Hmm...last year, Vonleh started the majority of the year, then Aminu took over the starting spot and basically kept it through the offseason and into this year. Now, Aminu relinquished the starting spot due to injury, and Vonleh has it back and looks like he may be able to hold onto it. I wonder if a full offseason, training camp, and pre-season of him being slotted as the starter--with Nurkic as his unquestioned frontcourt-mate--will have an impact on his development in that role.
Or a good measure of what to expect and when to pull the plug Wonder means there is an open end in my opinion. I expect at this point or we need to move on. I wont be disappointing, just know we need to make the move. I expect him to get better with Nurk on his side.
I have no control over the response to the expectation, so it serves no purpose. If I were Olshey or Stotts, I would have my expectations set. As a lowly fan, I opt only for hope.
My biggest issue with Noah right now is his defensive awareness is atrocious. He does decent on the guy he's guarding - but it's like he's playing zone... he frequently switches onto a guard when there's absolutely no need to.
Vonlehs splits definitely show improvement. February to March... Feb 155 MP 21 FGA 28 PTS 45 REB March 156 MP 31 FGA 45 PTS 50 REB
I've been really surprised how well we've been able to play with him and Nurkic on the floor together. I still don't think he's very good, but the two of them have hooked up on some nice big to big plays out the pnr and I think the space Nurkic occupies inside has helped open up more rebounding/put back opportunities for him as well.
Teams are no longer doing layup drills on us on offense....even Westbrook got blocked at the rim...big difference...Vonleh doesn't have to pretend to be Nurkic and take the biggest guy on now like he did with Mason...he can be an actual PF and he's the 5th option on offense...if we actually ran plays for him, his numbers would go up but he's a solid rebounder and as a young role player he gets no love from a ref...still not afraid to bang though and the biggest factor to me is he's strong and still only 21
At 84-83 he pounds down that dunk with authority. Those six rebounds and his accurate free throw shooting impressed me. We need a responsive forward and he displayed that trait last night.
I hate to dwell on the refs, but you are absolutely right. He gets rookie respect, even though he is not a rookie. He still fouls too much, but he gets frustrated every game by at least one bad call that often sends him to the bench.
Jermaine O'Neal took a few years to turn practice athleticism into game fierceness. (I feel like this is a "Coming to America" barbershop scene. "Every time I bring up sucky young Blazers' PFs, someone brings up Jermaine O'Neal. Jermaine O'Neal! Jermaine O'Neal!" "He DID turn into an All-star" "F*** you, f*** you, f*** you. who's next?")
The difference post ASG is that Noah is playing with an ounce of aggression. This has made him less indecisive and play at a quicker tempo. It was on good display a couple of games ago, where he reverse-side dunked on the first play of the game. With Vonleh the coaches need to be preaching aggressive play, less thinking & faster/explosive action. Noah seems like the nicest guy off of the court, but IMO Nurkic has extracted a little aggression from him in his play - and it's doing wonders.
He's still one of the worst starting PFs in the league - maybe the worst. Still very much rooting for him, but hoping we get a much better starting PF to play in front of him. I've been told not to fall in love with our players, and after the Pels game, that's become a lot easier. Outside of our Big 3 + ET, all of our players are trade bait this summer, Vonleh included.
I actually was thinking the same thing, just by watching the highlights of the Spurs game. He may not be the PFoTF but he's solid in many ways, sets good screens, is an adequate defender, rebounder, doesn't make too many mistakes and I think he more often than not has a positive impact. Maybe he should get more playing time, more than just starting both halves
Nope, you know who is worse? Domantas Sabonis. I get that he's a rookie, but he's only 9 months younger than Vonleh, and his stats, across the board, are worse than Vonleh's, both present and rookie Vonleh. It seems a number of people here are enamored with Sabonis, but the only reasons I can think of are: his last name, and where he went to college. His PER is 6.8, his TRB% of 9.6% is Bargnani bad and his FG% of .410 is terrible for a PF, even an alleged stretch 4. After trading Ibaka, he was handed the starting spot by default, but he just hasn't produced. IMHO, Vonleh is better now and has more upside. Vonleh shoots better from both 2-point range and 3-point range and is twice the rebounder Sabonis is. BNM
