3 games out of 4th seed!Originally Posted by UNO Gracias
 |
| . |
|
3 games out of 4th seed!
If Hayes put up numbers like Gomez then the plan would be to trade Hayes before he reverted back to the scarecrow on springs that he has been for the last year and change.
Robert Swift and Rafa Arujo look on at Jaxson Hayes with pride.
Last edited by UNO Gracias; 02-09-2021 at 10:28 PM.
If you Jimmer it, they will come.
If someone had told me that BI and Zion were in foul trouble pretty much all game and our starters would play those low minutes I would have bet a substantial amount of money that we were getting blown out. When the shots weren't falling and the refs were doing their best to give Houston the game, the effort and team play stayed which was a huge difference from past games. In the past, they would have folded and just started playing iso offense and chucking quick 3s. It was good to see them play together and mature when so much was going wrong
I love Harts obsession with rebounding. I was sure he was going to grab atleast 20. Has there been a role player at his height recently that went after boards like him? lol
R.I.P. to HunnyB/FlyGirl
Hart's REB% is 14.7%.
Full list of players 6'5 and under to ever register 14.7%REB in a season in which they played at least 1000 minutes:
- Russell Westbrook x3
- Johnny Green x1 (1972-73)
That's it.
If you lower the minutes requirement to only 600, which is what Hart has played so far this year, you get:
- Nobody else still, it's just Westbrook, Green, and Hart.
If you lower it from 14.7% to 12.8%, which is what Hart averaged for the full season last year, you add:
- Johnny Green another 2 times
- Byron Houston x1
- Jason Kidd x1
- Fat Lever x1
- Dejounte Murray x1
- Darrell Walker x1
- Bonzi Wells x1
So yeah, the list of players of his height and shorter that rebound at the rate Hart does is very very brief.
Basketball.
Credit to Willy where it?s due. Having a player that is very vocal makes a huge difference on the floor. Even a role player can be a leader.
I think after tonight we can no longer refer to him as Willy. He has survived long enough and contributed enough to the unit for us to learn his preferred name: Billy. If he drops out of the rotation we can go back to calling him Willy...
Billy H
Low key good signing by Griff
Me too. That's why his offensive inconsistencies never get me down. He just brings it defensively every night
Similarly, Nickeil is always getting deflections and making good defensive plays, so I'm keeping my hopes up for him
Zion's up to 69.56% from the FT line now.
So damn close to 70%. That would be awesome.
Over his last 12 games, Zion has averaged 25/6/4 on 64%FG and 75.8% from the line (8 attempts per game).
Contributor
That’s one of my favorite stories of the season so far. The work Zion has put in at the stripe and the payoff. If he can then turn into a player that can hit from midrange consistently, how can you possibly guard him?
I can already see mid-20s Zion adding a turnaround jumper to his game eventually. Ala Jordan, Kobe, or Pierce.
He's hit a small handful of them, here and there, so there are flashes. And of course, while it's still small volume we've seen him hitting 3s here and there as well.
It's so clear that he has legitimately nuclear scoring potential. He's already putting up historically great scoring numbers for a guy of his age (frankly, very impressive scoring numbers for any age: scoring 35 points per 100 on 63% TS is something that Paul Pierce, for example, never did in a season), and his passing is very solid. If he can continue to improve his reads while adding options for those occasions that he does need something other than a rim-attack, he'll be a legitimately unstoppable offensive weapon.
Feels so good to finally watch a competitive team
Honestly, people have made the comparison with Zion to Giannis in the past, but I've always thought that, offensively, he clearly has a higher ceiling. Giannis, as dominant as he can be, can be stopped in the halfcourt in the playoffs, for a variety of reasons (jumper, lack of a post game, mechanical passer, coaching). I think Zion's ceiling is basically being completely unstoppable on offense, ALA Shaq. He is just a naturally more instinctive player than Giannis on that end, better passing feel at the same stage, arguably better post game at this very moment, with IMO a significantly higher ceiling on his Jumper. I legit think when it's all said and done he can potentially be in the running for highest offensive peaks OAT
Sneaky-good signing that nobody wants to give Griff credit for. he has supplanted Jax as the backup 5, and I hope he continues to get minutes I like his game.
right but these are the new pelicans....the baby birds are growing up and trying to claim a playoff spot.......ingram trying to keep his word on dont intend on missing the playoffs again....
The real question for me with Zion right now is the defense. In Duke he looked like he was an otherworldly defender with huge impact. He has not shown that in the NBA yet: he's shown that he still has instincts and reads, and in a bunch of games (particularly recently) those have come together to put together solid defensive performances. The question is whether that improvement will continue. If it doesn't and he's an otherworldly offensive talent who is just fine on D, then that's still awesome but if he wants to move up from a top 5 player ceiling into being a top 10, top 15 player ever ceiling then that D is going to have to take a leap.
Still so early in his career. Hopefully, the D will come around in time.
I don’t think he’s ever going to be a great post defender because of his height. Fortunately there isn’t a lot of high level post offense in the NBA any more. His footwork has definitely improved (to paraphrase John Lennon it couldn’t get much worse). The key is will the refs let him play defense like everyone else or are they going to keep blowing the whistle on him, when tiny little guards bounce off of him.
PJ Tucker is shorter than Zion and a fantastic post defender. So, too, is Jrue. Marcus Smart. Kyle Lowry. These are all players smaller than Zion that are excellent post defenders.
That doesn't mean I think Zion will inevitably be as good as those players at post defense. I'm just saying don't immediately discount it because he's 6'6, 6'7.
Yeah, agreed. Although I think an otherworldly offensive talent with just fine-to-neutral D can still be, say, a top 20-25 player of all time (see;Harden/Durant/Curry), providing at least decent longevity that is. But yeah, hopefully he realizes that defensive impact that he had at Duke in the NBA eventually, that will ultimately determine his, hate to use this word, legacy in the long run and whether he can legitimately approach a GOAT-level peak. Not like I want to carried away with the future at this point and project too much, but I think you would agree that, considering the level of prospect he was/is, anything less than a top 50 career is a disappointment.
At least for the guards you mentioned, they are good post defenders for guards. They can get away with guarding bigger guys in the post because most big guys today don’t have a post game. Which is why I don’t think Zion’s post defense or lack thereof is going to be a big factor for him.
The refs today also let smaller guys get away with mugging bigger players in the post. (For a prime example the last two games against the Rockets especially the first one). Zion is never going to be able to get away with that type of defense.
I will say this, Draymond Green is a pretty good “undersized” post player. Still bigger than Zion though.
Zion will be as great as his body allows him to be. No one with 6'6", 285 pound body can withstand 15 years of the rigors of an NBA pounding. While he can, he will be dominant offensively with or without elite defense.
Right now he reminds me of a rookie safety who was a ballhawk in college and is just a step slow in his processing. You can see his frustration when he misses on a steal or fouls on a rotation because he's made that play so many times in his life, but in the NBA when you miss on those plays you're going to get burned every single time. In college, he may have been able to use his athleticism to get back in the play and chase down a block.
When the processing catches up with the athleticism, he's going to be a unit defensively. We're starting to see the development. Playing meaningful minutes and winning basketball will help accelerate that development. We can't forget that the court is significantly smaller in college than the NBA, and there's a steep learning curve for all bigs, even those chosen first overall.
Huh? NBA and college basketball courts have the same dimensions. Are you referring to the difference in the distance of the 3-point line?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote