moocow007 wrote:Da_Mane_Man wrote:i don't follow college ball, so this is a legit question based on what I've been reading about him:
what makes Josh Jackson better than Justice Winslow?
As someone that thought Justise Winslow was way overrated (and I voiced this opinion as such prior to the 2015 draft) I can probably tell you some of the major differences between the two players:
Ability to Create Space- you know, leading up to the 2016 draft I kept hearing about how athletic and explosive Winslow is and he was. The problem is that he really didn't show he could play at anything other than one speed. What I mean by that is this...if Winslow had a clear lane to the basket and/or got the ball on his way to the basket, he was able to finish, no question. But if he wasn't able to do so his impact was marginalized. He didn't show any change of speed ability that would allow him to separate or confuse opposing defenders and as a result create space for himself. One of the most important skills that top tier players have is the ability to create space so that they can get better looks at the basket. This applies to guys that primarily take it to the whole as well as guys that shoot from outside. The NBA is a whole lot tougher than college (or HS). The spaces, the lanes, the openings that you see in college you simply are not going to get in the NBA. Guys that simply rely on athleticism in college or what I call again "one speed" explosiveness is IMHO going to struggle in the NBA if they don't show the ability to create space for themselves. Sure some of that is mitigated if you get yourself on a great team that passes and otherwise creates better opportunities and looks for it's players, but TOP TOP players in the NBA would be able to do that regardless of what team they are on and how good or bad the team/system is at creating good shot opportunities. Winslow showed me next to nothing in being able to do this which is one of the main reasons why I found it absolutely absurd when folks said that he was going to be Pippen like when it comes to scoring. I mentioned on several occasions that I thought he'd have problems cracking double digits in scoring and I haven't been wrong. This is one of the biggest reasons for that.
Length AND Athleticism - a lot of players are athletic but short, others have length but are not very athletic. Winslow fell into the former (he was an "athletic" guy but his length was marginal at best for the position that he would be best suited for...small forward). Jackson? He has the length AND the athleticism that is ideal for his NBA position (also small forward). If you look at every one of the top 2-way wings in the NBA nowadays every one of them has check marks in both physical areas (Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Greek Freak, etc.).
Ball Skills - this goes in the 'create space' category as guys that create space generally are guys with ball skills. doesn't mean that you have to be able to dribble it up the full length of the court and score, but it means that for your position you are extremely skilled in being able to handle the ball. Winslow did not have good ball skills for his position (again being explosive when you have a clear driving lane does not equate to good ball skills). It's one of the reasons why he's struggled so far to score. He can't create for himself. Jackson, while no Lebron has shown that he can create for himself. That and his far superior passing and feel for the game makes him a much more dangerous player for opposing teams to defend than someone like Winslow.
Defense - Jackson has better defensive tools and better defensive instincts than Winslow IMO although defense is something that Winslow is still pretty good at.
Feel for Game - IMHO there is no comparison between the two as far as feel for the game, feel for where he is and his teammates are and where the game is at. Feel for the game is not something that can be taught, you either are born with it or you're not. For a SF with that type of feel? yeah that's pretty special. Doesn't mean that he's on the Ball or even Fultz level in that regard but positionally, he's up there among the top group IMO.
Shot Creation - so this goes into 'creating space' and 'ball skills'. While I think this is the area that he has shown the least of when talking about the other top prospects, I've seen plenty of flashes that when he wants to he can create shots for himself pretty easily. No, he's not Fultz when it comes to that, but again, for a guy with all of the other above skills in abundance, what he's shown is pretty nice to have. Winslow is not and has never been able to create his own shot against NBA defenses. I said this from day one when folks were riding his jock leading up to the draft just because he had a nice run in the tournament and just because he was such a dunker.
Upside - everything else above leads me to believe that Jackson has much more NBA upside than Winslow at the same point. To me, it's not even close. And believe me, I'm hardly one to get excited or exaggerate any prospect (those that know me know that).
They are? Since when...? That team still needs A LOT of talent (and health) before they should be considered "scary."
