In his first press conference as the head coach of the Houston Rockets, Ime Udoka promised the minutes would be determined by a meritocracy, where performance determines player minutes and roles. It can be a difficult line to toe for someone who goes about his relationships in the “player’s coach” fashion, but the hope is that an unselfish and tough team will take it as a challenge and rise to the occasion instead of shrinking into an insecurity vortex. Meritocracy Madness: Questioning the Houston Rockets Rotation.
We primarily saw this practiced during the dark days of Jalen Green’s 2023 season when he wouldn’t sniff the floor during closing time. He walked a balance of giving a high upside 2nd overall pick whose growth was stunted initially by an abhorrent coaching staff and privilege an opportunity to find his place on this team without forcing the club to suffer ultimately in the process. Right now, it looks like that method worked for Jalen.
He’s taken the tough love to heart and is turning himself into a legitimate two way player who has the ability to score at all three levels while keeping his teammates involved. However, as he has grown, an increasingly crowded roster has found itself in an offensive identity crisis that’s exacerbated by key players virtually disappearing for long stretches of gameplay. We are only three games into this new season, but Udoka is already being faced with serious questions about roles and rotations.
These three staples are in jeopardy of some meritocracy madness:
Dillon Brooks
Every other fanbase in the world is looking at us right now like, “this is why we were all making fun of you last summer, idiots.” But it’s not that simple. He’s been an integral part of this team’s turnaround from being the worst team in the league over three seasons to a team poised to make a playoff push. He’s been a vocal leader in the locker room and embodied Udoka’s “can’t tell me nothing” attitude on the floor. The Dillon the Villain experience has been worth every penny so far.
We needed him to help this team turn the page and find a new identity. But it’s a new day in Houston with new expectations. Along with those expectations we have the fruit of a few excellent drafts by Rafael Stone waiting for its chance to prove itself. There are real difference makers on this team who are itching to take off, but there is something in their way… Dillon Brooks.
Amen Thompson and Tari Eason have picked up right where they left off their 2023 seasons, wreaking absolute havoc on the defensive end of the floor and turning that into easy offense for a bench that struggles to create. They are rebounding machines whose effort alone demands they steal as many rotation minutes from every non-contributor on a night in and night out basis. Cam Whitmore might have the tunnel vision of a bullet but he is as much of a bucket as there is on this Rockets team, especially off the bench. He’s a playmaker defensively who can hold his own and run just about any player in the Association off the floor. These three are all bigger, longer, and more athletic than Brooks. The impact they have on the game is tangible and palpable.
However, it’s not just the production of Thompson, Eason, and Whitmore that is calling Dillon’s role into question. It’s his lack thereof. He followed up a very poor game one performance against the Hornets with a solid outing against his former team in game two and was an important spark for the team’s comeback in game three that ultimately ended in a loss.
He’s not all bad. In fact, he’s a net positive and has several one of one moments. The issue is the amount of times that he, as a 3&D specialist who is paid to defend the opposing teams best player, gets burned, can’t buy a bucket, dribbles into the weirded post-up or turnaround jumper, or commits the most bone-headed full swipe shooting foul of the game. The young trio makes mistakes. Plenty of them.
The difference is that when they do we aren’t yelling at the TV trying to figure out what they’re even out there for because of all of the other ways they have affected the outcome throughout their time on the floor.
Right now, Dillon Brooks’ role on this team is a dam that may just end up holding back the many wins that could flood in with a change.
The play of Amen, Tari, and Cam demands more minutes. Ime has got to figure out where those are going to come from if he is serious about this team being in the playoffs. If Brooks continues to be outperformed by this trio of young Rockets then Coach Udoka is quickly going to find himself in a position where his potential for partiality will be put to the test.
Jabari Smith Jr.
The Jabari angle is not too dissimilar to Dillon. He’s got better size and SHOULD be a better shooter and more dynamic defender. He’s shown great touch from midrange and relied heavily on a knockdown turnaround jumper along the baseline throughout key stretches of his second season.
The difficulty with Smith is his tendency to become completely invisible if he’s not regularly being involved in the offense. That’s what happened against the Hornets. He wasn’t hitting his shots and didn’t show us much on the boards. Thankfully, he was able to have a great bounce back performance against the Grizzlies by being an impact rebounder.
This is the way that Jabari can rise above his lack of productivity from the perimeter, by being a menace on the boards and creating second and third opportunities for the team when his own shot isn’t falling.
The question is, how long of a leash should Smith get on nights when his effort doesn’t overshadow his production? Will the Jalen Green treatment be dealt equally to other young players when they struggle or is it reserved for those will more responsibility and expectations?
Maybe this is an overreaction. Jabari grew from one of the worst players in the NBA his rookie year to a solid and relatively dependable starter. Maybe I am just a sucker for those other three young studs I mentioned with Brooks. It’s hard to feel like that’s the case when they consistently find ways to stand out among the crowd while others completely fade into the background. I’m not advocating that Jabari should be benched.
That would be way too reactionary. He is one of the best off-ball players on this roster and needs to be on the floor to defend, rebound, and take catch and shoot threes. But, whether or not he can two those three things in a way that impacts winning should be monitored heavily to start this season.
Alperen Şengün
This one feels like the absolute dumbest one to put on paper. No member of the young core has earned more trust from the coaches and fanbase than Alpi. He was our best player last year and started off the season with a box score gem. He looks much improved on the defensive end of the floor and has already beefed up his three point attempts like we have wanted since last season.
Game two and three were different stories though. His finishing has been extremely suspect and he was practically run off the floor against Wembenyama and Co. in San Antonio. I’ll give him that it was the second game of a back-to-back very early in the season, but I did not have an Alperen Şengün rebounding substitution during the free throw game on my 2024 Bingo Card and here we are.
He’s got to find that touch around the rim that helped make him one of the most dangerous post threat in the league. He has to prove he can stay on the floor against any opponent. We know he has the skill and work ethic. He’s just got to put it together to get this season where we know it should be.
All that to say, he has earned our patience. There is a very real possibility that you’re reading this at the same moment he’s getting his feet under him and establishing a more sustainable rhythm within the offense. I hope that’s the case. Not just because of what this team has invested in him, but because of how high the ceiling is for this team if they’re deploying a combination of Green and Şengün that capitalizes on both of their thrilling skillsets.
Alperen and the staff have to figure something out. He has way more to offer to this team than the VanVleet short roll, dribble hand-offs with Green, and posting up every time we need a bucket. Until they do, we might be seeing a lot Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. running a small ball 5 lineup that can match the pace Udoka wants to play with.
Meritocracy Madness
I want one thing to be clear: I fully expect these three to justify the minutes that they play and the coaches to toe the line of patience and expectations with each of them when they fail. A lot will have to happen in a long season for there to be any real long-term supplanting for these guys. But, if Ime is going to be true to his word, he will have some unpleasant decisions to make if some things don’t change course throughout this 82 game season.
Let the Meritocracy Madness ensue.
