Around the NBA 2022 Playoffs: The Thread

He didn't play defense? Ever, at all? His defense, potential and actual, is/was much better than Anfernee Simons and Damian Lillard.
Look at the discussion about Andrew Wiggins. In Minnesota, he was asked to be "the Man." At Golden State he was asked to focus much more on defense. There is no physical reason why Mathurin can't do that too, and be a plus defender.
Go to the 9:40 point in this video and tell me how often we have seen Anfernee Simons or Damian Lillard play the level of defense that Mathurin has already shown. Moving his feet to stay in front of his man, blocking shots, stripping balls, getting steals in passing lanes.

 

@PtldPlatypus this is in complete contrast to that number. I think we are misinterpreting that.

https://lookcharms.com/draft-2022-the-profile-of-bennedict-mathurin-arizona/

- Majority of his shots come off catch and shoot scenarios.
- He shot only 35% on shots off the dribble, but 38% overall, meaning his C&S efficiency was greater.

This confirms what I saw in the footage. Dude works really well off ball, but is a work in progress off the dribble.

 

Another one:

https://www.si.com/nba/pelicans/nba/mathurin-leads-pelicans-list-of-international-draft-prospects

Arizona was heavy on Mathurin's off-ball actions leading to catch and shoot three-pointers while shooting 37% on 225 attempts last season. He flirted with 40% in two seasons with the Wildcats.

 

Meh. He will be a stud. If he was perfect he’d be going at 1. Shot well at AZ.

 

Do we know that Olshey actually 'made' those picks? No GM really makes any pick independently. I would imagine the lower the pick, the more a GM would defer to the recommendations of his scout team.

 

you would hope that cronin contributed to that thought process to some extent.

 

Apparently, there is a large difference in shots off a fast break, and in the half-court offense. Some scout had him at something like 26% shooting on jumpers in the half-court.

 

What scout? sometimes i feel like these evals were of a completely different player.

here's what KOC said today:

• His role was to spot up and shoot 3s during his freshman season and he drilled 41.8 percent of them. As a sophomore, he was asked to do a lot more but he still made 38.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot triples, which includes a large number on extremely high difficulty. He’s a dynamic weapon who can shoot off movement, or attack straight off the catch.
• 
  
• He shouldn’t be expected to be a lead playmaker. He’s probably best suited to play in an offense that features multiple ball handlers. He’s not a main facilitator because his playmaking is solid but not spectacular. Think about him like Jamal Murray, whose game is enhanced by Nikola Jokic.

 

Don't remember specifically. It was a week or so ago in a number of pods. They all seemed to be using the same data because it was mentioned multiple times in a 2-3 day window.

 

I'm pretty sure they're using Bart Torvik's "far 2" numbers. He was a little over 27% in that area both years at Arizona.

 

Enes Kanter Freedom: 'The NBA is a 100 percent American-made organization that the Chinese dictatorship runs'

Enes Kanter Freedom: The NBA, in my opinion, is the most hypocritical organization out there. So we need to keep pushing the NBA to stand up for what is right. The NBA is a 100 percent American-made organization that the Chinese dictatorship runs. That is unacceptable. Someone, whether it’s the Senate or other politicians, needs to say “enough is enough.” And it’s not just the NBA. Chinese-controlled US institutions also include Hollywood and academia. Someone has to stop this.

– via OutKick

 

man, i dunno what to trust. it certainly does not align with what i saw in his game.

 

Holy shit that was impressive. You make a good case for him.

 

If the Blazers win a Championship it could change quickly. If they win two it will change quickly! Winning brings fans from all over and that brings $$$

 

Hello.

So. Dubs win another.

GSW makes it to the finals four years in a row with the best two guard lineup in the NBA. One being offensive minded and one being defensive minded.
Klay goes down and they don't make the playoffs. Klay comes back and they win yet again.
Portland, with two offensive guards, cant even get to the finals. Portland trades one offensive guard.
It really seems fairly obvious putting another offensive guard next to Dame will not accomplish anything more than what CJ provided.
I love Ant and fully believe he has All Star potential. But I do not think he is a good pairing with Dame.
To me, if Portland were to contend, it would require Hart to start at the 2guard and Ant to come off the bench.

Now some might say he is gonna get paid too much for that.
I disagree. If I were management, and I felt he could be the long term future, then I do everything I can to sell him on Taking over the tram when Dame retires.
I would sell him on Portland wanting him to follow the mold of Dame and retire here and become the next face of the franchise.
I believe this could leverage a 3-4 year contract in the 12-15 mill range. I would sell him on doing what the team needs while Dame is here and then we will do the same for Ant when he is handed the BlazingTorch.
Tell him that as long as he continues to grow he will be the next max contract after Dame.

If this could be a sell, then all focus can be put into the forward spots, development of Nas and Winslow, development of the draft picks or another impact player we get in a trade.
And i could actually see us being pretty good. A few more tweaks and potential contenders.

Its all about defense. If we don't put a stopper next to Dame, I just don't see how it can work.
But if we can get an all nba defender at the two or three, I really believe we are close to contending. Dame is going to have his best and healthiest year of his career. Ant and Little are going to break out. Nurk will become content with his limited roll on offense and anchor down the paint on defense.
With the right move or two and playing the positions wisely, I cant help be somewhat optimistic for the future!

 

Best player available when the time comes.
Picking anything different is not real smart no matter what your need seems to be.

 

I've wondered why Wendell Moore is looking like only a low- to mid-2nd round pick, as I like him more than top-10 teammate AJ Griffin, and he fits that strategy perfectly.

 

One of D69's value picks for where he is slated.

 

I agree with you. Ant will get his minutes and he will get his money. Why wouldn't he want to win as well?
Even if he does come off the bench like many of us are asking for, Dame won't be playing all 82 games. Plenty of opportunities for Ant to start. And at the end of games when Chauncey goes offense-defense, Simons will be needed. Plus I think he improved quite a bit on defense last year. I see no reason for that trend to stop under Billups. He is athletic and will continue to get stronger.

 

I'm sure the finances in Portland would improve exponentially if they drafted like Golden State has. It's not like the Warriors were a cash flowing gold mine when Gruber and Lacob bought them from their previous penny pinching sue everyone owner Chris Cohan.

STOMP