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I like Sochan but his future is never going to be a starting PG in the NBA - if he can fix his shooting I personally would not mind to see how he would fit as a SF as I think he has the dexterity to handle most SF in the league.
good to see him play well in an increased role on this stage
I like Sochan but his future is never going to be a starting PG in the NBA - if he can fix his shooting I personally would not mind to see how he would fit as a SF as I think he has the dexterity to handle most SF in the league.
Gonna be fun seeing Sochan and Castle hassle opposing guards/wings.
Jeremy is practically the size of an average starting PF in 2024. Trying to pigeonhole him to a position he will likely never be suited for was a huge mistake.
It set the team back months and made everyone look terrible, IMO.
He completely lacks LeBron's (or even a Ben Simmons') feel and vision to ever be suited for a 'Point - Forward' type role.
Jeremy needs to continue to improve off-ball offensive and with his perimeter jumper, but I'm definitely not worried about him banging with similar sizes guys.
Last edited by J_Paco; 07-05-2024 at 07:38 PM.
To me Jeremy’s best/most impactful position on a playoff team will be as a big SF playing next to another equally sized or slightly bigger wing at the 4. If Jeremy is your second biggest player in the SL then you’re always going to be a bit undersized and giving up second chance points.
Obviously his shooting is going to be his swing skill regardless of whether he’s a 3 or a 4.
Could get away with Sochan as the nominal 3 if your 4 is markkanen
Sochan is the same size as the last 2 championship 4 man, why is this a thing.
Yeah I’ll give you Jayson Tatum he’s a 3/4 but that was a stacked Celtics team with solid rebounding and defenders 1 through 5.
The other 4’s on the NBA champions since 2015 were Aaron Gordon, Draymond, Giannis, AD, Kevin Love.
Draymond and Aaron Gordon may only be 6’7 or 6’8 but they play way bigger and tougher than Sochan. That’s not a knock on Jeremy but he’s closer to soft than he is tough when it comes to playing in the paint.
Your comparing his toughness to grown ass men. AD and Giannis are top 75 all time players, how can you replicate that. GSW are closing finals game with 6'6 Igoudala, MIL with 6'5 PJ Tucker, PHX with 6'6 Jae Crowder, MIA with 6'6 Jae Crowder, MIA with 6'7 Jimmy Butler, DAL with 6'7 PJ Washington. Doesn't this prove that you need defensive versatility more than size at the 4 if you want to reach the finals.
Let's see what this year brings.
33-34% on 3-4 3's per game, ~75-80% from the line would be progress in his age 21 season.
Improved ball-handling and awareness of when to attack would be good
Hopefully he becomes a -1 to net neutral player by this season with positive defense and negative offense
His defensive pairing with Castle is really nice - Castle's stronger than most guys his size and built to cover the SGA/Ant types, while Sochan's faster than most guys his size and built to cover the Luka/Kawhi types. In 1-2 years, I expect Castle to be able to eat Cade's lunch defensively (same size, no speed/size/strength advantage, deliberate style, non-elite shotmaker). I expect Sochan to shut down Scottie Barnes (same size, no speed/strength/size advantage, non-elite shotmaker) every time they match up unless Barnes makes a huge leap. Will be interesting to see if waterbug PGs like Maxey, Fox, or *Dillingham* down the road give the team trouble - interestingly, Vassell may be your best option here given his length and slighter frame.
If he continues to improve on his current trajectory, looking for 13/7/3 on 48/33/78 and great defense, I think the Toppin extension is reasonable - Avdija is underpaid for what he brings but Sochan has a similar career trajectory so far, scale that extension for a rising cap and you have something close to Toppin's contract.
Otherwise if he stagnates, then probably just Avdija's extension as a situational defender with "potential"
Last edited by SpursBills; 07-06-2024 at 07:25 AM.
As much as I hate Lebron, his two points aren't two points is one of the best basketball one-liners ever.
Shooting percentages don't matter out of context. As long as Jeremy is dared to shoot and noone is bothering to guard him beyond the 3pt line, he's a negative on offense.
We'll have enough creation and paint presence, so his lack of spacing will just hurt the team, no matter how good on defense he becomes.
Just look how useless bad shooters were in these playoffs, players that are a way bigger threat than Jeremy as of now.
Wrote about it multiple times, but what concerns me even more is his inside game. He is in no way reliable from anywhere on the court. His shot chart is just tragic.
Without dunks, which are almost all uncontested since he's not a great vertical athlete, he's barely over 50% in restricted area. That's including uncontested layups. That's just horrible.
He doesn't have to become a great shooter, but as long as he's not reliable in the paint, he won't be a factor in the playoffs.
