Even as bad Jalen played tonight, I don’t think Booker would’ve made difference either if we had him instead of Jalen. We need to part away with FVV and bring someone who can actually do something other than shoot 2/14 when taking 30% of our salary cap
Jalen didn’t really have it tonight and seemed a little passive in the 4th but to bench him and keep Fred in the game was just idiotic. Let him and Sengun try to figure it out together. They are our only chance of making any noise in the playoffs. Let them take the lumps now.
Look it was a crime that Ime didn't play Jalen in the 4th - we needed someone that can create a shot and get by a defender and while Jalen is not a PG, he is the best at it we currently have..... He was off, but Ime has to stop benching guys and let them find their way, Jalen has earned that with this team. DD
He did play him and he was not off. He refused to participate. He kept deferring while the team was begging for him to takeover make or miss. He iced himself out and Ime had no choice but to pull him. Watch the 4th again before posting bad takes.
Sam Vecenie mentioned in his "X Factors" video that Jalen plays significantly worse against Top 10 teams (net rating). That showed last night. Good game to learn from but he has to be better.
Jalen plays worse against top 10 teams because he doesn't get super star calls. If he got Luka's whistle he would be an absolute stat. Last night he drove to the basket time and time again and he shot 0 free throws. Luka basically goes to the line every time he drives. Jalen's uptick in play recently also coincided with the fact that he shot more free throws. And this is gonna be the hardest part of playoff Jalen green, if we get the Lakers or Warriors he won't get any calls at all...
Ime had Jalen playing OFF BALL when he should have had him playing ON BALL. Playing on ball forces you to be more aggressive. The PNR with Jalen and Sengun should have been the focal point in the 2nd half. Nobody on the Lakers can guard Jalen nor Sengun inside.
Didn't Udoka just say in a press conference within the last two weeks that now is the time to start hiding things from teams we might play in the playoffs? Baffling coaching decisions against a potential first round opponent would seem to fit that narrative, right?
Supposedly Jalen's wrist was bothering him which would explain the no show in the 4th. Just another reason that he shouldn't have been out there.
We couldn't run any kinda PNR because the Lakers switched on everything and Jalen couldn't beat anyone off the dribble 1 v 1. They dared him to take bad mid ranges and step back 3's and he missed them all. They also fronted Sengun after the switches and dared us to lob it over LeBron, we turned it over a bunch of times trying to force feed Sengun. There were no PnR with anyone, everything turn into ISOs when Lakers switch
Ya when they switch and people ask Green to break down defenders one on one do they not see the court and see he truly isn't playing one on one? Hence the pass off to a three point shooter the defender is hedging off of? This is because Ime isn't telling his guys to clear the side of the iso player making Green have help defenders on both sides of him hedging towards him to block his potential driving lane if he beats his primary defender. If a opposing team switches on a pnr, then clear out and let Green actually iso with a clear out instead of having help defenders on both your left and right waiting for you to beat your primary defender. Green beats his defender constantly on true iso clear outs where his teammates actually go clear out to the opposing side Green is on. When he's at that position he always beats his man and either forces a foul call or gets to the rim. Maybe this is something Green needs to vocally enforce and it's on him to tell his teammates to clear out or maybe Ime isnt empowering him to do that.
He clearly injured or aggravated it last night on a drive. I remember it pretty clearly after a drive he instantly went to his hand/wrist after a no call and followed by severely favoring it on defense. He kept playing decent imo outside of just being a poor shooting night. For about 3 quarters he looked ok imo. He had some crisp passes and was snagging boards. But he was not getting foul calls and was getting hit on his drives to the point i remember the moment late he got dejected. It was after another non call (prolly on his injured wrist) on a drive and he didnt hustle back on defense. When he did get back he didnt rotate with any urgency and it led to a wide open 3. He then got benched. Green was clearly hurt and clearly frustrated but he cant let that overtake him like it did or ime is gonna bench you like he did. Hes actually been pretty good at ignoring the bad whistle but not last night, it clearly got in his head. Prolly because he was missing everything also so the combination frustrated him. He should have had a seat so i agree there with ime but he should of came back in after a brief bench.
