Originally Posted by
Pelicanidae
In fairness, I do think it's a bit misleading to take that number at face value.
It's definitely accurate, sure, and I do not deny that he needs to show more consistency in driving to the basket and actually getting shots up there: they usually look pretty decent when he does it, and he's a good FT shooter, so he should do it more.
But I have seen a few people on Twitter (not you, Eman) speculating that his low at-rim attempts combined with his pass-first mentality could lead to a Lonzo style inability to scramble defenses and such in the half-court.
From what I've seen so far in college, that won't be an issue. A major difference between Nico and Lonzo in this regard is that while Lonzo simply doesn't drive and therefore doesn't scramble defenses because he lacks an in between game with any gravity, Nico is actually an incredibly effective scorer inside of the arc: he just does it with a diverse range of floaters, push shots, hooks, etc. It's certainly an unusual method of scoring, and obviously not as valuable as someone who is consistently hitting the rim at full force, but it does mean that he has some gravity inside the arc in a way that Lonzo simply doesn't.
It helps that his touch is just bonkers and he's one of the few players I've ever seen where they shoot a floater from 10 feet and I just expect it to go in.