Inside The Rockets

Houston Rockets Preseason: The Good and Bad from Jalen Green

Throughout two games, Jalen Green has played a total of 44 minutes in the preseason so far. Here's a deeper look at what he has done well, and what he can improve on moving forward.

Amsal Madhani

Oct 9, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) tips the ball away from Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Oct 9, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) tips the ball away from Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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The Houston Rockets are looking to make a significant leap this upcoming season, and a lot of it rides on star guard Jalen Green's play. He has shown many flashes throughout his young career, but hasn't been able to maintain consistency in his performances.

This past week, we were able to get our first look at how Green has improved in the offseason, and although it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic in his ability to perform this season.

The Good:

Green has been very persistent in finding himself a rhythm early on in these preseason games. Against the Utah Jazz on Monday night, he was able to work off of center Alperen Şengün and get to his spots at ease 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 command possession of the ball to get himself going.

Green also has done an excellent job at 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 lineups with Thompson very well with his tremendous athletic ability.

The Bad:

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

There were many instances, especially against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, where he seemed reluctant to hand the ball back to Şengün off of a screen and roll and instead settle for a much tougher shot.

If head coach Ime Udoka wants the young guard to handle to ball more, Green needs to improve his decision making. On the bright side, his shot selection did seem to look better, but his passing, especially off of pick and rolls, wasn't ideal.

But being a gifted scorer like Green, you can get away with a few miscues as a primary playmaker. However, when your shots aren't falling, which was the case for him against the Thunder, you need to be able to find ways to make plays for your team without having to take 15 or so 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 ability as a playmaker opened up so much for the rest of the team, which in turn allowed him to get easy buckets when he needed to.

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

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Amsal Madhani
AMSAL MADHANI

Amsal is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's in Journalism and a Minor in Business. He was born and raised in Houston, Texas and specializes in coverage of the Houston Rockets.

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