Already? He's played a total a 235 minutes this season so we are putting the cart before the horse here. As I mentioned earlier, his ability to run an offense is what can separate him from being just a gunner/scorer. If he can be top ten in assists for an entire NBA season, then that greatly changes his outlook. Even though his play in the Rocket's organization (G League and Rockets) is small, he looks very promising.
I remember reading about him after we got him, and one of the things they talked about was his balance/control and his passing ability. One thing an article mentioned was his tendency to sometimes attempt spectacular passes (pre-NBA). That reminded of that crazy spinning, 360, no-look pass he made in that game a couple of weeks ago that left me saying "wow". Obviously he has above-average athleticism, but his ability to get around people, pass, and do some crazy reverse layups are what's impressed me about him so far. Athleticism is a dime-a-dozen nowadays from what I've seen, but to be able to use it in-game or in-the-flow of a game and know when to turn it on and off is kind of unique. It reminds me of Harden's deceptive athleticism and how ridiculously athletic he was coming into the league, but you'd never know it because, for the most part, he was too busy using his skills to get around people, get shots up, and score -- especially now.
The question is, when other teams design their defense to limit his shots and get the ball out of his hands, will we surround him with sharpshooters and shot makers or bricklayers and journeymen? His ability to record assists is contingent on the person receiving the pass making his shot. Hopefully they'll be taller than 6'2 since this is still basketball.
Dude just needs to spend the summer with John Lucas (to keep him grounded), and work with Jeff Hornacek getting shots up and gaining confidence. He can be special!
Need a better offensive system. This offense doesn’t put the guards in a great position to be creative without holding onto the ball
I notice him having trouble beating guys off the dribble. Maybe I just have high expectations of him but John Wall is definitely quicker and we all know Harden could get to the rim at will. Eric Gordon is better as well
Perhaps, that might improve if his handle gets tighter. He has shown that he can get to the rim and finish with his speed, but getting through traffic is harder as you have observed. Addendum: Lack of physical strength perhaps is another factor in preventing him from trying to take the ball all the way to the hoop.
he can beat guys off dribble - he just stops after he beats them to look for the pass too often... He either needs to start taking those between floaters / shots ... or drive all the way to basket. He has to be abit more selfish
He’s also not getting the calls he was getting in GLeague when driving... he should be around 4-6 FTs a game
No he has a habit of slowing down after beating his guy so the guy runs past him. It's a weird habit that doesn't works lot of time in the NBA. He needs to learn how to do a straight line drive and do a normal layup.
I didn't like kpj's body language last night, throwing his hands up, shaking his head, he needs to have the same demeanor whether he's going 10/15 or 3/15. Got some maturing to do. On the bright side, even after last night he is still 58% on 2 point fgs this year. His overall efficiency is being dragged down by the 22% shooting from 3, however there is a clear cause for that. Last year, 75.5% of his 3pt fgs were assisted, he shot 33.5% on them but was actually close to 37% after starting off cold the first month. This year, only 41.7% of his 3pt fgs are assisted, this is the primary reason why his 3pt% is so low, we are using him as a primary ball handler/creator, ala James Harden. He is taking tougher 3s than last year, but if he can really develop that shot and increase his efficiency on it, like James did, then he can really reach that star potential.
I think we should hold judgement until Wall is shut down for the season as they're a really bad fit next to eachother. Last night vs. the Grizzlies it looked like Wall was trying to get KPJ more involved as opposed to icing him out like he always does but those two will never work.
His midrange is money. He needs to go to his bread and butter more often but I know stone and the team probably talk to him about that shot. They need to talk to Wall about his long twos...
Ya he has a really soft touch mid range and inside the paint that usually bodes well that eventually hell develop a consistent three point shot.
