Illini in the Pros (Basketball)
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DICKnaggie
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Different players. Different roles. Different expectations. Different teams. Don't complicate it.
I can’t believe how universally praised the Kings got for the acuff pick.
Smaller guards with crazy high usage who are terrible defenders are just a basic history lesson.
I’m not sure Keaton has 1A potential in the league, but I know I want him over the smaller guard like Acuff and Flemings that some preferred. Not even close for me.
Brown will be the one I’m most fascinated to compare with
Smaller guards with crazy high usage who are terrible defenders are just a basic history lesson.
I’m not sure Keaton has 1A potential in the league, but I know I want him over the smaller guard like Acuff and Flemings that some preferred. Not even close for me.
Brown will be the one I’m most fascinated to compare with
Had not even been on this forum in a week or more
Came back to find more Morez Johnson discussions
Sorry for being triggered by this
Nah.
He’s obviously polarizing here and ironically he became probably (?) the most polarizing draft pick nationally.
NBA and college styles and strategy and discussing how it translated is fun. I think the Morez chick or the egg question on “did Mara make a lot of Morez” or vice versa is interesting nba chatter- teams debate all the time the value of defenders relative to their centers.
Perhaps we should have a separate nba summer league thread though
Riley has already played in the league.
People care way more about the draft picks to see how they first adjust.
In general, LAC summer league team is just not very good. Too much relying to hero ball and little ball movement.
Sounded like Cameron Carr was taking shots at Keaton after the game.
This apparently is how the game started:
Interesting take, considering he only had 1 turnover. 6 TO's in 3 games. Considering attention he is getting from defenses, and the amount of time he has the ball, that not terrible.
Knocking down those mid-range shots off the dribble will go a long way in getting guys to back off.
I'm not sure there is a wrong answer in the Boozer/Wilson debate at this point. Wilson has always had more upside, but Boozer's floor is exceptionally high. Both guys could have been #1 picks in a few recent drafts. (probably not last year, but would have likely been #2)
If Wilson keeps taking and making 3's at anything resembling this rate when the real games start, he might end up being the best player in the draft... and AJ and Darryn have completely lived up to expectations to this point.
Boozer is extremely strong, and considering he is still only 19, will probably get stronger. He seems extremely mature and driven. Good court awareness and basketball IQ. He may not be a bully inside this year, but its coming...
As we all suspected, it was hard to go wrong in the top 4. It's like debating the best kind of ice cream... They are all really good. This debate is going to go on for years... The winner will likely be measured by who can get one of these perennially bad-mediocre teams turned around.
Just watched the replay, summer league is a different beast. KW from the opening tip was looking to play a normal game and the Lakers junked it up at every opportunity. Manon for the Lakers seems to want to be an Alex Caruso style player and went out of his way to disrupt KW.
Nothing really new in this one, KW needs time and strength. I do think real NBA games will suit him better in many ways (off-ball more, spotting up without dudes knowing they have 10 fouls to give). I'd love to see KW decide to go for his early in a game just to show he has that in his bag. I get the sense he's not really interested in any of that though and will just play his game.
Nothing really new in this one, KW needs time and strength. I do think real NBA games will suit him better in many ways (off-ball more, spotting up without dudes knowing they have 10 fouls to give). I'd love to see KW decide to go for his early in a game just to show he has that in his bag. I get the sense he's not really interested in any of that though and will just play his game.
IDK about this one...watched both games DP played in and he went 6/18 in both and i believe had 8 turnovers the first game. He does jump off the screen on some plays (he had a few plays that made me kinda go "damn") but he was really struggling finishing in the lane in both games and with shot selection. Tools seem to be there for sure though
Agree with most of your analysis though on boozer/wilson
He's absolutely amongst the best on the rookie class at protecting the ball, which seems to be something that NBA twitter doesn't care about.
The most common criticism I've seen is that he's not able to get past anyone. I think there's something to this but 1) that'll improve with more time in an NBA training program and 2) I don't think that's necessarily going be to or needs to be a huge part of his game. He managed to be effective in college without blowing by guys because he could use his shiftiness to create space. That'll be harder in the NBA but I think he can adjust to the higher level and make it work. When he gets them, he does need to convert those attempts at a more efficient clip.
The other major thing is he's playing with a bunch of bums. It's hard to stress how bad the Clippers summer league roster is. It's terrible. No ball movement at all. Just nonstop hero ball. Keaton makes a good read, makes the right pass, and it's like the ball gets swallowed into a black hold. I lost track of the number of times his teammates just drove into a mass of Lakers jerseys and then instead of kicking it out got their poor layup attempt swatted. He's clearly not ready to take an NBA team on his back just yet, but I think he'll look better on an NBA rotation, playing primarily off ball, with real players. I do think he can be the lead guard eventually but might take a couple years developing his body and adjusting to level.
Ooof, didn't mean for the tweet caption being like that (was just trying to highlight the sequence).
It is sad that's how people are talking. I believe it was his lone turnover. He's been very good at protecting the ball throughout these games; actually one of his biggest strengths.
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Peterson, Overall:
- 25 points per game on 43 percent from the floor and 38 percent from deep (identical to his college stats, interestingly enough)
- 5.5 assists per game (only 1.5 at Kansas)
- 5.5 free throw attempts per game
- 2.25 combined steals and blocks per game
The facilitation he contributed was a big surprise to me. We didn't see much of that at Kansas. He just seems to be able to effortlessly get wherever he wants, whenever he wants, and draws fouls at a high level.
Like most players his age, he's going to need to get stronger. When he does, the finishing at the rim issues should improve drastically. Gotta remember the kid is only 19. I doubt the Jazz have any buyers remorse at this point.
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