Jalen Green And The Houston Rockets Failed Each Other In Their Season Opener

Midway through the second quarter of Wednesday’s season opener between the Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets, Jalen Green was enjoying a shiny start to his fourth NBA campaign. He’d already knocked down a pair of long balls and touted 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting. It was, perhaps, the wee stages of a breakout. Shortly after, his night instead spiraled.

Across an 89-second span before halftime, he misfired on four consecutive triples and entered intermission 4-of-12 from the field. By night’s end, the high-flying 22-year-old was 9-of-23 for 28 points, adding two rebounds and zero helpers. It was not the 2024-25 debut that he or the Rockets hoped for, particularly after Green inked a three-year, $106 million extension days prior.

Green begins this season in a precarious spot. Houston has its foremost building block in Alperen Şengün, while Amen Thompson looks like a wonderful counterpart. There is optimism abound for Reed Sheppard, the versatile guard selected third overall in this summer’s Draft.

Meanwhile, Green’s play has not solidified himself as an integral member of the Rockets’ long-term plans. Three years in and intermittent stretches of dazzling play are shrouded by far grander stretches of inefficient shooting, troublesome decision-making and defensive foibles. His debut against Charlotte embodied all of this.

Yet for all of Green’s own culpability in his own stagnant woes, he alone is not guilty. Houston’s usage on Wednesday lent him no favors. Any genuine chance of him becoming an explosive, reliable scorer alongside Şengün as the engine is contingent on a template independent from whatever happened Wednesday. His own processes exacerbated the issues, but they were enabled to deteriorate the situation because of the misguided trust the Rockets extended him.

What Went Wrong For Green Against The Hornets?

For most of the night, the Hornets stayed in deep drop coverage. That granted Green sizable room whenever he turned the corner around screens. More often than not, that vast space was used to launch pull-ups. He attempted 14 pull-up jumpers and made four of them. He took 11 pull-up threes and made three of them.

That three-point mark is tied for the league lead per game, while the total pull-ups are third, trailing James Harden, Luka Doncic and Tyrese Maxey. All of them are stars. Two of them are missing crucial offensive hubs, forcing them into such substantial creation volume. Green meets none of that criteria.

Periodically embracing the open look against deep drop is shrewd. It’s completely justifiable and can be the proper choice. The degree to which Green hunted it rather than diversifying his decisions, especially once the jumper ran cold, is the problem. Charge the hoop, generate paint touches, tilt the defense. Prompt Charlotte to reconsider its coverage rather than constantly catering to its preferences without the results to support that.

Those shooting numbers are not much of an outlier performance for his career either. Through three-plus seasons, Green has converted 33.3 percent of his off-the-bounce triples and 35.6 percent of all off-the-bounce jumpers, according to NBA.com. There are few worlds where he needs to hoist 14 in a singular game and no worlds where he should do that when he’s been frigid since the second quarter. He owns a tendency to settle for these potential highlights, squandering open space ahead or shimmying into stepbacks. Both occurred Wednesday.

Part of this long-range proclivity stems from his poor, cumbersome handle while operating downhill with his pace. He is not adept keeping the ball tight and controlled in traffic when he elects to explode toward the rim, especially if he does not already wield a head of steam. It leads to a lot of plays like the ones above. His lack of a floater and struggles finishing at the rim through contact further hamstring his scoring arsenal.

But this is also where Houston has to recognize who Green is. Per Synergy, he conducted 14 pick-and-rolls and yielded 0.79 points per possession. Only Maxey, Doncic and Damian Lillard are averaging more per game right now! Beyond even the caliber of player difference, that is not the archetype he should be emulating, given his limitaitons. He is not the shooter, driver or handler of those three, nor is he qualified enough as a playmaker.

Despite a 24.7 percent usage rate, he recorded zero assists and just one potential assist. On numerous occasions, he missed reads in favor of more arduous endeavors. Rarely does he seem to blend the options of shoot or pass, unwilling or incapable of capitalizing when multiple bodies flock toward him and windows arise elsewhere. According to Cleaning the Glass, among combo guards, he’s ranked in the 13th percentile or below in assist-to-usage ratio every season. He is beholden to predetermined decisions that hamper he and the team’s offense.

How Can Green And The Rockets Work To Solve Things?

Green has to improve in these scenarios. Houston should also be more discretionary in giving him these scenarios. They are not his forte. He is still young and on a rookie deal. It is reasonable to dabble with some pick-and-rolls to help facilitate his development. That is not what transpired. He was treated like an accomplished ball-screen creator.

There’s either unfounded faith in his game or a stubbornness to pigeonhole into being someone else. It’s year four overall and year two under head coach Ime Udoka’s tutelage. This not an unknown player. He is someone the franchise has now tied itself to for at least six seasons in total. There must be a better acknowledgement of who he is, even if it’s done with the hope that he can become more in time.

It’s not as though the blueprint for Green and the Rockets escapes them. He’s long been best served as an off-ball scorer curling around screens or handoffs and into space. Houston has the means to dial up more stuff like this for him. Şengün is a viable DHO partner and punishing screener. These are the types of actions Green should see more. Simplify his touches by utilizing the surrounding talent, namely Şengün and Fred VanVleet (who, admittedly, couldn’t toss a penny in the ocean Wednesday).

Şengün’s excellence and VanVleet’s presence allows Houston to gift Green significant usage without tailoring most of it through on-ball reps. The Rockets’ perimeter creation is pretty scarce. I understand Green has to be a prominent part of the offensive hierarchy, but there are more sound avenues to achieve it than Wednesday’s approach.

Green’s own faults are among the most pressing culprits. He has to take better shots and grow as a passer. He, quite simply, has to make more shots as well, no matter where or how they unfold; that aspect cannot be discounted.

Houston must craft a plan that truly aims to accentuate his strengths and mitigate his weaknesses. They’ve hitched their wagon to him. Now, it’s time to steer him in the right direction, and both parties are responsible for reaching that destination.