So, who else noticed Eddie shooting a bunch of 26 footers at halftime?? man, Eddie! How about practicing the wide-open 12 footer that Kenny brilliantly passed to you on a spin move down the lane. Boy, was that a great pass! for a Shandon-esque brick. How did he find Eddie 280 degrees into the spin? I LOVE that block Eddie....you are the best. But, Eddie, name me another big man who practices 26 footers??
Who did Eddie block??? I trust Rudy, but I don't know why EG and Tmo haven't played more. Anyone think that Tmo could have guarded Kobe a little better with his size ? Reduce Moochie's minutes for games like these, have Tmo guard Kobe, Cat on Fox, and Stevie on whoever is the pg.
gr8-1, How do you guard a fadeaway turn around jumper from Kobe. Like asking someone to block Rasheed's turnaround, or Dream's. Not going to happen. The *best* you can do is make him shoot it rather than drive on you. And you must admit, Kobe was unsuccessful driving on Cat. Cuttino was also harassing him without the ball, denying him the ball. But that damn turnaround....that is what makes Kobe a superstar for sure. His drive get totally be shut down, and he still goes 13-27! Kobe did stick some enyo face jumpers on Cat, too. But overall, I have no complaints with that defense. Cat never did a matador? We never did a double team on Kobe (allowing us to guard Shaq closer). (Except for that miscommunication in the last minute with 5 fouls, when Kobe went left and looked like KT was supposed to double--Rudy was furious with either Cat or KT.) Certainly I never thought for a second to bring in a rookie who has shown me an inconsistent offensive game, at best so far, to be a Kobe stopper.
Eddie went up and threw on back in Fox's face about his first time down the court. Fox was trying to do a little jumper on the base line, and Eddie came from the weak side to get all of it.
I guess I just look at Tmo's size and athletic ability and hope he can give Kobe trouble. 31 points for Kobe, 26 for Cat. That seems like a wash to me. That's not where we lost the game. Maybe Tmo can take Torres's minutes?
I wonder why Eddie and Tmo don't get more playing time myself as well. But something i don't want to see again is all 220lbs of Eddie trying to guard Shaq. Thankfully it only open a couple of times.
Actually, as stupid and illogical as this sounds, practicing three's could pay off. The guy isn't going to play unless he can be specialist. If it came down to us needing a three at any time during the game... Rudy would insert him into the line up because he could easily get a clean look at a 3.
PhiSlammaJamma, but he wasn't practicing normal threes. He was 3 feet beyond the necessary distance. That is what I don't get. And he has launched two of those already this year in games (making one, I might add).
Hey! T-Mac has done it a couple of times! Once in the allstar game in once in a regular season game last year. It is possible. He didnt cheat from the side either...just a straight up, in your face block.
Yep, actually one game over the summer that was on tv, Eddie had his biggest scoring output by going to a tunraround fade, and numerous other shots inside the arc. You know i wish the whole team would do this. I bet the teams shooting percantage would be much better if they just pretended that that damn threepoint line wasn't there. I hate to see every play started just beyond the three-point line. Its like it's become ingrained into the consciousness of all NBA players that they have only have two options: a three, or a full on drive into the teeth of the defense. I hate that! Such good court space is wasted -- below the arc and outside the paint -- because of this accepted style of play.
It sounds to me like the kid has never been coached. He has no routine and no discipline. All he has is TONS of ability.
Or, it is entirely possible that Rudy is trying to ease Eddie's transition into the NBA by simplifying his role in the offense to shooting open shots, most of which will be from the three-point line.
...more shooting for 26 feet. This time I was at the game 90 minutes early. Eddie shot for about 20-30 minutes of that time. He never once shot something inside 20 feet, and he shot mostly from 2 feet behind the arc. He was the only person on both teams shooting that far behind the arc. What is up with this? Not one turnaround jumper. No work with a coach on facing up a defender (like Torres and K9 did)...no catch and shoot with a coach (like Walt and Kenny). All Eddie did was casually drill one bomb after another. They guy can definitely shoot!! But this is weird....26 footers??
Isn't it on the coaching staff (at least partially) to pull the kid aside and work with him on his post game? It'd be almost criminal not to. Of course, they may be doing that in practice. Seems like a better time to offer one-on-one instruction anyway, rather than during pre-game shootaround.
Maybe they told him that is his role, offensively. Maybe he is the best three point shooter on the club in practice? I agree it is wierd. He showed a great turn around jumper in the summer league. Question about Eddie almost started another thread. I think many of us will be disappointed if Eddie doesn't turn out to be at least three or four time all star. Will this happen? I know the information we have is not complete, but it is better than the immediate post draft speculation. I think that it is already clear that he will not be a "bust'" for a number 7 pick. A solid starter would be good enough to avoid that label, but all star? It certainly seems he has all the tools, height. speed, shot, shotblocking. His main overall weakness aside from strength which he obviously can improve is that he doesn't seem to be able to dribble vey well. Overall I'll still go with the occasional all star or better.
Actually him taking those long jumpers can help him. He wants his arms to get use to the far outside shot. So if he takes shots inside it will be really easy for him. His arm is getting use to the nba range, and the ball is also different from college. Eddie seriously needs to bulk up if he wantts to post up players.
Francis3, As I'm sure everyone knows, most players have a bread-n-butter shot. One they turn to in a game when they aren't hitting. One they know they can get off at anytime. This one is practiced the most. Eddie didn't show "his shot." Shooting bombs as a means to make shorter shots easier is something I don't really believe in. The longer shots need a different stroke. You can also develop a hitch doing that. As you move in, try adding a quick release or high release, or shooting off either foot, or shooting off the dribble, step-backs...fadeaways....things you don't want to do at 26 feet. At 26 feet, all you can really do is learn a smooth stroke, like a free throw. It is too far to practice anything else, imo. to me, shooting 26 footers is fun and good for smoothing out your straight stroke, but scoring involves practicing an assortment. Surely, as others have said, I don't doubt that he's not doing that in practice, but a lot of players use the shootaround to practice assortments of shots. Nitwitz, for instance, went through a methodical array of moves and shots using coaches to pass him the ball and defend him, as such.
