Reply With Quote
never liked LJC, even after we drafted him. i'm also not expecting cady to be on the spurs anytime soon. i dont see anything special about him.
As far as Simmons, he looked great. Bundle of energy, very active, very athletic, really good penetration... it's possible he was riding the high of signing a contract, but if he can bring that level of activity and energy every outing, he's definitely a keeper.
never liked LJC, even after we drafted him. i'm also not expecting cady to be on the spurs anytime soon. i dont see anything special about him.
on a side note, bryce cotton had a huge game today
Lalanne is definitely a project that needs a lot of work. I thought LJC would be much farther along given the hype he received here, tbh...
LJC isn't a great athlete, has no jumper, and is skinny... dont see how he fits anywhere in an nba offense
Playing in Europe is no way to improve your game.
I don't know about that. Look at Boban, or even other cases like Gino or Scola... the thing though is that you need to play and be a standout in the better leagues/tournaments.
I'm not sure Asvel is ever going to play a Euroleague Finals, or something like that, where you see the kind of talent and fierce compe ion that you need.
On the other hand, they probably make more money over there than in the NBDL...
If that's the case then he's 5 to 6 years away from being ready.
Thanks for the write-up timvp. I don't give half a about summer league, but still like to read our players development. I'm sure I speak for most when I say it's good to have you back going into this season... just wasn't the same last two.
Chinook with some excellent takes, but agree with Mr. Body. If Anderson doesn't develop a consistent jumper, he will be out of the league soon.
Diaw still has a tremendous size:agility ratio. He's also pretty damned athletic when he wants to be, as evidenced by his chase-down blocks last season. He's not able to play the three like some folks on here think he can, but he's still a match-up problem physically.
I don't see any way that Anderson could gain enough weight to be a post scorer while also being able to drive. And I definitely don't think the key to him having a future in the NBA is him lowering his already-low agility and playing against guys who are his own size. He would have no advantages at that point.
Kyle will never be a guy who can consistently get around his defenders. So he has to learn to go over them or through them. That's going to have to come from a commitment to playing ugly basketball and waging a psychological battle with everyone he goes up against. It's an at ude thing because he already has the skill-set to be that guy from what I've seen.
I had hopes for LJC based on his Hoops Summitv game but not anymore. He has NO semblance of an offensive game, not post, not mid range not long range, not drive, and there's not any good coaching in the world to change that. He is a potentially good defender but he doesn't complement that with being an exceptional rebounder.
Lalanne is a guy like many others we've fixated on that will be in Europe or the D-league and then fade from sight and thought after two or three years.
Anderson should work like crazy on a three point shot with a quicker released and become a more skilled, more versatile, somewhat slower, lighter Bonner.
He drew fouls with a few of his blocked shots, so is that a good thing?
Kyle Anderson as a #1 or even #2 option will be different verses a #4 or #5 option during the regular season.
Having the likes of Duncan, Aldridge, Leonard, and even Parker will make his job THAT much easier. The spacing will be ridiculous, and will allow his 'slow' game to develop. There's no reason why he can't give us 10-15 minutes during the regular season.
-Doc.
He can and does play the three, depending upon how fluidly you look at the 3 and 4 position. Specifically, many are worried about our need for someone to backup Kawhi, because KA, in their belief, isn't enough. I know you have stated that you're not worried about it because Danny, Manu, KA, and now Simmons can do an adequate job. I agree. I list Diaw in that group that will get some of the 3 backup minutes as well. It is pretty undeniable that he has and will act in that regard.
There are articles about how he shut down Lebron in game 5. The Lebron that our 3 has the primary task of guarding.
The Lebron James that is most commonly listed as a small forward.
Situationally, Diaw can and has spelled Kawhi on his most taxing assignment, on the biggest stage. If he can do it in the finals, he can do it for a few minutes here and there throughout the regular season. And, thusly, is why he is listed at the end of the list of guys that can fill in at the 3.
In order to say he can't be listed in that group, we would have to play a semantics game where we say he is playing as a small ball 4 or some such explaining away. But, the point of listing him in that group is for the purpose of backing up Kawhi, which is whose man Diaw is guarding. For all intents and purposes at that point, he is backing up the 3 position, our three position, the player Kawhi, that everyone is wondering who is going to back him up. The answer must include Boris.
