Private Plane Ride Unlocks Jalen Green's Potential for Houston Rockets: Notebook

Private Plane Ride Unlocks Jalen Green's Potential for Houston Rockets: Notebook

HOUSTON — On a plane ride back from San Francisco in the wee hours of Monday night, coach Ime Udoka held a film session with Jalen Green. His goal was to teach Green about playing more aggressive and being patient.

Udoka's one-on-one time came into play during the Houston Rockets' 111-91 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night. Green finished with a season-high 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting.

"He was good on both ends," Udoka said. "[He] struggled a little bit early shooting but had great looks, as did the rest of our team in the first half. We know they're the team [Grizzlies] that gives up the most threes, the worst percentage, and so we just had to stick with it and stay confident.

"I loved how he was aggressive, focused on defense, and obviously had a big second half."

Udoka's session came after a five-point loss to the Golden State Warriors. Green spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench, but his struggles went beyond the challenges in that game. He had scored less than 10 points in two of the Rockets' previous four games, averaging 13.5 points on .278/.250/.857 shooting splits.

Two nights after his individual private plane meeting with Udoka, Green began the game aggressively. However, he did struggle with his shooting. With Houston trailing 46-45 at the half, Green scored eight points on 3-of-10 shooting.

The teachings of staying patient began to resonate with Green, but Fred VanVleet noticed his energy was off. A quick pep talk from VanVleet before the halftime break and Udoka's coaching led to Green erupting for 26 second-half points.

The highlight of the night came during the closing seconds of the third quarter. Green converted a dunk over the top of Jaren Jackson Jr. His slam led to Houston scoring 37 points during the final period.

"He was telling me that my energy was bad, which it was," Green said. "I don’t ever want to do that to my teammates, especially everyone out there playing hard, so hearing that made me just step up into another gear. 

"The last two years, it would’ve just been that. Nobody would’ve said nothing, and we would’ve just kept playing through that bad energy. The changeup this year is good, having vets to talk to us."

Green believes his performance against the Grizzlies is a small sample size of the player he can become. His top objective is to maintain the lessons of Udoka's film session while finding consistency.

"Make or miss, he stayed aggressive and kept shooting it," Udoka said. "As long as it's the right shot, we want him to continue being aggressive. As long as he is taking the right shots, we will live with those. He is a natural scorer, and it got us going."

Rockets guard Jalen Green shoots against the Memphis Grizzlies during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Jabari Smith Jr. kept the team afloat amid Green's struggles: If not for the first-half contributions from Jabari Smith Jr., the Rockets may have dropped their fourth straight game. He scored a dozen of his 18 points by halftime, but scoring wasn't Smith's primary focus.

Smith spent most of the night matching up against Jackson, the All-Star big man and reigning Defensive Player of the Year.  

"It's all about technique and doing your work early," Smith said. "Listening to my vets and people who have been in that position to guard bigger people. It's all about listening and learning."

Jackson finished the game with 23 points in the loss. But a large portion of his scoring came from the foul line, where Jackson nailed nine of his 12 attempts. Smith helped the Rockets contain the Grizzlies' center. He limited Jackson to 7-of-12 shooting.

Smith spent most of the game playing as a small-ball 5. And when playing against bigger players, Smith feels his skill set gives him an advantage on both ends. The position change allowed Smith to have one of his most impactful games of the season.

"With slower big men guarding me, I definitely have an advantage," Smith said. "It is a lot of film that goes into it. Everyone has their own go-to moves. It's about knowing their techniques and the effort is going to be there."

Dillon Brooks plays against his former team: If not for Houston's young duo of Green and Smith, Dillon Brooks would have been the main attraction for Wednesday's game. Brooks' performance against his former team was modest, as he shot 4-of-14 from the field for 13 points.

Brooks endured a public exile from Memphis, but there is still love between him and his ex-teammates. 

"It was good — ultimate competitor," Desmond Bane said. "We had our chances and struggled in the third quarter or fourth quarter. The game kind of got away from us, but it was good being back out there on the floor with him."

Smith said Brooks brought "some inside scoop" on the Grizzlies, as he spent the majority of his time on the defensive end calling out Memphis' plays to help give the Rockets an advantage.  

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