Arguably, the Warriors had Curry/KD/Klay/Draymond, so possibly 4 (even though I would say Curry was clearly always "the guy"). Lebron/Wade/Bosh Pierce/Garnett/Allen Jordan/Pippen/Rodman But yeah, it's rare. Third guy is usually a big drop-off from the first two. To me, it's Alpi and Amen.
Don't bash me Jalen Green fans but with Udoka's system I think he is the one who is the most expendable. In that game vs the Celtics if Tari Eason develops a 35-36% three point percentage we really don't have any reason to play Jalen Green. Udoka kept him out of the lineup late in the game specifically because Brown was cooking him. Tari only got subbed out for offensive purposes. Hard to imagine if Jabari came back it wouldn't be: FVV Dillon Brooks Amen Thompson Jabari Smith Jr Sengun
Agreed 100% given the small Amen sample size. With defenses focusing on Thompson and Alpi, Green can and should capitalize and be the slow, gentle dagger taking the lives of opposing teams.
Woah….klay, draymond, bosh, rodman, allen were not even close to that level. Allen in his prime maybe but in Boston no way, same with pierce. Pippen was maybe fringe i guess, and that was 40 years ago. Curry/kd and shaq/kobe i think are the only 2 times a team had more than 1 guy on that level for more than 1 season together in this millennium.
It all depends on how one interprets the term, much of it is semantics. I am just happy we have two definite cornerstones now, and a great TEAM.
This. He is more than a functional NBA shooting guard. The Celtics wanted to deny him space and left Amen completely open. Jalen isn't big enough or apt enough to punish teams like Amen can or Harden could. But if you have to focus more attention elsewhere he will absolutely roast you. Yesterday he functioned largely as a decoy and we won.
There fixed it for you. They subbed Sengun out for defensive purposes as well do you really think Coach Udoka is going to sit him in place of Jabari for that reason The only player impacting the game in almost every aspect I can think of right now is Amen. This kid is special and he's the only player in the last few games that has consistently been a star level player. I said in another thread that I don't envy Coach Udoka because Amen has made himself irreplaceable in the starting unit. I'm not sure what will be done in the short term but I'm relatively sure that the long-term plan is for the young guns to take over and that would be a lineup of: Amen Jalen/Cam Tari/Cam Jabari Sengun
Whos going to generate self created offense when Amen becomes the focus of the defense? Sengun is already adapting to the defensive attention by initiating from the free throw line more vs post touches. Jalen stops Jalen usually, but if teams are going to trap/double at the 3pt line he has to do what he did last night and distribute and considering he had a slashed face he didnt force and blended in well while the other guys were taking advantage of what was given. When all the plays get bogged down and defenses have locked in you will always need a 3 level guy in todays NBA that can pop off in bunches.
I am pleased with his progress. As long as we win, he doesn't have to score 30. Same with Alpi. As long as they contribute in other ways to us winning, I'm happy.
One thing I don't think we've given JG enough credit for is how much of a warrior he is in terms of staying on the court. Something I've been thinking/wondering about is, how much do his prolonged shooting slumps have to do with playing through minor injuries that we just don't know about as fans? Because the guy has been unusually durable for a player with his build and style of play. Almost never misses a game. We saw it very obviously last night with the getting smacked in the face thing, dude got it patched up and came right back out. Was a really poor shooting game for him (understandably given he could barely see out of one eye) but he did still hit one big three and dished 6 assists. In any case, I have this sneaking suspicion that he's dealt with nagging injuries frequently over the past four years and just played through them. I'm sure that's also the case for other "durable" players, and they still find a way to be productive, so it doesn't excuse his poor shooting throughout much of his career. But I do wonder if maybe he's dealt with it a little more than most. So, give a little credit to the man--he's actually tough as hell, despite people trying to knock him or call him effeminate for painting his nails and liking fashion.
I think at the end of the day you just have to take Jalens streaks along with his slumps, that's just how he is. The thing is when Jalen is on he literally carries the offense and single handedly wins us games. But during his slumps we have enough depth around him from FVV, Sengun, Amen and even Cam to offset. I think the most important thing Jalen can do is during his slumps is to learn to play like a role player and not force things, which he has been doing better this season. We just have to just pray that Jalen heats up in the playoffs. I mean Jamal Murray literally became Kobe in the playoffs and that's how they won a championship.
I'm sure they are watching Reed's development too. How he turns out will affect the future of the PG spot, which in turn will affect the other spots because you can plug Amen at any position except center.
Green for the season is averaging just about 22 ppg shooting .36 from 3 on a .56 TS%. Those numbers, alone, make him worth his contract, not even considering the fact that he’s 22 years old averaging over 24 ppg over the last 20 games on a .59 TS% while shooting .4+ from 3.
So when will teams focus on Thompson and stop face guarding Green even when he doesn't have the ball? When does that start?
