Defense is half the game. Offense - all of the points, assists, offensive rebounds, 3pt shooting, FT's, etc - that's also just half the game. Improving at defense is like improving at all of those offensive things at once. As I said these are massive strides. When was the last time you saw a guy go from worst defenders in the NBA to above average in less than 2 years? That's why the same points+assists (as last season) ais getting him much higher impact stats this season. The defense is consistently contributing to his impact score. His jumper has always been a problem and yes he looked better when his 3 was falling but he was lacking in pretty much everything when he arrived. Wasn't just the jumper. It was pretty much every skill was way underdeveloped except his handles maybe. All that's remaining to improve now is the jumper and passing out of double teams. Looks solid so far but I know it's a small sample size.
Amazing to see him make Sochan look too slow, make CP3 look too old, and make Wemby look too clumsy in the same game.
...the G league ignite choice was more unlucky than a bad choice because the pandemic hit and his G league experience was a few weeks of playing in a bubble against a smaller pool of teams because most G league teams cancelled their seasons. Every one and done that season has had a similar delay in taking off despite the talks at the time that it was a deeper draft but the college guys at least got to play more games to development because there was still financial interest in televising college games for everyone stuck at home. The G-league however had no such compelling financial interest. You may be able to pin that on Jalen had he actually had a full G league season, but in general it's hard to blame a 17yr old kid for "playing in the wrong league" - his reasoning made sense and I can't say I wouldn't have done the same if I had been in his shoes and didn't want to play the charade of college. What the G-league promised was right - they just failed on execution and then when college started paying players, it took the remaining wind out of the G-league's sails.
Totally agree with you. The Ignite program could have been excellent, but it wasn't well managed and COVID seem to have created a generation of players lagging in basic fundamentals (Kuminga, Green, Scoot, etc.). Then you arrive in the NBA, your coach is Stephen Silas, your GM is Rafael Stone, the PG is your "bro" KPJ and the organization decides it's really smart to give you some of the highest volumes of shots ever given to an 18/19 year old in NBA history. Really slow development again. Very unusual story. Really made me wonder what would happen once he started getting a taste of competitive basketball. So far so good.
Interestingly, the perception tonight was that Green "struggled" in his game. If the 2 in and out layups where he'd beat his man go in he finishes on 27pts, 52.3% from the field 37.5% from deep and 60.48% TS% Is that really struggling?
He struggled in first half. His finishing at the rim this year has improved significantly which is really promising. And his effort on defense is great. Now if he could just make wide open threes he'd average 35 plus, never seen a guy who shoots so much better when he's contested or on the move.
He shot 37.5% from 3 tonight, that's great for a volume scorer. He's shooting 40% on the season, that's sharpshooter levels. What more do you actually want?
Dunno why you are so defensive. Didn't even say any thing bad about him, Just stating an observation. He shoots so much better on the move or with a guy in his face. Dunno why he can't make open ones it's very intriguing.
I feel like most ballers shoot better when they are contested shots because that's what they usually are. The suddenness of an open shot is almost always enough to at least make a shooter go "I'M OPEN!" and that's literally all it takes to do something mechanically wonky.
Yeah, it's different when you're a role player whose only job is to wait for that open shot on offense without any creation. That's your entire focus "gotta be ready for the shot" it's a little different when you're supposed to be the driving force of the offense. It's why so many star players struggle to adjust to a reduced bench role later in their careers (Melo being a good example) because they're used to being rhythm shooters who get the chance to start feeling it, not being guys who stand in the corner waiting for their 4-5 shots a game.
It wasn't so much that Melo couldn't adjust, it's that he refused to adjust, him being a total liability on defense didn't help matters. I'm obligated to post this video every time someone brings up Rockets Melo
I wasn't necessarily talking Rockets. He's spoken about it himself, having to come off the bench and make shots without having the chance to be on ball and work his way into rhythm was something he struggled with.
Dude his defense is a statement. His managers are crying right now. Way to start the season. I think finally game has slowed down for him. He wont look back. This is the leap we've been waiting for.
You literally called me a bigot and other names. How old are you dude 15? Or do you tweak out then get on a forum and not remember what you say?
As far as I am aware, you still haven’t answered why Jalen’s “Afro hair” is a problem and why you put that forward as a reason not to like him. Not gonna lie, that seems p racist. People have repeatedly given you the chance to clarify. Here’s another one.
