Official NBA General Discussion 2024-25 V1.0

[TorontoBarneys]

Man Fred is ass. Not even Scottie has games this bad.

[Los_29]

It’s pretty amazing that Fred makes such a big impact despite his awful shooting percentages. Also amazing that coaches just love playing this guy heavy minutes. Nurse and now Udoka.

They are in trouble against GSW though. No playoff experience, no superstar and a few non-shooters in their rotation means trouble.

[Tripod]

Their goal is to try and grind out a long series to see if Curry/Jimmy wear out.

Fred and Green will have some good games this series.

[Buff]

was there a little girl screaming when FVV was shooting 3s?

[Tripod]

was there a little girl screaming when FVV was shooting 3s?

That was Will Lou fan-girling with excitement over his favorite player.

[Buff]

was there a little girl screaming when FVV was shooting 3s?

That was Will Lou fan-girling with excitement over his favorite player.

works every time

[WaltFrazier]

was there a little girl screaming when FVV was shooting 3s?

That was Will Lou fan-girling with excitement over his favorite player.

works every time

Has Will Lou tweeted or posted about the Rockets game yet?

[Buff]

That was Will Lou fan-girling with excitement over his favorite player.

works every time

Has Will Lou tweeted or posted about the Rockets game yet?

I would guess he'll go with "It's Scottie's fault"

[Tripod]

That was Will Lou fan-girling with excitement over his favorite player.

works every time

Has Will Lou tweeted or posted about the Rockets game yet?

Just last night posting:

fred.....

[gp2015]

This is partly why the Rockets gave Freddy all star the big bucks - for his playoff veteran experience.

Hope all their young guys can learn from his example.

[mademan]

It’s pretty amazing that Fred makes such a big impact despite his awful shooting percentages. Also amazing that coaches just love playing this guy heavy minutes. Nurse and now Udoka.

They are in trouble against GSW though. No playoff experience, no superstar and a few non-shooters in their rotation means trouble.

Doesnt turn the ball over and plays defense. That works well in the RS, but you generally need more dynamic play at pg to win in the postseason unless you have a point forward/playmaking SG like Shai.

[junot111]

It’s pretty amazing that Fred makes such a big impact despite his awful shooting percentages. Also amazing that coaches just love playing this guy heavy minutes. Nurse and now Udoka.

They are in trouble against GSW though. No playoff experience, no superstar and a few non-shooters in their rotation means trouble.

Doesnt turn the ball over and plays defense. That works well in the RS, but you generally need more dynamic play at pg to win in the postseason unless you have a point forward/playmaking SG like Shai.

I think it's just about needing an offensive superstar. We didn't have that post kawhi and the rockets don't have that now, so Fred is over leveraged and we know that's a recipe for disaster. His role should be a relief ball handler and playmaker next to Luka, Giannis, jokic, Tatum etc.

[mademan]

It’s pretty amazing that Fred makes such a big impact despite his awful shooting percentages. Also amazing that coaches just love playing this guy heavy minutes. Nurse and now Udoka.

They are in trouble against GSW though. No playoff experience, no superstar and a few non-shooters in their rotation means trouble.

Doesnt turn the ball over and plays defense. That works well in the RS, but you generally need more dynamic play at pg to win in the postseason unless you have a point forward/playmaking SG like Shai.

I think it's just about needing an offensive superstar. We didn't have that post kawhi and the rockets don't have that now, so Fred is over leveraged and we know that's a recipe for disaster. His role should be a relief ball handler and playmaker next to Luka, Giannis, jokic, Tatum etc.

Next to Luka? Sure. But he cant be the 2nd ballhandler behind poor playmakers like Giannis and Tatum. And you'd need a better scorer to run pnr with Jokic for when teams switch and it's difficult to get the ball in

[junot111]

Doesnt turn the ball over and plays defense. That works well in the RS, but you generally need more dynamic play at pg to win in the postseason unless you have a point forward/playmaking SG like Shai.

I think it's just about needing an offensive superstar. We didn't have that post kawhi and the rockets don't have that now, so Fred is over leveraged and we know that's a recipe for disaster. His role should be a relief ball handler and playmaker next to Luka, Giannis, jokic, Tatum etc.

Next to Luka? Sure. But he cant be the 2nd ballhandler behind poor playmakers like Giannis and Tatum. And you'd need a better scorer to run pnr with Jokic for when teams switch and it's difficult to get the ball in

Yeah I'm definitely not saying fvv can be a second option. Just that you need a general superstar to carry your offense so that he's not the main playmaker in the half court.

And you're underrating Tatum and Giannis passing. They won with jrue as their PG who isn't that much better than fred offensively

[mademan]

I think it's just about needing an offensive superstar. We didn't have that post kawhi and the rockets don't have that now, so Fred is over leveraged and we know that's a recipe for disaster. His role should be a relief ball handler and playmaker next to Luka, Giannis, jokic, Tatum etc.

Next to Luka? Sure. But he cant be the 2nd ballhandler behind poor playmakers like Giannis and Tatum. And you'd need a better scorer to run pnr with Jokic for when teams switch and it's difficult to get the ball in

Yeah I'm definitely not saying fvv can be a second option. Just that you need a general superstar to carry your offense so that he's not the main playmaker in the half court.

