This is true and it extends to our entire team. I don't think any player on our team can throw a lob pass and it's kind of ridiculous. There was a really bad one last night where someone tried to throw a lob to Whitmore in the third quarter when he was wide open...and it was so bad that it ended in a turnover. I think it was Fred but it could have been Amen. Either way we need someone to teach this team how to throw lobs. It should not be this hard!
Last night was the best game Jalen has ever played. I don't want to get too excited, but he has been trending up
Best case somewhat realistic scenario IMO is Jalen continues to play reasonably well and have some great games like last night while Cam continues to look like a budding star and we flip Jalen for real value in the off-season. For range of outcomes that lead to us becoming a championship contender in the next few years a Jalen Green extension seems to be lower probability to get there.
Had to do a double take at KAT to Gobert at number 5. Can't say I expected that one. We don't just need a 7 footer to catch lobs...we need a 7 footer to throw the lobs, too.
Yeah that list is pretty eye opening. Most of the top teams in the league implement some sort of lob action. Its the best back door cut when you have players who can play above the rim. I cant help but chuckle when I remember a portion of our fans would laugh off "lob threats" as unnecessary. Its quite the opposite.
I thought the exact same thing when I saw that list, but also I forgot about Bonzi Wells, I think if he was 6'8" his game would be close to Cam's.... Back to Jalen Green. I think Jalen Green has great potential, but I also think his slower looking development makes it hard to sign him to a 2nd contract without major improvement unless he really has the coach and development team believing in him. I think if he doesn't he will be traded soon. Kenyon Martin Sr. had some really good things to say about Jalen's work habits and it lines up with what we have heard from others so I think it could work out well.
Jalen Green is turning 22 next week. He's less than a year older than Amen and Ausar Thompson. He's younger than Jaime Jacquez Jr., Kris Murray and Trayce Jackson-Davis. I keep forgetting how young this dude is. We're good. Jalen Green panning out is by far the greatest thing that can happen for us in terms of our title aspirations and asset wealth. Imagine trading 4 picks for Mikal Bridges just because Green didn't pan out - and I actually like Mikal Bridges' game. That's so much tanking we did down the drain and we get one 1B scorer out of it. It makes me nervous to think the Rockets might just serially overpay people. We did well with FVV/Brooks but it's not like they're outplaying their contracts. They have to stay this good to be worth it and they're both having career years. If we offered 4 picks for Bridges recently, that's kind of crazy. Let's hope they do their one and only remaining job: use our assets wisely, don't overpay for anything, we're in the driver seat. Even if we just keep drafting players and dumping the worst young player each year, we will be on track to an incredible contention window. They just need to keep working on Jalen's shot selection and he seems to be responding to it. The rest of his game is improving each month. Lowe, Chiney, JT Gatlin and Ben Dubose had great things to say about him after the Lakers game.
His energy is completely different. and he looks like a true impact player when he's active. It's easy to do this in short bursts, let's see him maintain it for an extended stretch.
I’ll say it again…Short sample size but he looks completely different. I want to see consistency but he may just be starting to understand who he is as a player.
Arriving when he did, Jalen was pretty much given the keys to the car by Silas. Then Ime shows up and says, "Not so fast, kid, we're going to take turns driving this year." And Jalen had to learn what was expected of him. I mean, it's good that he was deferential to his new coach, but he took it so far that it looked like he was just flat-out confused a lot. Hopefully what we're seeing now is the product of the staff working patiently with him until he's finally starting to figure out what his role is this year.
I have been really critical of Jalen Green. I was not wrong. But his response to all the questions is just insanely impressive right now. You can see it in his face. The effort he just gave helping on defense was awesome. I’m so impressed by his effort. Even if he starts missing if he gives this kind of effort you won’t hear me b**** again. I get not being good enough but I don’t get not busting ass. He’s ****ing busting ass right now and it’s so cool to watch. I’m proud of him.
This is the best stretch of his career and it’s driven by effort and energy not just shot making. He’s going to run into a game where the shot just isn’t there and we’ll get a chance to see how much of this energy he is able to sustain and focus into other areas.
