The steady improvement of Noah Vonleh

The draymond comp isn't that bad. Vonleh has a motor, he can move like a SF, he's got strength to handle himself in the low post, and he attacks the boards. The shooting isn't there but I watched him in college and summer league, I know he can shoot. It's just a matter of confidence. The bball IQ/passing that draymond has is something I'm not so sure about yet when it comes to Vonleh. But he's only 20! Draymond was still in college at that age.

 

And nearly a block and half steal a game in his limited minutes. I'm looking back at my Horford comparison for him. Physically, they're nearly identical. Skill wise, Noah looks just like him.

 

I don't see the ZBo comparison at all. I think people try way too hard to compare a player to a former player of the same team that they look through a very narrow lens. BTW Zbo at 20 was thinck because he was fat... just plain old fat. Noah isn't remotely fat. Noah is a far better athlete in terms of overall mobility, sure Zach had good handles and great spin moves, but that's not what I see of Vonleh.

 

Zach was also just a naturally gifted scorer from the very beginning. He had a nose for the ball, and he was extremely difficult to defend. If you put someone big on him, he'd out quick them. If you put someone smaller and quicker, he had the size to overpower them. I do see some of his quickness in Noah though.

 

I see the quickness, its a different quickness though.

 

Zach also has/had that money mid-range jumper. I'd love to see Noah develop something like that.

 

Draymond was a decent passer last yr. but this yr., he's improved even more; this (he's gone on record as saying) can be attributed to him watching a ton of tape over the summer; I think our guy Vonleh can watch tape too IDK if he'll ever reach Draymond level of passing BUT anything even close would b awesome!

 

I've liked the comp but Noah is & will b more mobile/speedier

 

Another improvement I have noticed is his tendency to finish strong at the rim after a rebound or a pass. Early in the season and in summer league he was trying to use more finesse on his finishes, sort of playing below the rim. This led to his shots getting blocked quite often. It seems that he has been told to go strong to the basket and use his leaping ability. Instead of a blocked floater, he is now dunking on fools. Throw it down big man!

 

Vonleh practiced against Al Jefferson as his early intro into the NBA game....now he's practicing against our bigs which is influencing the way he plays. It's great to have a young talent like him that's not buried on the bench for the first few years of his career. He's a keeper. You can compare him to different bigs as far a potential but he's a work in progress. I hope he develops his own style of play that suits the roster more than replicating past power forwards that we are familiar with. I'm loving this kid's game

 

I think Vonleh's handling and development has been very shrewdly executed. Generally speaking, most NBA games are won or lost in the last half of the fourth quarter. Teams more often than not let the other team hang around in the meantime. By playing Vonleh early, it is preparing him and the team for the future. By sitting him late, it is trying to win the game with more experienced players on the court. He's developing well, and I think Stotts is doing a masterful job with his minutes and development and in-game training.

 

This is just poor tanking. Did Stotts GET the memo?

 

He did and his reaction was, "We don't need no stinkin' memo! Step on their throats and finish them off guys!"

 

When I think about Stotts trying to win games, I think of Art Howe in Moneyball telling Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) that the lineup card is his to control, and he's going to make adjustments in a way that he can explain in job interviews after the season

 

Yeah, this is certainly a big improvement. Early on he looked like he had no touch, and no awareness around the basket. Good to see he's not allergic to dunking or contact like LMA was.
I just want him to be a capable offensive player - someone who keeps defenses honest, and who can be a release valve for Dame/CJ when they get bottled up, or just need to take a few plays off and let Vonleh work the post for a couple possessions. So far he's starting to fulfill the first part of that, and given his lower-body strength I think he'll be at least average with the ball in the post. With improved defense and rebounding that's all we really need from the PF position.

 

I'd love to grab the 8 seed just to see how Vonleh would do against Draymond. He's the perfect defender to stick on Dray.

 

At a less than .500 clip.

Solid.

 

I'm still holding out hope they start Montero, Project Pat, and Alexander to finish the season.