https://theathletic.com/5315924/2024/03/05/ime-udoka-rockets-interview-jalen-green/ Udoka: With Cam, some of the defensive mistakes that have been made with a lot of our young guys, you can put him in that category. So his is buying in on that end of the court because he has the physical tools. Size, strength, and everything to be a versatile, great defender. But his is a team aspect of defense and not just locking in on his player only. Offensively, the shot selection. That’s the biggest thing we want. He was a guy who probably could do whatever he wanted in college and high school. So he’s used to one thing, but now you have to adjust to the NBA and players around you. Understanding what’s a good shot, getting other guys involved. So good decisions with him. He was a ball-stopper a little bit at the start, but he’s gotten a lot better. … He has a good shot, drive it and see what you can create for yourself or others. Because once he gets a head of steam downhill and gets a guy on his hip, he’s a physical force attacking the basket. And so those are the main things, quick decisions and then getting caught up to speed with what we’re doing defensively. He’s growing. He’s growing in both areas.
The light bulb is now going on for Whitmore. I was very cautious when he was putting up nice numbers on unsustainable shooting while doing literally nothing else well. A young SG worse at passing and defense than Jalen is not someone you want to reward with minutes. There's a pattern in his behavior, he doesn't understand team dynamics on any side of the ball but we've drafted him young enough to teach it to him from scratch. I've seen his defense, passing and driving improve. His handle is a bit better too. I think he's a SF for the next 1-2 years of his career, his handle and penetration ability in the half court are not good enough for a guard. He definitely needs the speed advantage for the time being. He has the strength to guard SF's and while he's slightly undersized his athleticism will easily make up the difference. Not that it matters much these days - in any case you're going to have one of your SG/SF's guarding the best wing and the other guarding the weaker one. On offense, positions don't matter. We have been developing this guy PERFECTLY. Plus he's my favorite dunker in the entire NBA. Throwing him into the fire and rewarding him with shots/minutes while bad habits persist is exactly how we got in trouble with developing Jalen. It would have also hurt his confidence if his defense/passing is bad and he has to score on better defenders (starters). Cam is going to be an absolute monster next season with 60+ games, his first NBA summer and 2nd training camp under his belt. We didn't get Wemby but I do think getting both Cam and Amen is a hell of a consolation prize. We did better than anyone but San Antonio in the draft and we didn't even have a top 3 pick. I would rather have Cam Whitmore than Brandon Miller. He's just as good a shooter, similar passer/defender/driver. Better rebounder. What he has that Miller doesn't is he's fearless inside the paint, doesn't shy away from contact anywhere.
Much more entertaining to watch than Green. Already a better player than Green. Can we just fast forward to the point in the time line where management finally acknowledges they made a mistake with Green and stop hindering the team by keeping here there all because he was a #2 pick.
I generally like your takes but you are underestimating Cam IMO. I would definitely bet my money on him NOT taking whole 2 years to get the handle and vision necessary to play guard. I would even expect him to take less than 1 on the optimist side. I especially agree that we are developing him perfectly.
Fair enough but personally I’ve never seen a significant improvement to a handle in less than 1 year. It’s more like the kind of thing you can improve slightly each year. On the plus side our offense for the first 40-50 games of the season was extremely crowded (no space) and extremely slow. This makes people’s handles look worse than they are. It’s not a coincidence all 3 of Cam, Amen and Jalen have looked like they have shakier handles than we expected. I don’t think any of this changes the fact that he can be a huge offensive contributor next season.
I just don't know if he'll ever have the playmaking ability to be a traditional, secondary playmaker type of shooting guard. Everything else is going to be great. Perhaps he could play the 2 if the small forward next to him is a good playmaker. So, not Dillon, probably not Tari or Jabari--maybe Amen if you see him as a small forward, though I personally still hope he plays point guard for us down the road, post-FVV. Personally, I still see Cam more likely being a 3 if he starts, or a 6th man wing if he doesn't.
He is young Lebron without any semblance of playmaking or passing. He has already that much of an NBA body.
Miller is a better shooter off the dribble. How Miller looks off the dribble his how I wish Jabari looked. He's going to be good. But agreed that I like Cam's outlook better. He enjoys contact and posterizing people. Miller is more finesse. Cam has a long long way to go but these two rookies have been the best out of the box outside of Sengun. Cam solves our one biggest problem. Shooting 47/37 from the field on 12 PPG. Jalen was 43/34 his rookie year. And Cam is doing it in Ime's offense. Not Silas Terrorism Ball.
Young LeBron was a gifted playmaker with great handles who couldn't shoot and was smart beyond his years. Cam is the exact opposite. The only thing they have in common is great dunking.
And great hands at transition buckets also! If he becomes an even average passer that is already a good player in the making. I think Villanova yields good fundamental results with youngins.
His passing is improving in that he's making the right pass more often. However, many of his right passes are incorrect. That is, they may go to the right man but they are askew and not where they need to be, sometimes making a player reach or adjust which then puts them out of position for an immediate move. I trust he'll continue to get better. But man, in the open court he is a blast to watch. That triple-clutch three last night was really cool too.
I can see the comparison physically--LeBron was a bit taller coming into the league, but they both have that downhill freight train kind of hyper-athleticism. In terms of their skillsets, yes, pretty different (except for again the downhill rim pressure).
