Sengun & Durant are practically unstoppable

[Ice Man]

Not as good as the Thunder and Clippers

Clippers? For center/PF combination?

[Raps in 4]

That's why I predicted in my profile that KD will win multiple championships in Houston.
Rockets are too big, and shoot too well, for anyone to stop them over 7 games
And the shortest Rocket is an absolute machine = Reed Sheppard = .491 field, .478 downtown, 12.6 points, 3.6 assists, 1.3 turnovers
And last season VanVleet only shot .378 field, .345 downtown, so him being injured isn't a disaster, plus it gives Amen ball experience

Still not as good as the Nuggets and Thunder.
Thex are leading the rest of the pack though.

Thunder needed double-OT to beat Rockets in the season opener by ONE point, when Rockets had no chemistry

FVV injury could be a blessing in disguise, Rockets went from 115 off rating last season to a 125 off rating this season, and i dont think all of it was KD, Sheppard getting a chance to shine is also a big part of that. The one game they were missing his presence was against okc down the stretch they were having trouble getting the ball past midcourt due to lacking a primary ballhandler. outside of the okc game they've been just fine without him.

All of it is literally because they replaced Green with KD. Green was awful.

FVV would drop to 4th/5th in the offensive depth chart this year. The team wouldn't need him for scoring anymore.

[og15]

Not as good as the Thunder and Clippers

Clippers? For center/PF combination?

There is probably some sort of joke there that is being missed, but if it's that hard to get, then it's not a good joke lol

[Sane]

Sengun is a versatile player that pairs nicely with KD. I think he does have some weaknesses as a center with only a 7 foot wingspan similar to Sabonis. Rockets have other big bodies to use but it will require smart rotations. They will likely have trouble with OKCs bigs if to meet in playoffs.

Sengun about to have his 3rd season as starting C for a top 10 defense. Impossible to call this a liability anymore. A top 10 defense is the gold standard for winning a championship. Sengun is defensively what everyone has been hoping and dreaming Sabonis could be (thank god, we were worried about this). Sengun is more Andrew Bogut than Sabonis on defense.

[Mamba81p]

Sengun improved his shot a lot which was one the biggest weaknesses in his game. So far it looks more like a strength.

[Mamba81p]

That's why I predicted in my profile that KD will win multiple championships in Houston.
Rockets are too big, and shoot too well, for anyone to stop them over 7 games
And the shortest Rocket is an absolute machine = Reed Sheppard = .491 field, .478 downtown, 12.6 points, 3.6 assists, 1.3 turnovers
And last season VanVleet only shot .378 field, .345 downtown, so him being injured isn't a disaster, plus it gives Amen ball experience


Thunder needed double-OT to beat Rockets in the season opener by ONE point, when Rockets had no chemistry

FVV injury could be a blessing in disguise, Rockets went from 115 off rating last season to a 125 off rating this season, and i dont think all of it was KD, Sheppard getting a chance to shine is also a big part of that. The one game they were missing his presence was against okc down the stretch they were having trouble getting the ball past midcourt due to lacking a primary ballhandler. outside of the okc game they've been just fine without him.

All of it is literally because they replaced Green with KD. Green was awful.

FVV would drop to 4th/5th in the offensive depth chart this year. The team wouldn't need him for scoring anymore.

not all of it. Sengun improved a lot too, particularly his shot

[Sane]

It's pretty clear now FVV was going to lose that starting gig by mid season. Amen and Sheppard are doing great in the new democratized offense.

Some of y'all are just repeating what you've heard. FVV shot 39% from the field and 32% from 3pt range last season. On his last legs except when his 3pt shot is on absolute fire. Don't need that guy eating up a ton of usage for us, the coach had already spoken about getting him off ball (and Amen on ball) way more often this season before the injury happened.

It's worked out in our benefit. Going into the playoffs we'll have DFS and probably FVV beefing up the bench. No one in OKC can guard KD in a playoff series. We good.

[tsherkin]

It does suck for them that FVV is out, but they look very good right now and are pretty fun to watch, honestly. KD looks a bit rejuvenated and is in a strong environment, which is good stuff.

[peZt]

Sengun is a versatile player that pairs nicely with KD. I think he does have some weaknesses as a center with only a 7 foot wingspan similar to Sabonis. Rockets have other big bodies to use but it will require smart rotations. They will likely have trouble with OKCs bigs if to meet in playoffs.

Sengun about to have his 3rd season as starting C for a top 10 defense. Impossible to call this a liability anymore. A top 10 defense is the gold standard for winning a championship. Sengun is defensively what everyone has been hoping and dreaming Sabonis could be (thank god, we were worried about this). Sengun is more Andrew Bogut than Sabonis on defense.

