Don't forget IQ...Anthony Edwards decision-making is superior to Jalen Green. I can create a 30 min highlight session of the dumb things Jalen Green did last season. Jalen Green is a streaky scorer...so is Jordan Clarkson whose role is best as 6th Man...we should continue to build around Sengun and stop this pipe dream of Jalen Green being a Superstar
Relative to Ant? Or pgs like Haliburton? Ant isn't known for "bball IQ". Do you guys actually watch other teams?
Edwards has played 22 playoff games and averaged 29/5/5 on 49/39/84 shooting splits. If Jalen Green can do that over 22 straight games at any time next season even against the weakest part of the schedule, I'd be doing cartwheels.
My problem with Jalen Green is that he has been inconsistent for so long that even a great 2 month opening to the season wont convince me he is for real. If he is great the entire next season, then I might be convinced.
Edward’s is who we all believed JG would be. Night and day comparison in aura, skill, attitude, leadership, dog mentality etc. sigh….
In reality Jalen Green was all awe struck when he played Edwards his first 2 years....or at least he was trying to snuggle up to him.
He processes the game more slowly - but he isn't low IQ. Those are two distinctly different things. Especially this year, he generally will make the right read but at his worst, he is a second too late and that is the difference between an open shot vs help defenders recovered to the open man or a double is already in his lap before he has found the open man. ...keep in mind guys like Sengun and Amen are actual savants at this type of stuff so while it looks bad compared to some of the other quick thinkers he might share the floor with (FVV is generally good at this too), I wouldn't say he is below average - just average in comparison and still working on improving here. I will say he occasionally takes these heat check shots which objectively are bad for the moment - I don't necessarily think they are 'bad reads' or low bball IQ moments, but I think he could stand to be more patient for a better shot. That's defintely more of a feel thing.
He has a great half of a season, Edwards has another great run at the Championship....lol, you tell me the difference.... They are only 6 months apart in age.
He's not as far off as you think if you look at his hot streak. Jalen put up 27/6/4 on 47/38/82 for 20 games in the middle of this year. Not quite there but close, and still really good. I wouldn't really care that much if his best ~20 game stretch looked like Edwards next year. The issue is the other 60 games where he's at 17/5/3 on 40/31/80. It's all about consistency for Jalen. That's what he's got to fix.
4 years as a pro 3 as a Rocket - we know exactly what he will be - a better version of what he is, and that is a decent scorer, and little else. Below average handle, below average left hand, average passer, high turnover rate when he is initiator on offense, drifts on defense losing his man quite often, a decent rebounder, and a decent finisher at the rim but below average 3pt shooter - better suited to be a 6th man or a 3rd or 4th option on a team with better leadership. Not a leader, is soft, competitiveness is questionable, and honestly, isn't all that bright. A role player whose role is to score - and when hot you let him cook, when not you let him ride the bench.....comparible to Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford. DD
- "if Jalen can't be in the same place at the same age that maybe the best up and coming player in the league is, then he is a BUST" - "....Jalen should be X good already because he was a #2 pick" - "I thought he was going to be a superstar and he isn't so therefore he is now a bust" - "someone once compared him to player X and he looks nothing like that player so therefore he is a bust" - "it's year 3, he SHOULD be this good" ...all these lines of thinking completely miss the point of player development and let Houston's leadership off the hook for punting on player development for the first TWO years of Jalen's career. This isn't really hard stuff guys - I'm just as frustrated as everyone else about Jalen's inconsistency but player development depends on the player and anyone with kids or employees that they manage or even fur babies, knows that everyone develops at different rates and what worked for one person might not work for another and oh yeah you gotta put in the work - people don't get smarter if you don't teach them and Silas wasn't teaching..... At this point it doesn't matter where you think Jalen "should be" based on static bad reads from years ago. The only thing that matters is where he is today and what he needs to become a better player - and when you start comparing him to others, you lose sight of his needs individually. He will NEVER be Anthony Edwards - and thats okay, there are a lot of players in the league who are very good who will never be anything like Anthony Edwards...so stop comparing him to Edwards, past #2 picks, other "superstars" and just focus on how we can get him to sustain some of the really amazing things he did this year(even against good teams).
Ant has come a long way this year on his IQ. Hopefully Jalen can make a similar leap. He was making much better reads in the Denver series.
Ant has been ahead of Jalen his entire career and what helped him a lot was going to USA basketball and being the "Dude" there...... Jalen did get to play against them, but he hasn't been invited back - I wonder why that is? DD
