Green and Amen are the Jordan Pippen of the Rockets. Amen activates Green, achieving mutual success. I once mentioned that Amen's ultimate template is Batman Pippen, a very versatile small forward. Currently, Amen is indeed playing outstandingly, but what I didn't expect was that after Amen started, there was a very good chemistry between him and Green.
Recently, Green has been playing exceptionally well. Honestly speaking, Green's style of play is not the same as Shen Jing's, so they can partner up, but the effect is not always the best. Additionally, the original starting player, Xiao Jiali, is a stationary high-range shooter with much weaker ball-handling skills compared to Amen.
Therefore, with Amen in the starting lineup, it's like the Rockets have three ball-handling points: Fan Jordan, Shen Jing, and Amen. This allows Green to play very flexibly, moving around screens, breaking through, shooting threes, and easily getting the ball. It leverages Green's agility and speed advantages, while Amen's cuts inside, defense, and ball-handling skills are also played excellently. Therefore, without Xiao Jiali playing, it actually activated Green.
Nerve didn't perform well today, let's adjust for the next game! Shen Jing had a poor performance throughout today's game, feeling not very excited, which might be due to his low shooting percentage! Green made a 3+1 god-level shot but remained expressionless, as if something was on his mind! First of all, I want to clarify that I'm not slandering Shen Jing; Shen Jing and Green have a great relationship, and after Green fell during the game, Shen Jing was the first one to quickly help him up! Nerve needs to quickly adjust his state, as we're going to face Xiao Jokic in the next game!
Let's talk about Shen Jing's energy allocation issue. As an old fan from the Yao Ming era, watching today's game against the Grizzlies was very emotional. Shen Jing's performance and experience on the court reminded me of Yao Ming. In the first two quarters of today's game, Shen Jing's performance was completely disastrous, but in the final decisive moments, his performance became a significant factor in the Rockets winning the game.
I believe the reason is that today's referees deliberately targeted Shen Jing, which instead gave him ample rest time amidst his foul troubles. Therefore, he had the energy to deliver an impressive performance at the end. In the later stages of Yao Ming's career, it was similar; sometimes, being plagued by fouls could offset Adelman's stubborn approach to using players, allowing him to have enough energy to deliver efficient performances in the final decisive moments (of course, provided the game reached those moments).
Regarding the compatible use of Shen Jing and Green, it actually requires Udoka and his coaching staff to think carefully. Obviously, as a reverse version of the big center, Shen Jing is extremely uncomfortable with the run-and-gun system that maximizes Green's abilities (I believe this is due to physical energy issues), just as Green is not very comfortable with the slow-paced positional warfare centered around Shen Jing. The simultaneous performance of both in the final moments today hopefully gives the coaching staff some inspiration.
At present, Shen Jing indeed cannot go out defensively, but unless a frontline All-Star comes along, without Shen Jing's offensive threat, Green will be endlessly double-teamed and delayed, just like last April. Someone once said correctly that the Rockets lack a frontline ball-handler, and Amen starting can solve this problem.
Shen Jing's advantage lies in his good rebounding positioning. He is also often double-teamed on offense. I'm not slandering anyone. Shen Jing actually has the ability to perform better defensively, as he did at the beginning of the season; excessive self-interest doesn't help his performance!
For Smith, his ball control level determines that he generally performs average when playing as a forward, but if Smith plays as a center, he would be the best spatial center in the league at this stage. The Rockets should maintain this starting lineup: Fan + Green + Dillon + Amen + Shen Jing. After Smith returns, let him play a few games off the bench for Shen Jing first. Let's see how Green, Amen, Ison, White Magic, and Smith perform together on the court.