Yeah Sengun is a good defender. His lack of length is more of a weakness on offense because he gets his shot blocked or deflected often under the rim, but not on defense

[cupcakesnake]

First maybe if Jokic and AG didn’t exist and that’s if we are strictly using PF/C duos.

Especially if Gordon keeps playing like this.
Initially, this debate looks like 2x All-NBA level guys vs. and MVP and a borderline all-star. Gordon has been playing like an actual all-star though. Not only is he doing his normal defense and finishing stuff, but this year he's been such a versatile bucket getter for Denver. He's simply solid in all kinds of scoring play types. He's hitting his catch & shoot looks. He posts guys, or drives into post ups, or drives into strong finishes. His pull up game off the dribble from midrange has been a reliable go-to for the Nuggets when their other stuff doesn't work.

Gordon's 3-point shooting wont stay at this level, but the rest of his improvements look real.

If you drop his first game alone he falls back to a very reasonable 37% which can be sustained. But it just showcases how massively skewed he was from game 1 of the year.

Yeah I looked at his game log while writing the above post. He already balances out out his 50-piece by coming back to earth over his next 3 games. 2x 9-point duds, and overall shot 2-12 from 3 over those games. If you take out that whole first week, his averages still look the same as if you dont. He's shot 44% over his last 7. I've watched a lot of Nuggets and there's been so many games where it looks like Gordon just can't miss.

He'll have a sustained cold stretch at some point, but it's worth mentioning that Gordon has absolutely shown sustained improvement as a shooter. He shot 43% on 3s last season and sustained that pretty well in the playoffs. There's more evidence of this improvement from the line, where he's been an 80% kind of guy for a while now after being a sub 70% guy for most of his career.

[cupcakesnake]

First maybe if Jokic and AG didn’t exist and that’s if we are strictly using PF/C duos.

Especially if Gordon keeps playing like this.
Initially, this debate looks like 2x All-NBA level guys vs. and MVP and a borderline all-star. Gordon has been playing like an actual all-star though. Not only is he doing his normal defense and finishing stuff, but this year he's been such a versatile bucket getter for Denver. He's simply solid in all kinds of scoring play types. He's hitting his catch & shoot looks. He posts guys, or drives into post ups, or drives into strong finishes. His pull up game off the dribble from midrange has been a reliable go-to for the Nuggets when their other stuff doesn't work.

Gordon's 3-point shooting wont stay at this level, but the rest of his improvements look real.

Yeah it is crazy how much he improved his shot not only from the 3pt range but from the stripe aswell. It’s unbelievable how much a leap he has taken as a shooter. I think we should treat a 40 percent 3 point shooter from now I think. Has there been anyone else who has taken such a big leap lately? He is now a three level scorer. Definitely underrated.

I think you have it right when you point out he's a 3-level scorer. He's not a high end version of this, obviously, but he's definitely functional. Teams want to stash a weak defender on Gordon and he'll eviscerate that. I think you could stop Gordon if you really wanted to, but that would mean guarding Jokic or Murray less... either way that's a win for the Nuggets offense.

[JT3000]

It's a good duo, and a good solution to not having a regular table-setter. I do still kinda worry about it in the PO, I have a lot of faith in KD to make tough shots and Sengun is showing counters for basically everything, but it's still a tough way to make a living against a good locked in defense in today's NBA. Fun team either way.

Also that game was completely wild. Curious why you say they 'stole' it though--if anything it seems like the Magic should've stolen it and the Rockets had to make some big time plays to force it to OT. And then they just outplayed them by a little bit in OT, which isn't unusual. Just a good hard win.

Yeah, they "stole" one from a Magic team without Banchero or Suggs, in Houston, in overtime. I'm not trying to make any excuses for the Magic, because Black should have ended it in regulation with that missed free throw, but a top team should have never been in that situation in the first place.

[dhsilv2]

Especially if Gordon keeps playing like this.
Initially, this debate looks like 2x All-NBA level guys vs. and MVP and a borderline all-star. Gordon has been playing like an actual all-star though. Not only is he doing his normal defense and finishing stuff, but this year he's been such a versatile bucket getter for Denver. He's simply solid in all kinds of scoring play types. He's hitting his catch & shoot looks. He posts guys, or drives into post ups, or drives into strong finishes. His pull up game off the dribble from midrange has been a reliable go-to for the Nuggets when their other stuff doesn't work.

Gordon's 3-point shooting wont stay at this level, but the rest of his improvements look real.

If you drop his first game alone he falls back to a very reasonable 37% which can be sustained. But it just showcases how massively skewed he was from game 1 of the year.

Yeah I looked at his game log while writing the above post. He already balances out out his 50-piece by coming back to earth over his next 3 games. 2x 9-point duds, and overall shot 2-12 from 3 over those games. If you take out that whole first week, his averages still look the same as if you dont. He's shot 44% over his last 7. I've watched a lot of Nuggets and there's been so many games where it looks like Gordon just can't miss.

