My gripe with Jalen

[Prayivm3rcy]

Why is he so quick to pick up his dribble and pass the ball. He never tries to break his defender down and attack the defense. He essentially makes himself a spot up shooter within the offense but he doesn't show enough confidence to take many shots. I understand e everybody has their role within the offense. However even Pons attacks the defense at times. I never see that from Jalen. I feel like he is completely useless the majority of the time he is on the floor and that at least Gains brings much more energy.

 

[volKano]

I hate it when you two fight.

 

[rdk4121]

Why is he so quick to pick up his dribble and pass the ball. He never tries to break his defender down and attack the defense. He essentially makes himself a spot up shooter within the offense but he doesn't show enough confidence to take many shots. I understand e everybody has their role within the offense. However even Pons attacks the defense at times. I never see that from Jalen. I feel like he is completely useless the majority of the time he is on the floor and that at least Gains brings much more energy.

It's definitely an issue. Apparently he doesn't feel confident in his handle at all. He's not a great shooter either so he just ends up being a negative on offense. The ball really stalls when it gets to his hands unless it's a quick shot. He has to learn how to attack the basket if he ever wants consistent minutes. We don't have a lot of options this year, but he's not going to play at all next year if he can't figure out a way to score.

 

[BruinVol]

I’ve believed this for a long time about Barnes but only a select few have the green light to drive in his system. I am not saying Jalen would be great at it but I don’t think he has the green light to even do it much if any

 

[golfballs]

It’s not really his game. At this point he is who he is. Disappointed he didn’t rise up to his sporadic opportunities. Now that he’s logging regular minutes my wish is that he can at least be counted on to hit open 3s.

 

[BruinVol]

It’s not really his game. At this point he is who he is. Disappointed he didn’t rise up to his sporadic opportunities. My only wish for him now is that he can be counted on to hit open 3s at a regular clip.

Yep. The amount of 3s he’s getting and his open he is he needs to be around 40%

 

[Namorto1]

While Jalen’s overall game has seemed to improve slightly, appears he has just about maxed his potential, at this level. His shooting has been disappointing, given that is supposed to be his biggest strength. It would be to his benefit if he was more aggressive on both sides of the court especially now with the playing time presented, but he doesn’t want too. Next year, going to be a lot tougher to get minutes.

 

[ColinS]

He just isn't very good. Nothing has changed except maybe a little more agressiveness on defense. There just isn't anyone else to turn to at this point. If he is in the rotation next year things have gone very wrong.

 

[TennesseeFan07]

It’s not really his game. At this point he is who he is. Disappointed he didn’t rise up to his sporadic opportunities. Now that he’s logging regular minutes my wish is that he can at least be counted on to hit open 3s.

This.

 

[The Dog]

I expect JJ to be a grad transfet next year. If he doesn't, I could see him getting slightly better than walk-on minutes. Plus, if he stays, probably no Cardwell or other high school kid or even a grad transfer. I like the kid, but the writing is on the wall. Of course, if he starts balling out, he could change my mind. I seriously doubt it, tho. Hate dogging out a college kid, but he has had his opportunity and has not took advantage

 

[1Big_Orange_Fan]

Gaines is probably the best defender on the team but his offensive game is worse than Jalen’s

 

[The Dog]

Gaines is probably the best defender on the team but his offensive game is worse than Jalen’s

Debatable, imo. Neither one seem to look to score, but Gaines will go to the hole

 

[livefaith]

It's definitely an issue. Apparently he doesn't feel confident in his handle at all. He's not a great shooter either so he just ends up being a negative on offense. The ball really stalls when it gets to his hands unless it's a quick shot. He has to learn how to attack the basket if he ever wants consistent minutes. We don't have a lot of options this year, but he's not going to play at all next year if he can't figure out a way to score.

Yeah, I have a feeling that he'd better get some of that fixed before the end of the season. Being a smallFwd/Guard/Wing is about to get highly log jammed on this team.

 

[VolDaddy61]

The little I know about him, he's a solid young man and a good student. He doesn't look confident or comfortable on the floor. If he's the 9th or 10th guy in your rotation, you probably have a pretty good team. If you're counting on him to be a significant contributor, it's not going to happen. With the influx of talent coming in next year, it wouldn't surprise me if he transferred.

 

[walkenvol]

CRB has said more than once in prior years that JJ has the most NBA potential. We’ve seen him slash to the basket and slam it home before. For some reason he can’t seem to tap into his inner aggressiveness regularly.

 

[Evil King Snake]

Debatable, imo. Neither one seem to look to score, but Gaines will go to the hole

Gaines has way more upside. JJ needs to look for other options as there will be very little minutes next year.

 

[RockyTopTexas]

Gaines has way more upside. JJ needs to look for other options as there will be very little minutes next year.

We have a while till we see Gaines ceiling imo he’s gonna be a stud

 

[beachvol23]

It’s not really his game. At this point he is who he is. Disappointed he didn’t rise up to his sporadic opportunities. Now that he’s logging regular minutes my wish is that he can at least be counted on to hit open 3s.

does anyone really know what “his game” is? Nothing personal, wish him well, but he’s not an SEC level player and needs to go somewhere else. We’ve seen enough.

