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[QUOTE=KobesAchilles;10494245]I understand your point. How the two don't have to necessarily correlate with one another. To me, in this case, I think it does. There are slow starts to a season for players and I understand that. But some players just don't have that drive. Danny Green after we won the chip. Bobo. LMA didn't do to stay in shape in the off-season. Some players are gym rats while other aren't and use their free time to party or vacation or just have a relaxing summer. I believe that Poeltl falls into the Danny, Bobo, LMA mold more so than a Murray or DDR mold. I just can't see a reason why he can shoot 18% from the line with zero fans in games that are basically scrimmage like if he shot 100 free throws a day every day during the offseason. I don't see a way he can play that bad to start the year, if he put in the work during the offseason. Practice and repe ion build confidence. Jak started playing better after getting reps and having practices with the Spurs.
Few factors here. Firstly, this off-season was the shortest and weirdest in a long, long time (maybe ever? the lockout seasons were weird so IDK but probably top-3 at least). Not to mention COVID stuff, protocols, etc. Lots of players came into the season "weird", kind of out of shape (cough cough LMA, as you said), and many more are getting injured due to insufficient rest, training, and heavy schedule. So I'm hesitant to draw too many conclusions out of it. Next - I remember Jak having a "slow start" to last year's season as well, but not in the FT department, so while I think there's merit to your theory, I wouldn't say the book's closed on him. And mainly because I don't think FTs are something that you actually "lose" if you don't practise for like, three weeks to a month or so...? But I'll keep an eye on him for next season's start, for sure. If he's really in that LMA tier of not working on his game, he's much less of an asset moving forward, because his ceiling gets lower and even his floor grows lower.
I'm actually, despite being a bit of a Jak fan, not opposed to the Spurs starting another C. Jakob's (even though this forum at large cannot comprehend it) being paid like a bench big, and he's way above average in that role; an offensive big like KAT or even Ayton would be dandy for the Spurs, not to mention a passing one á-la Jokic. I usually don't like this discussion because, when people talk about Jakob like that, they usually immediately start talking about how "useless" he is and how they want him off the team, which would be incredibly stupid due to all the things he provides. But I'm not so blind as to see his offense is really teetering on non-starter level, depending on the day. My gripe with wanting another C is further complex: I don't want just about any C to replace Jak. I specifically want a lottery talent big to take his spot. I've talked before about how, if you want a center that plays both ends of the court dominantly, can defend AND shoot, and rebound, you need to look for him in the top-2 of any given draft; they rarely, if ever, fall out of that spot, because it's such a rare and in-demand archetype (again, KAT, Ayton, etc).
Jakob right now is the perfect "placeholder" at the C spot. Elevates the rest of their teammates, covers up for most of their lazy/bad defense, does all the little dirty things. You know the saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it? Well, currently, I don't think the C position is "broken" for the Spurs - so if you're upgrading for Jak, you gotta make sure it's worth it. Just putting him on the bench for a shooting big that doesn't play a lick of D isn't any better than what he does, and creates a new problem instead. That's my current take on Jak, tbh.
The Jak injuring White thing was a fun troll spot for me btwyou got me. I'm a step closer towards mentally labeling you a full-time troll, tbh...
