All those guys have much better ball handling ability than Layman. Layman barely feels comfortable enough to dribble it up the court. Thompson, Green, and Harris are also elite shooters and really good at defending against both guard spots.
Aminu has a stigma about him. People cant get over his ball handling from the past couple years and notice how its improved. People also have this love affair with Jake so they think he can.
After games, of course your basketball expert doesn't want to waste his buckets of leftover mustard, but he should dispose of it properly.
I'm going to do a little victory lap here and say I called it a month ago. With Layman starting at shooting guard, we're 5-0. He's basically been useless as a scorer in these games, and he's only logging 15mpg, so he's kind of getting the Noah Vonleh treatment where he's a youngster thrown into the starting lineup for defense and development. I think Stotts initially put him in there also so he didn't have to change the rotation much when CJ comes back, and to keep some bench scoring with Curry/Hood. But overall I like the defensive look we have with a much longer, more athletic defender out there at SG. It makes us much more switchable on defense, which is critical when you have Kanter and Dame. He's been in a horrible three point slump in March--15% on 32 attempts. His form looks good though and he was shooting 37% before March, so you hope it's just a slump. I don't know that Jake is our long-term solution at SG, but between him and Wes Mathews there's plenty of evidence that a Dame team can run just fine with a bigger defensive SG who isn't a creator like CJ. I've been a fan of using CJ in a trade to upgrade at 3/4 for a couple years now, and this only continues to confirm my inclinations. I'm also becoming increasingly convinced that Layman's natural position is at SG. I'm not completely sold that's he's starting caliber at the NBA level, but I do think that's his best fit.
Well I can assure you that Layman is definitely not our long-term solution at SG. Just wait till Dame gets trapped and has 0 ball handlers next to him. Whys Jake's natural position SG? He's slow laterally and the quicker hisopponent, the more he struggles. He handles the ball like a center, and doesnt pass well either. He's a hybrid 3/4.
The comparison escaped me for a while, couldn't remember the guys name, but saw it recently, chase budinger. Hopefully Jake develops better than chase ever did. But, super athletic, pretty looking shot that doesnt always fall.
Jake is primarily working on his defense and seems happy to be the 5th option with the starters....he's seen the playoffs and knows what's coming. He was more comfortable and aggressive offensively with the bench mob.
Jake's shooting slump is better happening now than two weeks from now...hopefully he gets hot when it counts in the playoffs
is it certain he's in a shooting slump? He was a bad shooter before this season. Yeah, the sample size was small, but his numbers were ugly. He's at 33% this season from three; but he was only a 36% three point shooter in college from a line 2 feet closer than the NBA line. From 36% to 33% shooting on a longer distance doesn't look like regression...it looks like performance meeting expectation I expect that he will probably end up better than 33% from the arc. But it may be unrealistic to expect he's a 40% shooter from distance, and that it may have been more of a hot streak earlier in the season than a slump now. Or most probable, some of both
yeah...I think it's a slump...CJ had one not long ago...they happen..Jake has changed roles and positions since the beginning of the season...Dame alluded to the fact that guys were trying to adapt to new roles and I believe Jake is part of that...we've played him at 3 positions. Each time he gets slotted in there's going to be some rust..I don't think stats for a guy with sporadic minutes and a changing role are as important as things like his defensive improvement and rebounding....Dame said about Jake..."he's instant offense"...it's defense he needs to get up to speed on...got a great eye for the ball...hustle rebounder. Offensive stats for a 5th option aren't as important to me as their ability to play defense on a string..
Layman has a bit of Rudy Gay to him, lots of athleticism, streaky shooter with a pretty jumper. He will get out of his slump.
If I was a conspiracy theorist I might think they are trying to intentionally lower his value as a FA this summer. Hiding his talent and making him look bad by playing him at SG so no one goes crazy and offers him too much. But I am not a conspiracy theorist so I will just assume that Terry expects CJ back very soon and does not want to keep moving Hood around. I guess as long as Dame keeps scoring over 30 a night and they keep winning there is no need to. (which is fine short term)
I haven't seen Layman break somebody down with dribble moves once in his career, or get by someone with a crossover. I can't believe people think hes a better ball handler than Aminu. I don't understand. Jake is nervous just dribbling straight up the court.
It's not that Jake is a great ball-handler. It's that we've seen Aminu continually lose his dribble in ways many a junior high player can only fathom. Aminu is better this year....but the bar was VERY low.
