Houston Rockets Midseason Grades: Jalen Green Dilemma, Jabari Smith Jr. Growth, Amen Thompson Shines

Houston Rockets Midseason Grades: Jalen Green Dilemma, Jabari Smith Jr. Growth, Amen Thompson Shines

On today’s show Houston Rockets midseason grades part two what are the next steps for Jaylen Green in his Houston Rockets career Jabari SMI junr and tar e showing great progress here in year two and the rookies am Min Thompson and cam Whitmore have shown so much promise in limited minutes we’re going

To unpack it all coming up right here at lock on Rockets this is Mission Control Houston ignition sequence start throw it up to jayen Green shenon here in a short row oh my that’s the no look Jabari for three and the win look at T 15 seconds guidance is internal the

Houston Rockets select amen Thompson and cam Whitmore one thing I have never done has not made the playoffs and so we want to take that step here as well 6 5 4 3 2 one what’s up and welcome to another edition of locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston

Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native houstonian and credential media member I’m also the host of locked on NBA Mondays be sure to follow along on Twitter at JT Gatlin and the show of course at lockon Rockets free and available wherever you listen to your podcasts including YouTube to

Search lockon Rockets be sure to like comment and subscribe it’s the best way you can help the show out every single day and as always thank you so much for making the show part of your day every single day whether it’s on a way to work

On your lunch break in the gym thank you for being an everyday or and making the show part of your day every single day joining us now for part two of your Houston Rockets midseason review mid-season grades is none other than your weekly co-host the X’s and O’s man

Himself alyon bani who can track down on Twitter at Rockets Insider we’ve got a loaded episode here for part two of our Houston Rockets mid-season review we’re going to start with none other than Jaylen green who’s become a bit of a polarizing figure amongst Rockets fans then we’re going to get into Jabari

Smith Jr tar een the forward Duo who are making significant strides in their second years in the NBA and then we’ll wrap things up talking about the rookies Amin Thompson cam Whitmore have shown some serious flashes in limited run so far this season alyon this is we’re not

We’re not we’re not pulling any punches we’re coming out swinging right out of the gate because we could talk we got to talk about Jaylen green and uh unfortunately the conversation cator Jaylen green this season has not been great for a variety of reasons um now I

Will say right here from the jump that I I’ve been disappointed in in what we’ve seen from Jaylen green this season and I haven’t I haven’t hidden that at all I’ve talked about that uh ad nauseum here on this very show in various episodes whatever but I want to provide

A little bit of context right I do think that and and I think I’m a victim of this and I think fans are a victim of this is I think that Jaylen fell victim to this idea of like a year three leap right of like oh he’s he’s going to be a

Star in year three you look at the Anthony Edwards of the world the John morance of the world and we kind of talked ourselves into this idea of ah jaylen’s gonna hit year three eay let’s go like it’s and it and hasn’t happened but not only has it H has it not

Happened it’d be one thing if he was kind of like you know in a holding pattern you know playing at a certain level but not taking that leap it feels like he’s actively regressed in certain areas he’s gotten better in others he’s improved as a Defender his ability to

Make reads offensively as a playmaker that has gotten better but it feels like in the one area that he’s supposed to be thriving which is to be a scorer that’s what he was drafted to be to be an alpha level scorer it feels like he’s actually actively regressed in that regard for

What could be a variety of reasons and so I think that’s where we have to start when we’re evaluating and looking at Jaylen green season is I think objectively you have to look at it and say it’s been a disappointing season so far I I do want to ask you Jackson and

Let’s go go ahead and say it what is your grade for Jaylen so far C minus or D+ okay um I’m going to be in that c area um I am actually going to give him a solid C so you let’s let’s start with you you had a lower grade I know you

Kind of talked about a little a little bit earli but D I mean I didn’t think you would give any Rockets player a d so curious kind of what goes into you giving him a deep plus so my whole thing with Jaylen is look at the end of the

Day I don’t nobody’s asking him to to be like the second coming of MJ nobody’s asking him to be Kobe nobody’s asking him to go out there and herob ball and carry the Rockets to wins what we’ve seen or or what we haven’t seen from Jaylen this year is especially early on

When this team was was really competitive and in so many of these early games against really good teams that the the games that they dropped early on against good better opponents it felt like they were a consistent jayen green away from winning more of those games to where you could have

Looked at the schedule back through about 20 games through like the quarter season Mark and I feel like they could have very easily been like 15 and five 16 and four if they had just had a Jaylen green that was knocking down the wide open shots that he was getting that

Was you know making better decisions offensively not driving into traffic and and putting up these whatever kind of shots at The Rim struggling to finish at The Rim struggling to knock down wide open shots outside and I I think that at the end of the day

All he has to do to be a consistent you know positive piece of this Rockets rotation is just knock down open shots and I get that there’s going to be some games where you just don’t have it there’s there’s off shooting nights I get that but it’s been more than that

It’s been wildly inconsistent to where he has a stretch of two to three really good games you’re like oh wow there’s like future star potential there and then he has stretches of games where you’re you know there’s a legitimate argument that guys like like Aaron holiday or Cam Whitmore or whoever down

The Rockets bench Reggie Bullock would be a better serviceable player on the floor because he’s just not providing you enough of the other things if he’s not scoring the ball so I I I’m I’m glad that you kind of went into that I’m going to give him

Like I said a c and the only reason I’m not giving him lower is because Jackson honestly I do see the process and what I what I mean by process is like okay boom boom in his mind he thinking okay I see L man here okay I see hey guy guys at

The nail okay here I see all this I think one thing that I want to bring up that I’ve been thinking about is from a physical perspective he’s added a lot of weight this offseason they tried to bring it like a Awakening that was gradual and it has been but I would I

