Ah yes the same David Thorpe who literally is a Morey mouth piece. I wonder why he’s negative about a future Rocket.
I am fine with Jalen Green as the pick. He has the best first step in the draft, his handle has promise and he vertically is exceptional with a strong vertical and an improving shot. He also has a lot of maturity according to the coaches and professionals around him. I am concerned with the level of coaching he has received, and concerned about whether he knows how to do the little things. He really isn't a great playmaker at this point and in order to be a franchise guard you have to be able to make those around you better. Perhaps it is there and just hasn't developed but that is his biggest red flag. He also is not very good laterally either, and that will likely keep him from being great defensively. I personally would take Evan Mobley at number two in this draft because his skill level is extremely high, his instincts are very good and defensively he can be special..... but I also realize that teams all want high level scoring guards and wings.
Since you don't want him to strive to be one of the best defenders in the league, which statement would you have preferred he make about his defense instead: 1) I just want to be an average defender 2) Screw defense
FWIW I just don't think he really likes Green as much as he likes Mobley, Barnes and Cunningham. He did say Green had a lot of upside if he is properly coached, but he lacks some basic understandings that some of the other lottery picks already have. John Hollinger said similar things. This is going to be interesting because a lot (if not most) of the analytic and coaches have Mobley above Green........ while former players have Green above Mobley.
I think there's a good chance he puts up better stats in the NBA then in the G League if he gets slightly more minutes than he did in the NBA. Say 3 to 5 more minutes a game. It all comes down to how many minutes a game he gets. I put more weight into the fact that he was thrust into the G League from high school didn't really have much of a training camp and was playing in a bubble due to covid. Everything was crazy compared to a normal season. I also put a lot of weight into the fact that he only played 15 games and was steadily improving as the season went on. I put a lot of weight into the fact that he's a very hard worker and that he will have a chip on his shoulder from not being picked number one. I also put a lot of weight into the fact that because he works hard his skills should improve, and that he'll have better teammates. I think the people that try to discredit him do not put enough weight into what he did in the G league in that specific situation and circumstance. Putting this same weight onto somebody like Martin is why I have very high hopes for Martin as well. I know you'll disagree with that, and I'm okay with it. We are allowed to our opinions, in the cool thing is we can look back and see just how laughable my prediction was. That being said, I would like to hear your prediction of his rookie stats.
This concerns me for sure. He has been saying that he needs to improve on D for years and now he says this. I wonder if his other claims such as wanting to be Kobe are also same.
START ORDERING YOUR GREEN JERSEYS HOUSTON! https://theathletic.com/2729463/202...ill-bradley-beal-or-damian-lillard-be-traded/ 1. Is Cade Cunningham locked into the No. 1 pick to the Detroit Pistons? Yes. Maybe there is a minuscule chance the Pistons don’t take Cade Cunningham with the first pick. It wouldn’t be because they select someone else. It would be because another team offers them such a ridiculously unbalanced trade that they simply can’t turn it down. If that happens, then the “yes” from me on this question gets to be laughed at and we can all frame it as a failure. But I’m willing to take that risk. Cunningham is the guy everybody holds up as the standard for this draft. Houston has tried to trade up for him. Other teams have kicked the tires on trading for the first pick to get him. But Detroit doesn’t seem motivated to move this pick and allow someone else to flourish with Cunningham. Cunningham is about as sure as they come in a draft like this. There are a bunch of high-potential guys, but Cunningham is so good at the star quality stuff that the Pistons would be foolish not to roll the dice. Troy Weaver will go with Cunningham, and it’s unlikely this backfires. 2. Is it feeling like Jalen Green is a lock at No. 2 with the Houston Rockets? We’re pretty close. I still find it odd that Evan Mobley hasn’t received more overt consideration from Houston, even with Christian Wood in the mix. It doesn’t mean Houston isn’t considering him behind closed doors. But everything right now points to the Rockets taking Green with the second selection. He might very well be the best player available, and he definitely has the biggest draw for persuading Rockets fans to come to spend money to watch a bad team with a potentially budding star. Even with some people rooting for Jalen Suggs in this spot, I’d start ordering your Green jerseys, Houston.
It's not just the analytics guys but more scouts saying same thing. Mobley over Green. Cade over Green too obviously.
So here we have him recognizing defense as his biggest weakness. But because he also wants to turn it into one of his biggest strengths, thats an issue. Got it. You just don't like him for whatever reason but some of the silly nitpicking takes away from valid points that you or others may make. Hard to take any of it seriously when using him saying he wants to be one of the best defenders in the league as a knock against him.
All we can do is use gauges as indicators. Before the season I posted Danuel House would do well in the Silas system as a slasher, cutter to the rim, 3-pt shooter, create a little, pass a little, shoot FT's, fast break man: 17 points per game player. House has all the traits to do well in a Silas offensive system that was the most efficient in NBA history. Did Silas get dumb after joining the Rockets? I say no Did we supply Silas the tools needed to recreate his schemes that utilized in Dallas? I say no Silas needs facilitators, which he had in Wall, Eric Gordon, Porter jr, Harden, Wood, Oladipo at one time or another. But not while they were all healthy and not while they (Harden/Oladipo) were content. I can talk now we (Rockets) had poor screeners all season but I will save it for another day. Harden was about 97 in NBA percentile as Ball Handler in PnR. Kenyon Martin jr, we (Rockets) found out is good as the Roll Man in PnR (NBA percentile of 90%). So the Silas system can work....Rockets just need to insert the right components in the right place at the right time. Injuries will sink any ship. So going back to D House......he stunk it up!!!! But Kenyon Martin jr possessing the same traits as House of 6'6", high riser, cutter, slasher performed admirably. Was it the last 10 to 15 games of the season against scrubs? Yes. But it was also against teams fighting for PO positioning. Bucks (2), Nuggets, Heat, Jazz (2). Hawks, Clippers (2), Lakers, Blazers, 76ers, Knicks, Warriors. KMjr shot about 39% from 3 during that stretch, while scoring about 17 points per game. The numbers I projected for House. Now we go to Jalen Green. 6'5.25" similar to House/KMjr. All three can leap and jump. I believe Green is a more electric, polished offensive player over both House and Kenyon Martin Jr. The 82% FT percentage is on one shot....but it shows Green would be 82% on the front end of a one and one. If you wish to project his numbers at the next level using his teammates as NBA starters then yes, I can see where you have issues with the projected outcomes. But Eric Gordon, Wall, Tate, KMjr, House, Wood, Khyri Thomas didn't play for the G-league Ignite. Nor did Jalen Green play in the Silas scheme that the RGV Vipers and I Porter Jr played in. Different apple and oranges all together. Bobby Brown, Jarrett Jack, Amir Johnson plus raw 18 year old like Nix and Todd didn't create the spacing that the NBA will provide.
and he would be right about Porter, as of now he's one of the worst defensive guards I've seen. I would say Green is definitely still raw from a basketball IQ perspective. He seems to put his all into it which is great to see, but the little things are not there yet for sure.
Agreed with all of this. My head thinks Mobley is the better pick. But I’d rather take Green and have Mobley explode then the other way around. There’s absolutely no logic to that other then the tantalizing effect of a pure scoring wing. Ultimately all of these guys will probably be good.
Is @CXbby a @Bobbythegreat burner account? The bby's sure have their hatred for Green. I don't know the best route here, but the bby's, they know: just ask them!