KPJ: Can someone explain to me why he has become Clutchfans favorite whipping boy?

“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence”

-Charles Bukowski

 

I hope you haven't fooled yourself into thinking this was an intelligent response.

 

He's done some immature things in the basketball sense. He's made poor decisions and played hero ball at times. He doesn't come across to me as a hard worker. I'm not there but I'm not seeing significant improvement in his defensive game or playmaking.

He finds his shot. What has he done to improve hitting the boards? Has he reduced turnovers?

You are completely misunderstanding what I said.

I said if he's not improving under Udoka, then I would look to KPJ. I'm not expecting him to turn into an average defender in one offseason.

In his second year we saw his rebounding, blocks, and steals all remain flat. Those are effort areas. His assist% was up slightly as was his PER. His ts% dipped but that is partly explained by greater usage.

I would take shots away from him on offense and make him work harder at the other things. It may improve his scoring efficiency by trying to do less on that end and not force as much.

I think Jabari and Sengun should get more shots than him at this point... that could change.

 

If you're going by off the court stuff, I'm more concerned he has a cologne deal than the humping stuff.

You may not even be in the league in 5 years and you're worried about sponsorships? That isn't a sneaker deal that all players get...

Focus on your craft and then worry about endorsements.... just a sign of immaturity to me...

 

Ain't no way.. Ain't no ****ing way!

 

You think a player acquiring multiple streams of income is a sign of immaturity?

 

He has not shown enough as a scorer. He's well below average in efficiency.

You're projecting he will be because of his age. Not everyone does improve...

KPJ got an extension. We don't know if Green will. As you said, he has to do more to get it.

KPJ was a lottery pick who had his value tank for similar reasons as whitmore.

Using draft slot for perception is a flawed metric since every year draft quality varies. Anthony Bennett is the same as Wembanyama?

Generally you are right, Green has perceived higher upside, but he's also much higher bust potential because he does so little else than take shots right now.

 

If Jabari is their best shooter and Sengun their most efficient scorer away from the 3, I see no argument for your perspective.

This assumes Jabari has figured it out. We'll see more in camp.

Out of all Rockets last year with 2 or more 3s attempted, Green was 5th.

Of all Rockets getting 5 or more 2s attempted, Green was last at 8th. He also took the most.

There is no argument for your view which is why you didn't make one...

 

Yeah, I just don't get it... no one said cut Green, they are saying take stuff off his plate he's not ready for.

Green was 17th in minutes last year in the league. Most players his age aren't top 100. That's how he's getting so many counting stats the fan boys build their cases around.

Out of all players who played 500 minutes last year, Green was 283rd out of 368 in ts%. That was what he was sold as being more advanced in when he was drafted. They cited his efficiency prior to being drafted.

That isn't mission accomplished we have our next superstar results...

Taking the 5 bad shots a game away from him will make him a better player. He can use that effort on defense or hitting the boards....

 

Could've just played more Nix for the same results and used that $20mil KPJ salary for taking on bad contracts and getting more picks.

 

KPJ and Green's issues are very different. The reason why people are still high on Green despite his inefficiency is that his ability to get to the rim is near elite at this point. He's one of those players who can just burst past anyone with fewer than 2 dribbles and put pressure on the defense. Green's problem is that he knows 1 speed and has horrible decision making when faced with the secondary defender. Green's jump shooting has also been underwhelming and inconsistent.

KPJ on the other hand is a better shooter with better handles, however his ability to get to the rim is very underwhelming. His first and second step are below average, therefore he overdribbles on almost every possession trying to finess his way into the lane. Most of the time he doesn't get there and is forced to take contest mid range which he is not great at. He plays like a discount Kyrie with no mid range.

 

Because he called Jalen his twin?

Just means they are brothers off the court lmao

 

Seems better to have good contracts like KPJ than bad ones.

What would we do with a late #1?

 

I agree with most of what you said.

I'm not sure data suggests Jalen is elite yet at getting to the rim. If he was, it would reflect in his ts%. If he gets there, he's not finishing...

Last season 20.2% of his attempts were within 3 feet of the rim. He shot 59.1% on those.

For comparison, here are some similarly aged players as guards and what they shot:

Giddey: 64.6%
Suggs: 58.8%
C Thomas: 68.4%
Grimes: 74.5%
Christopher: 68.5%
Mann: 66.7%
Moody 72.5%
Bouknight: 59.4%

So he may get to the rim, but he's finishing poorly once he gets there...

Again, just needs to improve.... he actually went from 68% as a rookie to 59.1% last year. That's not a good sign... especially since he reduced the attempts there from 27.1% to 20.2% of his shots.

I do think he could use a reality check of coming off the bench to start the season and then hope he earns his way back.

That's not a comment on KPJ, just saying it would help his long term development to take a load off of him....

 

@Bobbythegreat you say Ime has lied? I missed his comments about starters. What did he say? Got a link?

Kind of crazy to call the man a liar when we haven’t thrown out a single lineup yet.

 

He's really not great at finishing, that's his issue. He's elite at getting there but has trouble finishing against a secondary contest. Green's drawing more fouls on these drives which is a good sign.

Either way he needs to figure it out this year, I'm tired of this forever project thing.

 

Sorry I can't give you references but the gist of it was that he said that the starting roles and minutes were going to be merit based, and they would be earned, nothing would be handed out (based on draft position, or something like that, was the implication). Then later on someone said (maybe Ime? Maybe it was Stone?) that FVV and Brooks were guaranteed starting spots. So if we're being generous, Ime was mistaken/overruled, or if we're not, he was lying.

 

Was this that same press conference w amen and cam? I mean it’s absurd for anyone to think FVV isn’t starting. No coach or team would NOT pencil him in as a starter. He earned it by making an all star team and winning a ring and generally being a better overall player than any other guard we have. So i think it’s unreasonable to give him flack about that position.

as for Brooks, maybe he misspoke, or maybe he specifically wanted Brooks because of his mentality and that mentality, demonstrated over multiple seasons, is all the merit he needs to award him the spot. It’s not always about who is the better “player.” Often times, good teams will spread out the talent. What good is having 5 offensively minded starters? They can’t all shoot at the same time. You NEED at least one defensive minded player on the wing and, well, who else could that possible be with this roster? Tari is probably the only other player who would be a good defensive fit for the starters at the 3. There’s also the fact that they’re paying him 20M, more than everyone on the team except FVV — I think.

why would you pay a bench guy that much? It’s his job to lose. Not many coaches are going to give the job to a second year player that overachieved his rookie year. Maybe Tari blossoms and is legit. Or maybe he just had a good rookie season.

regardless, all of this is preseason talk. He has barely met any of the players. I think it’s premature to take anything he says to heart before we’ve even had a practice.

 

To me, here's what I would want to see from him...

12 FGA
55% from 2
36% from 3
Half his shots from 3
17 points per game
4 assists
4 rebounds
DBPM around -1.0

 

Well last year we packaged a late #1 with Eric Gordon to get Cam Whitmore. So clearly there are some uses for late 1s.