Would venture to say this is his first season where he’s playing with a a a solid NBA level body he’s added more muscle to his upper body he’s able to kind of absor deserve contact at a higher rate than he did previous two seasons um he’s just essentially he’s

Added more weight right and and I still think that he’s still adding to his frame I think his frame can still grow out I’m G to compare him to Alp for a second I think alp’s body right now is completely NBA ready actually maybe let’s not say completely maybe there’s

Obviously Room to Grow but you’re noticing how alpie added more muscle to his legs and also upper body weight he’s holding his own he’s doing better in the post he still has a ways to improve there he’s handling better in in the interior defensively he’s he’s still

Able to kind of move enough laterally along the perimeter when he’s defending you know he growing into his body has done him better right as he’s taken it as he’s taken on some of these NBA level bigs and that’s a credit to LP my question is Jackson and this is

Something we can discuss over the next like several weeks is jaylen’s body right now to a point where it’s NBA ready and and if it is NBA ready is he used to that body I think I think that’s that’s a question that that that bears conversation because you know Friends of

The show Nathan fog and others on Twitter have talked about how he’s haded this hang dribble for example or there’s like other things he’s trying to work on in his game that you’re seeing on a game- to game basis and it makes it seem like that like he’s he’s he’s learning

How to be able to have a change of pace or more consistent change of pace part of that is just learning how to play properly and part of that is also maybe potentially adjusting to his NBA body not giving an excuse just something I’m I’m thinking about you know as I’m

Looking at Jaylen um from this season but ultimately it’s going to come down to role Jackson in in his role right now he’s he’s supposed to be an anchor as a scorer he needs to be a secondary pick and roll player to a point when they

Started the season I mean you are what the coaches want you to be to start of the season they put him in jayen only lineups and what I mean by jayen only it was a stretch big in Jeff Green and they put Defenders around him to kind of help

Him on the perimeter and they’re like hey you know what Jaylen here’s the ball go score and transition go score in the half court with the pick and roll get a pick and pop attack downhill with your speed drive and kick and he wasn’t successful he struggled at creating separation he

Struggled at times at being able to make the right pass and he struggled at times to be able to just score around the rim and then there’s times where he’s explosive and aggressive he makes it consistency is the name of the game so that’s why I think about Jackson is his

Body like is he used to his body is his body even NBA ready but also his role is he in a situation mentally where he’s comfortable with his role is this the right role for him and let’s see what happens one more Point real quick

Jackson that I want I want to say is that I think there’s two options we’re heading to towards the trade deadline okay one option is you’re going to trade Jaylen green and the other option is you’re going to keep them now listeners may be like well of course Ali that’s

That’s that’s what’s that’s 5050 options Al but what I mean by that is that it’s going to really tell me what this team not only thinks of Jaylen but also who is at the top of the hierarchy if they do decide to trade Jaylen that means they’re supremely confident in Al

And shenon being a franchise Cornerstone and Jabari junr be the second best player of this team and then one of Amen or Cam as the rookies elevating and becoming that third guy okay that’s if they trade him and they believe that you know what jayen baby is better get a

Change of scenery let’s get somebody who can we can use to build around our franchise Cornerstone and Opera and shenon okay that’s that’s one way the second way and kind of where I’m leaning is look Jaylen still has an opportunity to be an All-Star level guard um let’s

Let’s see what happens let’s kind of continue give him that time let’s help him grow into his body let’s let’s help him do all these different things and see what happens I’m leaning towards Zach cuz I don’t think you should just let go of a second overall pick but then

It comes down to also Jackson are you trying to win this season or you’re also trying to figure out what you have in your young players I have a follow-up question for you on that exact point alecon plus we got to get to Jabari Smith Jr tar e in the forward Duo for

Your Houston Rockets we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by eBay Motors our partners at eBay motors have teamed up with locked on Fantasy Basketball host Josh Lloyd to bring you some of the best fantasy picks each and every week all season long

Whether you’re prepping for a daily draft or scouting the waiver wire every week we’re going to provide you players that are guaranteed to fit on your roster so let’s see who Josh has picked out for us on this week’s eBay’s guaranteed fit fantasy picks of the week

The first name on this list a guy that the Rockets are going to get a very good look at very soon Brandon Miller Brandon Miller should be seeing a big uptick in usage with Terry Rosier being shipped out to the Miami Heat and that makes him a musthave roster player in fantasy

Basketball so definitely be on the lookout for Brandon Miller in all of your fantasy basketball leagues next guy another guy the Rockets are going to be able to get get a very close look at and potential uh Houston Rockets trade Target Nick Richards Mark Williams doesn’t appear to be coming back anytime

Soon so Richards is going to have an extended run at Center putting up solid fantasy numbers in the process so a couple Charlotte Hornets guys that you’re going to want to pay attention to now Josh Lloyd from locked on fantasy basketball is going to help you win your fantasy championship and eBay Motors

Knows that a championship team is about each player being a perfect fit the same as with your vehicle with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you can make sure your car stays running smoothly brake kits LED headlights roof rack bumpers whatever

Your car needs eBay Motors has it and with eBay gu guaranteed fit it’s guaranteed to fit your ride the first time every time or your money back plus at these prices you’re burning rubber not cash keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers eligible items

Only exclusions apply and continuing on here at locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball now alyon you brought up what I think is is the most interesting point here when it comes to this team is the messaging was clear from not just not the not even

Media go further the messaging was clear the moment they hired em Oka this team wanted to take the next step they want to move you know phase two all the buzzwords all that stuff so if the goal of this team is to be competitive and to

Win games and to and they want to make a a postseason run however shortlived whatever capacity whether that’s 10th seed playing tournament or if they’re trying to carve out a spot higher than that in in the Western Conference seatings whatever that’s route number one route number two is you’re

