I think CC's time in college benefited him. Also, the same way he played in college is the same way he's playing now. I saw Detriot's game against NY and if you look at Detriot, they SPREAD THE COURT and are surrounding CC with shooters. It allows him to keep the ball in his hands, get a rhythm. I think its no coincidence he is flourishing this yr vs previous yrs., he is benefiting from having Jaden Ivy being out. So, he is on ball more. You have to look at things in its TOTALITY. Take James Harden. Harden was a very good SG but he became even better when MDA put the ball in his hands full time. And I think that's the same thing with Jalen. He's quick, he has an awesome first step but the lanes are congested! Ime has got to S.P.R.E.A.D. O.U.T
Spacing! Spacing! Spacing! Anyone who knows basketball knows that's the issue. I think Jalen can get by Curry, he's been getting by tougher defenders ALL YR. If Sengun is down low AND Amen, plus he's running into Dreymond, Butler and others. The lanes are clogged. This is why you need Jabari back into the starting lineup! ITS BASKETBALL 101 I can't believe Ime is not seeing this!
Spacing! Spacing! Spacing! Anyone who knows basketball knows that's the issue. I think Jalen can get by Curry, he's been getting by tougher defenders ALL YR. If Sengun is down low AND Amen, plus he's running into Dreymond, Butler and others. The lanes are clogged. This is why you need Jabari back into the starting lineup! ITS BASKETBALL 101 I can't believe Ime is not seeing this!
No, no, no. The obvious answer is to play FVV 40 mpg. Even if he's shooting 1-15, you keep playing him! DO NOT make adjustments. Adjustments will come to you.
Cade has one shooter, THJ on that starting squad. Ausar and Duren are terrible 3 pt shooters, Tobias is a 34% shooter-not good. They don’t have shooters, Cade is just a much better ball handler and facilitator
Not for sure if you recall but the Rockets had the same issues with Harden. When he was with OKC, he played ON BALL, he came here and they had Lin ON BALL and they were splitting the responsibilities. Then MDA came and put the ball in his hands full time. Jalen is a different player ON BALL vs OFF BALL. I think to generate more offense, Jabari needs to be in the starting lineup, put Jalen ON BALL more and bring Amen of the bench with Tari.....SIMPLE
Malik Beasley who is a 40% 3pt shooter comes off the bench and plays extensive minutes too. I'm not making excuses for Jalen, I'm just simply saying Cade benefits more from the offensive system he is in than Jalen. And naturally, if you are in a SYSTEM THAT FITS you, you will play better.
I think that’s fair. But Cade is a better talent more suited to his role. Jalen doesn’t have the handle or playmaking ability to be on ball in any system. Struggling to get past Curry was rough to watch. I’ve always defended Jalen, but the dude has to get some consistency. Way too streaky.
Lot of blame to go around. Some of us said go out and get better shooting at the trade deadline. Others said, "No," "it will just be a learning experience....playoff experience." I responded, "a packed paint snuffing out all drives is a poor learning experience." Just showed lack of preparation and anticipation. I knew Udoka was going to shorten the rotation and squeeze Holiday and Jeff Green out. Probably take them 3 games to figure it out. When the Rockets are down 3-0. Warriors used about 10 players in game 1.....to about 7 by the Rockets.
I think people are over analyzing the "Getting Past Curry", Curry did defend him well but everybody has seen Jalen get past much better NBA players before. That's my least concern. My concern is his confidence at this point. Over 50% of the game is built on confidence. It's mental! And it's up to the Coach to put players in positions to highlight their strengths. Jalen's strengths are playing in the open court and down hill. And the way Ime has him playing, does not fit. He's never been a catch and shoot guard, that's more FVV, that's why I'm saying he needs to be ON BALL. OR what do you think if they put FVV on the bench and started Amen, Jalen, Jabari, Brooks and Sengun? With a bench of Adams, Tari and FVV?
Totally agree with your first sentence. G league does Jalen no good. College can train him more properly. Yes, spread the court is good for Jalen, and your example of Harden is also good. MDA maximize Harden's potential indeed. But my point is always - Jalen is not that good. His performance in the past four years continues to prove this point. The improvements are just too slow and too little. He's been through Silas and now Ime, the only same teammates he had since then were only Alpi and Tate. So you can't tell me that we didn't have a different system before, you can't tell me we are always like this packed paint. And also, you can't blame it all on Silas or Porter Jr. as well. Sometimes the main problem is yourself. A lot of Jalen fans defends him by saying that Ime shoudn't let Amen start. I am like "a future DPOY candidate should sit, so it probably will make Jalen score easier?". Or by saying that either Amen or Sengun should not play together with Jalen. I am like "our team's current best player and first all-start should sit, so it probably will make Jalen more comfortable?”. Wtf is going on with the above logic? ..For sure we build a team around Harden, for sure we caters to his needs, but why Jalen? Anybody still compare him with Jordan or Kobe? I remember somebody did four years ago. Now, he can't even compare with Cade. Totally true that it all depends on lineups, tactics on the court whether a player can play comfortable or not. But why should everything panders to you, especially when you have proved nothing in the past four years. Just work yourself in the summer and find a solution yourself. If not, it means you can't catch up with the team. It's time to find another team where you can shine (hopefully).
Again, I'm not a Jalen APOLOGIST, just telling you what I see. If you take away a teams highest scorer, chances are the opponent is going to win. And despite what many think of him, he is the Rockets best scorer. And if I'm Kerr, I let Alpi score all day because most of his points are resulting in 2pt baskets. Think about it, we out rebounded them, played better defense, Alpi had a GREAT GAME AND we still lost! There is a reason the Rockets tend to win more when Jalen scores 30pts or more. Ime has to spread the court! It's just that simple
I agree with you about Jabari. I said the same thing. Jabari might not be as explosive as Jalen can be but he also doesn't have the same mental issues Jalen does. Jabari has never gotten the Jalen coddling, if he has I am sure he might be farther in his game. Jabari might never have the Durant level ball handling but currently no defense will be planning for him.
Again, I agree with you that Ime has to come up with better offense system design and maybe adjust the lineups. But why we so struggle to find a solution, why are fans having all these heated discussion on lineups, who should be on the court with whom, etc. is because Jalen is a very streaky and inefficient perimeter attacker. His incompetent of being adaptable is the main problem behind all these. If people think Jalen plays uncomfortably, the rest of the team feels the exact same way about him.
Again, Im not making excuses but they said the same things about Kobe at first. And remember Kobe and Shaq lost several times in the playoffs before they won. As much as WE want it, it's going to take us time
Alpi, Amen, Jabari, Tari, Cam, Reed all have 1 thread at the most 2 but there's like 2 Jalen excuses / blame game thread every week
