He looked awesome tonight. His athleticism is made for the modern game. Physically he already looks different than in preseason. He has a swagger to him. He’s not afraid. He is advanced defensively for a rookie. He can shoot. In preseason I figured he should stick at power forward this season but now I think I’d be comfortable with him at center. It’ll make trading Davis easier. I can’t wait to see what he looks like in three years. A good guy to model his physical growth after is Anthony Davis. Davis was a stick in college much like Collins. Now he’s a man.
I'd play him, but Stotts is going to bench him after Nurk returns. I don't think Stotts has a good understanding what Collins or other players can bring.
Collins is definitely ready... his skill level is off the charts and he has put on a good amount of muscle since draft. He needs minutes even when Nurk is back
Just my opinion, but he never looked scared. He was just hesitant. I’m sure he’ll still have those moments, he is a rookie that just turned 20. I’m ready to see more. A lot more.
Imagine if Collins played WITH Nurkic?! Oh man. The only problem is trusting our coach to see the same possibility.
Yes...but the smalls got ROASTED 40-19. So at least have big in there who were scoring and might stop the layup line to the hoop.
Now is the time to see if he can play PF on a regular basis. His standing reach is so damn evident on the court. It looks taller than the listed 9'3" IMO.
That close out block he had on one of the rockets three point attempts reminded me of Anthony Davis. He does that all the time.
They did. But a large part of that was due to hobbled dame. I'm sure stotts expected Turner to guard Harden better as well. And hell, our best big option Vonleh (you could argue Zach was but he's 19) got a shot and we all saw how that worked out. You can't play traditional man defense against their Tucker at center / 5 out scheme.
We shouldn’t always be so worried about adjusting to the opposing teams lineup, because mismatches work both ways. Our bigs were playing well and should’ve been in there Oh and Collins was guarding Tucker the whole night.
They were playing well vs Houston's more traditional lineups. Shit changes when they go 5 out. Even if you have Zach in there to "protect the rim". Harden is hunting that switch and if you decide fight that and play traditional screen defense, you are in full rotation vs a lineup with shooting plus cp3. It's really hard to guard regardless of what you do.
Still.....make someone besides Harden beat you. If that is Tucker, or Ariza....fine. Not sure how adding bigs who could score and defend the rim would have done worse than the small line up. 15-18 shooting in the 4th quarter.