Prioritizing the development of the young guys you’re willing to lose some games you’re willing to lose some quarters lose some games take some L’s in the schedule because you are focused on the long-term development of this team and right now I get mixed signals from the organization from the coaching

Staff as to what their goals are and the problem is it feels like they’re straddling a fence where they’re trying to do both and at this point they’re doing a disservice by doing that because I feel like you kind of have to lean all the way into one or the other you either

Got either you got to move on and bench Jaylen green and put a better player in the lineup when he’s killing you or you you say you know what we’re going to live with the we’re going to take our lumps if jaylen’s struggling that’s fine we’re going to stick with him we’re

Going to run with him but this back and forth that eem is doing where there’s certain games where Jaylen where he’s like he’s like Shadow benching jayen in certain games right where he’ll like he’ll sit for 12 minutes in the first half and you’re like how’s he going to

Be be able to get a rhythm how is he going to get this going whatever so my argument here is is at some point though there is like an opportunity cost so if you’re the rockets and you do think that you still believe at some point down the

Line Jaylen still has All-Star potential and that he can get it figured out and that he can turn it around and he can he can be a productive winning member of a winning basketball team that’s great but what does that look like right how long

Does it take to get there is he still is he still a starter on that version of the team is is he coming off the bench is he more of a primary ball handler is he playing more off ball I don’t think they even know the answers to these

Questions is the problem and that’s problematic when you set yourself up going into a season by advocating for phase two and taking the next step and eay talking about he’s never missed the playoffs and all this stuff so I think the team itself is fighting with like this internal like they’ve got two

Different goals and they don’t exactly line up very well unfortunately I I I think it’s an excellent point you’re making Jackson and it kind of takes me to you need to figure out what ultimately the goal is on the court right when you’re playing on the court and you’re benching Jaylen

Green for the last few minutes but then ultimately like you’re letting him start you’re letting him to do all these things that already itself sends a mixed signal right like you’re you’re talking about if if truly it’s Jaylen who you think is the problem or whoever you

Think is the problem if you truly don’t want to miss the playoffs you have to set yourself up to try to win every single game and just Jackson right now I just don’t I I I don’t know and I I think that’s the honest answer is there is mix

Signals and I’m I’m curious to kind of see what happens from here but in regards to Jaylen right in regards to Julian that’s who we’re talking about do you think it’s time to move on from him in regards to is he not somebody who you can see

Winning with this team no and look I said as much the other day on the show I’m not I’m not at the point of trade jayen for the sake of trading Jaylen that seems like a disservice to him and it it seems like bad Asset Management as

An organization now if there’s a trade out there that’s a good trade that makes sense for the organization by all means go for it there there is not a single Untouchable player on this roster I you could trade shenon you could trade Jabari whatever for the right price

Right if somebody comes knocking there’s a disgruntled Superstar whatever point is if there’s a good trade out there then absolutely you listen and and you negotiate that’s that’s raell Stone’s job I do think there’s a path forward for jayen to potentially still be a a contributing winning member of this team

But it doesn’t feel like it’s in the starting lineup it just it Fe his entire skill set right now feels like that of a sixthman which is kind of crazy because you know six months ago we would have had this conversation and we would have been skewered for it the poor David rill

From over at locked on heat and locked on NBA suggested before the season that jayen green might might just be a six-man and I will say at the time I thought that was premature at the time I thought that take was a little premature we hadn’t seen what Jaylen looked like

Next to a legitimate starting caliber NBA point guard in Fred Van vit we hadn’t seen what he looked like with a a high quality head coach in Oka in aist in on a team with structure and accountability and a hierarchy we hadn’t seen any of that now we’ve seen all of

That for the better part of a little little more than half a season we’ve seen the coaching staff deploy a variety of methods to try and get Jaylen green going to try to get him involved we talked about the jayen only lineups early in the season where he was running

The second unit we’ve talked about the fact previously that you know eme comes out in certain games and he spins the first three four five plays in a row trying to get jayen green going right out of the gate in the first quarter or he’ll do the same thing sometimes in the

Third quarter well he’ll come out and he’ll very intentionally run a bunch of sets to try and get Jaylen going and then there’s the benches on top of that all of this so we’ve got a half season s size which might not be enough for some

People but I think it’s it’s enough to where you have to start considering some Alternatives and I don’t think it’s fair to just bury your head in the sand and say oh give them to the end of the year and then figure out in the offseason

Because those are those are the types of decisions that land NBA teams in purgatory because if you make that type of decision where you’re just like oh just give him time give him more time he needs more time no at some point you’re going to have to make a decision with

What his role is going to be moving forward and so what I’d like to see from the team is I’d like to see them adjust his role they’ve deployed him in pretty much feels like every way possible as a starter playing him on ball off bow more

Twan game with shingon less two-man game get him in transition running with the bench unit they’ve done all of it and it feels like none of it has really stuck to where he is found a consistent Rhythm or a consistent pattern to his game where he can be you know a positive

Impact player every single game so try something new bring him off the bench see what that does that’s kind of where I’m at before before approaching any conversations about trading him or whatever bring off bring him off the bench and see if that resonates with him

To where then he’s able to play better in that role I got three last points on jayen hopefully we can move on to Jabari number one jaylen’s shooting really well coming off of screens where he’s coming off a handoffs and immediately going up zero dribble kind of shots that’s

Something Alp needs in order to unlock him even more because you’re running a lot of kind of Fred Alp pick and rolls where Fred kind of rejects the screener goes in One Direction alpie stops in a short roll you go from there right imagine if Alp had somebody who’s just

