That's true but I'm not sure how it's related to my post. You're talking about lately I'm talking about the future.
Yeah, I agree with you. It would be better if he were shooting 38%. I think teams are just playing him very close and daring him to drive against the rim protector. For me personally I can see the domino that needs to fall is he has to score more often, more efficiently through contact. That will make teams sag and bring his 3pt% up as they spend at least one season trying to fix his shot.
If all you can do at this point is talk about his defense...that tells you all you need to know. Also laughable blaming the Rockets offense for his inability to be a good player, as if he isn't a huge part of that offense. He can't beat his man and he's a bad shooter. He's a ball stopper with a low IQ and bad handle. Don't blame everyone else for that.
Oh really, just his defense? Half of all games is defense. 50%. You're talking about something important too, but don't confuse the fact that his defense needed improvement just as much as his offense. Maybe you had it in your mind defense would not matter in his career but that's proving to be false. Jalen is responsible for his career and it's happening within this context too. It's not a blame game, all of them can be true to some extent. Also, we're talking about whether he'll flourish in time for his extension. If you open it up to his career I don't believe a guy that like 10 people have said it's hard working won't figure it out eventually. Who would be shocked if after say 3 years of good coaching he became a wiser scorer and defender? That's what we're talking about here is just whether he'll improve in time for his extension and whether he'll be better than Amen/Cam. Try not to perceive everything through the lens of what just happened just because he's playing poorly. I'm not panicking yet because I guesstimated before the season it would take 30+ games for him to figure it out. As far as I'm concerned he's improved half his major issues and there's another half remaining. I think he'll do it. Just keep that same energy of giving the responsibility to Jalen when things go right.
Jalen Green has improved as a defender. But he still isn't a good defender. And he isn't good scorer. And a playmaker. And floor spacer. He just isn't starting five NBA player. And by NBA player I mean NBA games where 2 teams were built and coached to win games. Super talented athlete, footwork, skills... he has all the tools but he looks like teenager amongst the men
One thing about Jalen, he constantly shows support to his teammates on IG. Especially Jabari and Sengun. Notice he posts them a lot after games. for all we know he could be going thru some **** etc. Hopefully he gets his game better and helps out more. I don’t think Stone will trade him.
It's so painful to watch Jalen dribbling up the court after he gets an occasional rebound. Especially when he goes fast. He just lowers his head and dribbles ahead. Then, somewhere close to the 3-point line he stops and starts looking around and sees, say, Sengun, who is already desperately pointing with his index finger to a random Rockets player who is open for a good 2-3 seconds on the baseline to his (Jalen's) right (I saw this a couple of times in the Mavs game). This IS just another example of Jalen's low basketball IQ. This IS what will always prevent him from being a good basketball player. He just can't seem to make right decisions quickly. His head is way too slower than his feet. And NO, he will not get better at this in year 4 or year 5. I can give you another small example. Remember the very last play of the Pelicans game? Yes, the inbound pass from Al P to Fred. Al P made that pass IMMEDIATELY after that McCollum putback basket, because he was quick enough to realize that Fred is open at that moment and that he was going to be open only for a split second. So, he hit him with the ball and Fred also was quick enough to realize that if he heaves the ball to the Pelicans side of the court the clock will expire, which he did. All this action with Al P and Fred took maybe just 1 second, but they easily did this. This is a pure example of a winning play. Maybe a micro winning play, but you need those throughout any game. I can't help but think that if the inbounding player was Jalen, he would just look for a sure pass and every Rockets player would be picked by the Pelicans players risking a steal or forcing a timeout.
yes, good point. fast-processing by guards has become such an important thing in the league. This guy is not dumb, and by the 90s standards of deliberate play he may be quite OK as IQ. But this league now has Shai, Hali, Luka, Trae and he definitely is nowhere near that level… Same was true for KPJ. That’s way that KPJ/JG backcourt looked so bad even though both are physically talented players.
He just looks lost. Occasionally he’s flashing the crazy talent he has, but it’s just not consistent enough. The concerning part is the processing speed. It seems like there’s at least 2 defensive rebounds a game where he just doesn’t read the carom or loses feel for where his box out assignment is. The only saving grace might be he’s relearning everything in the post-KPJ/Silas era. It seems like Ime has a plan for how he breaks guys down to build them up - Sengun and Jabari have responded amazingly. It just may not be working for Jalen. It’s sad when you wonder how many more wins this team would have with an average 2 guard - even a Malik Monk.
how has he improved? Honestly he’s the same. Terrible off ball defender. He’s matched up with the weakest option in the corner. Even then he doesn’t know how to play the low man and is in never in position to help. His on ball footwork is decent to corral guys to the middle (which he’s always been good at) but he’s so weak that everyone will get deep penetration and hit the middle/post shot since his chest doesn’t even impact the defender even if his feet keep him close. He’s not great at getting skinny to get over screens and with us playing drop he’s the worst/slowest out of our perimeter defenders to recover to the ball. Bari, Fvv, brooks, and holiday all allow sengun to rotate back much quicker. His rebounding is pretty solid though when he’s the low man. He’ll crash hard. Anemic to the box out but used his athleticism to crash and grab. All in all his defense looks the same as it’s always been. Quick lateral movement that doesn’t have the strength to wall off the drive and terrible reads on screens/off ball situations
Every level of basketball I experienced, the lesser players always tried to hitch their wagon to the best player. At least there's one thing Jalen is recognising in 2023.
Someone please with more time and knowledge, why did he drop off this much this season? He doesnt look frustrated, always looks the same, even after missing shots and TOs. He has playing better D, he clearly goes after a lot of rebounds, so thats positive. Its not great but better than previous two seasons I just dont understand how in his third season his handles have gotten even worse, his finishing is attrocious, shot is not even close to what it was. Is he maybe just not comfortable playing PG? Hes undersized for SG. He needs another 15 pounds to at least be competitive.. Why is Ime pushing him to play this way? Do they have more hope? Trade bait? What is going on
