Jalen Green - what are your expectations for this year?

Wait what, Garuba literally played in a better league, the Euroleague, and started.

 

You are kidding. All the pros in other countries start at 12. Why aren't there a bazillion Lukas?

 

Elsewhere, I said it would be a crazy take , but I think Green should come off the bench and have Gordon start for at least the first half.

I don't have concrete expectations except to improve. Based on the preseason, I think Green would do well to mostly play off ball, off the bench as a 6th man. He looks pretty overwhelmed out there, as the athleticism and physicality has stepped up.

 

Green needs time to develop, he will be a lot better than he looks today, I get it. But saying the only difference between players that actually look good is experience is seriously selling those players short. Sengun and Giddey are both younger than Green. Sengun was always the better prospect and I said that before the draft you can quote me on it.

 

what are you talking about, Luka is a generational talent because he is a generational talent. Everyone in Europe plays at a young age, not everyone wins Euroleague MVP at 17 or 18

 

Why does it always have to be Green vs Sengun on here?
They're both fantastic prospects and they're both Rockets.
Embrace them and watch how they blossom.

 

Y’all are being way too hard on Green after 3 preseason games. Game 1 he looked good just the shot wasn’t falling. Game 2 was his best game as the shot was falling. Game 3 his first road game and like Silas said saw a bunch of reads he’s never seen before. So y’all expected him to come out and ball out every game this season? That’s on y’all. People always talk about knowing it’ll be growing pains but get frustrated when they actually witness the growing pain part.

 

It was better than going to college for him. He wants to be a great basketball player, not an engineer. Jalen Green in any other professional league would take time to adapt also, no different than whats going on here now. The GLeague offers some semblance of pro ball, much more than NCAA hoops does.

Yes I'm very impressed with Sengun. He may turn out to be the best player we draft and lead the team as a Nikola Jokic type and that would be great for us while Green plays a complimentary scoring role. The goal is to win a ring, not to nitpick each and every young player who comes through here.

 

I am hoping/expecting something similar to Anthony Edwards from last season. Green's skill gives him the long term advantage over Edwards but Edwards came into the league with a pro's physique. Again, 12-15 ppg on 40-something % shooting.

 

Clearly.....Historically the #2 picks are pretty hit and miss:


2019 Ja Morant, Murray State – Memphis Grizzlies
2018 Marvin Bagley, Duke – Sacramento Kings
2017 Lonzo Ball, UCLA – Los Angeles Lakers
2016 Brandon Ingram, Duke – Los Angeles Lakers
2015 D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State – Los Angeles Lakers
2014 Jabari Parker, Duke – Milwaukee Bucks
2013 Victor Oladipo, Indiana – Orlando Magic
2012 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky – Charlotte Bobcats
2011 Derrick Williams, Arizona – Minnesota Timberwolves
2010 Evan Turner, Ohio State – Philadelphia 76ers
2009 Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut – Memphis Grizzlies
2008 Michael Beasley, Kansas State – Miami HEAT
2007 Kevin Durant, Texas – Seattle Supersonics
2006 LaMarcus Aldridge, Texas – Chicago Bulls (Draft rights traded to Portland Trail Blazers)
2005 Marvin Williams, North Carolina – Atlanta Hawks
2004 Emeka Okafor, Connecticut – Charlotte Bobcats
2003 Darko Milicic, Serbia & Montenegro – Detroit Pistons
2002 Jay Williams, Duke – Chicago Bulls
2001 Tyson Chandler, Dominguez HS (Calif.) – L.A. Clippers (Draft rights traded to Chicago Bulls)
2000 Stromile Swift, LSU – Vancouver Grizzlies

There's a lot of space in between Darko Milicic and Green..... or hopefully D'Angelo Russell and Green.

 

Garuba was a complimentary piece and defensive specialist who doesnt have nearly the same skill set as Al P. Now you're just arguing for the sake of it. Rockets were very lucky to be able to select Sengun in the mid 1st since some other analysts thought he should have gone top 10 - and they were right.

 

Just cherry picking the players who Green was compared to during the draft:

Bradley Beal's preseason numbers in 2012-2013: FG% 38%; 3PT% 28%. 11.3 PPG, 3 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.4 ToPG

Zach Lavine's preseason numbers in 2014-2015: FG%: 41%; 3PT% 22%. 5.6 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1 APG, .3 ToPG

Green's numbers so far: FG%: 34%; 3PT% 25%. 12.3 PPG, 5 RPG, 2.7 APG, 3 ToPG

 

So in that case, why play him at all? Why not put him in the gym lifting, while we accumulate more mystery boxes and then: dynasty!!!

Here’s the point that people don’t get: a feminine kid who gets mashed on screens and box-outs and gets blitzed on a nightly basis is a high risk of giving up. Even his rookie contract is enough money to allow him to pursue his other interests in life.

The hope is:
1. Either he finds some inner dog in him.
2. The coaching staff figures out a system that gives him some positives to make him feel good. Maybe flank him with physicality to protect him?

Just putting him out there to get beat-up on a nightly basis and saying “I’m not worried”, “rookies are rookies” “we expected all this”: this is not the way, people. Players need positive reinforcement and to see progress, to get better and to keep working…

 

I have no expectations for the Rockets this year except a high lottery pick.
Let Green, Sengun, KPJ, Garuba and JC take their lumps. See what and where the fit is for each. Develop their bodies and be ready to start a nice stretch of solid young play.

Now, I do feel Green and KPJ are redundant. Neither are true facilitators, KPJ could develop there for sure but at the expense of his best attribute, which is scoring.

 

Scottie Barnes as well for me. He's GIannis light with playmaking and shooting

 

The point I'm making is that people are saying Green has been bad because he's a rookie, all rookies = bad, but wait Sengun is a rookie and even younger why isn't he bad, oh because he had professional experience in a man's league, but wait Garuba played in an even better league why doesn't he look better?

People are jumping through hoops trying to make excuses. The real answer is, Green is not that good, never was. He has a lot of potential though, and hopefully for the franchise's sake he will develop into the player people thought he already was.

 

Barnes has also looked amazing, not the level of ball handling and passing as Giddey, who is a legit 6'9 pg, but a much better defender, elite level. In hindsight these two were truly unique skillsets as prospects. Sengun had unique(historic) production. Mobley had unique physical attributes. All no brainers. Green could jump and maybe shoot? Sigh.

 

A feminine kid? Really?! These are the type of asinine comments I'm talking about. You don't see this nonsense being said about any of our other rookies. I can see now that you're a tragic person.

 

That's quite a hoop to jump through to reach that conclusion.....