Immediately running around screens gets around his screen and jacks up a shot and can make it I think Jaylen can do that that’s something he shown this season alpie and him have really good chemistry can open a lot of doors I hope emay udoka sees that and can hopefully

Implement that more and get him going I I still believe in Jaylen number two this was always going to be a question we had to ask they were going to have six picks right we thought we have we talk about the six kind of group of six

At one point it was eight young players when you have high number one draft picks and you’re choosing to keep those number one draft picks number one you’re not going to have a lot of opportunities and number two with those lack of opportunities comes decisions you’ve already seen two decisions with Usman

Garuba in Tai Tai Washington this is another example of not roster cutting but also roster management what do you do with Jaylen green if it wasn’t going to be Jaylen it could have been Alper and shenon what do you do with Alper and shenon if he was also in this situation

Right where if he was struggling so this was always going to be a thing that happened once they drafted you know all those young players in the first round three years ago now as a matter of it’s time to make those decisions time is due payment is due and

It’s starting to see what they’re what they’re going to do lastly you have to figure out what type of young team you’re going to be are you the Oklahoma City Thunder of last year where you you know you’re just trying to develop and kind of see what happens and and sneak

In and play well or are you the Orlando Magic where you’re like this season you don’t care who’s who you’re going to play who’s going to help you win basketball games and be successful and it all it’ll all work itself out and I’m curious to see who the Rockets choose as

A as a kind of a path uh to be who they want to be is at last year’s Thunder is the this year’s orl of magic because that will tell me also a lot of what their plans are moving forward in terms of roster construction and trying to win

So those are those are my last three points I just want to point out the absolute disrespect to Rockets Legend Josh Christopher and you did not include him in the uh casualties of the rebuild because he was Absolut he was picked he was picked ahead of garuba dude that’s

Rude that’s messed up sorry well let’s go let’s go to Jabari Smith J at number three I will I will add we’re gonna get to Jabari in one second because I’m gonna add one final Point here and then we’ll wrap up the Jaylen part of the

Discussion you know I think the the the path to success for Jaylen whether it’s continued as a starter or whether it’s coming off the bench in some capacity whatever it’s very clear he’s got to figure out his shooting the the shooting you cannot be like simply put you just Jaylen doesn’t finish consistently

Enough in and around the rim he’s not he’s not big and strong he’s not an elite Defender he’s not an elite playmaker he has to be a lead at something to be on the floor you can’t just be okay at a bunch of stuff or even whatever passable whatever he’s got to

Figure out the shot and unfortunately this is the reality of the situation in high school Jaylen green shot 35.1% from three in the G League he thought he shot 36.5% from three and that was the number that we were going off of right the pre-draft cycle all that and we kind of

Thought we had we had hoped hey that hope if that number’s real this kid has has a lot of special talent if he can be a a 36% or higher three-point shooter you combine that with the the elite athleticism that’s why he went number two overall that’s why he was widely

Regarded as one of the top picks in the draft but then every year since then his three-point percentage has regressed his rookie year 34.3% last year 33.8% this year so far 32% so it was a 16 game sample size of him shooting at 36 and half% in in the G

League and that’s what’s so dangerous about those g-league sample sizes and even even to a lesser degree right College sample sizes that the sample size just isn’t big enough and we had the same worry about Jabari SM Junior’s three-point shooting because we thought we thought we the Rockets were getting a

Knockdown three-point sniper but he didn’t have a ton of volume when he was at Auburn and so then when he didn’t translate immediately as a shooter Rockets fans were oh my God the sky is falling because but now you look at Jabari and he’s got it figured out but I

Do think for Jaylen we’re getting to a point where the sample size of him being bad shooter is a lot greater than the sample size of him being a good absolutely absolutely and like I’m I’m glad you stopped me before we were going to Jabari to say this I I think with

Jaylen and I’m sure they’ve they know this internally I think you need to figure out what is he good at and just try to run five or six of those plays per game and build up a rhythm or confidence and get him going they you know the last game they played against

Portland they ran a few of those empty corner sets and to me that’s where he’s at his best where he doesn’t have to think about who’s coming from the weak side or whatever he knows he has an open line to the rim because he’s so fast and

He can confidently just go do that build that rhythm with him jaylen’s a good player build his rhythm and see what happens okay so I I I I’m still I’m still you know a Believer I think Jaylen green can be successful and be a good player in this league I just think that

Well if he can build Rhythm that’s what we’ll see and let’s see if he can also execute on his end right ok can put him in situations but it’s also always going to be up to Jaylen green to be confident and and and do the things that he needs

To do coming up we’ve got a bunch more names to get to we did two segments on Jaylen green so now we got to find time and space for jabarus SM junr tar een amen Thompson and Cam went where we’re g to get there in just one moment the first today’s episode is

Brought to you by grammarly when it comes to writing grammarly is there to support you from start to finish for over 10 years grammarly has been powered by AI technology you can trust to help you across all the places where you write the most and now grammarly helps

You do even more with one click you can easily brainstorm rewrite and reply with suggestions based on your context and goals so you can improve productivity for you and your team I don’t like I don’t know about you but for me grammarly can be incredibly helpful when

I’m like crafting you know a YouTube video trying to come up with the the episode title and the descriptions and all I have to do is punch in a prompt like give me 10 possible taglines for my you know my my next locked on Rockets episode or something like that and it

Can be great because it’s a great way to give you ideas outlines tips all that kind of stuff to help you throughout your creative process maybe you have a big presentation coming up at work you can let grammarly create a personalized outline to get you organized so you can

Transfer your ideas into a compelling presentation so start being more productive with your work go to grammarly.com podcast to download for free today that’s the best part about grammarly it is completely free to use again go to grammarly.com podcast that’s g r mm l y.com podcast and final segment here at lockon

Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball let’s get into some of the other names on this uh review episode we spent so much time on jayen green deservedly so I mean I think that you know the conversation warrants it um but we got

To we got to give some flowers to the these other guys because I think that and this first guy we’re going to talk about here Jabari Smith Jr um I’ve been so impressed with what he’s done here in year two um yeah a a right out of the

Gate a um what he’s done here in year two he’s embraced his role as kind of I don’t want to say like you know doing the Dirty Work whatever but he just he’s embraced what he can be elite at right he has embraced being a great defender

He’s embraced rebounding at a very high level he’s the team’s best rebounder like period um he’s embraced which is crazy to say one year ago you remember how much you remember how much I used to be I was so critical on his rebounding because he would just use his length to

Rebound like no buddy you have to be able to to you got to get physical you got to get big right and he and he like it was like tail end of last year like I remember there was a point in like March where like we kind of started seeing

Jabari like figure out that he can’t just be a high point rebounder he can’t just rely on the length he has to actually do some of the Dirty Work to get those boards and this year we’re seeing him like Bully guys under the rim for these rebounds and some of that is

The off seon and you know adding a little bit more muscle for sure he’s nowhere near done growing it’s going to be flexing he’s flexing think you know four or five years from now when we have a fully grown Jabari Smith Jr you know rebounding at an elite rate like he’s

Again the rebounding numbers have been impressive uh and the offensive growth from him right to where we’re seeing him at a place where he’s able to put the ball on the floor you know attack off Closeouts Finish Well at The Rim we’re seeing him at times he’s been a go-to piece for Oka

Kind of right there you know in the high post area get to his little face up game Elevate and shoot over the top of the defender or put his back to him and and back him down and get to his little turnaround fade away and that’s felt

Like kind of a bread and butter move for Jabar M junor he’s shooting just under 40% from three this season Jabari has been everything you could have wanted and more here in year two and this is the guy that we thought we were getting when the Rockets drafted

Him you know number three overall it just took a little bit longer to get there you know the the thing you mentioned that’s been most impressive to me is those Closeouts he’s shooting the ball better which is opening up some of those close outs to happen and it’s quick it’s a one

Two I know what I’m going to do right one dribble gather pullup jump shots made from the elbow one two dribble into the paint goes up for the layup can finish one two gets low to the ground gets past the defender goes up it’s quick decisions it’s not like last year

Where oh I caught it one two three four five seconds all these dribbles going by has a shoot a fade away one two three four I want the ball I I got to figure out how to score all these different things he’s settled down he’s he’s

Confident what he what he wants to do and he’s getting to his spots Jackson it’s not just Closeouts and kind of going to a random part of the court is close outs and let me drive to the Elbow it’s Closeouts and let me drive Baseline

And use the rim to be able to help me score he’s doing all these smart things around the rim that’s why his Rim percent numbers have gone up his mid-range numbers for from the it test perspective it looks good it’s actually in some parts a little bit less in terms

Of uh field goal per from last year but it’s volume compared to this time last year to this year is is obviously higher so he he’s playing better overall offensively but most important thing for me Jackson’s defensively he is a guy who you can see who plays well with Alper

And shenon I’m very excited to see how well they continue to play together I do think when this team is finally healthy and you can have Dylan Brooks and Jabari and alpie go back to playing well off each other and kind of letting the offense you know settle down their

Defense a little bit you’re going to see Jabari do what he did early on the season he’s he’s been great one-on-one he’s been very good R coming around screens and and playing along the perimeter and I think right now he’s arguably one of the best perimeter Defenders on the team fully agree with

With every Point made there I think Jabari jabari’s defense the the leap that he really took this year defensively from last year where it would look like you know situationally he’d get he’d get blown by on the perimeter didn’t have his feet in the right spots you know not in a good

Defensive stance to where this year you know you I think the game that really had like my jaw kind of dropped my eyes were open was one of the uh the early trip out to LA early this season against the Clippers where he was in that given game against Clippers he had possessions

Where he was guarding Harden guarding Kawai guarding PG and it didn’t matter who he was guarding he was playing great defense on whoever he was checking in that game using his length using his size um you know moving his feet well staying with guys when they attacked him

Off the dribble all that kind of stuff so cannot say enough good things about what Jabari Smith Jr has done here in year two uh and that brings to another guy that we’re probably going to Heap a lot of Praise on to and that’s tar een

Who uh is sorely missed by this Rockets team uh he’s easily you know they they’ve they’ve said it before E said it we we all know he’s one of their most impactful players when he’s out there good things happen uh be it defensively offensively he gives you extra

Possessions on offense by you know playing passing lanes and stealing the ball uh getting offensive boards just doing all the dirty work stuff that tar een the tar e of the world take care of um and this team just they they miss him man they miss his energy they miss his

Impact Off the Bench uh I really you know it feels weird to talk about tar because we haven’t seen him play in so long like it’s just like like doing a review for tar is kind of like I don’t know I I also want to highlight whoever

Made the call to like let him play on that leg the stress fracture or the stress reaction leg that he had and then like worsen the situation to where now he has to randomly like sit out for like a straight like he’s going to miss a

Chunk in the middle of the Season like I feel like that was some serious mismanagement by whoever made that call on the rocket staff and it’s really unfortunate that it’s impacted him because it’s not like he’s like a you know a guy who’s had a bunch of injury

Issues in the past he was a freaking Iron Man last year one of the only 10 players to play all 82 games last season so you you you know it must be bothering if that’s what’s going on you know for me Jackson I don’t know about you I give

Him a B+ um I think the shot can get better I think his ball handling can get better they’ve shown he’s obviously shown improvements in both of those areas I just I’m just talking about areas that he can continue to get better those are the two um for me it’s just

