Time to hold KPJ to account!

It's really not fair to have those kinds of expectations for Jalen Green, in one offseason is it really likely that he massively improves on both sides of the ball in order to catch up with KPJ who will probably show improvement himself?

Are you really ready to outright say that Jalen Green wasn't worth the pick if he doesn't do that this season? That's pretty harsh.

As to the "youth is not an excuse" bit, the reason it's used is because it was one of the first things Udoka said upon taking over and it seems like when it comes to a couple players we've been hearing nothing but their youth used as an excuse for their poor performance. So every time you hear someone use youth as an excuse for poor performance, you're likely to hear that come back up.

Can youth be the REASON why certain things happen? Sure, but it's not an excuse. We have to hold a higher standard than that.

 

You have it twisted, I'm just here posting the objective facts countering the blind, emotional hatred of the best guard on the roster.

Don't whine about the few times that happens in the sea of BS attempting to prop up other players and tear down the scapegoat of the team.

Also, you come off as more than a little bit dishonest in that you claim to have me blocked yet also try to pose as an expert when it comes to things I post....which is it? Do you not know what you are talking about, or were you lying about blocking me....as many have. Don't worry, I don't judge, I'm just curious.

 

I agree with most of your points, but I still think We could've generated much more catch and shoot 3's for everyone, KPJ included. KPJ sadly is not a downhill attacker like Booker, he likes to cross and then unexplicably go back instead of pushing forward, so IMO he would be much better off the ball on offense, spread the court and spot up on wings/corners.

First thing that comes to mind are high screen and rolls/pops, which We've used sporadically, but are the easiest way to create mismatches with this roster. For example, give the ball to Jalen somewhere between the 3pt line and middle of the court, have Jabari set the screen, with KPJ spotting up in or near the corner. You open up and spread the court for JG to attack the basket and collapse the D,pass to a rolling or popping Jabari, or hit KPJ on the opposite wing or corner. And with Alpi initiating, We could've used some off ball screens to free up both KPJ for catch and shoot opportunities. But that would've ruined the tank.

 

They kind of tried that but Jalen just wasn't very competent with the ball in his hands, he rarely looks to pass if he could feasibly chuck up a shot and he's not very good at it when he tries.

The hope is that he develops that part of his game eventually. If he does, a shared backcourt between KPJ and Green could be really good but he's got a long way to go both on ball and off ball.... and on defense.

If the legend of his work ethic is even a little bit true, maybe we start to see signs of that development next season.

 

My way-too-specific predictions for Green's third season:

25.7 points per game
4.2 assists per game
4.0 rebounds per game
1.4 steals
0.5 blocks
FG percentage: 43.9%
3P percentage: 35.4%
FT percentage: 80.4%

This level of improvement would be right in line with other top, highly-picked guard prospects in recent draft history.

Given KPJ's age and much lower prospect stock at the time of his draft, I expect him to show little to no improvement on offense. If he can sustain his current offensive production but take a big step forward on defense, that would be a great outcome for him. If he takes a small step back on offense and only makes minor improvements on defense, I think that would be pretty close to the median outcome, and I'm half expecting to see something like that happen if he even begins the season on the Rockets and getting the same number of minutes.

Also a possibility he just can't take Udoka's tough love and flames out. Nobody is going to want him if there's another soup-throwing incident, so if that kind of thing happens, he's going to end up in China.

 

I'm betting he's not too fragile for it, but we'll see... *gets the Orville Redenbacher

 

At this point I have accepted that a few people on this site simply have mental issues.

BGreat 100% has issues of some kind mental thing going on. It is what it is. The broken record play its bit on a loop. Eventually the player will be bumped and he will move onto something else he can repeat incessantly while insulting other posters on the message board daily about.

 

That would be a natural progression but I think the team is expecting Jalen to improve more significantly on both his first two seasons. I feel like Udoka is not going to be ok with 43.9%/35.4% from a person vying for the top scorer role. That's not good enough shot making unless you're getting 8-10 FTA as well.

Hope Green can beat those numbers and obviously play much better defense.

 

I expect a lot of offensive stats to go down as Ime forces them to play D at least for half a season.

DD

 

Not sure why a shooting guard would have to ''catch up'' to the self proclaimed head honcho PointGod floor general

And being raw n young is no more than an excuse for 'someone learning to play PG' so its going to take time, or making excuses by comparing games/minutes between a player going into 5th season vs one going into 3rd

Taking a players last 30 games played and excluding the previous sucky(using your TS% formula) 3 seasons of their play is the ultimate excuse (exclusion)

Sure learning a new position can be a REASON for an excuse, but we have to hold a MUCH higher standard than that

The only guards competing with KPJ at this moment are TyTy/Nix and Josh, which is why KPJ is by far the best out of that ''guard'' bunch

But when it comes to Green, this situation is more like a remix version of Van Exel/Jones(KPJ) vs Kobe(Green), and its going to turn out like the original version turned out to be as Kobe ''caught up'' to them eventually and then pulled away like big red Secretariat

 

Glad you asked, he'd have to "catch up" because he's an interior player.

Thus far, Green is all hype, but people like you still hilariously think he's Kobe when he's not even the best 23 and under SG on his own team.

When we had a head coach that played guys based on draft position alone, Green was safe to underperform without consequences... but there's a chance accountability is coming.

