G League Ignite coach Brian Shaw sees ‘it factor’ with Jalen Green

Brian Shaw: “It’d be hard for me to believe that anybody is more talented, better prepared, and has what it takes more so than Jalen Green.”

Former NBA player Brian Shaw was the head coach of the 2021 G League Ignite squad, which featured top NBA draft prospects straight out of high school like Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga.

To say the least, it sounds like Shaw was impressed by what he saw. A three-time NBA champion, Shaw spoke recently with Cleveland’s 92.3 The Fan and explained why he sees Green as a special young player.

When asked about Green — who looks to be a strong candidate for the Houston Rockets at No. 2 overall, the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 3, and perhaps even the Detroit Pistons at No. 1 — Shaw replied:

I’ve been around some very, very good players that came in the league around his age. Obviously played with and coached Kobe Bryant. Helped develop Paul George as a coach when I was with Indiana when he first came in the league. Andrew Bynum straight out of high school with the Lakers. Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball and the guys we had with the Lakers.

Those players that are special players, they have this “it” factor that you hear people talk about. He has “it.” He has a knack for being able to figure things out on the fly. He has the mentality that he’s competitive and wants to win at everything. When we would run suicides or line drills during the course of a practice, he would blow everybody away. Not only did he want to win, he didn’t want anyone to even finish close behind him. Every shooting game, things we played — cards or dominoes or something off the court— he wanted to win everything. He has that type of mentality.

He also has the work ethic. A guy that’s one of the first one’s in, one of the last one’s to leave. Asks a lot of questions. Wants to watch a lot of film of himself as well as players that came before him that maybe have similar type games to his and constantly just being a student of the game, which is very important. When you add all of that to the fact his athleticism is off the charts. I call it effortless athleticism.

I can’t judge any of the other guys who weren’t on my team — Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Jalen Suggs — because I don’t know them and didn’t get a chance to see them other than what I saw on television when they played televised games but it’d be hard pressed for me to believe anybody out there is more talented, better prepared, and has what it takes more so than Jalen Green.

Shaw was then asked about Green’s defense against professionals in the G League. While acknowledging it as an issue early in the season, Shaw referred to Green as a “quick learner” and said he was much better as the 2021 bubble season progressed. His full comments:

Like most young players, especially at the guard position, they come into the league, they struggle. He was no exception when we first got started. Trying to figure out how to negotiate playing pick and rolls. That’s a big part of what the game is now. On-ball defense, he can slide his feet, stay laterally in front of people in isolated situations and things like that, but he struggled with how to get up in his man and over screens. And also, if he was guarding a shooter off the ball, being able to figure out how to lock and trail and get over with a guy that’s a dangerous shooter.

But as I mentioned earlier, he’s such a student of the game and has a knack for figuring things out. He knew that was something he had to improve on so he asked to watch film on different guys and how they defend it. Have a really good video coordinator who was able to pull up footage of guys in the past like Tony Allen, Bruce Bowen, Gary Payton who are good on-ball defenders but also just good overall defenders that used different level of physicality, they understood angles and had good technique.

As our season progressed, he got better and better at playing all the different facets of defense from team defense to individual defense. He’s a quick learner and because he’s such a student of the game, he caught on quick. From watching and then being able to go on the floor and put in the time to be able to apply it when it was necessary.

A 6-foot-6 guard, Green averaged 17.9 points (46.1% FG, 36.5% on 3-pointers), 4.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 32.0 minutes per game with the Ignite. In his only playoff game, the 19-year-old led the way for the Ignite with 30 points (55.0% FG), 7 assists, and 5 rebounds — which reflects the type of in-season improvement that Shaw was referring to.

Elsewhere in the interview, Shaw also offered strong praise for Kuminga, who could be a candidate for Orlando at No. 5 overall. The Ignite coach named Boston’s Jaylen Brown as a potential Kuminga comparison.

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