https://gleague.nba.com/game/rgv-vs-mhu-2052300015?view=box-score 13 3PA, however. I don't think that's what they are going to want from him in the NBA, so curious what the point is .
I do think the Rockets want him to be able to spread the floor. Not the NBA, but G League should help him get closer to the speed of the NBA regarding closeouts. I don't know if he's going to be with the Vipers too long. The big thing with Whitmore is that he needs to start reading defense. Nothing complex, just when to kick when defense collapses on his drive.
In case you missed it, they already said he's going to be back with the team for the road trip. He played ok, but had a few dumb mistakes and his defense was both suspect (ball watching) and decent (playing passing lanes) in his G-League stint. He made great plays but also made some really dumb ones in the last game.
He takes a lot of plays off. I would like Brooks to teach him how to ball hawk more. There were a few plays where he could have followed his shot or followed a teammate's shot for a board but was watching the shot or slowly moving back to the other end of the court while the ball was still in the air.
Watching the way they handle him, they are molding him more into a big SG than a forward. Positionless basketball kind of philosophy, but definitely more of a 2 than a 3.
I honestly don't think it matters. He's big enough to bang with small forwards and can guard a lot of SGs. I think it'll be situational. But he needs to learn to play basketball intelligently for right now. He's just a dude with crazy athleticism that wants to either just drive in on people and jam it or jack 3's when he gets the ball. Now he needs to figure out when to do each and also when to pass and who he should pass to. As another example, Amen has been a PG, but he can play SG, PG, or SF and can defend all 3. In rare cases, you may be able to get away with putting him on a PF. I'd rather have more of these dudes that can situationally be placed on different players and play multiple roles and not be pigeon-holed into one role. I hope he's the steal I was hoping he'd be. He's definitely got the tools.
The Vipers are repeatedly crushing that sorry G-League. When the competition is so bad, all you simulate is against very low opponents who also just spam shooting 3s.
