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interesting insight here
He probably would have been drafted top 3 if he had gone to another program that gave him the keys to the offense, but he wouldn’t be this good. He went to a top program, paid his dues, and learned a very complicated offense at 18. That shows a level of maturity not possessed by most HS bball prospects.
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interesting insight here
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Incidentally, Coach Pop seems to love Sidy
I was watching a baseball YouTube about a fat Cleveland utility player coming in for mop up pitching duty in a blowout. He was mixing up junk from 45 mph to 70 mph, and he got the side out on 8 pitches. The commentator made an observation, and said “you want to be above the speed limit, a flamethrower, or below the speed limit like this guy”. I think that’s applicable to basketball, too. Guys like SGA and Luka aren’t blowing by anyone, and even someone like Kyle Anderson is effective in the paint.
Player of the Game, the Rookie ( we got gold here)
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Tbh, it came down to the draft order.
Unless Castle had an outstanding year, Hawks would've never drafted another guard with the first pick.
Wizards looked dead set on getting Sarr, even if it meant trading up.
Rockets already Amen and desperately needed some spacing.
Hornets or Jazz would've surely taken Castle. Maybe even the Pistons.
The thing I'm surprised the most about is his passing and decision making on the fly.
Most of his passes have perfect rotation and speed, looking calculated even though he had to make a split-second decision.
We knew about his physical attributes and finishing around the rim, but I didn't expect him to be such a good passer.
I think the scenario is that he goes to like some SEC school, maybe Arkansas, and he averages like 25/9. That would have absolutely changed some minds 1-3.
That's why some of us wrote his methodical penetration into the paint is reminiscent of what Butler does.
Instead of 6'6 Jrue, we might have Jimmy 2.0 on our hands. Don't forget that Jimmy had no scoring game whatsoever until he was like 25.
I’d actually have a 6’6” Jrue, you know, a guy with two rings on two different teams. The 7’4” guy is going to be a scoring beast. We need some who can Jrue: initiate the offense, space the floor, score a little bit elsewhere, and lock down the other team’s primary scorer.
I love Jrue, but peak Jimmy was clearly a tier above.
He'll probably be somewhere inbetween.
Kind of how Wemby is somewhere inbetween Giannis and KD if we talk skillsets.
the closeout and recovery at 1:03 reminds me a lot of what we saw from derrick white. just awesome stuff
PG of the future tbh. Kid has look very impressive so far
I wonder if there’s a guard in next years draft we can get that Pop will refuse to play next to him
When Castle was very first talked about as a potential spurs pick I was not excited. Then I looked into him some more and realized that he was most certainly a top prospect. His defense is nasty. His drives show high BBIQ such as the euro step and strong finishing near the rim. While he can dunk and even catch alley oops, that’s not really his game. He’s more likely to draw contact and be a persistent and one threat throughout his career. Icing on the cake is the passing which also features the capability to play the two man game with elite bigs as shown at UConn with Clingan.
It was nice to see him turned loose in Game 2 since he’s got the potential to be our #2 or co-2 (such as with Vassel). You don’t have such a talented prospect riding the pine or playing passive within the system.
The thing I like about Castle is that he is a true Alpha and there is nothing fake about him. He is going to be 100% focused on being the best basketball player and teammate that he can be. We’re not going to have to worry about him sending out texts or creating any drama or if he is putting in the work.
Gotta get this kid 25 mpg this year at least please.
Not happening. Tre Jones needs his minutes for some reason. And so does Blake and Branham. Castle will be lucky to get 20 mpg bc you know Pop.
He is so poised at his age, not too fast, not too slow, somewhat Doncic-like, but nothing fancy just straight-up from point a to b like he sees the court well and plays developing. He’s economy in motion, no wasted energy of over dribbling, somewhat Kawhi, strong and just lock you up on defense. I know it’s too much on just two games, but really happy if our pick.
I think the PG glut is overstated. Glad to see Castle appearing ahead of schedule but the only thing behind a 39 year old hamstring is 2RP Jones, a rookie Castle, and a hypothetical NBA player Wesley (Bran has some SG/PG too suppose). There is going to be mins restrictions, rest DNPs on SEGAB2Bs, god forbid injuries. , you could sit Paul against bottom dwellers like the Nets and let Jones/Castle/Wesley get extended burn to help satisfy player expectations and probably still get the W.
Plus I've been wondering if you can stack guards in rotations. Castle and Jones could possibly be stacked or Wesley and Paul, of course selectively and obvs matchup dependent. But with Castle looking slightly more steady shooting than expected hopefully stacking guards won't be as detrimental as initially thought regarding clogged lanes. There are bad combos; I still probably wouldn't ever do say Jones with Wesley right away.
But something like Paul, Vassell, Castle, Barnes, Wemby could work matchup dependent. I think someone like Demar or Strus isn't going to outsize/outmuscle Castle at SF too disproportionally but Middleton or say McDaniels in MIN would be ill advised. Even at SF, Castle could bring the ball up select possessions with Paul laying back as a bail out, hunting O boards, or screening off defenders all while available as a Plan B PG bailout quick PnR or something with :10 left on the shot clock should Castle run into obstacles. Plus you have two PG minded players in at one time so it gives you a ball handling extension cord on fast breaks. PG1 could advance the ball ahead to PG2 and you'd have that second PG able to orchestrate while the first PG is still crossing half court to get back into the play.
So at times if you can double up guards selectively and carefully, that will help alleviate mins jams somewhat and then factor in min restrictions/DNPs/injuries and everyone should eat until maybe a trade/contract end comes to reset the depth.
Tre Jones only has one more year on his contract, I believe, and may command more. He may not be here long-term. But the same people who want him gone this instant are the same people who praised the team for running much better last year once he took the reins. It's hard to take most people here seriously.
Chris Paul isn't here forever. He may not be here the entire season. I don't know why this isn't clearly understood.
And you're right, there can be multiple PG-type sets. This is why we see things like CP with Blake, other match-ups, to see what works. Castle can clearly play off-ball. That sort of thing.
Everybody said since we got wemby that we needed to upgraded the pg spot.But we never did that.Tre was the only choice.We had granham
but pop didnt even give him a chance.Tre jones can go ahead and go.We got the upgraded pg in castle alfready.We need a back up pg
who can shoot anyways.
If Castle’s defense translates from the preseason to the regular then Pop should see fit to give him extended minutes next to CP3. Paul prolly won’t be able to guard anyone.
We still need Tre if Paul leaves mid-season. But Tre can leave next summer if Castle shows enough progress and we draft another PG-capable guard. Something like Traore, Castle and Vassell as a 3-guard rotation (32min each) would be awesome.
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