What does Vasquez have to do to maximise his productivity

[morsatun]

Ok, it appears clear now that we are more than likely to be stuck with Vasquez as our starting PG for most of the season. That is just a reality whether we like it or not. We also know that there is no way he will become any faster or athletic. So what can Vasquez do to improve? And what can the team and Monty do to maximize his productivity:

Vasquez:
1. He has to improve his shooting. He is not taking many crazy shots as he used to, but very often he get clear looks, or even good penetrations where he passes the defender and then misses an easy jumper or flouter. He has got to get better at that.

2. 3 point shooting. He has taken less 3s this year, and his percentage is lower. If he manage to get to 35% and 1 to 2 3s per game that could help us.

3 learn to hang in there on a bad game. When he has a bad night, he tends to take more shots to try and compensate. Everyone has bad nights; he should just concentrate on passing the ball on those nights and trust his team to do the offensive damage.

4 Post up against shorter PG. I really think he should do this more often. Every time he does it is a basket or he gets free shots.

The team:
I think it will be crucial for us to get our big guys to convert both the open mid range shots of the pick and roll from Vasquez, and more importantly the passes under the basket. In the last 3 games there have been way too many situations when Vasquez gets Lopez or smith under the basket and they have missed easy shots, or try to do too much with the ball. These are plays by the book that we cannot afford to miss.
Monty:

Monty loves having a system and sticking to it, and I really admire him for that. With a well oil system a consistent rotation comes along. I think all that is great, but you also have to take what you are given when you are given it. Vasquez will not have a game like last every night, nor every second night, when he is inspired and the shots are coming in but the game is still close, I really think Monty should let him stay and run the offense as long as possible. If we had Gordon, it would be a different history, but as it is now, we should take every good run we can get.

[da ThRONe]

I would say play at his pace. Vasquez has some skills, but some glaring weaknesses. He need to compensate with sticking to his strength. Also staying focused on defense he doesn't have the athletic ability or lateral quickness to slack off for a min.

[NemesisKING]

Be be pushed to the bench by a talented Pg. His individual productivity will be maximized, also team.

[BP225]

Vasquez needs to play next to Gordon and shoot a better % from 3 to maximize his productivity. That's the only way he's viable as an every night starter. But I'd love to see it because I think he's a potentially great fit next to Gordon.

[AD23forMVP]

Improve his percentage, but most of all, improve defensively. He's awful.

[hornetstime247]

Improve his 3 pts shooting and improve on defense. But Gordon returning will be a huge help to him because Gordon will be able to guard the quicker, faster PGs that Vasquez has trouble with and Vasquez has the height to check a lot of SGs in this league.

[NemesisKING]

Improve his 3 pts shooting and improve on defense. But Gordon returning will be a huge help to him because Gordon will be able to guard the quicker, faster PGs that Vasquez has trouble with and Vasquez has the height to check a lot of SGs in this league.

Problem with that is you do not want Vasquez guarding the shooting guards in this league. Most nights you would actually rather him defend the point.

As long as he's the PG you're going to have to take your lumps defensively regardless of who's the SG next to him, he doesn't have the speed and quickness to guard either guard.

[da ThRONe]

Problem with that is you do not want Vasquez guarding the shooting guards in this league. Most nights you would actually rather him defend the point.

As long as he's the PG you're going to have to take your lumps defensively regardless of who's the SG next to him, he doesn't have the speed and quickness to guard either guard.

I think there is much more talent currently in the league at the 1 than the 2. With his size I think Vazquez is better off guarding the SG position most nights.

[morsatun]

Problem with that is you do not want Vasquez guarding the shooting guards in this league. Most nights you would actually rather him defend the point.

As long as he's the PG you're going to have to take your lumps defensively regardless of who's the SG next to him, he doesn't have the speed and quickness to guard either guard.

The point of this thread, is the fact that he is going to be our PG this season one way or another. we already know that he will not get quicker nor more athletic, so what we are looking for is giving what we have, how can we do better. I think he will guarding the SG when Gordon is in, So far it looks like Monty does not trust Rivers to defend the PGs, so I get that it is what it is.

[P Raff]

Spell maximize correctly.

[The JNR]

Spell maximize correctly.

Morsatun isn't from America, I'm presuming. Maximise is the British spelling.

