i'm shocked no one has mentioned what, to me, is the most obvious player comparison for novak: steve novak = jeff hornacek. (minus the annoying face wipe thingie at the free throw line)
Speed wise maybe. But they play different positions. IMO, Steve Novak is a better shooter than Glen Rice and Dennis Scott and they are the closest to his size even though they are actually a couple inches shorter than he is. Dennis Scott was a horrible defender, but he stayed in the league shooting bombs. Novak is a better shooter and taller than him. When you look at the greatest 3 point shooters of all time, it is dominated by guards. The forwards are mostly below 40% and they are mostly under 6'8". The taller forwards such as Clifford Robinson, Pat Garrity, Donyell Marshall, Rashard Lewis, Vlad Rad, Raef, Antwan, their 3 point shooting percentages are mostly mid 30's for their career. Steve Novak has a chance to establish a new bar for taller shooters. There is NO ONE in the history of this league that we can rightly compare him to. Dirk is probably widely considered the best big man shooter but he only shoots about 38% out at the arc. I'm convinced Novak will blow that away. Novak has the skill set to go down as one of the most efficient offensive players of all time, if he can get his D and rebounding decent enough to stay on the floor.
Not trying to rain on the parade or anything, but one thing I always try to take into consideration in a comparison like this is how many of Dirk's shots are contested, or off the dribble with a defender in close proximity. I imagine Dirk's % on wide open 3's is a bit much higher than 38.
here's hoping Novak can adjust as easy to regular season games, againsgt generally better perimeter D. His shot, from the highlights i've seen, looks pretty quick on the release, but it will be harder to get those looks. for him to become a real threat he's going to need to extend his capabilities beyond just being a specialist outside shooter.
From the college highlights I've seen, he does a pretty good job at using screens to break himself loose. He also gets his feet set as fast as anyone I've seen play. I think he could emulate Reggie Miller and turn himself into a hell of a Pro. Running around 3 screens to break himself loose, and if someone overplays him, he can take a couple of dribbles and drive to the basket.
How many shots do we see Dirk take that are contested? 1. He is a 7 footer. Not too many defenders can really contest the shot. 2. When they body up on Dirk on the perimeter, he puts the ball on the floor and looks for the dribble drive. Dirk is a great, great player with a multi-faced game. And maybe there are a few contested 3s that he takes, but not many. He's too smart. Most of his contested fade-away jump shots are not 3 point shots. Those are shots after he has dribbled down to the FT line, key area and then he can fade away from the defense and throw it in. As far as shooters go, I think Novak is a better pure shooter, specifically on the catch and shoot situations. He's just deadly accurate. And looking at his college career, I wonder if he ever has slumps. Even the greatest shooters we have seen have had slumps. But what sticks out about him is he has never had one yet. If, if, if................Novak can develop some of those dribble moves when the defense flies at him, like the up fake, take one dribble INSIDE the 3 point line and fire, or the spin move where you turn around and then step away from the defense with a sideways drop step in the key area where you turn and fire with the defender pinned on your nonshooting side, then he could turn into a huge offensive juggernaut. I haven't seen a shooter like him and Redick since Ray Allen and Reggie Miller and this guy is 6'10". I have NEVER seen a 6'10" forward that could shoot like him. This guys forces the double team scramble from the perimeter just on catching the basketball. And he really hasn't played that much with Yao and McGrady on the floor. Most of those shots that he has hit in the preseason have been when he was really the focal point of the offense. I think that there is the distinct possibility that when the regular season starts, that if he gets minutes with the starting unit, he could potentially get even more open looks than he has gotten so far.
[rquoter]"All of the guys have something to offer," Van Gundy said. "But past four, five, six guys, we have a lot of unproven commodities. Hopefully the unknown turns into a real positive."[/rquoter] C'mon Jeff, it's "inknown commodities". Get with the program.
