First thing Ime should say in the Press Conf is that he was WRONG giving up too early. I am still in disblief, unable to accept it.
He wasn't wrong, the players need to learn to play harder......and smarter, we don't come out aggressively enough any more. DD
Hey you just made me realize I posted on the wrong thread. Happens to me a lot when I am emotional during the games. Dont want to drag this out here. I very strongly disagree on this one but I'll sleep on it and reassess. Too angry at him right now.
I probably make my worst posts when I am emotional. Some anger here as well. Its natural to try and find a target to direct it at.
Having your starting shooting guard consistently shoot under 40% (while not doing anything else) makes it tough to win games.
If Jalen could just learn to shoot he could be a star. He can get his shot any time he wanrts. Always surprised if it goes up. Same with Amen. Can't we spend a couple of million for a full time shooting coach? Maybe it could help.
Can't ever remember a stretch where Jalen has had more than 2 good games in a row. He's so consistently inconsistent. His effort, his movement on his jumpshot, his finishing, his passing, his defense, literally everything is inconsistent with him. Whatever happened to him having a Kobe-like work ethic? I haven't seen or heard about it. I've seen more about his pursuits in fashion than about improving his game. Off-season reps with Van Vleet don't count.
IMO, we could see a change in the starting lineup after the ASG (maybe sooner). I've gotta believe Jalen sees this coming. He's got 14 games, max. He needs to throw out all passiveness, raise his intensity into the RED ZONE 100% of the time and shift into "go for broke" mode. Without being stupid and overly selfish, he has to attack and look to punish defenses every single possession. This is what the Rockets are missing at the SG position. For the record, I don't think he's capable of doing this.
Won't happen imo, improvements don't happen over night no matter how much you force it. The fundementals and muscle memories are not there. Scariest thing isn't actually his performance it's more the lack of improvement
So I took a step back and actually looked at Jalen's game log for January just now (31 mpg, 17.4/5.0/3.4 on 38.1%/34.5%). It's a mirror of his season with a slightly lower shooting percentage. He's had 38 games to adapt and it's just not going to happen this year. Cam is on deck. His January stats are 18 mpg, 11.9/3.8/0.3 on 51.5%/40.0%. Unlike Jalen, he's only had one very unproductive game this month. Much of his time has come against scrubs but he's recently started playing meaningful, 1st half minutes against better opposing players as his mpg have been increasing. If Jalen continues as is and Cam continues being crazy efficient on higher minutes, a switch is coming. How quickly may depend on if the starting unit continues to struggle. Another way to address this is keep Jalen as the starter, pull him early and let him become the focal point of the bench unit. He may do very well in that role.
Ime is already doing this. He's essentially bringing in Cam and seeing who's playing better between the two. My real question is if Ime is going to be more iron fisted about the position. He doesn't strike me as a "trust the process" kinda guy.
This can’t continue. With Jalen sucking and KPJ gone we need some serious help at SG. Maybe Cam starting, maybe a band aid SG but we need some efficient shooting at the SG spot BAD. I’d be happy trading Jalen with all these expiring contracts we have and some 2nds for a Murray or someone of that caliber. We’ve got a lot of contracts and 2nds we need to trade anyways.
