Jalen Green Defensive Highlights

A locked in Jalen is the perfect defender for non-physically overpowering guards, and this video really shows that! If you can't power by him, it's not that easy to get loose. Even in last game's biggest Steph three, Jalen was RIGHT THERE.

 

I did notice he was playing HARD on defense last night. As critical as I've been about Jalen at times, one thing I have no doubt about anymore is his character and passion for basketball. Played in, if I'm counting correctly, 188 straight games now, and his effort level in the playoffs has been next level so far.

I still wish his shooting was more consistent, but he's developed into a true two-way player and a guy I think would start for a lot of teams around the league. I don't think that was the case under Silas.

 

Hes gotten sooooo much better at moving his hips and reading rotations.

He is probably our worst defensive starter but at worse is an average defender and I would argue above average.

Gets a lot of slack about how we are worse defensively on vs off but thats because hes probably our 7th or 8th best defender and the first 3 guys off the bench are also better. We just have an amazing defensive team.

does NOT mean hes a bad defender tho. Hes sooo much improved.

When hes diving on the ground for loose balls is when hes at his best. His defensive intensity really does help his offense.

 

This is where culture matters. On another team, Jalen is a middling to poor defender and just a chucker. With Silas, that is exactly what he was. Playing in this culture has brought out the best in JG. Ime has his flaws, but he has succeeded in establishing team culture. Nothing more important.

 

I think it was his best defensive game all season. Completely locked in

 

I know Jalen has gotten a bad rep for his defense, but I always thought it had more to do with off ball defensive awareness mixed with it never being an emphasis for him. Even when he was a rookie and teams start looking for matchups at the end of games Green would hold his own and the opposing teams figured it out so they would go after guys like Gary Bird.

With Ime you can see that Green has a much higher level of focus and attention to detail. Seeing Green in the playoffs defend like that also shows he can defend like that when it matters -- which is super important. He understands the moment and he understands urgency. I can't stand watching super talented players not play with urgency when the moment is big.

thanks for sharing the video!

 

Takes for sharing this video. Green as the low man was a weak spot most of the year along with just rotating slowly. Much more decisive this game. I still like him better on smaller players.

 

Thanks for noticing this. He doesn't get enough credit for this part of his game. It doesn't come naturally to him, as we all saw in his first couple of years. It took work.