There are way too many superstars now for a top 5 IMO. Just the MVP candidates alone equal 5, Giannis, Jokic, SGA, Luka and Tatum. What about guys like Curry, KD, Harden etc? No way these guys are just stars.
Superstar is just another way fo saying MVP canidate. Curry is still a star, but a former superstar. KD...he's more a part-time star as he's hurt a lot and then plays like a star in like 3 out of 4 of the other games. Harden is a former star.
Some more thoughts since yesterday. This is the first game I can remember from Jalen where he was "SGA" like. Every quarter he put in 10 pts. Just consistent. None of this disappearing for 3 quarters and in one scores 18 pts on his way to 22-25 pt night. That's been my biggest issue with him and for the first time I can remember he had an all around consistent game. Secondly and this is the biggest one....Amen Thompson. Not just because he unlocks Jalen as a downhill threat but if Amen is not there....who is guarding Morant? Jalen probably. Not having that burden I'm sure allows him to expend a bit more on the offensive end. Amen basically carries a lot of the burden JG would have to if he wasn't. I think we lose both these games starting the normal 5 and I'd be in here b****ing about Jalen. I need to see more....but trending in a very positive direction.
I wish Jalen could do what he’s doing on a consistent basis. It would literally put him in the star tier. We’ve seen this before though. He has hot streaks and then he follows that up with a streak of being nothing but a role player.
This is where I'm at. He sold me on his defense at the beginning of the season. Huge improvement there, and he's maintained it. But he's still been lagging in reading defenses, making the right calls, and executing the right pass. If he can work that out in the next year or two, he'll have the whole package. Can't guard all of that.
Half the season is not a streak. He's played well for a quarter of a season. No one else in the NBA has months of good performance referred to as a streak lol This is called consistency. Playing well a quarter of a season at a time is really good. It's ok if a player has a few bad games and then 21 overall good game stretch. It's kind of how it works, there's no one who doesn't have off nights, very rare in perimeter players.
Defenses hate having to guard half the court for one guy. If his 3 is on you're cooked. Jalen popping off usually coincides with another one of our young guns popping off too. As the defense panics and starts bum rushing Jalen other guys will get theirs. Defenses that know a short shot attempt is coming are more relaxed and cerebral about what they need to do. When you have a guy like Jalen just clapping your cheeks from all over the place it causes systemic breakdowns that are hard to isolate and account for.
Honestly, has he ever even had a running mate in transition? I saw a lot of Jalen trying to score alone in transition. Amen is better at being a one-man wrecking crew with his size and strength on the break. Together though, teams have to make really tough choices. They get up the court so quickly, both willing to pass and both can handle the ball. Benefitting from each other there.
I think he's already doing a fair amount of reading the defense this year and specifically during his latest hot streak. He uses his gravity once he's the focus of the defense to open up looks for Dillon and Fred and then utilizing the same attention to get it into Sengun for easy points or the hockey assist to Amen in the dunkers spot. It may not be a full court view yet, but its a start and its something opponents were not prepared for.
Rim pressure is ridiculous. Its just constant with Amen, Sengun and Jalen. Either from fast break and transition buckets or half court sets where Alpy can attack or Jalen given the option to shoot or go downhill off DHO. Corner shooters are now suddenly wide open because we are running a train on the restricted area. I like what Jabari brings as a defender and shooter, but he's not pushing pace like this. Amen reinvents our offense.
IMO Brooks is the only one who struggles a lot when we play fast. Jabari is not athletic but he's outrunning most PF and C's imo.
Amen is smart. If you're sagging off of him then he's just going to find a nice secret spot by the rim for a rebound, dunk, or pressure.