 

Well I didn't know guards were interior players

If Green is all hype, then KPJ is all all hype, who was a said top 5 talent in his draft but his stock dropped to where the Cavs got a steal only to trade him for a bag of chips

Never said he is going to be Kobe I was just using a remix example comparing the two

You are propping up KPJ over the likes of Nix/TyTy acting like he is baby AI/Zeke, Rockets don't have any legit comp at PG so that is why you are the water boy for KPJ, plus you wanted Mobley, but he wanted no part of your boy based on their USC days, you may want to relinquish your water duties since it cost you a real shot at getting Mobley

KPJ had Silas super brown nosing for him as well while he underperformed based on the stats and your criteria of a player sucking, there was no accountability, for none of the players, its why Green camp came out and spoke about it and they listened and delivered with Udoka, Green is the shot caller

KPJ is Van Exel/Jones, who were seen as better than Kobe first two years in

 

There have been a few guys who took much bigger jumps than that, so it's not impossible. Ja Morant improved his scoring output by 8 points from his second to third year. Tyler Herro improved by over 5 points. But overall, it's pretty rare. The average improvement for the group I looked at was right around 3 points per game. Similar story with the shooting percentages.

I don't think 43.9%/35.4% is too bad though given Green's FT rate and young age. You'd like to see better than that during his prime, and probably will, but for his third year in the league I think that would be acceptable.

 

I can see where you're coming from however I'm just doubting that there's that kind of patience from this front office and possibly our coach. They've publicly put more responsibility and accountability on him. I don't know about a big jump in ppg but I definitely see a big jump in efficiency coming for 2 reasons:

1) Reasons you mentioned (player comps, Udoka) leading to 2-3ppg and better efficiency. I predict a lot fewer heroic 3pters and mid range jumpers in Jalen's future. I believe Udoka will push him similar to Jaylen Brown: attack the basket or get an open 3 or pass the ball quickly and get into better position for your teammates. Hope Jalen continues to put on muscle, will help a lot.

2) I believe that his second season efficiency is artificially deflated because:
(a) we had way too many non/poor shooters killing the spacing and that's not a realistic case study and
(b) there was not enough competent PG/playmaking even compared to the previous season where we at least had 20 minutes a night from DJ Augustin to remind us of what a minimum floor general looks like.
(c) there were just way too many young players and way too many other players' errors to deal with, pretty much everyone shot below expectations this season. I think it was difficult environment to thrive in especially if you like to play off ball a little bit.

This is why I see a kind of "bonus" bump in efficiency coming for him on top of what you're projecting. I believe he should have been around 44% this last season given how often he attacked the basket and on a more natural progression he'd be aiming for 45% this coming season. I think he can do it even if he has to decrease his ppg a bit.

 

do you have a mental list?

 

Yeah, but that's a really dumb comparison, the only reason you are making it is so you can compare Jalen to Kobe....which his fanbois have been doing since before he was drafted despite him having nowhere near that level of talent.

When you compare KPJ to Jalen right now, there's no quesiton, KPJ is the significantly better, more talented player. People like you are hoping and praying that Jalen one day magically gets a lot better....but you don't really have much to go on other than blind faith that will happen.

That's why I say there's 2 mindless pseudo-religious cults within the Rockets fanbase, the Green cult and the Sengun cult. Neither have even the slightest grasp of reality when it comes to their deity....but at least Sengun freaks can say that their guy was the best player on the team last year. The Green cult simply has to pretend that their guy was a good player when everyone knows he wasn't....then get super upset when their guy is left off of lists of the best young players.

I do hope that you are right and one day your guy becomes anything close to your delusion of what he's going to become, but I deal in reality. If he comes out next season drastically improved on both ends of the court, then we can continue this discussion, but as of right now, there's no valid reason whatsoever to think Jalen will EVER be better than KPJ. If things change, then we start that conversation.

 

I'm sure he's physically written his little "list" out and it probably looks something like this

 

Preparing for the worst but still hoping for the best

 

You communicate quite well but seem to lack basic comprehension, which based on your said football background I can see why that basic example using the gap that you seem to have with this Green/KPJ natural talent and floor game comparison went over your head

I don't think KPJ is Jones or Van Excel just like I don't think Green is Mamba

I was using where they were at that point in their career and the ground Kobe had to make up which is similar to the ground Green has to make up which is very small and nowhere near how you are making it seem

If KPJ was as good as your fan/water boy comments make him to be there is no way Cavs would have traded him for a 55th pick, they would have held out for a high level pick because his floor game would have shown that

You are just butthurt and a Mobley fan/water boy and are just trying to prop up KPJ

Using your own player judgment format and how you covet TS%, KPJ sucked first three years and you only prop him up on the last 30 games past season

You mean to say right now KPJ is significantly much better than Nix/TyTy, but you know those aren't players that would move the needle so you keep being confused and mentioning Green to try and prop up for your infatuation for Mobley, who wanted no parts of Houston because of KPJ being there

And really no other team wanted him since he was acquired for basically a 60th pick

So stop trying to prop up a player to belittle a pick you didn't like/want

I don't care about a cult, which means secret knowledge in actual truth or cult-ure, choose one

There is plenty reason to feel Jalen will surpass KPJ, just as Kobe passed Van Exel/Jones, but nobody expected that after first two years

You would have traded Kobe after rookie season(7ppg) the way you judge players by the week

KPJ TS% first 3 seasons sucked according to your views, yet you exclude it based on the past 30 games (what have you done for me lately)

Your way of judging players is like the fast food/microwave culture we are currently in, what have you done for me today type thinking

Green isn't my guy, but KPJ is most definitely your guy, which should be the case since you are only left with Nix and TyTy to choose from as point guards on this current roster

YOU hope Green will be Brewer or L Williams so you can continue to nut hug for your DPOY finalist Mobley