Nook - Mucho respect for your hoops acumen, but on this one, you're letting that intense dislike for Kevin cloud your judgement. C'mon man, there's no universe where he's not a good defender...much less below average.
To be among the elites of the elites offensively you have to be a top tier playmaker, only scoring efficiently isn’t enough, you have to run the entire offense. This was the entire bear thesis against Green before the draft, even if he could be an efficient scorer, he does not have the passing, court vision, handles, feel for the game to make up for his defensive liability to become an overall elite player. And when he’s not even scoring efficiently like right now he’s not even playable.
We need a different coaching staff for Green and the other young players to develop defensively. I understand we only see a portion of what is behind the scenes and the work they put up. We can only comment on what we see on the TV. Last game was the perfect example against San Antonio, Popovich called a time out when winning by 15 or so because they missed an assignment. That to me is coaching and not what we are currently seeing. This development years do not come back on a player. They need a different approach, cough cough, coach.
That's a fair assessment but I think there's still time for Green to work and improve on his defense which would make him less of a liability when he's on the court. If scouts were correct about Green prior to the draft in him being able to eventually be a 20+ ppg scorer then I'm not so concerned about his inefficient, deer-in-headlights performance right now on the offensive end.
Defense is more than 50% effort and positional awareness, less than 50% physical attributes. Physically limited players like Jokic can develop into plus defenders. Taysaun Prince, another player who was knocked for being skinny was one of the NBA best defenders.
Effort is a big part of defense but there are limits. Prince had a really long wingspan. However someone like Alex Caruso uses effort and positional awareness to be a good defender.
I don’t dislike him personally, I just don’t think he will overcome his demons in time. He is much improved defensively this year, he still isn’t an average of above average defensive point guard in my opinion. In fairness those around him are terrible so it’s hard to completely measure how good he is.
the grind of the long season has begun testing on Al p and Jalen, mentally, physically, that might not be the worst part, the worst part is, the two kids might lose their confidence bit by bit due to a neglect. shooting slump not a big deal for pros, as long as the coach keep giving you credit, spending time on film sessions with you, designing plays for you. i don't think that's the case to this (rebuilding) team and its rookies - obviously player development here has long been giving way to converting vets' contracts into FRPs, that seems the top priority. anyway, hope both can walk out of it soon, mental toughness is everything. also, i don't think anybody wanna see the value of team assets dip sharply in such an early stage.
Agree on the effort part. To add though, Tayshaun despite being skinny, was blessed with a 7'2" wingspan. His physical attributes is more of a case of skinny long guys like Mobley and Chet being successful defensively. Not saying Green has T-Rex arms, guys like Tate may not have the longest wingspan, still decent. If Green is not the longest, should be using his speed to catch his man. The physical helps. Effort certainly. Other thing is mental / focus, not lose your man on transition D. That's a weakness on lot of the young guys.
Yes, Prince did have a long wingspan. However, the rookie from Sacramento, Davion Mitchell measured with extremely short wingspan, yet is one of the best defenders in the class…
You underestimate the ego of Tilman (and most billionaires frankly). They want to be respected, which they mostly are. Most also want to be loved or at least viewed favorably. This isn't about some rando like me commenting on CF. It's about a coalition of Rox fans (potentially leading to a national conversation) repeatedly calling out his biggest mistakes. Again, the dust isn't settled and I sincerely hope JG is a 20x all-star proving people like me completely wrong. But at some point, if the current trends continue, we should be comfortable calling for peoples heads in this org.
Fo sho',. we love our Tate's and Hayes'. And not an excuse for bad D. Kawaii wingspan not a requirement, but sure is nice to have.
why did the other rookies that are playing well now play poorly in SL? the only one that was playing well in SL that is playing well now is Franz Wagner.
The answer is that summer league stats are mostly irrelevant to anything, whether good or bad. What is more informative are the skills that players demonstrate during the rare moments of NBA-level intensity.
I dont really believe that. most of the the rookies for the most part were playing the role they were going to play when they switched to real NBA talent except Cade. Mobley looked bad because his guards weren't adept enough at feeding him the ball, same with Barnes. Cade was playing 2 guard while Killian was running point in Summer league. Jalen Green had the ball exclusively in SL he was the one to get the ball on the break. His game from SL has completely switched.
Green was making a lot of shots off the dribble and fading away in the SL. Could have been just a hot stretch.
Half of defense is physicals, half is talent. Effort level is a talent, anticipation is a talent. Guys like Chris Paul have nothing special about them physically, but have the mental aptitude to anticipate for charges and steals. They have had that since they were playing peewee ball in grade school, it is not something you learn at 18 or 19 years old or clap clap just play harder. Green doesn’t have the physicals to be an impact defender, this is why before the draft I was studying photos of him next to other prospects with known measurements, because his 6’6 listed height was BS and that matters in projecting his defensive physicals. And Green has never exhibited any defensive talent that usually shows up in steals rate, charges drawn etc.
Vision and awareness are very important part of being good team defenders. Guys like Chuck Hayes and Battier could see the play develop and anticipate where it was going and disciplined enough not to over commit. These guys aren't exceptional athletes or the fastest guys on the floor. But they are great defensive players because of their defensive IQ. We talk a lot about offensive court vision for playmakers. Defensive court vision is very underrated.
Yeah this is a talent. You look at Chuck Hayes and think he’s just a hustle player, but no matter how much you clap clap Stromile will never play that way, which if he did he would be an all defensive first team guy with his physical abilities. But it’s a talent that some just don’t have.
