I think Jalen is genuinely struggling, because as others have alluded to, he doesn't understand how to play winning team basketball, he never learned to make the right reads and to instinctively make the right decisions. He has physical talent, but right now, he is just completely off mentally. We wasted two years of his development by basically teaching him nothing. I give him credit for not blaming anyone but himself, and still cheering his teammates on. But look at him, he looks dejected.
Totally agreed. Tari can't start not because of Green but because of Brooks. The options for replacing Green in the starting lineup are these: Holiday, Thompson, Whitmore. I don't think Udoka trusts Whitmore just yet. Holiday will be a defensive liability. Thompson is not ready but may get the nod simply because of his defense. I still hope and pray that Jalen will turn it around. That would be the best solution for us.
I feel bad for Jalen on a human level. I think the pressure has gotten to him and if they insist on continuing to start him they need to address his mental state. I said in the game thread im not a fan of his usual game, but he isnt THIS bad. That said, this isnt the Houston Jalens. I understand the vested interest in his success, but at some point they've got to put the team first.
In my world starting Cam would be what id prefer but thats not going to happen. Hes not going to leapfrog all those guys. That said, i disagree about Eason not being a good starter. I dont think any of these guys not named Cam are long term solutions at the off guard spot. Almost anybody else would be an upgrade over Green right now including Eason who would be a big upgrade over him. They have played Eason in place of Green alongside brooks a few times and those lineups have fared very well so i dont see how its ok to play Eason in the closing minutes of games or in the middle of the third quarter but his shortcomings make him not able to start. Again, I dont care who starts. I just disagree that in the short term replacing Green with Eason is a bad idea.
There's not a huge sample yet, but the the G league vs college route is not looking good here in the early going. I think even one year with a high level college coach actually trying to win games helps quite a bit in the transition. Jalen Green started in high school, probably the only time his team actually cared about win and losses, but he was far, far more talented than opponents. Then he moved up to AAU/Prep ball which is all about showing off talent. Then to the G league, in a year that was again just about showing off talent for the draft. The 2 years on an NBA team with no structure whatsoever and was akin to a professional AAU team. He's never been coached to play winning basketball, never. It's like he's having to learn from scratch and unlearn all the bad AAU habits. I'm not ready to give up on him entirely, but I am at the point where I think running him out with the first unit is a mistake.