And you're underrating Tatum and Giannis passing. They won with jrue as their PG who isn't that much better than fred offensively

But Jrue was never their 2nd ball handler...that was Brown and Midd's, both much better scorers. Can Fred be your third best player on a title team? Sure. But to me, that would have to be a Boston Celtics like squad with 4 other guys at his level.

[junot111]

Next to Luka? Sure. But he cant be the 2nd ballhandler behind poor playmakers like Giannis and Tatum. And you'd need a better scorer to run pnr with Jokic for when teams switch and it's difficult to get the ball in

Yeah I'm definitely not saying fvv can be a second option. Just that you need a general superstar to carry your offense so that he's not the main playmaker in the half court.

And you're underrating Tatum and Giannis passing. They won with jrue as their PG who isn't that much better than fred offensively

But Jrue was never their 2nd ball handler...that was Brown and Midd's, both much better scorers. Can Fred be your third best player on a title team? Sure. But to me, that would have to be a Boston Celtics like squad with 4 other guys at his level.

You're arguing a different point than what I'm making. You originally said that the PG needs to be more dynamic than Fred in the postseason so my point is you can succeed with a PG of his level provided you have adequate talent at other positions (namely a superstar). I'm not claiming he's good enough as 2nd or 3rd option or whatever

[tsherkin]

Yeah I'm definitely not saying fvv can be a second option. Just that you need a general superstar to carry your offense so that he's not the main playmaker in the half court.

And you're underrating Tatum and Giannis passing. They won with jrue as their PG who isn't that much better than fred offensively

But Jrue was never their 2nd ball handler...that was Brown and Midd's, both much better scorers. Can Fred be your third best player on a title team? Sure. But to me, that would have to be a Boston Celtics like squad with 4 other guys at his level.

You're arguing a different point than what I'm making. You originally said that the PG needs to be more dynamic than Fred in the postseason so my point is you can succeed with a PG of his level provided you have adequate talent at other positions (namely a superstar). I'm not claiming he's good enough as 2nd or 3rd option or whatever

I think his broader point is that Houston is ill-disposed to have Fred this involved in its offense if they want to win. The requirement for him to be on the team and still be competitive seems to be more offensive talent that they've got at the moment.

[WaltFrazier]

Next to Luka? Sure. But he cant be the 2nd ballhandler behind poor playmakers like Giannis and Tatum. And you'd need a better scorer to run pnr with Jokic for when teams switch and it's difficult to get the ball in

Yeah I'm definitely not saying fvv can be a second option. Just that you need a general superstar to carry your offense so that he's not the main playmaker in the half court.

And you're underrating Tatum and Giannis passing. They won with jrue as their PG who isn't that much better than fred offensively

But Jrue was never their 2nd ball handler...that was Brown and Midd's, both much better scorers. Can Fred be your third best player on a title team? Sure. But to me, that would have to be a Boston Celtics like squad with 4 other guys at his level.

But where would Fred slot on the Celtics right now? Not starting. Would he be better than Pritchard in the role Pritchard plays?

[mdenny]

I don't think there'd be any team more depressing to cheer for than the Pistons. A decade of tanking ti produce this? They're not even in a position to consolidate assets like Houston or OKC PLUS they feel like they have a 5 seed ceiling in the east which also means no more lottery picks for the time being.

They are just so underwhelming with no upside for bug future moves. I don't usually ascribe to the pitfalls of the "treadmill" archetype because I think collecting assets as a middle of the pack team puts you in a position to make that big move. But they are a middle of the pack team without the assets. In which case....yah it totally feels like they are on a treadmill.

I don't see any hope for that franchise.

[mdenny]

Yeah I'm definitely not saying fvv can be a second option. Just that you need a general superstar to carry your offense so that he's not the main playmaker in the half court.

And you're underrating Tatum and Giannis passing. They won with jrue as their PG who isn't that much better than fred offensively

But Jrue was never their 2nd ball handler...that was Brown and Midd's, both much better scorers. Can Fred be your third best player on a title team? Sure. But to me, that would have to be a Boston Celtics like squad with 4 other guys at his level.

But where would Fred slot on the Celtics right now? Not starting. Would he be better than Pritchard in the role Pritchard plays?

If you replace FVV with Pritchard on Houston....they probably would've been a play-in team instead of being the two seed.

I have Houston losing to GS in 5 games. There's no way that team is gonna beat steph and butler and draymond. I would have Houston losing to every west team except for the Grizzlies. But it's a franchise in a REALLY good spot to become a legit contender the next 3 or 4 years after they make a big move.

There's just way too many rookie contracts on that rotation for them to win a playoff series. I can't think of any team that had success with that many players. Maybe the celtics during the rookie contracts of Tatum and Brown? But even then....those Celtics teams had a mix of vets in the rotation. They didn't have 6 guys on rookie contracts. I think they had 3.

The rockets better not make a mistake and wait too long. Green and Sengun are about to eat up 80 milly. Thompson will get a max. And you're not gonna contend with sengun, green, Thompson as a big 3. They have to make a trade before the next deadline.

They will be able to put together packages that other teams can't match for the next disgruntled superstar.