A lot of people forget the facts. Thank you for setting the record straight. The NBA is the best basketball league in the world. To compete and perform at a high level takes time and work. Jalen is right on schedule. he has to get him an NBA body first
People conveniently forget the struggles that hall of fame wings like Kobe, T-Mac, and Harden had in the early years of their careers. They only remember what they ended up becoming. Jordan came in as a dominant force as a rookie, but he also went to UNC for 3 years. Lebron was just a freakish anomaly and already gifted with an NBA body at a young age to go along with his basketball skills and knowledge. Lebron is not one of his comps though. There is a process and Jalen Green is not above having to go through it. He is not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination.
Because all three of those names you mentioned had something besides pure scoring. Tmac was a defensive force and shotblocker for his cousin and Toronto early on. Kobe was the master copycat, who could copy Jordan's moves and some of the other greats like Big O, to a T. Harden was a 6th man, playmaking, scoring, rebounding from the bench. Jalen by far has not shown anything close to that unique role other than shooting 3s and driving to the hoop which has been relatively basic for any swing men. It is very convenient to leave the early beginnings of the 3 out. What special skills they had.
19 year old Kobe’s assists, rebounds, and steals are all very similar to JG. Saying he is good at mimicking another player is not a tangible thing to mention as his “something extra.”
Yes, but it was like Jordan had go get thru his father's demise, it is not tangible, but it makes him the man, the player he was. No, neither Kobe, Tmac nor Harden were asked to take the bulk of the scoring load onto themselves, that is the difference. Kobe also wasn't born into the era where players shot 3s so much and scored a ton. You knew from his Afro younger self, that he could do the fundamentals well enough, he never had Green's green light and bulk of playing time his 1st year. In fact he only played 26 mpg his 2nd year. Started like 1 game.
20 and 21 year old Harden’s rebounds, assists, and steals are also similar to JG. Jalen Green’s story has just begun. It’s in the first chapter. Compared to the first chapters of some of these other great players, there are lots of similarities that people don’t acknowledge. We don’t know what the future has in store, but writing him off because he isn’t already a great player ignores the history and progression of other great players. There is a process. Jalen Green must go through that process just like most of his predecessors.
It is that simple, rejoice if he becomes something, do not sweat it if he does not. The league has gotten softer from the MJ era. Not really sure why so many people want to will him into something. If it happens, it happens. I still stand by the notion that he resembles a young Eric Gordon with lankier arms. While Eric Gordon in his earlier days would not be enough to build around, it was a start. Injuries derailed his career and he could have been a sublime 25 ppg scorer. I think Gordon gradually developed a 2 way game also. I am not shooting for the absolute best for sure.
I don’t pretend like I know he’s going to be an all time great. I’ll be happy if he can just be an all star level player. Anything above that is just icing on the cake. He has the talent. To me his only physical limitation once he inevitably puts on weight will be his mediocre wingspan. I guess he’s 6’4 with a 6’7.5 wingspan which is decent, but not great. That is a limitation these other guys didn’t have although his straight line speed and bounce are freaky. KJ Martin and Jimmy Butler are good examples of not having great length and overcoming it albeit KJ does it with freakish athleticism and Jimmy with strength, sheer will, and IQ. My primary reason for defending Green is to point out to the naysayers that gave up on him that his stats at the age of 19 are very similar to other all time great players at similar stages in their careers and thus it logically makes zero sense to make matter of fact claims about what he can or cannot become at this point. Let it play out. I’m looking for incremental growth and he appears to be making that.
Gordon wasn't even in the league at Green's age. Jalen Green turned 19 in the middle of the gleague bubble. Out of high school all he had is a covid bubble tournament in the gleague of like 17 games. That is literally all the experience he had coming into the NBA outside of high school. He's very raw in terms of experience vs guys who have played complete seasons in NCAA ball before joining the league. Kobe at 19 had a full NBA season under his belt in terms of experience.
I am and always have been a Rocket fan. Kobe’s rookie year was of no importance to me. I am learning that Green is better than he originally looked, Years of excellent guard play by Hall of Fame players have spoiled me as a fan. Watching Green grow is making me a better/bitter fan. Go Rockets
To be fair, isn't the league much more guard/wing-friendly in 2021, compared to 1996? If it is, I'm not sure how fair the comparison is, since Kobe's stats would be inflated if he played as a rookie today; conversely, Green's stats would be worse if he played back then.
