Because all the games matter? If he played like this all season he would be the undisputed best player on the team and there would be no argument. If we only counted his good games, he would be too. But we have to count all the games.
Play in is not playoffs. To me clinching the playoffs means we’re at worst 6 seed, which is not the case. Clinched postseason, yes. But anyways, just a matter of time I guess
By stats he is the best player esp with Sengun tanking his FG% If you add that he hasnt missed any games and gets the most PT for Ime he is the best player. But tbh I think its a moot point Jalen, Sengun and Amen are all on the same tier for me. Reminds me of that 3 head Hydra meme 1 guy can play like a clown as long as two of 3 are playing great.
I don't get to watch full games...but are teams targeting Jalen on defense? Based on the highlight of each game...looks like it me. The Rockets Defense Rating has been pretty good...so can't complain.
JG played well the last couple of games, except he took a ton of three pointers at sub-30%. I've noticed he's also been more physical though, putting more effort into rebounds and getting to the foul line more often, so I'll take the bad with the good. Just hope his trend of improved shooting efficiency isn't going into reverse.
It's just volume man. He's taking the kind of volume he wouldn't dream of taking on any serious team. To relieve any anxiety about how it will likely go: If he takes over 8, he'd be a bad or average shooter. At that volume if you're making 37-38% you're basically Damian Lillard. That's too far for him. At around 6-8 he'd be average or slightly better. At less than 6 like Shai/Ja, we might even see 37-38%. He's just not good enough to be in that 8-10 attempts range. Flat out not good enough, no need to worry about it, he simply is not that good at shooting except when on a streak. More reasonable expectation for this season: I hope Fred, Tari and Jabari pick up their shooting so that Jalen doesn't have to take 10 of them.
Interesting that even though he is driving more per game this season, his free throw rate is 4 percentage points lower than last season.
I think this is just a end of the season grind thing. Dude hasn't missed a game for almost two straight seasons and he is so close to experiencing his first playoffs he's probably being a lot more judicious with his drives to the rim at this point of the season because he doesn't want take as many risks. I'm hoping when they post season starts a lot of those three attempts are drive attempts as the fear of conserving the legs isn't there anymore.
sometimes yes, he still gets hunted. Same with Sengun tbh. At the end of the day they are still our 2 weakest defenders in space as we have a lot of talented defenders on the perimeter so it makes sense. I would say Jalen does a fair enough job but does lack recovery speed. He often respects drives a bit too much and is out of place on snatch back 3s and is late to contest, even if the player isn't a huge driving threat. When he does crowd the 3pt space more effectively he doesnt position his hips or shift well enough to prevent the drive. His does do an ok job though, hes more than passable on the team spectrum. He does still get a bit lost off ball sometimes and ball watch a bit. During chaotic scrambles he lacks the IQ to know where to be and can be late to rotations. He is much much improved though. When he is "really" engaged he can be pretty dang good in isolation 1on1 defense. That just isn't all the time but it happens more often than not in crunch/clutch time. Hes an average defender overall I would say. Flashes above average at times and flashes below average at times.
Maybe, it depends upon the overall roster - the job is to find a mix that works, right now we have a decent mix, but they don't all fit, he has to get rid of those that don't and keep those that do. DD
he would of been 4/10 last night but he had 1 3 robbed by refs and given 2 FTs instead If he eliminates the grenades - and Ime putting him back in for 2 for 1 3s… he can easily get to 37-38% (he just doesn’t care about %) like Durant and others do
I got a NEWS FLASH for you! Nobody play good all 82 games. Not even MJ played good all 82 games. And here's another thing, players have SLUMPS. I know it may seem like an excuse but going through a 6 month, 82 - game schedule has its ebbs and flows.
