i was gonna say "who would've thought a statistics nerd from MIT would revolutionize nba basketball" but then i guess we have to look no further than moneyball to see it was, if anything, the most likely outcome. it always makes you wonder if people just did this in the 80's or before rudy T figured it out in the 90's, what would've happened. would they have dominated or would they have just had a bunch of guys who had never shot volume 3's bricking their way to 28% shooting and then the coach and gm get fired after it doesn't work for 2 months.
I'd calm down a bit on everyone trying to call trae young a bust in ****ing summer league lamo. His release is still one of the quickest i've ever seen and he's not losing confidence in himself. I know the likes of Stephen Curry and Lonzo Ball being media darlings gave everyone an irrational hatred of light skinned guards in general but chill with deciding a player's career after a few exhibition games, Lonzo Ball won SL MVP but he didn't finish top 10 in ROY voting. Remember Jamal Murray AKA: Maple Curry? Came into the league at 19 as well, had great form on his jumper but couldn't hit the ground if he tired, then after a year of NBA S&C coaching and getting acclimated to NBA speed he's nice.
Everyone was slowly figuring it out, as the 3PT rate has increased every year since its introduction. I'd imagine it would work, but not to the same extent it does today. With the NBA requiring 1v1 defense, ISO scorers and post-up bigs ruled the day, so it would take a great ISO scorer with range (Mahmud Abdul Rauf?) to really exploit. The risk of not having enough shooting could be real, as 1-on-1 defense was the most important skill for a role player since spacing was given to the offense by the rule book. Of course, the Rockets won the title twice (and would have won it 3 times if my sig was false) by hoisting up more threes than any team that came before them.
It's actually not him, it's more about Atlanta, possibly squandering a pick for better player or even not getting more flesh out of teams, like Dallas for making the trade. A protected top 5, 1st round pick. So, if Dallas sucks again, this year, then the Hawks won't be getting anything out of it, if they score higher than a 5. But, they've Doncic and DeAndre with Smith coming into his sophomore year, I wouldn't hold my breath on that. If Doncic pans out, and Young is just alright or decent, the Hawks basically lost out on another high draft pick.
Yeah I really don't get what Atlanta was trying to do with that, especially with the Mavs pick being top 5 protected, whats the point? At best (for atlanta) it would be like if OKC and GS swapped Harden and Curry on draft night in 2009, its looking more and more like they swapped Harden for J. Murray. Good point on Curry's athleticism, even though Steve Nash was Curry's (and coincidentally: Young's) favorite player growing up, Curry had a father who played in the NBA, a genetic luxury neither Nash or Young posses.
He done. Adam Morrison 2018 version. Certainly Atlanta wishing they didn't trade down from Doncic now. We've seen lots of guys who beasted in SL and flopped in the NBA. Name me one guy who flopped in SL and became a star in the NBA outside of big men. Being a role player like Beverly or Vasquez don't count as a lotto pick you gotta ve a star especially when the team chose you over the 19 yr old Euroleague MVP.
Not a star, but Batum looked like the worst player on the floor in Summer League, but then came in and started for Portland almost the entire season. With that said, I was not impressed by Trae. Wade Baldwin shut him down so hard Atlanta just took him out of the game altogether.
Shout out to Kevin Knox for shutting up all the whiney Knicks fans, he looks like the best of the top 10 picks so far tbh.
Paul takes high percentage mid range jumpers at the elbows. It’s not like a Carmelo or Jr Smith contested 22ft jumper.
Some players need a system to thrive. If you take a kid 2 weeks removed from college, surround him with teammates he doesn't have chemistry with, and roll a ball out - how much can you really learn? You'll learn whether he can get his own shot and his on ball defense, that's about it. Even playmaking skills are tough because he's not sure where his teammates will be. I'm giving these kids a pass until January.
You're wiser than me. The expectation is that the more talented players will shine quite quickly. I'm pleased with Melton's progress.
