On the same night Jalen Green scored a game-high 34 points in Houston’s 11th straight victory, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka spoke to the value of patience with his third-year shooting guard.
In Friday’s pregame comments from Utah, where the Rockets (38-35) later improved to an NBA-best 13-1 in March, Udoka said of Green (as transcribed by Dave Hardisty of ClutchFans):
I don’t judge Jalen (Green) on the past two years or even the start of this year. It was, ‘How good is he going to get with us throughout this season?’ And now you see him hitting his stride and understanding. That’s what we’re looking at, big picture-wise. It’s not always going to happen overnight for guys. Patience is really important with our young guys. …
The aggressiveness and confidence is obviously up, and that’s due to making shots and reading defenses better. So that’s part of it, but with Alperen (Sengun) being out, the ball is in his hands more, and he’s getting more opportunity there. When you’re in that rhythm, and he’s shooting it as well and attacking as well as he is, he’s going to have the ball more.”
As the Western Conference postseason race intensifies, Green and the Rockets look to build on that momentum in Sunday’s home game versus Dallas (44-29). Tipoff is 6 p.m. Central.
Ime Udoka absolutely nails it here on the need to be patient with young prospects.
"I don't judge Jalen [Green] on the past two years or even the start of this year. It was 'How good is he going to get with us throughout this season?' And now you see him hitting his stride and… pic.twitter.com/o9hGaQ0bPe
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) March 30, 2024
Ime Udoka said Jalen Green's incredible run is a combination of his mindset/confidence and team tactical changes: "The aggressiveness and confidence is obviously up, and that's due to making shots and reading defenses better. So that's part of it, but with Alperen [Sengun] being… pic.twitter.com/H6h3WkguIQ
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) March 30, 2024
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