Other than hitting a few open jump shots, and a hook shot. He really didn't show that much offensively. I liked his hustle and what he did on defense. But obviously would like to see more before getting too excited. With that said, think he has made some nice strides from a year ago.
I agree with those who said he is still young and he will continue to have his good & bad games. Actually that is no different for vets either. But I will say that hitting a few jumps shots and a hook is almost all he needs to be effective. His jump shots were from mid rage and from deep. We know he can dunk, so if he can master the hook.....he is good to go IMO. I watched him practice the hook before the last Clipper game for about 20 minutes. Left handed and right handed. A jump shot and a hook shot for a big..........I would be happy with just that. (along with some of those power dunks we have seen from him) I don't think he should start just yet though.
Exactly right. It's that he hit ALL his shots and there was no hesitation. He hadn't been in the game even a minute when he got his first touch and immediately drilled a 20' jumper with no hesitation. A minute later it was the same result followed by a deep '3'a few minutes later. The 2nd half was more of the same. Both times he got the ball in any type of scoring situation, he immediately went to work on the block. Not only was he 5-5, those were the only legitimate chances he had to take a shot. He wasn't passing up open opportunities like last year. That is a big step in the right direction given his skill set. He can take 'bigs' outside and he can punish smaller players in the post if he is confident. Not sure there is another player on the roster that can do both of those things.
Would that continue if he started with Dame and CJ on the court? My guess is probably not.....for now. He would probably defer so I am thinking he should continue to come off the bench......for now. But ultimately he needs to start for the reasons you listed.
Coming from the hairiest dude on the planet... I agree with most, but gott hem easy? 15-18 foot jumpers from each side of the key, a 3 pointer and then two scores in the paint? Hmmm, I think dunks are easy... this not so much.
How many bigs can hit hook shots with either hand? I know we need to be patient with his new found confidence, but wow this kid could be fun to watch.
When he gets it, he will be what we wanted Aldridge to become. A mentally stable, team first teammate with better defense to boot. Dame and CJ will love playing with a scoring PF that shares the ball.
I like the development of Noah's running hook and his floater. He also can be a decent rebounder and uses his body well on D. Someone earlier said they think NBA GMs evaluate players differently than we fans do. The answer is of course they do, it's a high paying full year more than 40 hour a week job. They don't just spend 5 minutes after each game and evaluate who was bad and should be cut/traded or who should start now because they had a good game. It's more of a whole picture long term type of thing.
If he keeps this up he'll be scouted and he'll have to adjust again, but this is the version of Noah I was hoping to see.
Yeah. The next thing I'd like to see from Vonleh is his ability to put it on the floor and drive past defenders who are running out at him. I think he can do this (one of my many Biebs complaints), but I'd like to see him do it in a game.
Tonight will be a good measuring stick. Chief has trouble with Griffen, so we'll see how early Stotts goes with Noah matching up against Griffen
If Vonleh keeps developing his defence, especially inside, it will also open up possibility of us trading for someone like Okafor i.e. someone with brilliant offense in the post but suspect defence. Vonleh + Okafor might be a good match.
Noah's best preseason games and his one regular season game have come at home, where he is comfortable and has the crowd behind him. That made me curious to see how he performed on the road in the preseason. His totals weren't as impressive, mostly because he took fewer shots, but he actually didn't have a single bad preseason game. He shot good percentages on the shots he took, which should help his confidence, but he needs to get as comfortable taking shots on the road as he is at home. I'm confident that will come. It's all part of the growth process. BNM
Ideally we want a center who is really good on both ends of the floor. Obviously not easy to find so let's just say for this discussion we can only pick one that is "brilliant" on just one end of the floor. IMO if we are trading quality talent to get that center (and we would for Okafor) I would lean toward a brilliant defender. Vonleh will never be big enough to defend the post on his own alongside a suspect defender at center. If we could get Okafor for cheap it would be worth it , but I am guessing Philly will hold out for a quality piece.
it's a rather small sample size, but the initial signs are very positive. he's obviously been putting in the work in the offseason, so that's awesome its translating into in-game impact. i wasnt a fan of him starting in that period last year, but maybe it taught him about the step up he would need to be an effective starter, cause he often got abused and worked most nights. and plus, anything that pushes Myers closer to the trade door is A-OK with me. I too am really excited to see a what a dame/cj/harkless/vonleh/davis run n gun unit looks like!
