Isnt shooting the last things rookies get acclimated to in the NBA? If so why is everyone expecting him to be a great shooter right out of the gate? He has shows good potential to be a great role player with a good all around game and high bball iq. Lets see how he looks towards the end of the season.
So what are you saying? You want him to not get any minutes? you dont think he is contributing positively in other ways? You dont think he can get any better?
Papa realizes he's not shooting well and is giving up many open looks. If his finger is sprained that may be some of the explanation for why he's missing so badly. With that said, he's shown he can hit the three ball and also score in other ways (mid-range and drives). I think his confidence is low right now and he's going to need to work through that. The rest of his game is very solid. Defensively he's an excellent position defender, who understands angles and hustles his butt off. More steals than I expected and some nice blocks as well. He's a good rebounder for his size. Where I've been pleasantly surprised is he's a plus playmaker for a forward. A very crafty passer, who sees the court well and gets the ball to the right guy at the right time. If he can gain his shooting and scoring confidence, his other skills make him an excellent addition to the Roxs. He looks like another steal by DM.
It's just a little odd that people pile it on Garcia for shooting terribly when he's playing great defense and yet they keep hyping up Kostas when he's shooting a putrid 32%. There's really nobody else to play, so we have to keep Kostas in the rotation.
You do know that Cisco is shooting a putrid 24%, right? Papa is also playing good defense and creating plays for his teammates.
This guy is so freaking good at basketball, it is unreal. For not yet being able to hit a shot, he is playing outstanding basketball. Those double teams on Cousins last night were a basketball purist's wet dream. His basketball IQ is off the charts. In fact, I'm not sure I have ever seen a smarter player on the court, outside of the old legends like Larry Bird and Bill Walton.
Anyone that thinks Kostas shouldn't be playing has a very, very small basketball brain. It is a MUST that he plays, and he is a HUGE key to our late success, no matter what the numbers say. Winner... I only wish we had him on a longer deal.
even though he is having his shooting woes, he is still a plus on the court. although some of these posters on this boards get carried away with shooting % and true shooting % and all these other 'stats', for me the papa passes the eye test. I mean, how many open looks does he get his teammates for easy buckets? it doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but i'm sure if there was a stat for pre-assists (the pass before the pass) papa would really shine in that category. at the end of the day, this is his FIRST year in the NBA. we are lucky to have him and I hope his is a rocket for a very long time.
Quite acceptable when he is the only other (above-average) facilitator besides Harden This team has plenty of shooters, not enough effective distributors. His hustle and solid D should also be considered
For all his passing ability, Kostas has been horrible on the offensive side so far this year. There have been some flashes, but he is a negative on that side of the ball. Turnovers and missing his shot have been killing him. Defensively he has made up for the lack of offensive production he is bringing. Able to defend the 2-4 spots, does a tremendous job of challenging shots, plays the lanes well. In the Euroleague he has consistently shot around the 50% mark from the field. One season he was 52% from 3! There is every reason to believe that he will 'get there' on the offensive side - he is missing layups at the moment, that is unlikely to continue - once he adapts to both the speed of the game, and the number of games played, it is reasonable to expect a better performance offensively (oh, and once he finishes playing with a hurt finger). Looking at some advanced stats, he measures up very well as a defender. So far this season (per basketball reference) the Rockets line up defensively like so: Howard Dorsey (!) Jones Garcia Harden Motie Ariza Papanikolaou Black Beverley All these guys are 'rating 100 or under' on their system (which is really really good). If you look at their standardized number (they calculate points per 100 possession against, then standardize that to a league average), the players line up this way: Dorsey (!!) Howard Jones Papanikolaou Harden Motiejunas Garcia Ariza Beverley Terry Black Canaan Now obviously the good players score more points, and so guys like Ariza and Beverley are going to be slightly lower in these rankings, because they tend to guard the better players. But encouraging to see big Papa rating so strongly (and he does pull the tough assignment when Ariza sits). [side note: Dorsey?!? He is a +3.4 defender, but ranks at 61 (100 is average) on offence, or -9.1 offensively when he is on the court. Youch!!]
I got to ask... have you been actually watching the game? Even a blind squirrel can see how much better KPap is compared to Cisco. Pap plays good D, is a much better facilitator, and has great help D. Plus he is a much better shooter. People b**** about Cisco because he can't do a damn thing outside of defending right now. If he can't hit that corner 3, unless he can do something else outside of defense, he shouldn't sniff any court time at all.
My oh my, everybody is so defensive. You realize Kostas is not on a rookie contract. He's making close to $5M. Vince Carter, my choice for backup 3, only makes $3M. And he knocks down the three and defends his man. I'm just saying as long as Kostas is shooting 32%, he's not earning his paycheck. You guys can go back to begging to mother his children now.
I remember Scolas first year, he couldn't hit a jumpshot to save his life. It prompted an interview in wich he said how good of a shooter he really is and how it was just a matter of getting comfortable in the NBA. I'm sure this is the case with Papa, second half of the season I expect a major improvement.
Carter is good for exactly what you mentioned, backup 3. You may have noticed that Papa sees plenty of time at the 4 spot (something Carter could not provide). In addition, Papa can (and has) provided quality starter minutes; Carter is less likely to maintain that level of production at his age. Thus, it is no surprise that Carter averages 15 mpg, 10 less than Papa. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved Carter for the money he is making, but you are seriously underrating Papa and what he brings to this team.
