He was electric last night. He kept the game within reach in the first quarter, and pushed and kept us ahead in the last minutes of the game. In between, he played good team ball, moved the rock and attacked the boards. Lucas made the correct call letting him initiate in crunch time.
Hey I'm here for the good Green games, I just want them to not have weeks of doldrums in between. Also all the "before 21st birthday" stats, isn't that really partially a function of the fact that there just haven't been that many players that young with high usage? He probably also leads all the "dubious" stats for that. For me, I love the individual brilliance, why I've been disappointed this year is because I expected a somewhat more consistent output (althouh, honestly most of this just boils down to his shooting woes which tend to snowball everything else).
Was looking at some young guards in reference to your post. And wtffff andrew bynum is almost 3 years younger than Lebron James.
Zach Lavine(13th pick), Bradley Beal, Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd Gilchrist, Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Aaron Gordon (4th pick), D'angelo Russel, Brandon Ingram, Markell Fultz, Jayson Tatum, RJ Barret. All of these guys unless noted were drafted top 3 at age 19. What Jalen Green is doing is not common... but no matter the position the player plays, the scoring he has been doing, it is an outlier of outliers. Edit Zion Williamson has 24 games as well with 30 points. Ja Morant (drafted at age 20) had 10 total 30-point games his first 2 seasons (his age 20/21 seasons) Green has 14 with 29 games left to be played without an injury. Luka Donic is the only player with more. And he is being regarded as the second coming christ/buddha/muhammad
Sorry to say but Green most likely will not have consistent output. For one his jumper is going to be on and off for a while, two he is now asked to be the first option on offense and teams are putting their best defenders on him. There will definitely be games where he cannot find the right shots around the rim, and won't get calls due to his size. A lot of our offense is still iso and PnR heavy, that's a lot to ask for a skinny 20 year old who is still learning the rope. Green can be consistent if you put him as a 3rd option and only ask him to run on fast breaks, shoot catch and shoot threes, and occasionally drive on kick outs.
I know it's in the highlight vids couple posts up but I have to single it out. This dunk is truly ridiculous and shows how crazy athletic he is.
Looks like Green is stringing together consecutive good games for a change. On the other hand, he does have painted fingernails.
So you think he can't be the number 1 option bc of his shot etc, then went straight to the number 3 option? He is averaging 21.6 points as the number 1 option without a true pg and his age. He will be fine as the number 1 option so long as the number 2 and 3 options don't suck
Shot selection is improving so fast. If his shot is not falling from 3, he gets to the FT line. Uses his midrange as a surprise weapon rather than a staple. His asst/to ratio has looked good recently. Still needs some experience but this guy is shaping up to be a lethal scorer. What's happening with his 3pt shot is opponents are guarding him very close at the line and forcing him to drive. They would rather he attacks the rim and gets his points the hard way given his frame and age. I think he's surpassing expectations, I'm loving that he's going to the line so much more these days. We'll see his 3pt shot and FT rate stabilize as he gathers experience, but having a main scorer who can get to the line at will is key for a contender. Not worried about his 3pt shot at all to be honest. This homestand is really going to cement his growth. The brutal schedule to start the season probably helped him grow up a lot and we're going to see the benefits of that in the coming weeks.
My opinion here but this team just looks so much better when they stagger Jalen and KPJ in the second and third quarters. Keeps a scorer/drive and kick threat on the floor while giving Jalen the opportunity to be the offensive focus for short stretches. Have been really impressed with the fact that Jalen really looks for opportunities to create for other team mates (e.g. two threes for Nix).
