Cam has many things to work on, but he's only 19 and has already flashed so much promise. You can't teach his athleticism and his shot making ability is already impressive. I know the sample size is incredibly small, but his passing at the end of the season makes me hopeful that he can at least make the connecting passes rather than being a black hole.
Yes and no. Some of the things he needs to improve on are not easy to improve or guarantees. He does not smoothly integrate into the offensive flow. That can be a really big issue. There are a lot of talented offensive players that never figure that out. I saw some improvement in that area in the middle of the season, followed with some regression at the end of the season. I am cautiously excited about Cam.
I saw him integrate easily when he had more time guaranteed, but IMHO he was pressing to get noticed and trying too hard to earn minutes. I saw major progress on defense, and on understanding late - he just needs time, and the players he plays with matter as well, do they fit his game - right now I am not sure everyone does. I think the Rockets should be looking to trade some of the players they are developing for better players now.....to get to that next level. DD
The funny thing is that Jalen probably had the same level of tunnel vision as Cam as a 19 year old entering the league. When I read analysis like this It just shows that people don't actually watch tape. You know why Green even as a 19 year old rookie would never be close to averaging more turnovers than assists? It's ball skills... Ball handling. You say his issue is tunnel vision and offensive awareness and I'm telling you there are many players with his level of tunnel vision who still average more assists than turnovers because there is a certain level of ball handling skills one has where it is impossible to average more turnovers than assists. Why? The more you can chain a live dribble in a tight lly defended half court set the more you are able to manipulate defenses to create easy read open looks without losing a handle. Your entire analysis misses an aspect that makes Cam not a replacement for Green. That's ball skills. Cam is not going to replace Green as a dominant pnr ball handling guard who does a two man game with Sengun for example. Look at all of Cam's scoring possessions. Almost all of them are in transition, cuts or straight line drives off of defenses that are already collapsed and scrambling. The few times he scores off the dribble in a half court set is a iso clear out where he just has to bully ball a single defender to the rim. That isn't a talent you can make into a ball dominant major aspect of your offense. Can he do things like split a double with a handle. Can he maintain. Alive dribble snaking through set half court defenses on a set pnr possession? Has he shown that ability? Not in the slightest.
I'm going to say some of that is on Cam especially on the inside the arc stuff. Some of that is on Green and Sengun especially when Cam was trying to space the floor with the starters.
Cam is a much better shooter than Jalen, he is bigger and drive to the basket successfully and he is a better on balll defender than Jalen
To generate he needs to be more patient with his dribble. He usually tucks his head down and goes in like an asian lady turning left on the freeway.
He doesn't have the skill to chain multiple dribble moves like that yet. People say "he needs to improve his vision". No he needs to improve his on ball skills.
I think Cam actually is one of the hardest players to evaluate. Truly a wide variance of outcomes for his career.
He's not hard to evaluate, he's a Von Wafer right now. What I don't understand is how do NBA coaches expect this young players to grow if you detach yourself the whole offseason. All Cam is doing is doubling down with his tunnel vision trainer.
