I don't think it has much to do with defensive "skills", its his defensive effort and body language that has left much to be desired. That is a bad combo for an undrafted rookie trying to make the team, if he can't even play hard now. But his passing and ability to push the tempo is definitely worth the flier.
i don't think this dude understands the whole concept of pre-season. Ed Curry had a better game than Tim Duncan in preseason. This isn't Kenny Smith vs Sam Cassell.
He's looked great on the offensive end, but I'm worried about what happens if/when teams realize he can't score. He's not a shooter and when he gets to the rim he doesn't finish well. His defense is as bad as advertised. The Spur's backup/third string PG (Joseph?) went to work on him. Joseph was driving to the basket at will (many times without a pick) and even got 1 or 2 offensive rebounds/putbacks after Machado fell asleep and didn't box out. If he becomes a rotation player, teams will likely just sag off him and dare him to shoot. He doesn't have the quickness of Rondo to get to the paint and doesn't have Rondo's ability to finish so Machado will be forced to pass it off or shoot. On the defensive end, he's going to get lit up constantly.
Scott is a good player. He's great passer in transition and has very good court vision. That is the most valuable aspect of his game. If he works on other areas like his defense and shooting he will definitely have a solid NBA career.
Agree with this a lot. It's not the defensive 'skills'. Just look at how little effort Machado puts into fighting screens. Or on one occasion against SAS in the 2nd quarter where the Spurs guard (can't remember who it was) got to the baseline on the right hand side with Machado not really even bothering to get to him with urgency or put a hand up. Looked real bad. And not sold on his ability to run the team in a 'half-court' setting, although he would be very very good in a fast-tempo game. The thing I'm worried about, is that, almost every guy on the roster, from Morris, to Martin to the rookies, all understand McHale's focus on defense and are at least trying to play D and are saying the right things, while Machado hasn't really mentioned a thing about getting better on D, and doesn't even look like he's trying on that end.
Am I the only one surprised by the comments here? I watched the game, and Machado actually is very active on defensive end yesterday. He's phsically challenged but the attitude and effort are there. Sure there can be certain plays he may miss a step, but his effort is on par with his teammates, and I was pleasantly surprised by that while watching the game.
I agree, his effort was there, but perhaps his skill level on defense is not there yet. You can be active on the court, but still not doing the right things.
I completley forgot that livingston was even on this team. wouldn't be shoc vk if livingston revived his career with the Rockets in Houston.
Stats are misleading in my opinion. He's a poor shooter/defensive player, and I think a poor decision maker. Passes when he should shoot and forces a shot when he should pass. I won't be heartbroken if he doesn't make the team.
If Link got the elite passing instincts/passing skills/court version that Scott "D-冇" Machado has, then he would have become an elite PG without a doubt. Oh I'm so sorry I did mention Lin.
THANKYOU I think Machado is waaay better on defense than LIN . Machado seems to be aggressive on D and has been that way since the summer league
Machado will still get better over time but he does look real small, with real short arms almost T-Rex like arms
this wouldn't be a crazy idea Lowry broke out as a Rocket Dragic as well if things fall right, it could also happen to Shaun right here
Ish Smith 2.0? I am not really worried about the backup PG spot. Morey has shown us that he could steal a good PG or three any time he wanted. Backup center is another story.
Lin, like Machado, gets beat off the dribble pretty often, but Lin is really good at recovering. This is evidenced by the number of steals he gets from behind after getting beat. There's also this... Machado on the other hand gets beat, but either quits or doesn't have the quickness/athleticism to recover.
That Lin is still around. He still recovers and challenges on the defensive end. That block was mainly due to the fact that Rose didn't think Lin could recover that quickly and thus took an easy layup attempt. And we aren't going to see Lin getting crazy numbers mainly b/c this system isn't going to see Lin running a million pick and rolls (which is his strength). In D'Antoni's system a big would automatically come for the pick and if one pick didn't work they'd run another and another. In this version of the McHale system, Lin is having to call for a pick a lot more often.