The rebounding and the presence he brings on the interior on both ends offensive rebounding defensive rebounding and somebody who I am trusting now when he’s trying to make a calculated game bow more oftentimes than not it’s successful and I trust him to be able to make those types of plays as

A free safety or even on the ball kind of reading a left crossover or reading a pass from One Wing to the other he knows what’s going on and he can kind of jump the gun and get it and so I trust him enough so that’s why I give him a B+ his

Ability to anticipate things defensively it feels like it’s some of it’s just like that innate level of like you just get it sometimes you just get it and you’ve got guys who just have an ability to like read what’s happening and they just know what’s going to happen before

It actually does um but it feels like his ability to anticipate certain things defensively like you pointed out right the Crossovers whether it’s manto man defense or playing passing lanes that kind of stuff shooting a gap um to create a turnover that way feels like

That has he’s taken a step up and kind of leveled up in that regard if there was one area that I would like kind of critique and and and would love to see him improve upon it’s the and this kind of goes hand in hand with the ball

Handling a little bit um is just his ability to see the floor now I’m not asking tar to be a playmaker whatever like that’s not he doesn’t have to I know exactly what he referring to but it’s just like sometimes Tel get a rebound and he wants to go and it’s like

Great you’re going but if you’re going to lead the break if you’re going to run the break you have to have your head up on a swivel to figure out where everybody else is at you can’t drive and be tunnel visioned and just like and sometimes it works because that’s just

Kind of how tar is right he’ll he’ll get the rebound and go Coast to Coast without acknowledging a single other Red Rockets Jersey on the floor and he’ll still somehow finish it you know at The Rim through like a defender or two because he’s just he plays bully ball

Sometimes but that’s kind of the big thing is just the awareness the coaching staff has empowered him to to do more to want to do more offensively to attack off Closeouts to to finish hard in the paint that kind of stuff but it’s just those you know handful of moments here

And there where you’re kind of like ah like let’s you know share the ball or like get it to one of your Playmakers and and go back to doing your thing on the floor not to say that he can’t step out of his comfort zone and try to do do

Other things but it’s just you got to be prepared when those moments happen who’s more physical cam or tar oh tar I’ll give it to Tar I think cam Cam’s incredibly physical on his drives for sure but I think just the more physical player in

General I think it’s got to go to Tar like tar is he it’s like it’s like uh it’s like hell in the cell when when you’re playing offense against tar een man I would not I would not want to have to if you if you put me on the court

With tar een and said your life depends on getting one bucket against tar een you gave me a 100 possessions to do it I think I’m going to die Ali Khan like I don’t think I’d be able to score onari if he was like actually locked in like

Like he wouldn’t even have to be he could be like 50% locked in there’s not a chance in hell I’m scoring onari there’s no way it’s not well that takes us to the rookies the rookies all right which rookie are we talking about first a men or Cam let’s start let’s start

With Cam let’s start with Cam so you talk about his physicality and his dve Okay C okay Cam Stan no go go for it hey man hey I am a big fan of Cam Whitmore just he he can shoot man and he can finish man and he can play some defense

Man whenever he’s he you know he he’s a good player man man I can’t stop saying man the well because so I I I think I know where you were kind of going with the physicality because like just for the defensive side of things it’s kind

Of funny to see also I I will agree with you the the tar e grade B+ I’m I’mma go same as you there okay um the cam Whitmore stuff defensively is kind of surprising in a way that like you watch him and like we we got a glimpse of this

During training camp right remember there was that play where like alpie posted up cam and cam didn’t move like he was just like he stayed stationary and alpie is a strong dude and he has a a good amount of weight and strength on cam Whitmore cam didn’t budge and so you

See that on certain drives players will drive against cam Whitmore and like some you know players Drive expecting to get you know north to south right downhill players will drive against Cam and they’re going more east to west because he’s just pushing them away from the paint as they’re driving into his chest

And he’s just not giving any ground so his manto band defense certain drives has been really impressive when when you can keep a guy kind of east to west versus north to south like you just talked about that’s that’s obviously very impressive and he’s had a few

Possessions like that where puts you in awe like you know he has the tools to be successful on that end I think for me offensively he’s night and day from where he was to start the season about playing within the role of the offense we knew he could score we knew he could

Do all those things and he can you know bail you out into the shot clock because he can create separ a and you use athleticism to get past you but for me it’s just the fact that whenever he’s playing within the offense and he’s using those skills to play off of Alper

And shenon or play off of Fred Vin Fleet as a safety valve off on the opposite Wing kind of like a like a like a onew like like there’s guard guard on both sides and which eay likes eay loves the kind of the Guard guard action he’s been

Used as a screener a little bit too I’m I’m just very impressed with Cam and I’m at a point now where I think you have to play him 18 to 20 minutes at least every night because he’s doing so much for you scoring the basketball and Jackson especially for a bench unit that

Struggles to defend the Rockets are at their best when they score and let their offense set up their defense and when you have have Cam Whitmore who can score and play Off the Bench I think it’s worth you know if you don’t want him to start it’s worth playing him more

Because he allows your bench unit which struggles defensively at times to be able to score and set up the defense so so for for me right now I’m giving him a b because he’s a rookie but he’s showing me enough flashes where I think he deserves more time in the rotation I’m

Going to go B plus for cam from what we’ve seen so far I expected the defense to be a bit more of a train wreck than it is right now because again there’s moments where he actually looks really passible on that and there’s but and the

Thing is he’s a rookie he’s going to have rookie mistakes he has them every so often but the other part is I think he he provides you so much of an impact already with his scoring with his size um the fact that he’s not you know a complete disaster defensively as a

