As great as Milwaukee has been under Coach Budenholzer, the “lead by example” swagger of PJ Tucker is visible.Ĭhris Paul spent the 2017-19 seasons in Houston. PJ Tucker also arrived in Houston in the summer of 2017 and was traded this year at the trade deadline. Their friendship dates back much earlier to their time growing up in North Carolina. Paul and Tucker went to high school roughly 100 miles away from one another and both graduated in 2003. Paul stayed home and spent two seasons at Wake Forest Tucker headed west to spend three seasons at the University of Texas. Paul even has joked about how the two almost played in college together once they were on the same Houston Rockets roster.įrom childhood friends to playing each other in the NBA Finals ? (via /kEo3BkHeSi- Overtime JBasketball,” Tucker was named North Carolina’s Player of the Year. But in the current situation, Rockets’ fans have to ask themselves: who should we root for? Houston Rockets’ fans surely wish they were in the Finals and both wearing red and black. The Phoenix Suns and head coach Monty Williams run an organization that looks familiar to Rockets fans. Though their pieces are (predominately) younger players, they operate in a similar fashion to the 2018 Rockets. The same 2018 Rockets that made it to the Western Conference Finals.Īt Center, the Suns have a rim running big that operates best as a roll man on the screen. Much like Rockets Alum Clint Capela, DeAndre Ayton operates well on the deep roll to the rim and on the short roll as a passer to the opposite wing. Both Capela and Ayton also are good rim defenders on the opposite end. They are explosive enough to recover from the opposite short corner to the front of the rim to contest while also being long enough to close out on most shooters standing along the perimeter.Īt the forwards spots, the Phoenix suns use a handful of mix-and-match “three-and-D” wings. Guys like Jae Crowder and Torrey Craig bring toughness while Cameron Johnson and Mikal Bridges bring length and athleticism. As a unit, they all bring the ability to shoot and distribute the ball from outside the three-point line while defending players much bigger than them on the other end. The 2018 Houston Rockets? They used PJ Tucker, Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza, and Luc Mbah a Moute in a similar fashion. Tucker and Gordon’s strength helped them where their height did not, Ariza and Mbah a Moute’s length made them a nightmare for opposing offenses.Īt shooting guard, the Suns use a young All-Star caliber guard in a multitude of roles. He can score from any spot on the floor, does a great job of finishing through contact, and is impossible to guard one-on-one in space. In Phoenix, this guard’s name is Devin Booker. Obviously, Booker is younger and developing where 2018’s Harden was the league MVP. Both are hyper-efficient scorers that drive defenses nuts. Both play off the ball and with the ball well.
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