California Dreamin: Rockets Jalen Green Working To Break Free Of Shooting Slump
HOUSTON — Second-year guard Jalen Green spent most of Tuesday morning working out alongside assistant coach John Lucas II inside the Toyota Center.
A few hours later, Green participated in the Houston Rockets' final practice before the team began a four-game road trip, which will begin in a two-game series against the Sacramento Kings.
Sacramento is two hours away from Green's hometown of Fresno, and the California native will have his family in attendance inside the Golden 1 Center Wednesday night.
"This is what I dreamed of," Green said. "I've talked about this with my family and friends, them coming to the game to watch me play. It's a great moment."
Green would like to put on an exceptional performance in front of his family and friends. But his top priority when facing the Kings is to have a bounce-back game following a horrid output against the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night.
He finished the night shooting 4-of-15 from the field, 1-of-6 from behind the arc, for a season-low nine points when the Rockets fell 104-96 to the Timberwolves.
The game marked the first time Green failed to score in double figures all season. He attributed his inadequate performance to "just being one of those nights." But Green has turned his atrocious performance into a learning lesson.
"I know I am not going to be perfect every night," he said. "I wasn't very aggressive in that game. And I wasn't looking to score. I cannot do that because I feel like I'm letting my team down. I cannot have that."
Getting out in transition and scoring easy buckets are the top characteristics that could help Green regain his offensive rhythm.
His play against the Timberwolves was a small sample size of the struggles that have plagued his production over the previous five games. Green has averaged 18.2 points during the stretch on an inefficient .313/.308./.818 shooting splits.
Green accentuated the importance of playing more aggressive to break out of his latest shooting slump. But he is more focused on locking in on his routine to break free of his struggles.
"A veteran knows when they have gotten out of a slump because of the experience," coach Stephen Silas said. "It's like in real life. If you have experienced adversity or something you had to fight through, then the next time you fight through it, it's a little bit easier."
Green's sophomore slump has come nearly a full calendar year since the struggles he faced during his rookie campaign. He had a three-game stretch averaging 5.7 points on an appalling 15 percent shooting from the floor and 11.8 percent from behind the arc.
He began putting in extra work alongside Lucas to hone his skills, which ended in Green averaging 20.3 points on .467/.390/.770 shooting splits during the final 34 games.
A year later, Green wasted no time getting extra work in alongside Lucas following a loss to the Timberwolves. And his workouts came just in time for the second homecoming of Green's young career.
"I work with him every day — I know how good he can be," Lucas said. "He gets no compliments from me. But he is growing."
You can follow Coty M. Davis on Twitter at @CotyDavis_24
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