deadline. I said Kevin Durant needs to be a Houston Rocket. And KD didn’t want to move. He wanted to stay put at the trade line. And in the offseason, of course, he spoke to some teams, the Knicks, the Rockets, the Timberwolves, and he said, “I want to be in Houston.” Kevin Durant on an already elite Rockets team that was second in the West with leaps from these young players and Doren Finny Smith. I think the Rockets are the best team in basketball. I I truly do and you can call me biased. I don’t really care. I know what I see. And the Rockets, they lost in the first round, but they were down three to one. They forced a game seven against the Warriors, who with Jimmy Butler were a 64 win team. They were on that type of pace. So, the Rockets, they didn’t just run into a 7C. They ran into the Golden State Warriors, who were the hottest, probably the best team in basketball. And that playoff experience, they’re going to learn from it, and they’re going to grow. And there’s just nothing worse in professional sports than experiencing a loss in the playoffs. I mean it like when you win a championship and I’m going off of like I’m paraphrasing Kobe but winning a championship even Klay talked about the Klay Thompson talked about this too but it’s just you win a championship the feeling’s there but there’s just nothing that compares to losing in the playoffs or losing a championship and once a player goes through that they don’t want to go through it again. I think KD is the perfect fit to complement this roster but to me what it comes down to is Reed Shepard and Amen Thomasson. they take that leap as the ball handlers next to Fred, this team is going to be impossible to beat because the defense isn’t the issue, right? Like the Rockets don’t have any sort of problem whatsoever defending. Really, what it’s going to come down to is just the offensive side of the ball. They were terrible in the half court. Like we’re talking about the Rockets were worse than the Hornets in the first round of the playoffs against the Warriors. Like take the Hornets, you know, per 100 possessions in the half court. They were better than the Rockets against the Warriors. So, and the Suns were actually top 10. I believe they were ninth at the top of my head in half court offense. So that’s because of Kevin Durant. I Deon Booker is great, but it’s KD. So the Rockets, they they just know exactly what they had to do to be able to get over the top. And I just think this is the best team that they’ve had since I’ve been covering them, which dates back to 2016. Yes, the 65 win Rockets team in 2018 was very, very good. They weren’t this good, though. They certainly weren’t this good. The Rockets can beat you in multiple different ways, and it’s going to be a lot of fun, man.

I love the Rockets and I love to make Rockets videos. On my channel you will find player breakdowns, what ifs, history, and anything else I can think of to keep you entertained. Subscribe if you want, I would love to have you join my channel.

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