Green, Manu, Anderson, Diaw, Simmons
Green, Manu, Simmons, Anderson, Diaw
Etc.
Sure, in other aspects, he's not much of a small forward anymore. But, he's still one situationally or in emergencies, and he definitely backs up Kawhi.
thanks for the analysis timvp!
Boris Diaw is an excellent all-around player who can play and defend almost four positions.....
underrated, imo....but extremely talented
we are fortunate to have him
Thanks for the write-up on Simmons. I appreciate the detail, also I have liked what I have seen limitedly in Lalanne.
This isn't really to topic of the thread, but no. Diaw can't play the three, and he can't shut down Lebron. He can't even put into good minutes against him. I'd like to see articles talking about the 2014 Finals and the job Diaw did defensively on James. I don't think they exists, and I feel like they're wrong if they do. In 2013, Lebron was passive And reluctant to shoot from outside. So the Spurs could get away with almost anyone as the lead defender with Duncan shadowing. In 2014, Diaw was slaughtered when James matched up against him.
And that's James, who despite being the best player on Earth is a power player. There are shooters and drivers who would give Diaw even more trouble. I don't see Diaw touching SF outside of garbage time or injuries.
Diaw playing the 3...we aren't still trying to sell that as a possibility are we?
It may not be the topic of the thread. I guess I should have ignored it when you mentioned it. However, if you simply type in "Boris Diaw guarding Lebron James" you can find a whole list of articles detailing what a relatively good job he did for you to disagree with. Even if you try to refute them all, the fact is, he spent enough time guarding him to have people discuss it, many of whom do disagree with you.
And, you bring up shooters and drivers for what point I'm not sure. The point was situationally as he has already been used, and in case of emergency (injury) which you acknowledge at the end of your post. Of course there are people he can't guard, that's why he's at the END of the list.
Damn! A Diaw slam.
To follow up, the article I quoted the "shut down" Lebron from was 2013. Most of the articles raving about his defense were from 2013. In 2014, Diaw still subs uted in for Kawhi, which is my point. When Kawhi got into foul trouble, Diaw came in. He was less effective, maybe, because Lebron took advantage to take and make some outside shots on Diaw. You want to cherry-pick the year he defended more poorly, dismiss the year he defended more successfully. Whatever. He was still the defender, absorbed the minutes for Kawhi while Kawhi was in foul trouble, and more than made up for his defensive liability in 2014 by destroying The Heat on the offensive end while he was in for Kawhi. He was a productive subs ute. Most 2014 articles didn't discuss Diaw's defensive role because it was irrelevant in comparison to how he was decimating the opposition on offense. Still, he absorbed those Kawhi minutes while waltzing to a championship.
I am sure there will be a game or three throughout the season where he could fill in effectively against ty teams, back to backs, teams with bad 3 rotations, etc. He may even get eaten alive on the defensive end on some nights, while they still march to 20 point victories.
Those were about the 2013 Finals, when pretty much everyone had good numbers against James for the first few games. Lebron didn't want to shoot, and he had no choice but to drive into double teams. He was BY FAR the worst person to defend James the next Finals statistically. Pop straight up stopped using him to check James after Game Three. It was awful, and I don't see why Diaw would be considered an option guarding Lebron in any capacity at his point.
Because James, especially the James from Games 1-6 of the 2013 Finals wasn't a typical small-forward. He operated on a very small part of the floor, as he showed no range and wasn't able to get all the way to the rim consistently with him being shadowed constantly. Most small-forwards nowadays are complete perimeter players, and Boris struggles to guard guys that far away from the basket (hence Caron Butler taking his cookie in the 2014 WCF). Is he gonna guard Harrison Barnes, Corey Brewer, Lance Stephenson or any of the other bench threes on playoff teams? I don't think so. He's not anymore of an option than Bonner is at that spot. And before you act like that's just a silly comparison, Bonner played the three next to Ayres in Baynes in a number of garbage-time situations.And, you bring up shooters and drivers for what point I'm not sure. The point was situationally as he has already been used, and in case of emergency (injury) which you acknowledge at the end of your post. Of course there are people he can't guard, that's why he's at the END of the list.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
