I think he's gaining weight slowly, which shouldn't hurt those qualities. When he was drafted he was 175lbs, he's now 186lbs, he need to get to 195lb of muscle and I think we will finally start to see a star. But he can't do it to fast
Nobody else? Do you just read Jalen Green's threads? Reed Sheppard gets lots of flak after less than a third of the season. Jabari Smith Jr. gets lots of hate saying he isn't starter material. Sengun got a lot of the same thing, just that it's much harder to criticize him now. I don't see you defending those players or mocking their haters like you do with Jalen.
I dont need to talk down on any other player on this team when we are winning. I have my own subjective tastes/distastes, but dont make it part of my identity to go looking for a 'pick me up' within someone else's struggles or shortcomings. Its no curiosity that fans always have their favorites some rationally some irrationally, but when the TEAM is winning blowhard analysis comes across as insecurity from mediocre people.
Jalen Green already is the Numero Uno sub-40% shooter on the Rockets. And I doubt we'll ever have a player who's better than him but shoots worse.
I feel the Jalen Green so-called inconsistency coincides with a good shot blocker patrolling the paint and Jalen has to get by a decent defender first. First) I feel teams game plan for Jalen Green and Sengun 1 & 2. How did Jalen score so much against Chet (OKC) in March last year? Sengun was inactive and Jabari drew Chet further out to the perimeter. Second) I can tell you from experience, it's the job of the Guard who is not driving through the paint to get back on defense and be the safety net in protecting our goal against a turnover or long rebound turned into fast break headed to our rim. The goal of the center is to crash the board and with the guard stretching out to avoid being blocked, the opposing Center stretches out and tries to block that tough shot. Leaving our center (Sengun) with a rebound not contested put back dunk or layup. Improving that FG% with a high percentage shot. Third) Sengun is spending almost no time in the "Dunker Spot" this season......facing what Jalen has been going through for years of getting past his defender and then second and third tier defenders packing the paint. Fourth) a member here recently stated that Jalen poor 3-pt shooting has his defender going under the screens and that it's his own man sagging off and giving the appearance of a packed paint. Pure nonsense, if you get the highlights of any game you see the defenders going over the top. Just picked a random first Jalen Green highlight video I came across. Someone show me when the defender doesn't go over the top of the screen Fifth) Sengun outweighs all opponents with exception to about 5 players (Embiid/Jokic/Valanciunas/KAT/Nurkic).....and this year it seems Jabari and Dillon are defending them a majority of the time. Allowing Sengun to have more energy to the offensive end. Sixth) I noted in preseason that I wanted Steven Adams paired with Jalen Green when on the court. Experts have noted that Jalen Green numbers shoot up when paired with Adams. I think something like 45% from 3 when Adams is setting picks. Seventh) it's embarrassing that Jalen Green has a higher FG% than Sengun at 0-3 feet. Almost by 10 percentage points. Jalen 69.0% to Sengun 59.1% **Having said that, Sengun is being asked to get away from Drop Coverage and actually guard on the perimeter......Dillon, Amen or Jabari cheating over to protect the rim. Excellent move by Udoka. Tip of the cap to the team. I have the Rockets no chance of winning the championship with the Rockets playing Drop Coverage.....but there is a chance now as they get away from that. One weakness of poor 3-pt shooting can be helped at the trade deadline. But until then, the Rockets are winning in spite of poor 3-pt shooting and excelling at Rebounding, steals, Swarming defense, hustle and deflections.
He's supposed to be "A Bucket" it's his job to take and make those shots ..... Who else do you want taking them?
I think setting a good pick is vital in creating open shots as well. Some of our guys are too ancy to get into their sweet spots and offer an outlet for the offense without sealing off the defender completely. It leads to dumb fouls and turnovers. We dont have uber athletic big men outside of maybe Tari. Neither Jabari or Sengun play above the rim. They are offensive minded guys who do an admirable job on defense. Our system works not because we have a generational talent, but because all the moving pieces have bought in. I understand the hand wringing when we are a losing team, but damn man you'd think the vultures would have had their fill by now and could actually enjoy us taking the leap.
Here are the new Jalen arguments for why he’s good…because of course we can’t objectively admit what the stats and eye test show: 1). Jalen is good in the clutch 2). We are winning so what does it matter about Jalen 3). Jalen’s guaranteed extension doesn’t kick in until next year so he doesn’t have to play to that standard. meanwhile, in reality: 1). Career low in FG% 2). Career low in 3% 3). Career low in TS% 4). Career high in TO’s I can’t seem to find the Rockets net rating with and without Jalen on the floor but probably not good. but yeah…extending him prematurely was a good idea?
"yeah I know we're the 4th best team in the NBA right now, but man I cant get any sleep at night because Jalen Green is an inefficient, poor shooting player who doesnt offer anything. If the team would have just listened to me and drafted Evan Mobley we would probably be the 3rd best team in the NBA right now"
Rockets are +3.2 with jalen on the court, +13.5 with jalen off the court. All of that is due to defensive rating, our offense is identical with him on or off basically. I wouldn't take on/off and all that stuff super seriously over small sample sizes though, just focus on his actual level of play.
Just to say I may have been part of the reason for the escalation in Jabari hate, unintentionally. My view is that Tari is better currently despite having 4 stinkers of games recently and should start over him. Jabari's offense looks back to the way it looks when he's going good. I'd put Jabari as the 6th best contributer on the team right now.
Those of you that think all is good with JG because of our record just don't get it. Replacing him with a competent 2 that can hit from downtown consistently and D up would really improve the bottom line. Replacing him with a guy that is elite on O and bring it on the other side is necessary to open our contending window starting next year. We don't have time to screw around with this kid anymore. We don't need salary cap eaten up by a dude that limits our upside.
My issue with Jabari is the stiffness. In football terms, he has tight hips. Will never be a good dribbler, drive scorer slash facilitator. If you watch Jerami Grant, he has what we call in football terms fluid hips, flexibility to turn the hips smoothly. No hitch in his getty up. Jabari does have his plus though, like 43.9% from 3 in his last 13 games
You cant teach length though. Just having Jabari in a defensive stance arms outstretched is an obstacle. He is ok laterally. Im just surprised he doesnt have that hammer to throw it down with his size, but overall Im not down on Jabari and have given him the benefit of the doubt most of the time. He will be a bonafide 3&D guy soon.
If we're being 100% honest, Ime doesn't have a whole lot of options - Jalen is the only 2 guard on the roster aside from Jeenathan Williams who's on a two way contract. None of Amen, Cam or Tari are shooting guards.
I'm just going to ask this question.... Is this offense even capable of generating a on ball creator that is efficient? You people might be frustrated with Green but is anyone on this roster capable of being efficient as a primary on ball creator given this offensive system? Sengun? No. Fred? No. Amen, Tari, Dillon, Jabari etc aren't getting defenses loading up on them. None of these guys are attacking POA defenses like Fred, Sengun and Jalen. All their scoring efficiencies would plummet So it's a simple question. Would even replacing Green with a Booker give us a efficient scorer? Would Booker drop in efficiency if given Green's role on his team in this offensive system with some of the worst spacing and off ball movement. Is a on ball scorer even capable of scoring efficiently in this offensive system under Ime?
