Don't know who the guy is that made this video, but he has some interesting takes on Collins' summer league performance.
Pretty accurate. We've got enough offense at other positions that I think he's going to get significant minutes just for his defense, particularly help defense and pick-and-roll defense. Last season he was second all-time in blocked shots at Gonzaga. Not bad for a rookie who played 17mpg. Watching the video you can tell he doesn't leave his feet to get them. It should translate well to the NBA. If it were 10 years ago and everybody was scoring in the post, I'd say he needs a solid year of strength training. But now it's all about containing guards and wings, and especially point guards on the pick and roll. Speed, length and anticipation matter a lot more than strength. Much like Meyers, he may be something of a one-trick pony right now, but it's a trick we desperately need.
This was his conclusion: (I am paraphrasing) "A project, well worth investing in and I wouldn't be surprised if he is a starter in this league in 2-3 years." This is pretty much what I think as well. He needs minutes this year to get better, but there will be HUGE growing pains. We knew he was not physically ready. I would not count on him this year in the 2-deep. He will play when a big gets hurt. Right now Nurk, Davis, Vonleh, Aminu, Swanigan are all ahead of him at the 4-5
Well, one season it was playing good defense against Marc Gasol for a couple of games. Another season it was shooting wide-open threes. Neither of those stuck though.
Good micro-analysis. HORRIBLE macro-analysis - I think some of you are getting soft for not dinging the "coach"! 1) No mention of the fact that he was nervous. It was the only time he'll probably play in front of his hometown. It was also his first NBA experience. 2) He didn't play "3 games" - he was injured near the beginning of his 3rd game. 3) Sample size, sample size, sample size. 4) Collins is an amazing 3 point shooter from NBA 3 point distance. His pontifications about his some day being able to his the 3 are just dumb. 5) No discussion of how different skills translate to the NBA. That being said, there was some good info about the details of Collin's game.
QUOTE="mook, post: 4237562, member: 20905"]Well, one season it was playing good defense against Marc Gasol for a couple of games. Another season it was shooting wide-open threes. Neither of those stuck though.[/QUOTE] There's also the couple of games he was a "Boogie Irritant". He's a young dog with no tricks...
He obviously has to develop an NBA game. The roles are considerably different than for big men in college. It's really up to the coaching staff to direct his development into the kind of player they want him to be. He didn't look overmatched, just like he was asked to start doing things for which he hasn't developed a level of comfort. I'm happy if he can get us 12-18 minutes of solid bench play this season.
summer league...when these rookies have been to combines, tryouts and media events all summer....they all need a training camp to develop an NBA game. ..I won't judge Collins on his Vegas showing but he is only 19 and a project. It does take longer for the game to slow down for bigs.
Pardon me for going full @Mediocre Man, but I'm so tired of this. Yes, there is the occasional Jermaine O'Neal or Hassan Whiteside, but for the most part, any center worth keeping shows it pretty early. 2 years. That's all he needs (IMO). If he's not a quality rotation big by the end of next season, he's not worth waiting on. Personally, I think he'll prove himself to be NBA caliber much sooner than that, but I'm not interested in waiting for him to "develop his potential" if he hasn't shown much by that point, and I'm sure Dame and CJ aren't interested in waiting around for him either.
Or any other actual NBA big man coach. I've been harping on this for a while, but with so many young bigs (Collins, Swanigan, Nurkic, Vonleh and Leonard) it makes no sense at all to me why we don't have one (or more) dedicated big man coach(es). Paul Allen is literally investing hundreds of millions of dollars in these guys. So, why not drop a few hundred thousand, or maybe even a million or two, on the best big men coaches money can buy. If I was him, with those five players, all in need of further development, I'd hire two - a dedicated offensive specialist and one for defense and rebounding. I mean come on, at the very least hire a guy like Kevin McHale as an off season consultant to work with these guys during the summer months. Or just swallow your pride and bring back Kim Hughes. I know Hughes crossed the line by leaking Aldridge's departure to the press, but it's not like it changed anything. Aldridge was already gone. It just hadn't been officially announced. So, he got fired and has paid his penance. No sense biting off your nose to spite your face. The guy was actually turning Meyers Leonard into a decent NBA player. Ever since Hughes was fired, Meyers has been 100% lost. We also have Noah Vonleh, who is solid on defense and the boards, but after 3 years in the NBA, nearly half of it as a starter, he does not have one single, reliable offensive move. We just used three first round picks in an historically deep draft to get two more 20 and under big men... HIRE A FUCKING BIG MAN COACH ALREADY!!!!!!!! BNM