 

[djohnnyg]

JJJ is a 5 star recruit. Why in the world would a 5 star recruit have trouble shooting the ball? Also very tentative...and not confident. Where did his 5 stars come from? It's like Horston on the Lady's side. 'Well...he's not a good shooter..lacks aggressiveness..the offense stalls when he has the ball... doesn't really play defense well...but we give him 5 stars". I mean...come on. I know there are guys who are highly touted but suddenly just fall apart. Markell Fultz right? Couldn't hit a shot if his life depended on it for awhile. I guess it's just one of those things that happens. I don't buy the excuse "he's just a freshman" when we see freshman all the time catapult to the NBA after one year...but they may not light it up stat wise...but you see something that says they are "ready" for the next level.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

JJJ is a 5 star recruit. Why in the world would a 5 star recruit have trouble shooting the ball? Also very tentative...and not confident. Where did his 5 stars come from? It's like Horston on the Lady's side. 'Well...he's not a good shooter..lacks aggressiveness..the offense stalls when he has the ball... doesn't really play defense well...but we give him 5 stars". I mean...come on. I know there are guys who are highly touted but suddenly just fall apart. Markell Fultz right? Couldn't hit a shot if his life depended on it for awhile. I guess it's just one of those things that happens. I don't buy the excuse "he's just a freshman" when we see freshman all the time catapult to the NBA after one year...but they may not light it up stat wise...but you see something that says they are "ready" for the next level.

Uhm, what?

 

[cncchris33]

JJJ is a 5 star recruit. Why in the world would a 5 star recruit have trouble shooting the ball? Also very tentative...and not confident. Where did his 5 stars come from? It's like Horston on the Lady's side. 'Well...he's not a good shooter..lacks aggressiveness..the offense stalls when he has the ball... doesn't really play defense well...but we give him 5 stars". I mean...come on. I know there are guys who are highly touted but suddenly just fall apart. Markell Fultz right? Couldn't hit a shot if his life depended on it for awhile. I guess it's just one of those things that happens. I don't buy the excuse "he's just a freshman" when we see freshman all the time catapult to the NBA after one year...but they may not light it up stat wise...but you see something that says they are "ready" for the next level.

First off, you brought a Josiah take to a Jalen party.

Second, you believe that Josiah “doesn’t really play defense”, so that is where the discussion should end. Also, he leads the team in 3-pt shooting %, so for a kid that can’t shoot, there’s that.

JJJ May have been a touch overrated, but he was on the very backend of the 5* discussion, anyway (#22 of 28 kids in the 5* range). If he is ranked #30 overall, and a 4*, most of the doubters would have believed his current numbers were acceptable. It’s like people see that 5th star and automatically believe it equals instant superstardom. Compare JJJ’s numbers to those of the other freshman 5* guards and wings.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

JJJ is a 5 star recruit. Why in the world would a 5 star recruit have trouble shooting the ball? Also very tentative...and not confident. Where did his 5 stars come from? It's like Horston on the Lady's side. 'Well...he's not a good shooter..lacks aggressiveness..the offense stalls when he has the ball... doesn't really play defense well...but we give him 5 stars". I mean...come on. I know there are guys who are highly touted but suddenly just fall apart. Markell Fultz right? Couldn't hit a shot if his life depended on it for awhile. I guess it's just one of those things that happens. I don't buy the excuse "he's just a freshman" when we see freshman all the time catapult to the NBA after one year...but they may not light it up stat wise...but you see something that says they are "ready" for the next level.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

First off, you brought a Josiah take to a Jalen party.

Second, you believe that Josiah “doesn’t really play defense”, so that is where the discussion should end. Also, he leads the team in 3-pt shooting %, so for a kid that can’t shoot, there’s that.

JJJ May have been a touch overrated,but he was on the very backend of the 5* discussion, anyway (#22 of 28 kids in the 5* range). If he is ranked #30 overall, and a 4*, most of the doubters would have believed his current numbers were acceptable. It’s like people see that 5th star and automatically believe it equals instant superstardom. Compare JJJ’s numbers to those of the other freshman 5* guards and wings.

But is that even accurate? It’s been posted his numbers compared to the surrounding recruits 20-30, he’s performing at a higher level than most of them.

 

[cncchris33]

But is that even accurate? It’s been posted his numbers compared to the surrounding recruits 20-30, he’s performing at a higher level than most of them.

No, not necessarily. I’m just conceding the existing possibility that he never grows beyond what he currently is. I even brought up those number comparisons in the post you quoted. The idea is that even as a 5* player, it isn’t like he was solidly viewed in the top 10-12. He was on the back end of that tier. So, if you subscribe to the idea that he has been a disappointment based solely on his star rating, he wasn’t far out from the 4* range, and in that range, not many people would be complaining about his current production.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

No, not necessarily. I’m just conceding the existing possibility that he never grows beyond what he currently is. I even brought up those number comparisons in the post you quoted. The idea is that even as a 5* player, it isn’t like he was solidly viewed in the top 10-12. He was on the back end of that tier. So, if you subscribe to the idea that he has been a disappointment based solely on his star rating, he wasn’t far out from the 4* range, and in that range, not many people would be complaining about his current production.

Exactly. The irony is also that if he was averaging 18/6/6 and was a projected lottery pick people would be fretting that he’s a one and done and Barnes needs to do a better job handling the roster turnover. If his current status is the floor for his career then I selfishly am perfectly fine with that.