Rockets’ Two Non-Shooters Could Hurt Title Hopes? Reporter: At Least One Must Develop a Three-Point Shot

The Rockets currently have an obvious roster weakness: two players on the team basically lack shooting ability, which is considered the biggest obstacle to the team’s pursuit of a championship. Basketball media personality Jackson Gatlin said on his latest podcast episode that in today’s NBA, a team cannot have two players who completely cannot shoot on the court together and still ultimately win a championship.

“Two players who completely cannot shoot being on the court at the same time and still winning a championship? I don’t think that can happen in today’s NBA.” Jackson Gatlin said on the ‘Locked On Rockets’ program. He specifically mentioned Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun, believing that both are “true” shooting difficulties. Gatlin pointed out that they are not merely “not good enough” shooters, but rather “basically unable to shoot” — opponents can create defensive strategies around that weakness, which is also why the Rockets’ offensive spacing is often restricted.

The Warriors’ “atypical” success in the past

Gatlin brought up the Warriors as a comparison during the program. He said that the Warriors being able to play Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala together for significant minutes was already a risky approach. However, the key was that those two players were not completely unable to shoot; they could only be described as players who “did not shoot particularly well.” More importantly, they had Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant around them — all three are among the greatest shooters in basketball history. Because of such powerful perimeter firepower, the Warriors’ “Draymond system” and “Death Lineup” were able to become so formidable.

Data support: Both players have very low three-point volume

Last season’s statistics also support this view. Amen Thompson averaged only 1.5 three-point attempts per game, making 0.3, with a shooting percentage of just 21.6%; Sengun averaged 1.8 three-point attempts per game, making 0.6, with a shooting percentage of 30.5%. Such perimeter threats are clearly insufficient to create offensive spacing. Gatlin believes that at least one of the two must quickly develop his shooting ability, otherwise the Rockets’ offensive system will continue to be limited.