Rookie which is just already a bonus I think that the good far outweighs any of the bad with Cam Whitmore you know you’ll see him he’ll have a bad foul or he’ll make a you know he’ll take a quick you know probably ill-advised shot offensively or whatever or he’ll have a

Downhill Drive where he looks a little out of control like he has those those moments right where you see him almost like a like a baby giraffe still trying to figure out what’s going on where he’s he’s still trying to figure out how he can be effective right he’s just he’s

Just out there hooping and but it has been really exciting to watch him because then you see the moments where like he’s sizing up a Defender and he does like his quick little get to his step back and then boom step back drains the three and it’s like oh wow that’s

Like in his bag or he had that one possession uh back against uh against the Milwaukee Bucks when he posted up Damen Lillard where he had Dame just on his back and rather than just like the mentality of like oh I’m just I’m going to straight line drive or this that he

Took his time backed Dame down got to a sweet spot turn spun kiss it off the glass just he’s got like a almost like a methodical level to his game where he understands Tempo he understands how to speed up slow down when he needs to um

And that’s only going to get better with age you got to remember he’s 19 he is like he’s legit still just like a baby so like watching him have this level of impact already um sky is the limit for for cam I’m completely bought in um let’s get to am Min Thompson now

Though because I think am Min Thompson has been incredible in his own right on the other end of the floor his defense has been absurd so far alyon like it’s it his defense is better than advertised at this point you know before the season we did our little rankings of like who’s the

Most valuable prospect on this team I put amen as number two and man you know those those skills those traits you’re talking in number one don’t you dare you had them in number one because you we differed at the end because I had Jabari

One and Min two you had are you sure I think I had I think I had Jabari one I’m pretty I’m pretty confid jaari won you know what we’re we’re mid recording we’re gonna have to go back and F we need we need L fact Checkers on

This where’s my who’s the fact Checker that does like the presidential debates I don’t even know their name off the top of my head whatever point is all right back to your point I’m sorry for derailing go no so you know there there’s a couple things I like with the

Men defensively one is that he knows how to stay on the H the hip of the offensive player think the Rockets have improved defensively and you’re seeing Jaylen and other players do better job of kind of technique wise fighting over the screens and staying attached amen

Sometimes does it and you he makes it look so easy at how he’s able to navigate around screen so that’s one second is his recovery it’s like a wing usually has the ability to recover and kind of block a shot or a big can a man’s a point guard obviously very tall

Like but whenever he’s defending even bigger players he has this ability just to recover and not get too lost on an initial Drive um so you you knew the athletic traits that were there offensively with his speed and athleticism but the fact that they can also be replicated defensively is

Something I’m very excited about I think he’s got decent hands so far too like just you know very very quick quick just like Fred just like Fred yep and I’m sure I’m dude I’m sure that’s one of the things that you know having right one of those intangibles right of having a Fred

Vanet on your team is the way that he’s able to coach up these young guys and explain hey this is how you dig right this is you know when a player’s driving here you know take a quick swipe at the ball whatever that kind of stuff so so

I’m sure that you know A Min has had you know Fred’s had plenty of conversations with a Min about how to be more impactful on the defensive side of the ball and offensively you know I’ve been impressed with just how he hasn’t really he hasn’t settled for not being a

Shooter yet or for not being a good shooter yet like he like I think that at times you have players who are you know bad shooters or non-factors when it comes to shooting the basketball who just you know are going to they’re going to station themselves at the three-point

Line and and that’s it right and and at that point it’s it’s a win for the defense when the ball gets swung to you and then that player has to be the one to take the shot that’s just not effective right I I don’t think a and

Credit to the coaching staff and also credit to a men for making the most of his minutes when he’s on the floor they’re not utilizing him that way they’re not just putting him in the corner and saying go stand there and when the ball get swung you shoot it

He’s roaming offensively right he’s being used at times as a screener he’s being used as a cutter um he’s really active on the offensive glass and we’ve already seen these small little flashes of how how he and Alper and shingon are able to play off of one another even

Though they’re both you know you can classify them both as non-shooters right I’ve argued for a very long time two non-shooters can work on the floor with one another if they’re both highlevel passers and if you’ve got proper spacing around those guys number one case in point which is a little hard to

Replicate but the Golden State Warriors when they had Draymond Green and Andrea guadala in their like death lineup now granted they were also flanked by two of the greatest Shooters of all time in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson but the argument still stands is that Iggy and and Draymond are incredible passers and

They mitigated their lack of shooting in that lineup by having incredible ball Movement by moving well without the basketball by finding their teammates by finding each other all that stuff and I do think there’s a world where you can see a dynamic between a Min Thompson and

Alper and shinon where they Fe they have fed each other right whether it’s Amin driving in collapsing the defense pitching it back to alpie and alp’s got his free little you know Easy Shot Put right there because the the big man had to you know had to address the am Min

Thompson drive or you’ve got alperin shagon you know faces up at the elbow hits a spin move you know draws a second Defender and then amen Thompson is kind of floating in that dunker spot area and then boom a little dump off pass from Alp am Min Thompson gets an easy two at

The Rim those two can function and work off of one another um I do think one of them has to develop a shot at some point but right now we’re seeing how two high IQ guys who process the game at an incredible fast speed the way they both

Do and can pass at the level that they do and have the court Vision that they do it works and it can work I I I love watching a man play I will say a couple areas I wanted to work on is defenses are starting to figure out

In terms of the game plan uh whenever he drives Baseline he you know he’s looking to score he’s much better driving Baseline as he scores than he’s driving middle when he drives middle often times he’s trying to set somebody else up and so it’s becoming a a little predictable

In that way I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing I’m saying it’s because you know he’s able to find like like you said Alper and shenon for those dump off passes he’s able to make those crosscore passes to the opposite corner he’s doing all those things just not I want to see

