This is the key point. Scoot plays better when he's the lead ball handler and fully in control of making decisions. Playing him off the ball is a disaster. The offense has some semblance of decency when he's at the helm too. Ant has to go.
It's both. He's had both lately. It's no surprise his play has improved. That's how confidence works in these situations. There is carry-over from one game to another, good or bad. It's not all or nothing. This seems very obvious to me. I'm not sure why you're trying to be argumentative...
Because you repeat the same thing in every thread, then shift to a different argument when the old one falls flat.
I agree Ant needs to be traded ASAP -- If i was to list the vets who need to be traded for the good of the team then Ant would be second with Ayton being first for obvious reasons. However since we know there is not a GM stupid enough as Cronin to take back Ayton without a 1st or a solid to good young player attached with it then Ant should be traded to allow Scoot to get the keys full time.
Not trying to single you out, this is more of a general comment/rant. The lanes are actually same. It’s called giving him a runway to just go out there and play. Let’s see if he can ball. Whether he starts or comes off the bench is fine, he needs to be the primary playmaker. Does that mean he has to be #1 scorer, no, but he should be the guy setting up the plays and directing the team. Wins/losses don’t matter, what does is learning and he is learning more recently. Problem is the vets like having the ball too, only 1 ball though. The vets didn’t play well, but they are all high volume guys which does not work, especially when they are all fighting for touches. The vets are not the future for the team. It’s about time the team focuses on the young guys and build from there. The NBA has plenty of vets that the team and go and add to the team later. At this point I want to see all the young guys get a chance. Sharpe is getting his and so is Toumani. Scoot could be turning the corner and so deserves his spot. Others should also get some, but Joe will have to clear some room for the other young guys. I don’t want to do what they the last few seasons and have vets come down with “mysterious injury” to justify tanking. Plus it also means they are still on the team when they should have been moved. I don’t see a point in losing by 20+ and seeing the vets play a ton and dominate the ball. We have seen plenty of that over the last few seasons. I can stomach loses when the team is developing, but not this fence straddling two time line thing they are doing.
No, this has been my argument all along. The more responsibility the young guys are given the sooner they'll do better or fail. Keeping middling vets in their way will slow that down. Scoot has been given more responsibility and has responded well. Like he did last season. So has Sharpe. You appear to want to apply some alternate motive to the things I say, but this has literally been it the entire time.
The thing is, when you start and play big minutes, you can play bad early on and then turn it around in that game. With fewer minutes, you don’t get to learn from the defense and then make 5 of your last 6 shots or what have you.
Confidence isn't an on/off switch. He's been given the rains recently and his improved play is the result.
Man nice to see Scoot playing so well. Been said several times in this thread and others he needs to have to ball to be at his best. Should start every game for the rest of the year regardless of whether it hurts Ants trade value
Scoot's made the leap halfway second year. I respect that. His game is really maturing and of all the guys we have, he's got star potential at a really young age. I didn't think that not so long ago but he's showing consistently better game management and skill than he did early in the season.
He definitely has strung together a good stretch of games. The game has appeared to slow down for him, but not entirely. Still will make a few mistakes, but he's definitely not the same player he was 15+ games ago.
if he can improve his left hand it would open up a lot more of the floor for him. He needs hours of left hand work next summer good chance he will reduce his turnovers as his court vision improve with experience