After working with the U.S. Select Team in FIBA World Cup preparations, third-year Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green recently drew praise from USA Basketball officials for his performance.
As the No. 2 overall draft pick of the 2021 first round, Green averaged a team-high 22.1 points per game in 2022-23, his second season in Houston. The 21-year-old, 6-foot-6 guard hopes to build on that entering 2023-24, and a successful offseason could set the stage.
Led by Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, the U.S. Select Team often used Green in an off-ball capacity, with Detroit’s Cade Cunningham usually functioning as the primary playmaker.
That’s a template Green could follow in Houston next to flagship offseason signing Fred VanVleet, who steps in as starting point guard. Here’s how Mosley described it to Kelly Iko of The Athletic:
Him playing off the ball was good — coming off pindowns, coming off screens, keeping the defense honest on the backside movement. Just being able to play without having to come back and get the ball, more along the lines of letting it find him. I think he did a really good job of not chasing it, being able to find opportunities to create for his teammates. And whenever the ball did find his hands, he was a live go.
In Year 2, Jalen Green placed in the 49th percentile of PnR ball handlers.
The key, as his time with Team USA showed, is to use his gifts to make quicker decisions more often.
More on his playmaking potential, exclusive on @TheAthletic: https://t.co/meYhEWRzIO pic.twitter.com/lsEzeUPBeP
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) August 18, 2023
“I think in a leader that you have in Fred [VanVleet], that’s going to help a ton because when he plays off the basketball — back screening, moving and cutting — once he gets that ball in his hands, you’re not playing against closeouts,” Mosley said. “I think that’s going to work to his advantage a ton. I think coach Ime [Udoka] is going to do a fantastic job communicating that with him.”
The full article on Green’s Team USA work can be read here. As for the Rockets, they coincidentally open up the 2023-24 regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 25 versus Mosley’s Magic in Orlando.