Him add a floater game a consistent floater game at a consistent mid-range game which he’s shown that he can make uh being able to keep the defense you know guessing and on their toes about what’s going to happen when you drive Baseline he can make that pass we’ve

Seen him zip that pass to the opposite making Baseline but doing that more consistently when that when that three-point shot is opening up they played him as a starter with Cam Whitmore and Sor it was Al Shang good and amen Thompson with Cam Whitmore and two other Shooters and that’s why they

Played so well together Jackson like you said two non-shooters three Shooters they can play well together he can screen he can do all those things and like you said whenever you have a passer who can do and make those passes not everybody can make with those kind of

One-handed zip passes or just kind of moving it from one end to the other end that opens up so much for your offense I give him a grade of a b as well both rookies get a B for me I’m going to go

With a B for a men as well and and I do think that if for a Min I I wonder what he would look like right now if he hadn’t missed a month of the season right like it’s it was really tough for him to and I do think that’s the other

Really important part is the Rockets rookies have been impactful and have been good they’re not just being thrown out there they’re not just getting garbage time minutes and getting shots up in mean you know in games that don’t mean it these guys are playing games that mean something this team wants to

Win these games it’s they’re not a garbage team that’s going to be top of the lottery they’re not head you know barreling towards you know a top five draft pick this year these games every single one of these games they play means something that’s why that loss against the Blazers stings so badly

Because they know that they should have won that game so these guys are getting legitimate impactful important minutes and are making the most of them and I do you know the the fact that we’re seeing Amin get comfortable as quickly as he has despite the fact that he missed

About a month of the Seas season I I I I wonder where he would be at as far as his development prog progress if he hadn’t missed that time but it’s just going to be even more exciting to just Envision okay where’s he going to be a

Month from now when he’s you know actually at that point when he gets more and more reps under his belt so so I’m really exciting here so final question for you Jackson oh Lord I don’t like this no these are never good is this Qui quick yes or no okay will the Rockets

Finish with a play in seed yes or no yes 10th seed I say yes and I also say 10 seed all right there we go we made we made our our little midseason prediction here I can’t wait for us to be horribly wrong when the season comes to an end because

The Rockets locked up the six seed baby no I’m kidding all right on that note if you watch whether you’re listening to this watching it on YouTube give us your thoughts go in the YouTube comments drop your own grades for these guys how did you feel about the discussion where are

You at on Jaylen green how do you don’t don’t just say jaylen’s been playing bad or you’re just disappointed we I I think for the most part A lot of people have been disappointed with jaylen’s play but I I I think another question maybe Jackson we could have our

Audience talk about is what would you do to help Jaylen be more successful and that’s the that’s something I’m curious to see what Rockets fans do they align on that what are your thoughts on what can the Rockets coaching staff do to put jayen in situations where maybe he can

Be more successful if if or if or if you think he’s already put in good situations I’m just curious on kind of where where rocket fans are on that as well all right so that’s that’s your homework assignment from alyon is go into the YouTube comments what can the

Rockets do to put jayen Green in sit situations to be more successful I’m not saying he he has not been I’m just curious on if you think yes or all right all right he’s he’s he’s getting all defensive now which is a good sign that

We need to wrap up the episode alyon you know the drill let everyone know where to track you down at uh follow me on Twitter at rockets inssider and catch me on locked on every week that’s going to do it for another edition of locked on

Rockets as always thank you so much for checking out the show if you haven’t done so yet please please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcast or on YouTube just search locked on Rockets be sure to like comment and subscribe but as always thank you so

Much for watching thank you so much for listening and we look forward to having you back right here at lockon Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets Basketball

Houston Rockets Midseason Grades: Jalen Green Dilemma, Jabari Smith Jr. Growth, Amen Thompson Shines

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) is joined by weekly cohost Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) for part two of a two-part discussion to talk about and assign Houston Rockets midseason grades as the team sits at 20-23 and just on the outskirts of the NBA play-in tournament, focusing on the dilemma and next steps surrounding Jalen Green and his inconsistent play, major year-two growth from Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, as well as the already impressive impact and moments from Rockets rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore.

#Rockets #JalenGreen #JabariSmithJr

Follow Alykhan & Rockets Film Room: https://twitter.com/Rockets_Insider & https://bit.ly/3RPThHX

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LORockets?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

📺 Subscribe On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnRockets & https://www.youtube.com/@JTGatlinMedia

📲 Twitter: https://twitter.com/JTGatlin & https://twitter.com/LockedOnRockets

🎧 Follow/Subscribe/Listen:

Locked On Rockets Anywhere: https://linktr.ee/LockedOnRockets

Locked On NBA Anywhere: https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

Follow & Join RocketsWatch: https://twitter.com/RocketsWatch & https://bit.ly/3wXJXcb

Shop Rockets Merch & Use Code LOROCKETS10: https://shop.clutchfans.net/

Follow on Twitch for video game fun: https://www.twitch.tv/diedofbeetus

If your business wants to advertise on Locked On Rockets, DM Jackson on Twitter or email JacksonTGatlin@gmail.com

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! | Offers: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/offers/

eBay Motors – For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

BetterHelp – This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.

PrizePicks – Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

Gametime – Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase.

FanDuel – Make Every Moment More. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet to get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Free Bets – win or lose! Visit Fanduel.com/LockedOn today to get started.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

#HoustonRockets #Rockets #NBA #JalenGreen #AlperenSengun #JabariSmithJr #TariEason #AmenThompson #CamWhitmore #FredVanVleet #DillonBrooks #JeffGreen #JockLandale #ReggieBullock #BobanMarjanovic #AaronHoliday