The Irregular Trebuchet of Stephon Castle

[Maddog]

By my count he went 4-15 from 3pt in the preseason
The talent is obvious. So is the hideous shooting.
It will probably take a few years to fix.

4-22 in conference and NCAA tournament play last year.
The encouraging thing is his FT% isn't bad and his mid range wasn't bad last night. Nonetheless to date he hasn't shown any ability to hit the 3.
Offensively he reminds me a bit of DeMar DeReRozan both in a good and bad way

[LeBowen]

4-22 in conference and NCAA tournament play last year.
The encouraging thing is his FT% isn't bad and his mid range wasn't bad last night. Nonetheless to date he hasn't shown any ability to hit the 3.
Offensively he reminds me a bit of DeMar DeReRozan both in a good and bad way

His jumpshoot looks fine and that's the most important thing.

Developing a non-shooter into a bad shooter is way more difficult than developing a bad shooter into a good one.
He'll never be a sniper, but if he can get to 33-36% on ~4 attempts, it's good enough for his archetype.

For example Fox was a career 32% 3pt shooter on 4 attempts per game up until last season.
Then he made a huge improvement and shot 37% on 8 attempts.
Shooting takes time, but can be developed.

Castle's size, feel for the game, playmaking ability and natural instincts to get inside and draw fouls are way more difficult to develop than shooting.

[Dejounte]

Castle looks way more of a future star than Vassell ever did, tbh. Buying his jersey now and everyone should too.

[exstatic]

Castle looks way more of a future star than Vassell ever did, tbh. Buying his jersey now and everyone should too.

Devin was never projected to be a star, or anything other than a 3 and D guy. He’s hit like his 85-90% outcome by becoming a 3 level scorer, something no one had on their dance card. I agree that Devin didn’t look like a star as a rookie, so let’s just hope that Stephon hits his 85-90% outcome,too.

[LeBowen]

Devin was never projected to be a star, or anything other than a 3 and D guy. He’s hit like his 85-90% outcome by becoming a 3 level scorer, something no one had on their dance card. I agree that Devin didn’t look like a star as a rookie, so let’s just hope that Stephon hits his 85-90% outcome,too.

So far Devin has been on Middleton trajectory.
If he can become a reliable 21-23ppg scorer while also being a good team defender, that's all we need.
I'm really interested to see how he develops this season, he should do way better with an actual point guard playing next to him.

His stats went up last season after Tre was moved into the starting lineup.
21/5 on 48% and 38% from 3pt.

[Mr. Body]

Devin is like a third guy. Keep defenses honest, pour it in on kick-outs and get shots occasionally on his own if needed.

Castle, I think, is already an offensive threat even without a deep jump shot. He's very, very clearly a point guard who can play off ball just fine. He's showing he can break down the defense even without a bomb threat. He's not even that bursty but a big on him is kind of toast. Smaller guys can get bodied. But what I see is a playmaker with the ball and in circulation. He's also really aggressive. Most of the team are guys who don't want to shoot or play hot potato. Castle will attack.

[couchman]

By my count he went 4-15 from 3pt in the preseason
The talent is obvious. So is the hideous shooting.
It will probably take a few years to fix.

Correction: nba.com says he was 4-16 from 3 in preseason

[onechance87]

Correction: nba.com says he was 4-16 from 3 in preseason

man,Hopefully he can figure it out.We need a second star next to wemby soon.Not sure we gonna
get one thru free agency.

[cutewizard]

[cutewizard]

[Pauleta14]

man,Hopefully he can figure it out.We need a second star next to wemby soon.Not sure we gonna
get one thru free agency.

If Ingram wasn't asking for the max I'd have loved to see what Pop can do with him

But he's such a high risk investment tbh

[spurraider21]

Castle looks way more of a future star than Vassell ever did, tbh. Buying his jersey now and everyone should too.

vassell was seen as basically a 3-D prospect coming out, and his first couple of years thats all he really did (he was better defensively as a rookie than sop re tbh). then in his third year his offensive game really took off and he started showing way more ap ude at the midrange game and on-ball creation. really felt like it came out of nowhere since there were very few glimpses of that year 1 and 2

meanwhile by year 1 castle is already showing a lot of on-ball chops and is still playing well in an off-ball role despite his lack of shooting. a lot of people likened him to jimmy butler, and its not like butler came into the NBA with his turnaround midrange game in his bag.

[onechance87]

Also branham needs to be cut.Dude take so much shots away from castle.We need castle to develop his jumshot and
3 point shot.Thats not gonna happen with branham taking more shots then castle when they most likely gonna come off
the bench the same time.

[Davidicus]

His jumpshoot looks fine and that's the most important thing.

Developing a non-shooter into a bad shooter is way more difficult than developing a bad shooter into a good one.
He'll never be a sniper, but if he can get to 33-36% on ~4 attempts, it's good enough for his archetype.

For example Fox was a career 32% 3pt shooter on 4 attempts per game up until last season.
Then he made a huge improvement and shot 37% on 8 attempts.
Shooting takes time, but can be developed.

Castle's size, feel for the game, playmaking ability and natural instincts to get inside and draw fouls are way more difficult to develop than shooting.

This. His shot looks good. Keep shooting Stephon.

[exstatic]

If Ingram wasn't asking for the max I'd have loved to see what Pop can do with him

But he's such a high risk investment tbh

Ingram is a terrible investment, because like DeRozan, he can shoot 3s, but doesn’t, making him less efficient as a player.

