Sengun & Durant are practically unstoppable

[Optms]

Amen hasn't even taken the next step yet either. If and when he does, OKC is in trouble. Because he is basically Caruso on steroids as it stands. Sheppard is showing elite skills that will transfer come playoffs as well. Such a dangerous guy to be roaming off of KD, Sengun and Amen.

Don't be surprised if Houston is in the Finals is all I am saying.

[bonita_the_frog]

Amen hasn't even taken the next step yet either. If and when he does, OKC is in trouble. Because he is basically Caruso on steroids as it stands. Sheppard is showing elite skills that will transfer come playoffs as well. Such a dangerous guy to be roaming off of KD, Sengun and Amen.

Don't be surprised if Houston is in the Finals is all I am saying.

I think its been obvious from before the season began that Houston were headed to the Finals.
Houston have better shooters than OKC, Houston are taller than OKC, and Durant is a lot more reliable than SGA in the playoffs.
SGA literally played his worst basketball in Game 6 and 7 of the NBA Finals.

[sunsbg]

I don't know. Durant was pretty stoppable last season. I've seen his hero ball like on that last shot fail with a miss or TO quite often. I saw Sengun miss three consecutive times in this video. We'll see how they do in the playoffs against better D.

[Shock Defeat]

Rockets took OKC to OT and should have won in their first game ever playing together. They are a legit threat to them

[bonita_the_frog]

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

But KD is scoring 26ppg on 17 shots per game, and Sengun is scoring 23ppg on 17 shots per game.
So KD's not taking a backseat, in terms of scoring... KD's still the #1 option.
And KD has the playoff and finals experience that Houston need.

[Optms]

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

But KD is score 26ppg on 17 shots per game, and Sengun is scoring 23ppg on 17 shots per game.
So KD's not taking a backseat, in terms of scoring... KD's still the #1 option.

Sengun is great and all but I think he is benefitting more from KD than KD from Sengun. KD would be posting elite numbers anywhere like we've seen. Sengun? He didn't last year and I doubt he would be doing this anywhere else as a first option. I think its pretty safe to say he's a number 2 on a contender. Probably the best Robin you can have right now though. What second option is better? Can't think of none.

[AleksandarN]

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.

Again? You do know KD has shot 44.5 percent against Denver the last 10 games he played them. Sengun Has shot 48.1 percent against Denver. Maybe you should do some fact checking before you post. Another bad take like the one you had in game day thread when Denver was playing the Clippers. Funny enough you were quiet after your takes in the first half.

[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.

Again? You do know KD has shot 44.5 percent against Denver the last 10 games he played them. Sengun Has shot 48.1 percent against Denver. Maybe you should do some fact checking before you post. Another bad take like the one you had in game day thread when Denver was playing the Clippers. Funny enough you were quiet after your takes in the first half.

Not a bad take at all. Denver hasn't played Sengun with KD on the same team. Or matched up in the playoffs no less with the Rockets or KD at any point. So whatever stats you are using to surmise Denver can stop this tandem is pointless. Kind of like when people thought Kobe and Pau could be stopped because of pointless stats they had when they played without eachother.

My question still remains, who is stopping this tandem on Denver? Or more precisely - Who is Denver putting on KD and Sengun while on the floor together? Even an elite defense like OKC will have a problem here. Caruso on KD won't work.

[AleksandarN]

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.

Again? You do know KD has shot 44.5 percent against Denver the last 10 games he played them. Sengun Has shot 48.1 percent against Denver. Maybe you should do some fact checking before you post. Another bad take like the one you had in game day thread when Denver was playing the Clippers. Funny enough you were quiet after your takes in the first half.

Not a bad take at all. Denver hasn't played Sengun with KD on the same team. Or matched up in the playoffs no less with the Rockets or KD at any point. So whatever stats you are using to surmise Denver can stop this tandem is pointless. Kind of like when people thought Kobe and Pau could be stopped because of pointless stats they had when they played without eachother.

My question still remains, who is stopping this tandem on Denver? Or more precisely - Who is Denver putting on KD and Sengun while on the floor together? Even an elite defense like OKC will have a problem here. Caruso on KD won't work.

Well AG has guarded KD well as shown KD shooting 44.5. And Sengun shooting 48.1 against jokic guarding him most of the time. So the evidence is there. What do you base your take from? At least I have history as a reference point.

KD at any point.

KD did match with Denver in the playoffs shooting 45.1 percent that series

[Optms]

Again? You do know KD has shot 44.5 percent against Denver the last 10 games he played them. Sengun Has shot 48.1 percent against Denver. Maybe you should do some fact checking before you post. Another bad take like the one you had in game day thread when Denver was playing the Clippers. Funny enough you were quiet after your takes in the first half.

Not a bad take at all. Denver hasn't played Sengun with KD on the same team. Or matched up in the playoffs no less with the Rockets or KD at any point. So whatever stats you are using to surmise Denver can stop this tandem is pointless. Kind of like when people thought Kobe and Pau could be stopped because of pointless stats they had when they played without eachother.

My question still remains, who is stopping this tandem on Denver? Or more precisely - Who is Denver putting on KD and Sengun while on the floor together? Even an elite defense like OKC will have a problem here. Caruso on KD won't work.

Well AG has guarded KD well as shown KD shooting 44.5. And Sengun shooting 48.1 against jokic guarding him most of the time. So the evidence is there. What do you base your take from? At least I have history as a reference point.

KD at any point.

KD did match with Denver in the playoffs shooting 45.1 percent that series

This is why Houston is just a bad matchup for Denver. KD will get to coast on defense because AG isn't a world beating scorer, and Sengun will force Jokic to actually spend energy on defense, he'll have to play both sides at an elite level just to have a chance, which he simply can't do. Jokic has to be perfect on offense while Sengun simply just needs to back up KD's elite scoring.

