The Good and the Evil by Jalen Green

The Houston Rockets are looking to make a significant jump next season, and a lot of that depends on the play of star guard Jalen Green. He has shown many flashes throughout his young career, but has been unable to maintain consistency in his performances.

Last week we got a first look at how Green has improved over the offseason, and while it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about his performance this season.

Green has been very persistent in trying to find a rhythm early on in these preseason games. Against the Utah Jazz on Monday evening, he was able to fend off center Alperen Şengün and get to his spots early.

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 dominate possession to gain momentum.

Green also did an excellent job running the fast break after Houston’s successful defensive possession. With second-year forward Amen Thompson in the lineup, the Rockets want to play fast and up-tempo. Green complemented Thompson’s lineups very well with his tremendous athletic ability.

It’s already been mentioned how encouraging it was to see Green trying to get going early in a game, but sometimes it’s better to let the offense run wild than try to play hero ball.

There were many instances, most notably against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, where he seemed unwilling to hand the ball back to Şengün from a screen and roll, settling instead for a much harder shot.

If head coach Ime Udoka wants the young guard to be more comfortable with the ball, Green will need to improve his decision-making. On the bright side, while his shot selection looked better, his passing, especially in pick-and-rolls, wasn’t ideal.

But being a gifted scorer like Green, you can get away with a few mistakes as the primary playmaker. However, when your shots aren’t falling, which was the case for him against the Thunder, you have to find ways to make plays for your team without giving up about 15 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 playmaking abilities opened up tremendous opportunities for the rest of the team, which in turn allowed him to make easy shots when needed.

Luckily for Houston and Green, it’s just the preseason. This time of year is meant to make mistakes and learn. The young guard will look to continue improving his game as the regular season begins and potentially lead his team to the playoffs for the first time in four years.

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