[spurraider21]

ingram's first couple of years in new orleans he was hitting 39-40% of his 3's on attempts. not really sure why he started taking less and less. though i think with DeJounte there, he will have no choice but to spot up more

[Pauleta14]

Ingram is a terrible investment, because like DeRozan, he can shoot 3s, but doesn’t, making him less efficient as a player.

I know, hence my "what Pop can do with him"

He doesn't like/want to be a volume shooter but he has so many other skills, size and length, with the proper system and teammate who knows...

It's the cost/timming that makes it not worth it to me more than his disapointing productions that ccould have many origins (why did he suddenly disapeared in the play-in when he was hot to finish the season for ex? coaching? mental? team chemistry/issues?)

He's a really nice player but there's like a mystery about him, he should be a superstar with his attributes and skills.

[Pauleta14]

ingram's first couple of years in new orleans he was hitting 39-40% of his 3's on attempts. not really sure why he started taking less and less. though i think with DeJounte there, he will have no choice but to spot up more

Yep. I was listening to a podcast talking about it and they had no answer either. It has to be a mental thing bc he can shoot the 3 pretty well

[KobesAchilles]

I feel bad for Castle bc a lot of his positive plays are going to be taken away by how ty our bench unit is. Collin’s sucks. He can’t hit a 3 to save his life and can’t finish around the basket either. Branham might be the worst NBA player in the league. Champ is garbage as well. And Tre Jones will prevent Castle from being our back up point guard because….

Well there’s actually no really good reason for that other than Pop is playing him as PG over Castle. Castle is bigger, stronger, faster, a better passer, and seems to have a knack for the game already at 19. I’d prefer him to start and push Sochan to the bench but that will never happen. Instead, the lane will be clogged for Wemby as teams clog the lane with Sochans man and CP3s man. And teams will clog the lane for Castle as he literally has zero shooters to play with on the bench.

btw I was wrong about Castle. The dude is a star right now and I believe would win ROY if Pop has the balls to do what’s best for the franchise

[Mr. Body]

I feel bad for Castle bc a lot of his positive plays are going to be taken away by how ty our bench unit is. Collin’s sucks. He can’t hit a 3 to save his life and can’t finish around the basket either. Branham might be the worst NBA player in the league. Champ is garbage as well. And Tre Jones will prevent Castle from being our back up point guard because….

Well there’s actually no really good reason for that other than Pop is playing him as PG over Castle. Castle is bigger, stronger, faster, a better passer, and seems to have a knack for the game already at 19. I’d prefer him to start and push Sochan to the bench but that will never happen. Instead, the lane will be clogged for Wemby as teams clog the lane with Sochans man and CP3s man. And teams will clog the lane for Castle as he literally has zero shooters to play with on the bench.

btw I was wrong about Castle. The dude is a star right now and I believe would win ROY if Pop has the balls to do what’s best for the franchise

Why do you watch this team?

[KobesAchilles]

Why do you watch this team?

To see them win 30 games and miss the playoffs. Apparently that’s your wet dream of a season.

Fans stay by their team even when they suck. But I see a path to this team being good and they constantly are deviating from this path and saying one more season. One more season. We have youth that are developing. And they don’t develop. It’s frustrating to watch but unlike you, I still have standards that I expect the team to one day get to. You like watching the Spurs lose. I want them to win. That’s the difference.

[Ice009]

I feel bad for Castle bc a lot of his positive plays are going to be taken away by how ty our bench unit is. Collin’s sucks. He can’t hit a 3 to save his life and can’t finish around the basket either. Branham might be the worst NBA player in the league. Champ is garbage as well. And Tre Jones will prevent Castle from being our back up point guard because….

Well there’s actually no really good reason for that other than Pop is playing him as PG over Castle. Castle is bigger, stronger, faster, a better passer, and seems to have a knack for the game already at 19. I’d prefer him to start and push Sochan to the bench but that will never happen. Instead, the lane will be clogged for Wemby as teams clog the lane with Sochans man and CP3s man. And teams will clog the lane for Castle as he literally has zero shooters to play with on the bench.

btw I was wrong about Castle. The dude is a star right now and I believe would win ROY if Pop has the balls to do what’s best for the franchise

Hopefully he gets court time right away, if not, I don't know if he's the type of player to ask out if he gets buried on the bench.

I'm also want to win more than anything else. Not interested in all these games Pop seems to play. I don't recall him pulling this with TD. If he did, TD probably leaves to Orlando or another team and doesn't look back. I don't know, maybe these losing seasons are getting to me, but it doesn't seem like the same approach to me.

[Leetonidas]

To see them win 30 games and miss the playoffs. Apparently that’s your wet dream of a season.

Fans stay by their team even when they suck. But I see a path to this team being good and they constantly are deviating from this path and saying one more season. One more season. We have youth that are developing. And they don’t develop. It’s frustrating to watch but unlike you, I still have standards that I expect the team to one day get to. You like watching the Spurs lose. I want them to win. That’s the difference.

No, you criticized the team and didn't get on your knees to blow PATFO and didn't blindly agree with everything they do therefore youre not a Spurs fan and obviously hate the team

[rankingtear]

KobeAchilles liking Castle does not bode well for this kid's future.

[KobesAchilles]

KobeAchilles liking Castle does not bode well for this kid's future.

Tbh my GMing has been pretty good the past 5 seasons. I had us drafting Sengun and Haliburton as well as Wemby (lol) and Sochan.

Also I haven’t really been wrong on a player since DJ. And even then, was I really wrong? Dude is immature and has no idea how to play basketball other than to look for himself.