If you have seen him compared to D Jr I believe you. I haven't. I have seen a wide (conspicuously white, as is D Jr) range of comparisons. I discount Bird and Dirk as way overstated but have also seen Mullin, Detlef, Wally, Thunder Dan, Kiki, Chambers. its all a goof from Dunleavy to the out of reach outliers. I think he is going to be a strong pro. Given the evidence thus far in his career other than a lack of a vertical is there any reason to expect otherwise except that he is a Bull?
As much as it goes against racial stereotypes, I still say Paul Pierce is McDoug's ceiling and best player comparison I can think of. Neither guy is the quickest, or the best ball-handler, or the strongest- they just figure out ways to score from a variety of angles and a variety of places on the floor. Though I expect McDoug to be a more consistent shooter from distance- Pierce's 3pt percentages over his first 7 NBA seasons are about as inconsistent as you can possibly get: .412 on 4.3 att .343 on 3.8 att .383 on 4.7 att .404 on 6.3 att .302 on 4.9 att .299 on 4.8 att .370 on 3.6 att They were even drafted in almost identical slots (Pierce went 10th overall).
I believe he is going to be a very good player. I think if the Bulls had not obtained him you would agree.
I've written more than once that if his game translates to the NBA, he could be an all star. I'm from Missouri. Show me. Not too much to ask.
He could be Paul Pierce, he could be Adam Morrison, he could be Tom Chambers, he could be Kyle Korver, he could be Antwan Jamison, he could be in Europe in 4 years. By the time its time to pay him a non-rookie deal, Noah will be on the decline and Rose will be pushing 30. If we're going to maximize our current all-NBA level talent and "win now" he'll have to not be a bust and be good right away.
One good thing in McDoug's favor is that the majority of the players on the Bulls' main competition in the East has the same zero level of playoff experience as he does. So by the time we meet CLE (hopefully) in the EC Finals, Irving, Love, Thompson, and Waiters will be at the same level of playoff experience as McDoug.
This video seems to be making the rounds. [video=youtube;TFIz6gyCRf8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFIz6gyCRf8[/video] His stroke is gorgeous. But man, was he ever open in summer league. He's not going to get those looks in the regular season.
Transplant posted this video or a similar one (I didn't watch the 2nd one). But I noticed the same thing. He should get open looks if teams are double teaming Rose. But Rose has to get rid of the ball if he is double teamed.
Ha. I forgot what was on the first page of this thread. You see the glass as half contested, I see the glass as way fucking open.
Well, they show the same shots multiple times, so it gets tricky. If you consider a typical defensive closeout as leaving a shooter wide open, then I agree that all of his 3-pointers were way fucking open. I watched a Mirotic highlight reel the other day and as far as 3-pointers go, it was pretty much the same thing. Thing is, unless it's a clock thing, you don't want to take a 3-pointer (or long 2) if you're closely defended.
I consider "contested" to mean a guy is guarding him closely the whole time, not running at him from 10 ft' away. I don't think they play much defense in summer league, except for the guys who are defensive specialists (like Noel). The thing is, tho, he still made the shots. That's good. However, he didn't shoot 100%, so the video isn't showing those misses. Those might all have been contested More likely they were a mix as well.
Well that, and some of the stuff he did while covered was pretty absurd too. You have to love his back to the basket turnaround and that one move he executed at the free throw line.