Teams usually hide their worst defenders on bad scorers and if Jeremy can't consistenly punish those, he's of no use to us in close games.
Then we add Castle into the equation. Our new project, player with two-way start potential, but without a reliable shot.
If you ask me, it's not even up for discussion who should be the priority. Castle should be put in optimal situations and lineups, with Jeremy coming off the bench and proving he can actually become a contributor on offense.
I somewhat feel bad for Jeremy because Pop almost completely ruined him with point guard experiment, but that was his golden opportunity to be more useful. As a non-shooting forward in today's league, he won't get very far.
We were a 22 win team and he was our worst offensive player, which says a lot.
If he looked like your average basketball player and not a reincarnation of Rodman, people would be way lower on him.
Obviously it would be dumb to write off a 21 year old, but his shot looks too far gone to ever develop.
I wouldn't offer him more than 50/4 extension if he doesn't make a big leap this season.
That new hitch in his shot is clearly something he has been taught. It's like an exaggerated step to train his muscle memory. Someone said they saw his spin going sideways but I couldn't see it. As evidenced by his free throws, he seems to respond well to coaching. This year should be interesting.
Have to disagree about Socahn you need him to play as much as possible the same you need all the starters playing together as much as possible. Every player needs things they need to work on as an individual but also as a team ie. need to work on there team offense/defense. The thing with Castle is that he is such a smart player and good passer for players like Sochan and Wemby who love to run he is going to find them for easy lobs and buckets.
Yeah, don't understand why people are so obsessed with this guy who shot 43%. It's not just his three, it's his offense, period. He's not even average on offense, and it will absolutely be YEARS until he grows into a player who is.
I'd trade him in a second if that's what Ainge wants for Lauri in terms of player(s) along with pick(s). He sucks and FROZE VICTOR OUT multiple times. Not saying it was on purpose, he's just low iq on offense. People will go to their graves defending this guy who would have Wemby WIDE ASS OPEN and pass it literally right through his arms to a guy like Branham on the 3 point line. I hated it, and I'm far from convinced he won't be doing the same bull for many years if we hold on to him.
Great write-up, LeBowen. This is one of the unintended consequences of having a Wemby on your team - the amount of patience for projects like Sochan gets reduced. We cannot afford to waste years of Wemby's career relying on the hope that some project works out. It's one thing to have a project that you develop in ways that don't hurt the team (like as a bench rotation player), but 30 minutes a game for a guy with the problems you just outlined holds back the team. Maybe that's okay for one more year if we are planning on just "seeing what we have" again, but once we want to be a serious team we can't afford major minutes to pet projects anymore.
The hitch in sochan's shooting motion seems to be gone but it is still a relatively slow release. I expect a better 3p % this year. 33%? On middling attempts?
Still really excited about Sochan's potential.
I expect him to naturally be a better shooter but it's not the area I'm waiting the most on clear progressions.
I want to see better court vision, passing, awareness (less head down) and sustained efforts (not quitting on plays like he does too often).
Those are even more important than his 3pts % imo
If he could be a 3 and D lockdown defender like Bruce Bowen it would be great. That’s all I’m asking right now. Sure Pop will have him push the ball some, be a connector like everyone. I’m curious what the starting line up will be. I think Barnes play the 4, while Sochan the 3. But I really want our #4 pick play the starting 3 from the get go and have a chance at ROY. I know Castle will share PG duties when CP(?) sits. I suspect eventually Castle starts at PG when CP(?) leaves. I’m hoping Sochan eventually plays the lockdown Bruce Bowen role (although Pop tried to develop him like Bobo’s handles and passing). While PATFO searches the future long term PF player (most of us hoping it was Markkanen).
I don’t want Sochan to be an on-ball player at all. If he’s going to make it in the league it’s going to be as an off-ball player. He shouldn’t be initiating any offense. He’s horrid at it. He needs to learn how to move without the ball, how to set hard picks to free up actual shooters, how to be in position to rebound, and how to cut when Wemby is doubled.
The only offense he really needs to focus on as far as initiating it is the middle of the lane, find the open shooter/man pass. That’s it. We need Tiago and Oberto to teach him how to actually play basketball. If he can become a hybrid of them then he will have a very long and fruitful career
Sochan has more off-ball gravity than most of you think. The true negative offense guys are those who are stationary shooters who can't attack closeouts.
I agree that he needs to improve in those areas. But I feel he went on to get better in those areas as the season went by, last year. But his shooting was still hideous. And the hitch he displayed while playing for Poland was awful. So, I am hoping that the new video showing his hitch to be gone, is something to look forward to. And if he can be a passable shooter, then his improving defense, decent playmaking and rebounding could make him a useful starter and not a liability.
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