And if what OKC showed us last year holds true, than putting a smaller high IQ elite defender on Jokic will work, freeing up Sengun from that responsibility. Amen can guard Jokic probably even more effectively than when OKC put Caruso on him. He won't even have to worry about scoring. He will just disrupt the passing lanes. Terrible match up for the Nuggets. Amen would just wreck havoc all series long.

[AleksandarN]

Not a bad take at all. Denver hasn't played Sengun with KD on the same team. Or matched up in the playoffs no less with the Rockets or KD at any point. So whatever stats you are using to surmise Denver can stop this tandem is pointless. Kind of like when people thought Kobe and Pau could be stopped because of pointless stats they had when they played without eachother.

My question still remains, who is stopping this tandem on Denver? Or more precisely - Who is Denver putting on KD and Sengun while on the floor together? Even an elite defense like OKC will have a problem here. Caruso on KD won't work.

Well AG has guarded KD well as shown KD shooting 44.5. And Sengun shooting 48.1 against jokic guarding him most of the time. So the evidence is there. What do you base your take from? At least I have history as a reference point.

KD at any point.

KD did match with Denver in the playoffs shooting 45.1 percent that series

This is why Houston is just a bad matchup for Denver. KD will get to coast on defense because AG isn't a world beating scorer, and Sengun will force Jokic to actually spend energy on defense, he'll have to play both sides at an elite level just to have a chance, which he simply can't do. Jokic has to be perfect on offense while Sengun simply just needs to back up KD's elite scoring.

And if what OKC showed us last year holds true, than putting a smaller high IQ elite defender on Jokic will work, freeing up Sengun from that responsibility. Amen can guard Jokic probably even more effectively than when OKC put Caruso on him. He won't even have to worry about scoring. He will just disrupt the passing lanes. Terrible match up for the Nuggets. Amen would just wreck havoc all series long.

Coast on defense?? AG is a 3 level scorer tell me how will KD on coast on defense. Have you watched AG the last year?

[Exp0sed]

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.

Sengun is def a nightmare matchup for the Nuggets. Nuggets will play alot of zone defense vs. the Rockets

KD is KD, AG will likely be his main defender when not in a zone defense

Denver's def not stopping Sengun but the Rockets can't contain Jokic either..

[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.

Sengun is def a nightmare matchup for the Nuggets. Nuggets will play alot of zone defense vs. the Rockets

KD is KD, AG will likely be his main defender when not in a zone defense

Denver's def not stopping Sengun but the Rockets can't contain Jokic either..

You can stop his passing though and disrupt his entire approach. Forcing Jokic to be a scorer is the best way to go. That's what OKC did last year. He's too slow to run the break. Most all of his passes can be scouted and read for the half court like we saw last post season when his assists plummeted and TO's were Westbrook bad.

[mademan]

I think they'll need better guard play to truly be competitive. If they can steal Kyrie cheap for contracts that arent playing for them (FVV+) and a 1st, and then if Kyrie gets back to form, ill believe in their chances. That's a couple 'if's' tho. Harden would be a decent target too if the Clippers decide to sell

[LarsV8]

Offense looks great, defensively i have some concerns.

[mademan]

Offense looks great, defensively i have some concerns.

Sengun/KD fc is never gonna be great defensively, and it's hard to put a rim protector in there while keeping the offense great. I'd have more faith in them if they had better guard play, even with the shaky defense

[morosis]

i think as HOU fans we should be feeling fortunate right now.

HOU has had the most significant change of any of the trio incl DEN+OKC. swapping out two starters for a guy who is new to the system/personnel AND an offensive focal point is a huge change. adding in the loss of your primary ball handler and POA defender just makes it worse. the adjustments HOU is making are another level compared to OKC playing without guys but with continuity, or DEN swapping out MPJ. the fact that HOU is managing to win games while integrating KD, making schematic adjustments for him, and also solve for their FVV shaped hole, is a bit surprising at first. but then the "fortunate" part comes in. the schedule.

HOU has still not played a back to back. HOU has had among the most days off for practice and film study. At one point they had played the fewest live games in the league. they have still only played 12. Several teams have played 14 already. those extra days off are huge as they get used to each other and figure out how to play without FVV and with Durant. with a busier start to the season, and less days off for learning and figuring things out, it wouldnt surprise me if this same team had 5-6 losses already.

[ShootersShoot]

The rockets were a very good team last year as well. Aside from acquiring KD, they have a really young core group of guys all under 25 yrs old. It was reasonable to expect these guys to improve and not just incrementally.

[Sane]

Lol KD will not guard the 3rd best scorer. He'll guard the 4th or 5th best and remind you he's agile with a 7ft+ wingspan. He'll coast on their corner shooters.

What a sneaky classless move to cherry pick KD's FG%. KD is averaging 30 POINTS ON 23 SHOTS in those ten games. The FG% is only low because he had so many And1's from them having to foul him to death (almost 9 FTA per game). They have no answer for KD.

Jokic won't be able to guard new Sengun anymore, he was already struggling. Faster, stronger, more range. Jokic has trouble against anyone with range. A lesser Sengun put up 17 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists. That's not going to be possible anymore since we gave upgraded our shooting and his scoring.

Also we can force Jokic to switch on Amen with 4 shooters around and that's just hilarious to think about. There's no chance he can stay in front of him even if he plays drop coverage.

We'll be fine. We can't stop Jokic or SGA. They can't stop KD. I'll take the rest of our rotation against the rest of theirs in a playoff series.

[LockoutSeason]

The reason it works so well is because of Sengun’s ability to play PF and C equally well. Houston can create matchup nightmares for any team.