He looks like he's starting to tap into his potential. Very encouraging to see him continue growing, he looks like the guy so far.
One of the issues with making Green more of an off-ball player is he can command an incredible amount of attention when he is playing well. The Green and Brooks pick and pop for example were two great plays. Brooks had 2 wide open shots, barely missed 1 and made the 2nd, clearly something there going forward and should be utilised far more. There were some squandered opportunities, I can accept missed opportunities like missed shots and errand passes, but deliberate plays like FVV/Brooks playing hero ball near the end for a couple of possession were incredibly disappointing to see when these two veterans should have clearly given the ball to Green. Rockets will need to find a better balance going forward.
They genuinely need to see what happens running Green as Batman and Sengun as Robin, just to see what happens...
His defense through 3 games has been really great. Just a good start. He looks bigger and more confident.
I really think that signing green to that extension is going to end up being a wise move. Where he ends up, I don’t know. But I do think somebody would’ve paid him the max in the off-season and we would’ve had to match.
I'm generally highly critical of Green .... but this is just false. He had a conversion rate of 69.2% at the rim last season - before fouls are factored in. For comparison, Ant had a 69.8 rate. James Harden 69.4.
It's really time to cut down on the midrange jumpers from the wing and non-open 3pters. These are the only things holding him back now. His 2PT% will normalize for this season. Shooting form looks better but again taking too many. If you up your volume every time you improve, your efficiency will remain static while volume increases. It's such a bad idea. He needs to hunt for 8-10 FT's but I'm not sure it's possible with the paint so packed. The shots he gets are so poorly suited to his game. Ending up with a somewhat-contested Jalen Green 3PA is a lazy outcome for our team. We shouldn't be ending up with 10 of those per game. Green should drive and kick those shots to Jabari for catch and shoot. Or he needs a PnR partner who's a threat to make 3's or to catch an alley oop. Taking way too many 3's, he should not be leading the starting lineup in 3PA. Should be 3rd or so in attempts. For Jalen Green, a slightly open in-motion 3PA is not better than passing the ball to Sengun/FVV/Jabari. He can definitely do it efficiently at around 5-7 selective attempts per game. He's not good at that when you start approaching 9 attempts per game. Need to generate some easier shots for this offense somehow. It's early though, they will figure it out.
subtract the heaves he takes at end of qtrs and his % really isn’t bad… that’s on avg 3 less 3’s a game if he pulls a Durant and just doesn’t take them His midrange shot actually isn’t horrible and it’s better than Ant… Green biggest issue is he doesn’t get calls when attacking the rim (tonight we seen that a few times - specially when CP3 just grabbed his arm on a drive and still no call) I would love for him to add a floater - something between the midrange and a layup, maybe if we had a rim running big that would kind of help develop that (Harden / Capela) as of now 3 drives for every 2 midrange shots for every 1 3pt shot would be a great breakdown for his game
I think we're past the point of accepting "not bad" from him. It's time to make a major shift. Being more selective with shots is critical for keeping an efficient and sustainable TS%. He's always taken way too many shots and I question the logic of increasing his attempts every season. We need to let his off-season work reflect in his efficiency by holding the volume steady. His two least efficient yet frequent shots are contested 3's and midrange jumpers from the wings. Just logical to cut down on these and live more on shots/passes that can promise better efficiency.
I agree in theory, but who do you want taking those shots instead? The Rockets have not established any system where players can get easy shots - we still rely primarily on one-on-one moves and the only two who can do it are Green and Sengun (and Cam when he’s in). The poor pick and roll spacing means even our coordinated action still results in a 1 on 1 roll or a contested jumper. within this piss-poor offensive system, a contested Green shot is often the most efficient outcome even if it isn’t very efficient.
I agree we don't seem to have prepared for that at all but I would love for it to be off ball screens or kick outs for Jabari to get a similar shot. A straight up and down catch and shoot 3 is a good shot for Jabari. Gets him in rhythm. Even slightly contested I'd love to pass this to Jabari. Jalen needs to at least get the assists he was generating last season. He has more/better options than before.
I feel like either nobody has talked to him about efficiency, or he doesn’t much care about it because he’s always chucking up those end-of-quarter wild heaves even if they have almost no chance of going in. Missing two of those a game can really have a pretty drastic effect on someone’s shooting percentage (he’d be 3/8 instead of 3/10 today, for example) but don’t really have an impact on the game when he misses and would be a pleasant surprise if they actually end up being 3 points.
