I see a diamond...well maybe a sapphire in the rough with Scoot. He can get by his man more often than not. He IS very athletic, his problem is that he can't FINISH. His jump shot also looks good, in terms of form, and he usually doesn't miss by much. His biggest issue is decision making, if he had better shot selection, and wasn't forcing the issue, he might not have so many 5-20 games. Be more like John Stockton, lead the offense, take the shots the defense gives you, play scrappy D.
He's a project, but a skilled project. He's not like Travis Outlaw who looked like he was a deer in headlights, but he's definitely not showing he's earned a spot in the starting lineup, let alone starters minutes. His #1 thing during the summer should've been shooting. Also #3-15. He needs to not trying to finesse his shots inside the paint, and maybe get his eyes checked for his shots outside the paint. Scoot is kinda turning into the PG version of Meyers Leonard.
In his second season there should never be a game where he leads the team in shots, barring catastrophic injuries. The fact he took *18* of them in game 1 is an absolute joke. His role should not be as a scorer or volume shooter.
I wonder what kind of coaching he's receiving. You'd think having an ex NBA PG who played that style would help him, but players often don't translate into good coaches. The Blazers need to get off this ex-player kick. Cheeks/McMillen/Billups, none of them ever instilled good qualities in our guards.
I honestly want to know what it was that scouts saw in him that had people saying that he was a genuine challenger of Wemby as the best prospect in his draft. Anyone find a glowing draft evaluation? As it is, people pointing to his promise by scoring stats: he's scoring because he's being given minutes because it would be more embarrassing at this point NOT to give him minutes.
The defense will offer him every shot he wants, knowing he'll miss. So my advice is the opposite of yours-DON'T take any shots the defense allows you. Become a playmaker first. Which leads to... I read stuff about his shooting, but I don't even think about his shooting. I notice the passing. Last season he would destroy plays down the court 3 consecutive times, and the play-by-play didn't even say his name, so no one except your loyal Negative Thinker noticed. This season he has improved from bottom-of-the-league. He's now only the most incompetent #3 PG draft pick I've ever seen. I am encouraged by his great improvement. Even I would never insult Little Scooter thusly!
Who said that? I didn't see anyone say that it should be any pick other than Wemby at #1. SCOOT said he thought he should be #1. And I saw people say that Scoot would be #1 in any other draft.
Scoot can do what almost no other pg's can do. Scoot can't do what almost all other pg's can do. It's a lot easier for Scoot to learn what all other pg's can do than it is for all other pg's to learn what Scoot can do. That why there's a lot of reason of optimism, especially since Scoot is still very, very young. p.s. I don't really understand why gym rats like Scoot and Bronny aren't great shooters. What the hell are they doing in all of those hours in the gym if not shooting? (Scoot's family bought and operate their own basketball gym, and Bronny was raised in a house that had a full basketball gym in it!)
Makes me question the "gym rat" claim, honestly. There is no way you get hundreds of quality shots up every day and shoot that bad when you're wide open. No way.
His senior year of high school, he wasn't in high school. Instead he was working out every day and playing in the g-league. As I said, his parents own their own gym, and Scoot is, by ALL accounts, a hard worker.
He looks very physically gifted. Dude obviously works out. And he looks like he almost never shoots the ball. At least not with any guidance or at game speed.
In the team gym, a player is supervised by assistant coaches or at least team trainers...motivating him by yelling. No comparison to a home gym, where you stop when tired to sip from your mai tai straw. (Okay I made that part up.) Here's where I brought up this subject and pissed off everyone. Posts 1658-1665. Grab some potato chips before reading. It's better than a violent movie. http://www.sportstwo.com/posts/5708280/
