I think his defensive instincts will be fine if the players around him are good defensively and communicate well. I have seen some really terrible defenders be covered up at the guard position. Steph Curry was horrendous but having the pieces around him made him adequate. The key for Udoka will be to keep it simple for Green - he is a willing defender when focused.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/steph-curry-defensive-rating-career https://bluemanhoop.com/2022/09/03/golden-state-warriors-stephen-curry-is-actually-a-good-defender/ I would not call Curry horrendous (we see lowlights but we have to accumulate every play here) when the average Defensive rating of the whole league is around 109-110. Even when he was young he was just below average in a couple of seasons. The fact that he is making tons of shots keep the other teams’ number of possessions a tad down. I think we perceive him as a weak defender because of his slight built but he is actually average at being disruptive. I think the word to describe Curry is not horrendous or bad but not versatile because basically based on his built he can only guard opposing guards.....non versatility. I agree that D is mostly effort, communication (team defense) and instincts. You have to understand that in his first 3 seasons he had 3 different coaches and a lockout season on his hand and the team still had much more wins than the Rockets in the past 3 seasons.
Yes, absolutely. Curry’s bellow average, not horrendous. Jalen Green is probably NBA-worst among heavy minutes guys. However, I agree with @Nook that Green has the tools to be a better defensive player than Curry, it’s all about his persona and mentality, where he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty… This is my own defensive ranking of “offensively-gifted guards with bad defense". From best to worst, eyeball-test: 1. Harden ( unorthodox D for a SG: superb post defense, bad at blow-by s) 2. Curry (smart and good effort, physical limitations) 3. Herro (on and off effort; Bronze Barbie) 4. Lillard (pretty bad, but the enormous load on O is a mitigating circumstance) 5. Maxey (Silver Barbie) 6. Jalen Green (Golden Barbie)
That's kind of another way of saying "yes, he's absolutely pathetic, but if everyone else around him is really really good, they can maybe hide how much he sucks defensively"
There is even a degree of historically horrendous ........ which is worse than just horrendous. The Rockets were historically bad....
Green is gonna look so much better with an actual coach + actual pg. Kpj stans tend to ignore how a shtty coach and lack of pg tends to make the entire team look like sht. It's not as simple as just hit your shots.
We've seen moments of JG being engaged and challenging the offensive player. Fair assumption to think Udoka is about to call for defensive effort from the kid Rockets. FVV and Brooks are here to answer that call and set the tone. Amen, Tate, Tari, Jabari are going to follow in step. I think there's a foundation for a really good defense, particularly so if the guys who lack effort or had on/off switches start to put in a consistent effort. Regarding Green, we need him scoring an efficient 25 more than we need him doing a Patrick Beverley style manic on ball defense. He can play that weakside corner zone spot but it still requires him to pay attention, not let the guy back cut him, anticipate the passing lanes and pull down a few rebounds.
HS 1 month G League bubble 2 years under Silas That's the entirety of Green's experience with coaching. When was he supposed to learn NBA defense? The last two years, no one on the roster improved defensively after a couple of months into their career. Either it wasn't being taught or the defense was breaking down so frequently that defensive effort became meaningless. Or both. Green has never been lazy. Yes there are times that 2 years of assured losing got to each of the young players and sapped their motivation. That happens with competitors when you lose hope of winning - we pushed the experiment really far. Was a situation that would test the most motivated NBA players, I bet they would just ask out. I have a strong feeling we're going to get a full season of defensive effort from Jalen with Udoka very gradually working on his fundamentals. I think he's sick of losing and willing to commit to Udoka's plan whatever it is.
yes, also, I’d appreciate if his approach to screens is no longer of the "mosquito approaching windshield" variety
Competition is a good thing. Pressure creates diamonds, too many of our youngsters haven't earned their time - now they will....love it. DD
A shtty point guard has nothing to do with playing horrendous defense. Defense is more about effort than anything else. Blaming Silas for Jalen Green's inability to stay in front of anyone is a bit disingenuous. As you said, its not as simple as just hit your shots.
Green really doesn't have issues staying in front of guards. His issues are not fighting through screens hard enough or ball watching and allowing open cuts and 3 pt shots. Now if he's on a 215+ lb wing or big, he'll get pushed around. But he really doesn't have an issue staying Infront of guards.
His biggest issue IMO. If Jalen can be 25/4/4 on high efficiency and a plus defender this team is going places. So many questions will be answered this year and next.
The defensive issues were him not putting forth any effort whatsoever, him not knowing where to be on the court at any given point, him not paying attention to where his man was at any given point, him having absolutely no feel for what opposing teams were trying to do on offense, him being pushed around by anyone he's attempting to defend, him not being able to stay in front of anyone due to no feel for what they are trying to do to shake him. Basically everything. You don't become the bottom 1% of NBA defenders if you are competent at anything. He was an outright embarrassment that had no business being on the court....but he was a high draft pick so he never had to earn anything. Let's not try to pretend it's any different than that.
In my view, during practice, Jalen should be on one team and FVV on the other and Jalens job needs to be to defend Fred. Period. If he can't balance out his teams defense move him to the bench until he can.
