He actually improved a lot on defense and passing/playmaking. In the playoffs though this all went to **** (absent game 2) Frankly if we are talking improvement, he showed a lot more than Sengun who got noticeably worse on offense and didn't really do much better in the playoffs. But kind of unfair as Sengun is overall at a much higher level in general.
This is just fundamentally false. I understand most are done with Jalen after the playoffs, I am leaning that way too. But to pretend like he didn’t improve this past season is disingenuous and being beholden purely to the bad taste he left in everyone’s mouth after the playoffs. 2 things can be true: he improved this year, and he was awful in the playoffs to the point where most want him gone. These aren’t mutually exclusive thoughts.
Props for a well-thought-out, balanced assessment. The only thing I'd add is that he actually seems to have taken a step backwards when it comes to seeking contact in the lane to draw fouls. This year, he was back to avoiding contact again, which means he was usually trying to finish a little farther from the rim AND not getting the foul calls.
‘There was some defensive improvement. There was some playmaking improvement. There was some improvement with his consistency. The fact remains his most efficient scoring season of his career is still his rookie season. There has been no improvement there. And people can deny it as much as they want but the fact remains in his role, scoring efficiently is the most important thing for Jalen to improve on. 54 TS% is not going to cut it in a league that continues to get more and more efficient at scoring points. For as long as his role of being the primary scoring option remains it will continue to be by far the most important thing for him. It’s gotta happen for him to truly be successful in that role.
He showed glimpses of being able to do other things but none of them solidified. I think it is hard for him to break his instinct and habit to use his athleticism since this is what he did all his life. 80% on 4 attempts per game is nothing to write home about for a shooting guard who doesn’t have playmaking skills or any specific strength.
The reason why the back court is getting so much flack is because both players were born to chuck to oblivion without being 40% shooters. Also they say Jalen is close to 6'6 but in reality is just scrawny and average sized. And Fred is the undersized of all undersized.
After 3 seasons, I was on the blink of giving up hope for Jalen to become a star level player. Then I saw that he was improving. And it seemed to be more than just some hot shooting streaks. He did play with more maturity. My hope was revived since the middle of the season. I said at that time that "I am a sucker again, and this time seems different." Then came the playoffs and his performance shattered that hope to a thousand pieces. I still believe that he can be a good player, if he can stabilize his shooting. But all hope of him being a franchise player/numero uno type player is pretty much gone.
I actually think Jalen is worse but potentially more valuable than Sengun if they both "plateau" , in that he's a much better off-ball player in theory and doesn't clog the lane. Sengun's seeming inability to do anythign other than work with the ball in his hands from 10 feet in is useful but limiting in the playoffs when a team can account for it.
I think Jalen will be a perennial all-star if he makes it to the west coast. He would live at the free throw line for the Lakers. Making 8 fts a night would do wonders for how open he will become on the outside and regardless of what anyone says he is getting better from 3, but it has to be set up with drives. He can’t do that in our pathetic offense. I think he is much better than Reaves, but as long as we have Ime and FVV, Reeves would do better in our offense than Jalen. So Jalen to the Lakers for Reeves and Finney.
With Giannis or another guy incoming, they have to revamp the guards and backcourt anyhoot. Basically the shooting goes from Jrue Holiday (Dame) and Middleton to FVV and JG.
This is the kinda crap that got Fchowd banned .... always calling people idiots, dumbasses, morons and other insults. It's really unnecessary and doesn't come off as intelligent at all. Disagree all you want, just be civil about it.
I don't think either improved that much......Jalen's improvement on D was not substantial he still got lost a ton. DD
I don't think it's all about getting Lakers officiating. Look at SGA. He's playing for the freaking OKC and gets tons of friendly whistles. Harden got a lot of foul calls in his prime playing for us. Jalen just doesn't have the skills and smart to get buckets consistently. I make fun of Jalen stans' blaming on GS scheming to stop Jalen. Did they scheme to stop him? Of course. But it's too easy. They took away his driving lane by shading him. And he had no counter other than shooting difficult shots. When he hit those shots in Game 2, he looked fine. When he couldn't hit shots, he couldn't do anything. The "gravity" thing was meaningless. He couldn't collapse the defense and dish to his open teammates. He couldn't even consistently get past Steph Curry's first line defense. When he saw that there a defender lurking behind his man, he stopped trying to penetrate. He can't do stop and pop middies to counter the clogged paint. He can't do floaters. He doesn't use hesitation to keep the defenders on their heels. In other words, his game is very simple and therefore it's simple to take him out. Would better offensive schemes help? Yes. Our offense is unimaginative, kind of reflective of Jalen's style. What's discouraging is that Sengun has caught the unimaginative bug and turned into a predictable offensive player. All the exciting footwork and playmaking that captivated us in his earlier days have gone down the drain. /ranting
I think your’s is a reasonable take. Jalen has also not taken the appropriate steps to get to the FT line. He doesn’t have enough power to plow into the defender s to initiate the contact and get the calls. I also think the Lakers are called differently than any team in the league and he would end up on the FT line a ton. I’m ok with trading Jalen, but my point is that he is not the problem with our offense. FVV and Ime are the real problem. Jalen and Sengun (forgetting how to shoot) are part of the problem, but it is much more a problem with Ime not to utilize his assets and playing a terrible creator 40+ mins a game. I get shillacked every time I criticize Ime because he got us to the playoffs. Sorry, but the plan was to take 4 years to re-build and then start taking the actions to become a contender. Ime is the wrong coach for that, because he has no clue about offense and is stubborn as a mule. His rotations are absolutely pathetic.
To be honest, both should be gone in reasonable time.....FVV being overpaid, not shooting well, going after refs too much, and his minutes leave no minutes for Reed etc. I don't like his overall style of just slowing down the game without much concept. And Jalen honestly is just not good enough - his contract runs 2 years + 1 player option........
Ime got us into 2nd seed in the west, FVV was terrible throughout the season but he kept us in the playoffs making shots and doing AMAZING job breaking blitzes and doubles that Kerr utilized against him. The most pressure that Jalen saw throughout the playoffs was Curry defending him 1 on 1 with another defender shading the key to take away his drives. There is no one to blame but himself because everyone else managed just fine and contributed. how people could possible blame Ime and FVV (especially when he balled out in the playoffs) is insane. If anything we lost more because of bad free throws than Imes coaching. I will admit Imes rotations weren’t the best but the MAIN reason we lost was because JG disappeared and it’s obvious he will never be a great playoffs player when it’s all about half court plays. Mark my words, he could still contribute in the regular season, but in playoffs he will be a net ZERO.
I am proud that I was part of Fchowd's demise. Dude was cracking hard. Never seen a better example of an internet tough guy than Steven_A. Sucks how much one poster can hijack a thread with his antics, and in his case Steven is everywhere. Wonder if he actually works. Never seen such dedication to being an internet tough guy; it is like he is clocking into work and is getting paid by wordcount on Jalen.
