I've watched every game Parson's played as a Gator and figured I should give ya'll a heads up on what to expect from him since he is contributing already. Like many players, his game rides on confidence. But in his case, almost entirely on confidence. When he believes in himself he is a phenomenal player that will knock down shots, get big time put backs, knock down his FT's but if he hits some adversity it really gets to his head. He air balled a FT when we were on the verge of getting upset by Central Florida because he had struggled shooting to start the year and just didn't have it. And when I say he was struggling, I think he was hitting at best 50% from the FT line and shooting around 15% from 3. But he finally had a game where he knocked down some shots and he ended up being named SEC Player of the Year. He is a terrific rebounder at the 3 no matter his confidence. I think he knows he can control that and does. Really my only complaint ever about him is his huge cold streaks. I saw many of you were happy on here about his play so far but you'll have to give him a break when a cold streak comes because it will and he's going to look like 1/2 the player he does. The best thing McHale can do is pretend like nothing is wrong or encourage him. If he benches him you might lose the Parsons you see right now for the season. If he would stop fading away on his shots he wouldn't hit cold streaks! But that's neither here nor there. Anyway, just wanted to come on here and give ya'll some info. Definitely have another Rocket's fan in me while Parson's is there.
I thought he he was mentally tougher than what you were describng. Nw you got me fearing his cold streak...... How's his energy when he has no confidence. Is he still all-out, all hustle. What about his defense?
I saw him fade away on an open 19 footer from the wing last night. He bricked it hard off the front rim. I was wondering why on Earth he was fading back like that but you're saying that just his normal motion?
That's exactly what I got from the OP: that Parsons may not be mentally tough. That would be a downer. Not comparing Parsons to anybody, but stars/superstars are great not only because they are physically able to but they have supreme confidence no matter what the circumstances -- "I am the best and you can't touch me" attitude. Always. Whatever it is, I hope grows out of it.
Yeah, I think we've already seen that he can be incredibly streaky when it comes to his shot. People make comparisons to Chase Budinger (who can also be streaky), but I don't think he's the pure shooter that Bud is. From what I've seen, he's an average shooter at best (borne out by his poor FT shooting throughout college and early this year), and he needs to improve that area of his game. What I like, though, is that even if he's not shooting well he knows how to contribute in other ways. I lot of veterans haven't figured that out, let alone young players.
Damnit, I thought Gators were supposed to have no conscience or was that just Vernon He better go talk to the all-time scoring leader and call him: "Hey Max, you got some advise for me? - Sure, just keep shooting, take no ****, occasionally spit and keep the same attitude after you dunk on someone throughout the whole game. Gators like us don't go through cold spells, we continue to bomb away until it hits the net and once we hit one, we are red hot"
The good news though is that I'm sure not even he thought he would already be starting in the NBA, much less putting up good games. I can't imagine what that does for someone's ego, I'm sure he is feeling better about himself now more than ever. Knowing his play and watching the highlights, I can tell he is extremely confident right now. But like I said, that might change at some point. He still hustles I think. IMO, I think it is kind of like a defensive back where the less you call his name, the better defense he plays. He still gets blocks and steals sometimes where you call his name but I RARELY remember thinking "someone just blew by Parsons again" or "Parsons left another guy open". If he was playing poor defense, it was likely the whole team energy was down or something. Defensively he's just so long he can make some great plays and it can be hard to get a good shot off against him because of that length. I personally don't ever remember his defense being a liability once he got accustomed to college but we had rough years from 2008-2010 so maybe I erased it from my memory.
It's not his normal motion in terms of him shooting like that 100% of the time but just a ball park, guesstimate, I'd say he does it over 50% of the time. It looks good when you make it but it's a streaky shot. In his defense, he'll probably have a game where he goes 4-5 or 5-6 from 3 using that shot. He went I think 7-8 from 3 at Vanderbilt one year. If he would just go straight up and down every time he'd be much better. I can see fading away when you have to, but it seems it is just a bad habit. Maybe an NBA coach can coach that out of him though.
You'll definitely be able to tell when his confidence drops. But like I said, being a starter in the NBA already has to be HUGE boost to his ego. You kinda want an egotistical (not in a selfish way) and confident guy. I mean one great game last year turned him from air balling FT's and going 0-4 from 3 every game to the SEC Player of the Year. Just seeing him his confidence seems the best I've ever seen it. But just playing against NBA athletes it is inevitable that he has a horrible game and it will be interesting to see how "NBA Chandler" responds to it.
Chandler does seem to have confidence issues. At the post-draft press conference where the draftees were introduced, Motiejunas declared himself faster than Dwight Howard and Marcus Morris called himself Carmelo Anthony with Defense. Parsons just sat there and chuckled when the truth is that he is Shane Battier with Stats.
Thanks for the info, Gator. I remember thinking man this dude is all nerves right now (understandably so) in his first game. That may or may not be something he's ever able to shake, but as long as he keeps working hard through those cold streaks and playing solid defense, you won't hear a word out of me when his shot isn't falling. He brings a lot to the table that we really need.
Hopefully he puts in hard work to develop his 3-pointer... Hard work = Confidence His threes last night reminded me of Gallinari... 6-10 and WET... (With defense and rebounding...)
I won't be surprised if he becomes a chase budinger but he is taller and therefore can rebound more and have an advantage in the nba with the size. But streaky based on confidence is basically what chase budinger is all about. But at least parsons can rebound.
Great to know, and thanks for posting it. Let's hope McHale can keep his confidence up high, we need his energy. DD
NBA Chandler. That is interesting. I have been watching the NBA for a long time, and it is interesting to see so many players who did well in college whose game did not translate into the NBA. Conversely, there have been late 1st rounders and even some second rounders (now that is rare, Agent 00 was one) who became all-stars. Even the best scouts miss and hit. It is like, with the exceptions of the Lebrons and Carmelos of the this world, you never know until set feet in a NBA court what they will truly become. I hope we will see more of the NBA Chandler.
Parsons' cold streaks aren't too big a deal because he does everything else so well. The Rockets front office tracked his defense, and said he makes a mistake on D only 9% of the time. By comparison one of the best perimeter defenders in recent history Shane Battier screwed up 8% of the time as a Rocket. Rockets scout has raved about Parsons innate passing skills even on draft day. And rebounding is one skill that always translates as long as a player has passion. It's pretty clear already that Parsons is not a great shooter. But if he just shoots 3 pointers all day long during the summer, he'll probably be serviceable enough in that regards. No one is expecting him to put up 20+ every night.
Right now he is trying to prove himself, the key will be once he is established what level of play will he bring every night. Either way, the fact that we got an NBA rotation player in the 2nd round is fricken amazing. DD
