The Rockets have improved dramatically this season, currently sitting 8th in the league with 14 wins and 12 losses, and before the start of the season, people thought that General Manager Stone's 44 wins was a joke, and now it seems that the Rockets have a good chance of achieving that goal and making a push for the playoffs.
But while everything is on track, one thing that is a bit unfortunate for many fans is that the team's 20th pick in the first round this year, Cam Whitmore, hasn't been featured a few times before, and his dominant performance in the Development League is that fans can't wait to see him in the Rockets' rotation.
At the beginning of the season, Whitmore, who won the Summer League MVP, was not drafted when Udoka of the Rockets decided on the team in the preseason. While Whitmore has great talent on the offensive end, as he said in an interview, Udoka's demands on him are on the defensive end and handling the ball. In Udoka's system, who scores isn't the most important thing, and he thinks anyone in the league has that ability, but if the defense doesn't contribute, the team won't get anything they want.
With that expectation in mind, Whitmore began his development league journey, starting with a fast-paced defensive counter-attack, but in recent games he's switched things around. Keeping the ball, watching his teammates and then choosing to break or split the ball, it's not easy for a young player to "slow down" the game, but the 19-year-old Whitmore did.
After 12 games in the Development League, he returned to the Rockets' home court with a convincing performance, and Whitmore is currently averaging 26.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, shooting 49.4% from the field and 39.8% from three-point range. Recalled to the Rockets this time, Whitmore may have a chance to actually stay on the team.
First of all, the schedule is the issue of scheduling, the Rockets started their series of home trips after playing the Bucks and Cavaliers on the road, and after tomorrow's away game against the Pelicans, the team will play 7 consecutive regular season games at the Toyota Center, and the Development League will not have a game until the 29th, and the recall of players such as Whitmore can better allow them to train with the home team, and it is good for Whitmore to understand the home team's tactics and integrate into the team.
The second is that during this time, he may be able to get real playing time and get a feel for how to deal with NBA-caliber games. Just like in the recent Rockets win over the Mavericks, the team led by more than 30 points in the third quarter, and then Whitmore got the opportunity to play and impressed the fans with 14 minutes of playing time.
After Whitmore came on the court, he did not focus on the offensive end, but worked diligently on defense, and sure enough, the White Devils caught the opportunity when the opponent passed the ball, completed the steal and then made a layup to cause the opponent to block the foul, and after 20 days, he scored points for the Rockets again.
And this is obviously just an appetizer, and then the team sent Hinton and Samuels, two Whitmore teammates in the Development League, to make the White Devils more comfortable on the court, step back to the bottom corner for three points, and the layups after the counterattack are handy, the most exciting, when Hinton and the White Devils in the half, Whitmore jumped up and his head has touched the rebound, even then he still dunked the ball with his back, showing his strong body control.
In the end, in 14 minutes of playing time, Whitmore scored 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, scoring in double digits for the first time for the Rockets. After the game, a reporter asked coach Udoka how he would arrange Whitmore's playing time after that.
Udoka said that Whitmore's playing time was squeezed because the Rockets had too many wing players, and he was in the rotation order behind Tate, Eason and Smith Jr. However, he is happy to encounter such "happy troubles", so let these players compete on their own.
However, it should be noted that it is not impossible for Whitmore's style of play to develop as a shooting guard, and with his excellent offensive ability, he can get more playing time as long as he is satisfied with Udoka on the defensive end. Green has not been in good form recently, the team needs a scoring master to supplement the firepower, coupled with the back-to-back home court, Whitmore does not have to worry about being sent out for a while, for Whitmore, this may be a great opportunity for the Rockets to gain a foothold!
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