That's no way to run a franchise. Sharpe might be our second best player next season. Wut a maroon. Wut an imbezzle.
THANK YOU. Anyone who sees the Kobe comparison is strictly talking about his game and his moves. I certainly wouldn’t want Sharpe to emulate Kobe’s efficiency.
I don't think young Kobe had Sharpe's shooting range. That's where all these comparisons really fall apart. It starts with a list of young guards who quickly demonstrated incredible leaping/dunking/athleticism/polish (Kobe, Carter, etc), but they basically all came up in the prior era where they weren't practicing a ton of NBA-range three point shots in high school or college. I don't know what Sharpe did in his year off before getting drafted, but he clearly spent a good deal of it developing NBA range. He's not just taking wide open Aminu corner threes--he's done a sidestep dribble and other creative little moves that indicate he's working on the whole three point bag. If he had none of his leaping, he'd still be a pretty solid #7 pick just based on his potential as a spacing three point shooter with good height and promising defense and a teachable mindset.
I was talking more about emulating his moves, not his play-style. No disagreement on your point about his 3 ball. Compared to Jordan, Kobe, VC, TMac, and the rest of the old guys, he came in as a much better shooter. But guys like Edwards, Green, Barrett, Cunningham, etc all grew up in this era, why aren’t THEY even half-way consistent shooters? Sharpe only plays 20mpg and shoots only a couple of them a game, it’s not like he gets a chance to get in rhythm either. The Kobe/Jordan comp comes from his measurables and athleticism more than anything. Kobe and Jordan were pretty much in the 1% among SGs in terms of God-given gifts. It’s going to be awhile until he gets to show us in-game, but he looks like he has a pretty polished post game for such a young guy as well. Isn’t that why we all think Sharpe’s special though—that he could eventually possess the best parts of every elite SG’s game in one package? A guy that can shoot like Klay, offensive package of Beal/Booker, dunk like Carter/TMac, handles like DWade, a post game like Jordan/Kobe, and can play defense like young PG?
That's a really interesting question. I wonder if it's because while those other guys were traveling on road trips and practicing the coach's plays, Sharpe found himself with a year of time to just work on his moves and getting shots up (when he wasn't scrimmaging at Kentucky). Somebody at some point must have sat him down and said, "The surest way to get drafted is to not risk fucking up your legs in real games, and prove in workouts you can hit NBA threes at 40%." With his other-worldly athleticism, he was going to get draft workouts even if he skipped a year. But I bet just knowing there's a contract out there worth $24m over 4 years if he can just learn to hit three pointers....it must've really focused his mind over those 12 months. Steph Curry makes around 500 shots/day in the off-season. Would you try to make 500 shots/day for a year to make $24m? I would. There's a lot of talk of college vs G-League, but frankly I think Sharpe hit on the right formula, at least for himself. Take a year off and focus on developing the skill NBA scouts drool over most in a shooting guard--shooting and shot creation. We can only hope! If he can be as good as any of those guys you listed, I'm thrilled. Let alone a hybrid.
Kobe was not on the same level athletically as Jordan. Kobe was a clear tier below, you can mention him with the other great SG's; VC, TMac, Wade, etc. Jordan was on a whole different level as the GOAT and a top 5 player. He had a 48 inch vertical. None of those other guys were in the same realm.
Your post makes it sound like Sharpe went to college as a freshman and sat out their season from the start. Thats not true, Sharpe was a high school player who graduated early and late in the college season spent some time with that basketball team.
There are thousands of basketball players that could shoot many hundreds of shots a day and never become a great NBA 3 point shooter. Its not just practice; its technique, mechanics learned at a young age, physical gifts, etc. Not to mention being able to get the shot off at NBA speed, comfort in the pressure of a game, etc. Shaq practiced shooting many thousands of free throws and could never shoot them well. This guy could shoot 15 hours a day and he still would be a horrible shooter;
Haven't seen the highlight where he changes his mind mid-air on pass vs dunk, but this is a nice jam:
Highlight tapes from HS have Sharpe pulling up from the logo. He also showed some of the same deft footwork generating open looks for his J. Yes he's got great athleticism/hops, but his outside threat is and has been the basis of his offensive game. His own comparison of his game to Beal's holds water IMO STOMP
This one? What Sharpe has that Jordan had more than anyone (including Drexler, who might have been able to jump as high) is hang time. The only one better than Jordan for sure was Vince Carter. But you see Sharpe's hang time in effect in a lot of his highlights above, including something as simple as the double-pump jumpshot from the top of the key at 11 seconds.
