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20 Games In: A Player-By-Player Check In On The Rockets

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KW
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20 Games In: A Player-By-Player Check In On The Rockets

Post by KW »

It hasn't been the easiest start for the Rockets, adjusting to a few new players, new style of play,, and so on... 10-10 feels like a relief after falling as low as 5-8.

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Karl-Anthony Towns - KAT has been a superstar so far this season. His 23.2/11.5 have also been complemented by amazing defense (2.3bpg, 0.80 PA/SF). While not quite as efficient as his 2nd and 3rd options, at 56.3 TS% (dragged down by subpar finishing at the rim), KAT's been the one constant on a highly streaky shooting team, and they will continue to feature him as the #1 option.

Malik Monk - It's only been a small step back for Monk from a scoring standpoint- Monk is looking to attack the basket a bit more rather than only being a supremely talented 3-point launcher. He's not facilitating the offense much, and "only" taking 10 3PA a game, but his 22.4ppg, 3.3apg have been efficient at 64.2 TS% and a TO% of just 10.8%.

Justise Winslow - Winslow has had by far the rockiest transition. Initially held out, then injured, Winslow has only played 8/20 games, but those 8 games have been rough offensively. Currently averaging just 6/6/4, with 2.5spg, and 1.8bpg on a miserable 42.4 TS%, spending much more time on the perimeter. His defense, however, is as good as it's ever been. He's almost always glued to the toughest matchup regardless of position, and has allowed just 0.76 PA/SF (while facing a shot attempt every 2 minutes), stopped 96% of drives. He may be an enigma right now, but the Rockets absolutely love his strengths and will continue pushing him into a Draymond Green like role.

Denzel Livingston - It's been tough trying to get Livingston to shoot enough. His shooting is as efficient as usual, at 60.7 TS%, he just isn't doing enough. At just 11.2ppg, 5.3ast, his numbers are a far cry from last season. His defense has been terrific, allowing just 0.77 PA/SF. He's been an ideal role player for a team with stars at SG and C, but his production is quite low for a 3rd option.

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Vernon Carey - Carey has been the surprise of the season for Houston. Originally a 2nd round pick of Washington, he was brought in as part of the Reed/Weber swap, and has proved to be a bulldozer of a post player who can already carry the offensive load when KAT hits the bench, and lineups with both bigs in there have been successful as well. In just under 18mpg, Carey is averaging 10.9/5.6 on 53.3 TS%. His defense has been terrible, but hey, it's a 19yo rookie- what more can you ask.

Briante Weber - Like Winslow, it's been an awkward start for Weber, another stud defender who struggles to score from anywhere really... he might be *too* hesitant to shoot at the moment, and some "coaching" is definitely needed there. Despite averaging just 3.4ppg, he's been good at stopping drives, and has generally slowed down opposing guards, with a couple of overwhelming matchups crashing his defensive stats. Not to bag on Weber too much, but the Rockets really miss Davon Reed.

Damyean Dotson - the resident 3&D guy on this team, Dotson has.... not shot the 3 well. Dotson seems to need to play the SG position, as he's been overwhelmed by some larger SFs... unfortunately SG is mostly covered at this point. He might wind up being an odd man out in Year #5 with Houston.

Nahziah Carter - Carter appears primed to step into Dotson's role in the near future. While not a high-volume guy, the 39th pick has shot well, averaging 6.5 points on 63.9 TS%. His defensive numbers are probably too small a sample to extrapolate from at this point, but they need a bit of work before he's truly a Dotson replacement.

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Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rakhman - "Rahk Lobster" missed a couple weeks with injury, but the games he's played are quite promising. He hasn't been a huge-volume guy, but in 22mpg, he's averaged 8 points and 3 assists, shooting a team high 64.5 TS%, mostly due to his 47% from 3. The Rockets are hoping to see his shot attempts increase in the upcoming weeks.

Trevon Duval - Duval played quite a bit early on, but hasn't really been in the rotation consistently. As pass first PG who can't and won't score, his 4.0 assists to 1.1 TO are really all the Rockets care about.

Josh Davis - Similar to Duval, but the total opposite, Davis has played sparingly due to concerns of spacing, but when he's been brought in to rebound, he's done it at an incredible level. Currently averaging 4.1/5.3 in just 14.7mpg, that's roughly 13 rebounds per 36.

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Tyler Hagedorn - Hagedorn was an undrafted rookie, and burst onto the scene recording an efficient 17 points, with the promise of being a solid shooter and scorer. His efficiency has since dipped to just 39.2/31.3/85.7 (48.8 TS%), but when he's been on, his instant offense has helped. Hagedorn just played his first D-League game, and dropped 45 points including 11-15 from 3.

Robert Woodard II - the first picked of our four rookies (#32), Woodard has unfortunately done the least. He has done a tiny bit of everything but not really enough of anything. He will likely remain stashed in the D-League as he works on his game. The Rockets want him to be more assertive driving to the rim.

There is not enough to write about for either James Thompson IV or Oshae Brissett.

Vann_the_Red
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Re: 20 Games In: A Player-By-Player Check In On The Rockets

Post by Vann_the_Red »

Nice review! Weber will turn it around. I'm more concerned with Winslow.

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emplep7
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Re: 20 Games In: A Player-By-Player Check In On The Rockets

Post by emplep7 »

KAT has had a career revival as those numbers are insane. I expect the Rockets to start turning it around now that your coach stopped ignoring your strat changes and you figure out how to incorporate Winslow more into the team.
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Flaming Homer
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Re: 20 Games In: A Player-By-Player Check In On The Rockets

Post by Flaming Homer »

Is seems KAT and Monk switched places as #1/#2 options for now.
Which is a good thing imo. The hard work is really getting the role player up and running beside them. Looking of how Winslow played during part of the preseason I think he will be just fine. His D alone is worth a lot.

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