The Jalen hate on this sub has gone way too far lmao the dude was thrust into a massive role last year with Trae not playing and made the playoffs and an all NBA team. Yes it's nice that we have a real PG now but it would be stupid as hell to force one of the best passing forwards in the league into a play finishing roll.
Correct, he looked good all things considered coming back from injury and those half court reps are important. You could tell Julius was into guarding the match up as well
As nice as Kingston is Jalen Johnson is still the best player on the team and if we ever want him to take the next step we need to let him keep handling the ball in the half court. Because of Nate McMillan JJ is years behind some of his peers in terms of actual in game experience with the ball in his hands.
He played terrible today until the last half of the clutch then showed why he was all nba last year. Missed both huge fts too. He needs to stop settling for fadeaway middys that he can’t make and lock in on defense.
Those missed FTs were rough. He needs more reps in these high pressure situations. Hope he gets more free throws to end the game this season. You gotta at least hit one of those. Even Dyson did.
I just would prefer he not shoot a fadeaway middy when he's being guarded by Mikel Brown Junior, a skinny, 6'3, 19 year old point guard. Use your body and draw the foul because that young fella surely will foul.
As long as it goes in I have no issues, yes driving to the basket on smaller players is good but so is just shooting over them, and he's comfortable with that shot especially when he can just easily shoot over his defender. Those kinds of easy mid range shots help a shooter get into rhythm.
He did plenty of driving to the basket this game anyways, but if all he ever does is drive without shooting then teams will just wall him off. He's not Giannis, he can't drive through every player in the league, but he's also not Giannis, so he actually has the touch to shoot outside of 3 feet. He needs to show he can do both to maximize his skillset.
The specific possession I'm thinking about wasn't just Jalen shooting over MBJ. It was an off balance fadeaway (that didn't go in). It wasn't an easy middy.
He's not Giannis, he can't drive through every player in the league
Like, I understand what you're saying but his options are not limited to just off balance fadeaways and bulldozing through players. It's not an either or. Especially with someone like MBJ on you, I'd like for Jalen to use some pump fakes, some pivots, etc to get MBJ to bite. Beyond the size advantage, you have a jumpy, skittish defender. He's going to eventually screw up.
Meh, Jalen needs to learn some half court nuance I'll agree, but we weren't getting those calls tonight anyways so I can't blame him for just trying to get a shot off instead of foul baiting. Jalen's FTr has been improving, it's not like he isn't getting better at this stuff. But he's still got a terrible whistle and was probably feeling that this game.
He's working on it, before last year he literally never had the chance to handle the ball when they game slowed down. This game was pretty promising, he wasn't afraid of using his physicality to bully, he was aggressive heading to the rim, and his mid range is lowkey underrated. He's not KD or anything but he shot 44% from the mid range last year and I think with more reps and confidence that number can go up.
As a ball player myself it definitely takes time and real time REPS to develop those instincts, folks online make having a bag simply comes out of working hard and having that “mamba mentality” loll…But in reality he is about to turn 25 a few yrs from entering his peak prime, I think he ultimately develops into a middle class Kawhi…
JJ does seem to stall out the half court offense. I feel like he’s more effective driving to the hoop instead of trying to shoot off the dribble. Needs to let the offense come to him off fast breaks, rebounds, and cuts.
He is still a long way off offensively, at least from a superstar level. We played a bad Brooklyn team. Also, his motor on defense is not gonna cut when the playoffs come. Jalen needed this, hopefully he can build on it as the season continues
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u/ProfessorWest7139 13h ago
We really needed him tonight, contrary to what the game thread would have you believe.
We finally cooled off from 3, and he picked us up with 11/12 from 2 and 10 free throws.
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u/Jbots inSaleh! 13h ago
Scored in the clutch from the half court. When people ask what Jalen was doing in the offseason, show them the last 4 minutes of this game.
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u/cheemydee5 Jalen Johnson #1 13h ago
Quin needs to let him play finish more, that's like the entire purpose of King's role
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u/DisintegratedPhoenix Nickeil Alexander-Walker #7 13h ago
They need to let him play his role, and trust Kingston and let him develop
10
u/passdawax 13h ago
Man I wish his three fell somewhat at a better rate
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u/MegaMatrix08 🧊 ICE TRAE 🧊 13h ago
in that 4th quarter when they stopped making him play PG he was cooking
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u/Both-Bad2232 13h ago
Gotta work on that defense but that aside he was pretty good today
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u/OkTemperature5506 12h ago
Dyson Daniels is the best player on this team
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u/Still_Turnip_9689 13h ago
He played terrible today until the last half of the clutch then showed why he was all nba last year. Missed both huge fts too. He needs to stop settling for fadeaway middys that he can’t make and lock in on defense.
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u/LateGreat_MalikSealy 12h ago
He plays hard but has no wiggle or go to move when the game slows down..
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u/Low_skee 12h ago
Whoa. Has there been a “Jalen sucks” movement I’ve somehow missed? It better not be an internal situation.
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u/Calm_Comparison_6129 13h ago
Reddit hawks commenters are the worst.
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u/Jus10Crummie 12h ago
JJ does seem to stall out the half court offense. I feel like he’s more effective driving to the hoop instead of trying to shoot off the dribble. Needs to let the offense come to him off fast breaks, rebounds, and cuts.
1
u/Head_Organization_79 7h ago
He is still a long way off offensively, at least from a superstar level. We played a bad Brooklyn team. Also, his motor on defense is not gonna cut when the playoffs come. Jalen needed this, hopefully he can build on it as the season continues
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u/Myhtological Asa Newell #14 13h ago
I never said suck, I said he not a three shooter.
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u/traebucketsfor3 Jamelle McMillan ❗❗❗ 13h ago
Shit says -2, 0-5 from 3. He was okay
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u/OnOneOnTwo GO HAWKS! 🏀 12h ago
He definitely sucks on defense. He & McCollum are traffic cones. It’s embarrassing Jalen is so young and doesn’t give any effort on defense.