That was precisely what I was going for as well. You cannot predict what he will become yet but I also do not think that because Kobe and Harden have similar stats in their first year but played 15 minutes per game less than Green, it shows Green is on a good way. It says nothing actually, I guess, you guys are trying ways to prove that Green's early shortcomings are pretty normal. It is Christmas and we should be having fun predicting what he will become just for the fun of it and do not take it seriously.
I understand your viewpoint. Just for clarification purposes, stats comparisons were made to Kobe’s 2nd season when he was 19 years old and he played 26 minutes per game. Green plays 30. Kobe’s rookie year was thrown out the window. Harden Played 23 and almost 27 minutes year one and year two.
I might agree with Green having trouble back in Kobe's day because it was more physical; but I feel it is unfair to judge Green in the first 17 games of this season with no spacing. First 17 games of season (2021/22): look at the starting lineup 3P% Tate:..............26.2% (3P%) on 2.5 (3PA) Porter jr:........27.8% (3P%) on 5.1 (3PA) Jalen Green: 27.4% (3P%) on 6.6 (3PA) Theis:............30.4% (3P%) on 3.1 (3PA) *Wood:...........30.9% (3P%) on 4.8 (3PA) *Wood 38.0% (3P%) on 5.6 (3PA) [first 9 games] 19.4% (3P%) on 3.9 (3PA) [next 8 games] 36.8% (3P%) on 4.9 (3PA) [last 14 games since "one big" lineup move] No point guard in the NBA would do well in that situation. Not CP3, not Stockton, not Iverson. Nobody runs PnR well with 4 to 5 defenders clogging the paint. Not even Harden. ____________ Kobe had (Lakers 97/98) Elden Campbell: 8th season (age 29) Shaq: 6th season (age 25) All Star season Rick Fox: 7th season (age 28) started 82 games Eddie Jones: 4th season (age 26) All Star season....started 80 games Back then post up game was relevant. Attention was on Shaq/Elden Campbell and Kobe could slip through the cracks under the radar. Put Jalen Green with a young Shaq and experienced Elden Campbell and see the numbers climb as Jalen cuts and slashes to basket. Gets out in fast breaks. Kobe only started one game.....so his #'s are mostly vs 2nd units. Green has been facing starters. Not just starters but playoff starters on the road in most of those first 17 games......with no spacing (this is the amazing thing) Could Kobe flourish as a 19 year old with our starters during the first 17 games. Heck no!!!!!! No room to slip through the cracks. Pick and Roll needs spacing to operate. The paint was packed. When I said/posted even Theis said he needed spacing. I wasn't referring to, "needing space" to shoot 3's......I meant to run PnR proper.
It’s hard to compare him to Kobe when you consider you’re talking an ALL TIME GREAT & 90’s basketball in the terms of the physicality and spacing. Hell, Kobe had Shaq and Elden Campbell “ clogging “ the paint. I don’t buy this spacing argument BTW. You’re saying it helped Kobe but it hurts JG? The Greats are great no matter who’s in the floor. At the end of the day our young guy just has to keep growing and play better consistently. He’s got the tools, everything else is mentality and work ethic. His last game was very good, KEEP CHOPPING WOOD!
Green is probably a better passer right/creator right now than EG has ever been. I love Gordy but he has never been good in that regard. Green is passing and operating out of the PnR fairly well. He needs to be put in that spot more. I also think his handle will continue to improve.
Lol, what? It's pretty obvious you didn't watch basketball at that time. Shaq was the star of the team, you're not clogging the paint when you're the focus of the offense, overpowering the defense and creating open looks simply with the gravity of your presence inside. To try and compare that to Wood's soft ass on the inside in a league where post play is almost non-existant is complete idiocy.
Yes people keep saying best, of the best, of the Best of all time. Why can't people see Kobe as the 18 and 19 year old player? In the movie, "White Men Can't Jump" Wesly Snipes tells Woody Harrelson, "You hear Jimmy Hendricks......but you don't hear Jimmy Hendricks." Some people only See Kobe (as the all star) but don't see the complete Kobe. The one that just started as an NBA player at age 18. The one that started 6 games in year one and only one game in year two.