He'll have a sustained cold stretch at some point, but it's worth mentioning that Gordon has absolutely shown sustained improvement as a shooter. He shot 43% on 3s last season and sustained that pretty well in the playoffs. There's more evidence of this improvement from the line, where he's been an 80% kind of guy for a while now after being a sub 70% guy for most of his career.

I've really been impressed with his improvements with the ball and as a shooter. I do however feel he's just short of something to be really a legit allstar level guy. Either a bit more defensive impact or perhaps a bit more passing acumen.

[ball_takes23]

That's why I predicted in my profile that KD will win multiple championships in Houston.
Rockets are too big, and shoot too well, for anyone to stop them over 7 games
And the shortest Rocket is an absolute machine = Reed Sheppard = .491 field, .478 downtown, 12.6 points, 3.6 assists, 1.3 turnovers
And last season VanVleet only shot .378 field, .345 downtown, so him being injured isn't a disaster, plus it gives Amen ball experience


Thunder needed double-OT to beat Rockets in the season opener by ONE point, when Rockets had no chemistry

FVV injury could be a blessing in disguise, Rockets went from 115 off rating last season to a 125 off rating this season, and i dont think all of it was KD, Sheppard getting a chance to shine is also a big part of that. The one game they were missing his presence was against okc down the stretch they were having trouble getting the ball past midcourt due to lacking a primary ballhandler. outside of the okc game they've been just fine without him.

All of it is literally because they replaced Green with KD. Green was awful.

FVV would drop to 4th/5th in the offensive depth chart this year. The team wouldn't need him for scoring anymore.

but it would still be a liability to have another non-shooter on the floor. much easier for defenses to guard lineup with two non-shooters (Amen + FVV) as opposed to lineups with only one non-shooter (Amen)

[HotelVitale]

It's a good duo, and a good solution to not having a regular table-setter. I do still kinda worry about it in the PO, I have a lot of faith in KD to make tough shots and Sengun is showing counters for basically everything, but it's still a tough way to make a living against a good locked in defense in today's NBA. Fun team either way.

Also that game was completely wild. Curious why you say they 'stole' it though--if anything it seems like the Magic should've stolen it and the Rockets had to make some big time plays to force it to OT. And then they just outplayed them by a little bit in OT, which isn't unusual. Just a good hard win.

Yeah, they "stole" one from a Magic team without Banchero or Suggs, in Houston, in overtime. I'm not trying to make any excuses for the Magic, because Black should have ended it in regulation with that missed free throw, but a top team should have never been in that situation in the first place.

Eh, ORL's a solid team even w/o Banchero and there's no great shame in losing to them in a random RS game in Nov. Even the truly great teams drop games like that sometimes--and no one's clocking HOU as an ATG team right now anyway. Just don't see why it's 'stealing' a game that was back-and-forth and that both teams had good chances of winning at the end.

[Exp0sed]

Still not as good as the Nuggets and Thunder.
Thex are leading the rest of the pack though.

I disagree, Rockets and Nuggets are pretty close and the Thunder are better than both but in a 7 games series, each team can beat the other two, any matchup between the 3 will result in a highly competive series

HCA going to be huge, def worth battling over

Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

[Optms]

Still not as good as the Nuggets and Thunder.
Thex are leading the rest of the pack though.

Who is stopping KD and Sengun on Denver again? OKC is the only team better, and even that is yet to be determined. Another regular season where everyone overrates Denver again. No reason to either. They aren't the champs. And on paper they don't have the pieces to stifle elite offenses either.

[Bergmaniac]

FVV injury could be a blessing in disguise, Rockets went from 115 off rating last season to a 125 off rating this season, and i dont think all of it was KD, Sheppard getting a chance to shine is also a big part of that. The one game they were missing his presence was against okc down the stretch they were having trouble getting the ball past midcourt due to lacking a primary ballhandler. outside of the okc game they've been just fine without him.

All of it is literally because they replaced Green with KD. Green was awful.

FVV would drop to 4th/5th in the offensive depth chart this year. The team wouldn't need him for scoring anymore.

but it would still be a liability to have another non-shooter on the floor. much easier for defenses to guard lineup with two non-shooters (Amen + FVV) as opposed to lineups with only one non-shooter (Amen)

In what universe is FVV a "non-shooter"?

[bonita_the_frog]

They're a lot better than I thought they'd be. It's a shame they lost FVV for the season. They might have actually been able to compete with OKC if they had him.

But FVV was a horrific shooter last season, and OKC needed Double-OT to beat Houston by ONE point in the season opener, at a time when Houston had no chemistry while OKC had 100% chemistry.
So all indications are Houston is headed to the NBA Finals.

[Gusto1903]

i think, this is the first time, KD can comfortably take the backseat to a better player