novak for ROY is ridiculous, even if he has the talent to make it (which he doesnt as he cant possibly SIGNIFICANTLY contribute to other categories besides his shot) he wont be on long enough to compete for ROY. Just looking at recent previous ROY winners, CP3, LeBron, basically teams lacking any real shining stars, hence why they put all their hopes into their rookies to take lead and slot them into starting positions quick smart. These previous ROY contributed in various categories and because of the lack of talent were pushed into the starters slot ready for plenty of action. Rockets have Yao and Tmac already demanding most of the ball so novak's only significant ability in scoring already is set back by him automatically being the 3rd, 4th option. Being realistic, at best Novak might improve rebounding to a AVERAGE level. Hopefully battier can give him a few tips to become an average defender, but i doubt he could do much against the very strong and physical power forwards, and he will never become a decent shot blocker. His passing isnt spectacular and he does have some height so perhaps a decent rebounder. Basically Novak has nothing to offer besides open shots, quick catch and shoots and hopefully he might be able to work on some moves to try and shake defenders, ie dribble + fadeaway. But if he can just make his open looks when he gets dished the ball after Yao/Tmac get double/triple teamed then that would be great, as it was something we were lacking last year. And because of his limited contribution, he wont see overly long minutes unless he can work really hard on other aspects of his game in a real hurry, i dont think he will be able to gain enough minutes for contention of ROY. Unless of course our primary scoring options get injur.... no, lets not go there, no, NO THAT WONT EVER HAPPEN!@#$!#$!$!@ hence if novak gets ROY it will be a very sad year for the rockets. well thats what i think, feel free to correct.
Novak is going to be an elite role player one day , like battier and the likes we need good role players on our team so i think its a win win situation
Bullard was one of the most one-dimensional players in NBA history and he actually was not that great of a shooter. His stats aren't as good as I thought they were when I was younger. The only comparison of Novak to Bullard is that they are 6'10" and they stand on the three point line. People act as if Novak is a one trick pony just because he is such a great shooter. I am pretty sure JVG is loving his intangibles(yes, he has them). He is very smart with the ball. He spaces the floor perfectly. He cuts to the basket if he thinks he can sneak in a layup. His defense and rebounding have been much better than I thought they would be. He has a mean pump fake that we haven't seen yet where he fakes the defender takes a dribble or two to his left or right then drains it. He can get his shot off on just about anyone no matter how athletic they are because of this pump fake and dribble(See Novak vs. Gay in college 40pts./16rbs.) Bullard couldn't even dream of being the type of player Novak was in college. Don't get me wrong, if Novak's shot isn't falling he is not much help but just the fact that he is out there and teams have to worry about him makes him so valuable. I am glad he is thought of as one-dimensional because then people get surprised when he does something out of the ordinary. I really think JVG likes him and is probably impressed with the other dimensions of his game. I am hoping he gets 10-15 min. of PT somewhere but who really knows what will happen when he has to play against the true top talent.
After watching last night's game (just once so far ), I continue to think he is more than a one dimensional player. He is already an average rebounder, and I would say an average defender as well. He lacks strenght, but is a good position defender and does not make many mistakes. He did reasonably well against both Oberto and Horry last night. He sets a good screen. As mentioned by jakedasnake, he moves well without the ball and has a good pump fake. We still haven't seen much of Novak and Yao together, and I remain optimistic that he may have some skills at feeding the post. As far as his shooting, on a night when his shot was definitely "off" he got 11 points on 9 attempts. Not bad. I still think he will shoot 50% or better from downtown for the season.
The comparison I'm thinking of is Toni Kukoc, especially early on with the Bulls. He has good offensive awarness (not as good a passer as Kukoc), excellent shooting, limited athleticism, but in the right system and the right situation he becomes deadly. Kukoc had Jordan and Pippen to get him open Novak is going to have similar opportuinities with Yao and T-mac. The great thing about Novak is he's gonna force defenses to make decisions, where is that double team gonna come? from what side? when to call off the double team? So he is going to be affecting the game and game plan, and that's a thing that very few rookies will do. ROY is probably a little far fetched but a Sixth Man of the Year ala Ben Gordon is within reason if he is used effectivly, and if he doesn't drop of mid season when defenses start game planning for him.
Thats a good comparison. Horry seems like a reasonable comparison too except Horry was a good shotblocker and had great athleticism ...unfortunately, Horry never utilized his athleticsm to his fullest IMO. The funny part about Horry is that he was 10 years ahead of his time. Put a young Horry onto the Suns or the Mavs and today Horry should be a beast.
good comparison. i just hope that novak doesn't develop the "paint allergy" that kukoc had. toni would get in the lane and instantly break out into hives...