[NemesisKING]

The point of this thread, is the fact that he is going to be our PG this season one way or another. we already know that he will not get quicker nor more athletic, so what we are looking for is giving what we have, how can we do better. I think he will guarding the SG when Gordon is in, So far it looks like Monty does not trust Rivers to defend the PGs, so I get that it is what it is.

Thats my point, you will live and die with what he is now because that is what he will be at the end of the season. I think early in the season Monty is still teaching, trying to win games, but also making sure they learn from the good and bad of these early games.

I think Vasquez can only become more efficient, and that's by doing less and trying hard to do less. He becomes better by taking a back seat, allowing Davis, Rivers, Aminu, Anderson and Miller to become better at what they do well. As a starter he should be third option on the court right now with the present starting line up.

Right now the only thing he can do is become more efficient, not try to take over games. The worse thing our young guys can do is stand around and watch Vasquez try to win games, it will create bad habits.

What i like in the loss to Houston was that most of his points came in the flow of the game and was what the defense gave him. That won't always be the case.


Nothing we say here will affect his play when it comes to specifics. So all we have is generics to speak on.

And i would still rather him guard the PGs than the SGs on on a nightly basis. Imagine him guarding an Eric Gordon, Wade, Ellis, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, etc.

I rather him take his chances on guys that should be trying to pass first, and if the PG is trying to take over a game because Vasquez is guarding him then thats fine with me, because even if GV gives up 50 to a point guard, doing that while nobody else scores wont beat us 99% of the time.

[kinglio21093]

Play like he did against Houston.

[MichaelMcNamara]

Ideally, you only have Vasquez bring the ball up after misses, where he can push before the defense sets. Someone else can bring the ball up off of makes and get the ball in Vasquez's hands on the move, coming off a screen, etc- again where he will have space.

This minimizes his glaring weakness, and if you do that, he is a top 150 player in this league (i.e.- starter). But having him bring the ball up against the Mario Chalmers and Brandon Jennings of the world will always be a nightmare scenario and will force us to be late when it comes to running our sets. A simple enough adjustment, and Monty did it quite a bit with Rivers in the second half of the Bulls game when Vasquez had the ultra quick Nate Robinson on him. I expect to see more of that

[PennStatePelican]

Ideally, you only have Vasquez bring the ball up after misses, where he can push before the defense sets. Someone else can bring the ball up off of makes and get the ball in Vasquez's hands on the move, coming off a screen, etc- again where he will have space.

This minimizes his glaring weakness, and if you do that, he is a top 150 player in this league (i.e.- starter). But having him bring the ball up against the Mario Chalmers and Brandon Jennings of the world will always be a nightmare scenario and will force us to be late when it comes to running our sets. A simple enough adjustment, and Monty did it quite a bit with Rivers in the second half of the Bulls game when Vasquez had the ultra quick Nate Robinson on him. I expect to see more of that

I noticed that during the Bulls game. I thought it was effective to have Rivers bring the ball up the court after makes. I guess with Vasquez, the only thing he can truly do to become a better player is to work on his 3PT% and then have the team help to minimize his weakness at bringing up the ball after makes. The team also seems to play better when Aminu is on the floor with Vasquez. Aminu has been playing great help defense this season from what I can tell, which should help to offset any of Vasquez's glaring defensive weaknesses. Aminu also helps Vasquez look great on transition points/alley-oops. Those two seem to complement each other quite well. Just my thoughts on the matter.

[morsatun]

Morsatun isn't from America, I'm presuming. Maximise is the British spelling.

That is correct I forgot to change to us spelling. I am sure you guys can live with that

[gerryv]

Having Gordon on his flank will help as Gordon will require coverage....The Hornets overall are not a god JUMP SHOOTING team..they linger round 30 -32% in that area....that hampers Vasquez as defenders are not threatened to lurk or run out consistently vs wing shooters....the result is a compacted lane.....he also is not a "turn the corner" not a consistent threat in pick and rolls situations....he is fairi this area......Ryan Anderson would benefit with having another guard on the floor ( Gordon) as you could run all 3 pick and roll options with him to open the floor....

a- pick and roll
b- pick and slip
c- pick and pops...( the deadly one)...because of his range and mobility.

Vasques is a nice player who is not the fastest or quickest pt guard....he misses a more versatile wing/guard player that that take some of the burden off him and not expose his limitations as often....( Rivers is too young and lacks experience)

The jump shooting area of play for the Hornets needs to improve.