The curious case of Caleb Swanigan

I know this has been talked about quite a bit, but it really is weird what's going on with Biggie.

He went from very productive last summer, and also very productive during the G League, to just completely ineffective other than rebounding.

Here are his summer league stats



Here are his G League averages



And here are his college stats just for kicks



Now I'm not saying that he's going to be able to do this during the regular season, but it's very weird to see his production completely tank during summer league.

Is it because of how our offense is running? He's averaging half as many shots. Is it because he's not in shape? Is it confidence issues?

 

Idk, but I'm all for Fez's idea of signing Okafor and trying him out with the role Swanigan is probably going to get this season.

 

You know, my take is the summer league is such as a rat ball tourney dominated by guards mostly that his role this year was different as they went to him more last year. He will play better in a system during the season but their sure are questions if it will be good enough? Im sure we will know by all star break just what kind of player/role he will have unless he's traded.
A year with a ton of money can do strange things to certain players. He looks out of shape some but that just my non professional opinion.
Hope he makes it love his heart!

 

I loved him last summer in Vegas. I see nothing from him this summer in Vegas. As in, I don’t care how many boards he gets, other than that I think I see big regresssion and I don’t get it. He’s awkward, not athletic at all.

It’s bad and I believe it won’t end well for him. Sucks.

 

My theory is college. Last summer, he was fresh off a long collegiate run and in probably the best basketball shape and rhythm of his life. That's pretty important for a fringe talent. This summer, he's done little but sit around for the past year. It's not like he's gotten more physically capable of handing the competition, so a backslide is to be expected.

 

They clearly ran the whole offense through Swanigan last year. Look at the stats. He shot twice as much last year. There's the difference.

 

His FG% (and scoring) is down because he's getting his shot blocked... A LOT.

However...his FT%, 3FG%, Rebounding, Assist/TO rate is the same as last summer league. His TOs are up, but so are his assists - he's trying more stuff. His steals and blocks are only slightly down.

 

I noticed that as well. Outside shooting the same....interior shooting plummeted. Sure he is getting less usage but his efficiency should not drop that dramatically. That is a HUGE decline.

 

Absolutely, but outside of shooting (which has been HORRENDOUS, i.e. 28%), he's basically playing the same as last year.

 

Any guy who can't stay in shape year round concerns me. He should be working harder than that.

 

At the start of SL, Swanigan said he would play very physically (I assume to get Ed Davis' job.) He immediately broke Collins' nose. It's obvious that that is why he backed off (he may have been told to) and became a wimp.

 

If you can't score against Summer League guys inside, you have no hope of doing it in an NBA game. He's basically a young Zach Randolph without the touch around the rim, which is pretty much useless in the modern NBA.

I was kind of hoping to seem him a little thinner and mobile. His body and his game hasn't changed at all after a year of Portland training and conditioning. The lack of any growth whatsoever is more alarming than the poor scoring in SL.

I don't see us keeping him. Portland has much more promising prospects in Collins, Trent, Baldwin and Simons, and maybe something in Layman too. That's really a lot of young guys to rely on without worrying about a really marginal guy like Swanigan, especially with Dame in the middle of his prime.

 

I like this idea. I still think Okafor has something to offer in the league. His main issue is lack of effort on the defensive end but you can actually address not giving a feck by starting giving a feck and being almost out of the league is enough of a reason to do it.

He was a killer on the offensive end in his debut season and his stock was high after that. It’s Embiid’s return and subsequent taking of all his minutes which prevented him from developing any further.

 

The kid needs a break. Isn't it obvious? He needs to take time off and relax ... I wouldn't read too much into it at this time.

 

big men come here to devolve.

or

evolve a little then leave.

WTF is our big man coach? can we hire hakeem, r-rob, oakley, sabonis or some fuckin person that can get something outta these guys? can someone actually rise up?

meyers - well, trash
nurk - great on arrival, then kinda iffy
collins - seemingly gotten worse
swaggigan - ditto

who was our last good big man? ed? before ed? LMA? lordy. plum?

 

People forget what Zach looked like when he was young.

 

I'm still pissed they passed on Jordan Bell.

 

Blazers big man coaching.

 

Over....

Bell and Kuzma.

 

I said shape and rhythm, not just shape. I don't know where this notion has been coming from that he's out of shape this summer. He looks no worse than last year and still is much more visibly fit than in college.