The good and the bad of Jalen Green

The Houston Rockets are looking to make a big splash next season, and a lot of that can be attributed to the play of star guard Jalen Green. He has shown plenty of flashes during his young career but has failed to maintain consistency in his performances.

This past week gave us our first look at how Green has improved this offseason, and while it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about his ability to perform this season.

Green has been very persistent in finding a rhythm early in these preseason games. Against the Utah Jazz on Monday night, he was able to work from center Alperen Şengün and get into position early at ease.

As we’ve seen throughout his career, once the Star Guard gets going, it’s hard to stop him. It was encouraging to see Green attack early and control possession to get himself going.

Green also did a great job leaking and running the fast break after Houston’s successful defensive possessions. With second-year forward Amen Thompson in the lineup, the Rockets look to play fast and up-tempo. Green has complimented the lineups with Thompson very well with his tremendous athleticism.

It’s been mentioned before how encouraging it was to see Green get going early in the game, but sometimes it’s better to let the offense flow rather than trying to play hero ball.

There were many instances, especially Wednesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he seemed reluctant to give the ball back to Şengün off a screen and instead settled for a much harder shot.

If head coach Ime Udoka wants the young guard to get more of the ball, Groen must improve his decision-making. On the plus side, his shot selection seemed to be looking better, but his passing, especially off pick-and-rolls, was less than ideal.

But as a gifted goalscorer like Groen, you can get away with a few missteps as a primary playmaker. However, if your shots aren’t falling, which was the case for him against the Thunder, you should be able to find ways to make plays for your team without having to make about fifteen field goal attempts.

That’s why James Harden was so effective during his tenure with the Rockets. He wasn’t the most efficient player when it came to field goal percentage, but his skill as a playmaker opened up so much for the rest of the team, allowing him to easily score goals when needed.

Luckily for Houston and Green, it’s only the preseason. You’re supposed to make mistakes and learn at this time of year. The young guard will look to continue improving his play heading into the regular season and potentially lead his team to the playoffs for the first time in four years.

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