I never saw Green as the ‘A’ alpha on a team but more like a damn good ‘B’ scorer on a championship contender like Paul George, Devin Booker, etc. To me that’s worth a top 2 pick, and is still on track to be that. He’s just going through growing pains.
Everyone, be there for any Jalen Green superfans you know, they are going through a really hard time right now. Constantly having to come up with excuses for his performance is taking its toll on them.
Jalen Green being the second option on a contender is definitely a strong possibility but I wouldn't rule out Green being a 1a offensive player primarily due to his ftr for a 20 year old guard. His dribble drive game is more advanced than 20 year old Booker for example. Booker was a more consistent shooter at this stage but I would say becoming a more consistent shooter is easier than being an elite dribble drive player who gets foul calls. Green gets to the line a lot for a guard his age. Even with his high ftr he still doesn't even get calls consistently so you can imagine his ftr when refs start respecting him more. Green also hasn't learned how to embellish contact yet. So his high ftr is with the young player tax(refs hold their whistle for young players more than star vets) and him not really selling calls much and not knowing the proper way to do it yet. In fact a Mavs fan told me that Green needs to learn how to flail more because he saw that refs holding their whistle for Green on multiple occasions when they played the Mavs.
I’m under the belief that the top tier scoring guards of this league all have one thing in common, and that is superior handles. That’s why I always thought Klay Thompson and Harden couldn’t even compare, it makes that much of a difference in a player’s game. Green has good enough handles, but he seems more mechanical and not as fluid as the Morants, Hardens, Lukas, etc. so we’ll see.
His handles are definitely not at the level of those players and never will be probably. But they are more creative than the players people compare Green to at similar stage of development (Lavine, Beal, Booker, Anthony Edwards) and that's perfectly fine for someone like Green with his first step and speed.
I think 95% or more NBA players do not even get a taste of an NBA championship. This is slightly above meeting a big foot.
Intuitively, there should be a lot more than 5% of active players who have been on a championship team.
https://www.sportscasting.com/only-11-of-nba-players-have-ever-won-a-championship/ Yes, if the role players are still young enough and there are no dynasties and three-peats, there should be more of course.... star players do not have the same opportunities to ride championship coattails as role players. You could probably count those star players that have won, are still active on two hands....?!
If "star" players are guys who have been an all-star at some point in their career, then the Curry-led Warriors alone would have Curry, K.Thompson, Draymond, Durant, Wiggins, and Iguodala.
A reddit dude calculated it, even if it's debatable, it's likely 1:8.8, 1:9 ratio of players that won one. So likely a nineth or tenth of NBA players will have championship experience. That is not considering whether all of them are still active at the same time.
Yeah KPJ is playing better lately. Jalen is regressing before our eyes. I've never seen a team miss soo many wide open threes. We missed 3 in one possession today.
He has improved his all round game, just can't hit his shots at the moment. He is getting to the line a lot more than he was last season. He is only 20 years old and has plenty of time to improve. Would love seeing a big push after the All Star break, like he had last season.
Hey, can Jalen revolve his shot back quickly, please? I can actually see the rest of his game getting better. But without a shot it’s painfully obvious how far he still has to go. I’m ready for chapter 5, because I know it’ll be a good one. But damn if the slog isn’t horrible to witness
Terrible offensive game by Green, though his defense was better than usual. The average degree of difficulty on his shots is too high and that's partially his fault and partially the team's fault. You can't have all your jumpers being unassisted and highly contested and then the rest of your shots being rough drives to the rim. Ideally the coach and PG would help him figure this out, but Jalen also has to learn that stars are on their own and have to take control of the situation. This is destiny. Jalen has to figure out that he needs to work with the team to get easier shots, and he has to demand the team plays to his strengths on offense. It's not obvious right now, but we are at the point where friendships have to be strained or nothing will evolve. Interesting times.
