Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3?

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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#41 » by teerfour+40LG » Sat Jun 21, 2014 3:59 pm

sya wrote:If you have a stretch 4, then Gordon might fit in at 3. Otherwise, he is not a good fit. Just imagine what happened when Josh Smith played SF for detroit.

Terrible comparison. Josh Smith jacked up 16 shots a game. Aaron Gordon will not do that.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#42 » by Notanoob » Sat Jun 21, 2014 6:46 pm

teerfour+40LG wrote:
sya wrote:If you have a stretch 4, then Gordon might fit in at 3. Otherwise, he is not a good fit. Just imagine what happened when Josh Smith played SF for detroit.

Terrible comparison. Josh Smith jacked up 16 shots a game. Aaron Gordon will not do that.
The offense was going to be a disaster anyways, because there was no spacing, and Gordon's offensive game is identical to Smith's. Jack up long twos when he should be going to the hoop, great passing and a good handle. There's hope for Gordon to learn though, much more hope than there is for Smith.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#43 » by Bodie Broadus » Sat Jun 21, 2014 7:04 pm

Aaron Gordon's game is nothing like Josh Smiths.. good grief.. Have you ever even seen him play?
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#44 » by BruceO » Sat Jun 21, 2014 7:53 pm

Im torn about it. I watched footage of him in team usa practice against the likes of jabari parker and james young and you could tell it was effortless to him. He was a man among boys. He has really good size for the sf and for the pf dude has griffins exact dimensions so i think he will succeed eventually. What stands him out from the other tweeners is his potential better defense and effort level. Beasley had all the talent in the world but he was chilling. It wasn't important to him to become one of the best players but i get the feeling it is for Gordon. So based on that I do believe he will be a good player.

When i watched him it reminded me of watching paul george in practice against Nick young and other NBA players before he got drafted. Even if nick was a starter i was saying man i'd trade some of our young players for him like javale mcgee and andray blatche or nick young because i thought he was already better than them and the guys being drafted ahead of him I thought were not good. You could tell he was going to be good, moved fluidly and was a man among boys. The way Georges ability and talent related to the other players is the same way i saw Gordons talent and ability relate. It was superior.

I got the same vibe from Aaron gordon. I remember that draft year i researched thoroughly cause we were in position to get wall and was like what if there are better players. It tripped me out that Cousins and Paul George were going that low.

Another guy who gave me the same vibe is kawhi leonard. I remember watching footage of his wizards workout. Flip would have them go from one width of the court to the other and back shooting shots while at it. It was a tough shooting workout and he wasn't making many and seemed to jog through and i don't know why i remember him as bulky when i watch his old footage nowadays its not the case. Anyway in the end i remember flip shaking his head to ernie grunfeld who was watching from the balcony. When it comes to the shooting Gordon reminds me of that. I think he's a better shooter than his numbers show. I think in the pros if his shot is changed because his numbers are not that good there's no way to go but up.

My caveats are those two guys i mentioned weren't highly recruited but had improved so rapidly in a short time you could tell they had a huge upside. Gordon hasn't followed the same path. Secondly I would want to see if he can create from the perimeter. Thirdly I'd want to see if he can move the ball from the three. Fourth i'd want to see if his shooting can be changed. I think he shoots much better than his numbers show.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#45 » by Notanoob » Sat Jun 21, 2014 8:59 pm

Bodie Broadus wrote:Aaron Gordon's game is nothing like Josh Smiths.. good grief.. Have you ever even seen him play?

I'm sorry, what exactly is different about then besides FGA?

Both shoot way too many jumpers (Gordon took 5.39 per game, out of 10.1 total, so more than half his shot were jumpers) and were awful at hitting them. Gordon was sub-30% on his jump shots this year.

Both have nice face-up games and leverage their athleticism into excellent finishing.

Both are well above average passers for PFs.

Both can defend both forward positions and block shots.

I've watched both players play and they are very similar. Gordon played much smarter defense this year, but I'd chLk that up to Gordon having a coach and actual defensive scheme. I know I am not the first person to make the comparison, because it's true. Gordon can certainly be better than Smith, they just play similarly right now.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#46 » by Winglish » Sun Jun 22, 2014 6:38 pm

Utah Jazz had Gordon sneak in for another workout last night. Jazz release workouts to media and post interviews on their website, including a previous Gordon workout. This one was kept secret. AG got photographed in the airport and Jazz personnel had to confirm that they had flown him in for a private meeting and workout.

Look for Aaron Gordon to possibly be playing the role formerly played by Andrei Kirilenko (and even Paul Millsap) as a combo 3/4 guy.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#47 » by repandpresent » Sun Jun 22, 2014 11:37 pm

I'm starting to wonder how many people actually watched him play. His in-game lateral quickness was jaw dropping. His help recovery was nothing short of amazing. If anything, the zone they ran in zona hide his full defensive potential. He is going to be a defensive stud if he plays the 3. His offense needs a lot of work though.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#48 » by AQuintus » Mon Jun 23, 2014 12:25 am

Bodie Broadus wrote: Look at MKG in Charlotte, that may be a worthwhile comparison at this point.


It's not. Gordon's jump shot is not anywhere near as broken as MKG's.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#49 » by AQuintus » Mon Jun 23, 2014 12:28 am

teerfour+40LG wrote:Terrible comparison. Josh Smith jacked up 16 shots a game. Aaron Gordon will not do that.


In terms of size (including length), athleticism, and skill-type/level, it's a fine comparison, but you're right, Gordon is a much smarter player.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#50 » by NaturalBuns » Mon Jun 23, 2014 6:33 am

His defense will make a impact off day one.
With his strength,length,athletic ability will shine.

His offense will need to be molded 2-3 year project on that side.
He's a guy with tremendous upside.

In a NBA setting he actually might put up better offensive stats as well as he can get to the rim easier without no zone
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#51 » by Baller2014 » Mon Jun 23, 2014 8:04 am

I think Gordon has moved up to 5-6, purely thanks to the freaking injuries and such. Smart's stock also seems to be falling like a stone in workouts. Randle's foot injury is hurting him, and Embiid of course has messed this whole thing up. Where Gordon might have been around at #9 last week, he's gone right up. This is in part because teams like Utah don't want Smart or Randle, and both Vonleh and Exum are likely gone by #5. With Embiid flagged (and with 2 other lotto pick 5's on the roster) everything is coming up just right for Gordon, even if he does project as only a super role player.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#52 » by sya » Mon Jun 23, 2014 8:58 am

When I compared him to Smith the point is, in today's NBA you don't want a 3 who has no jumper. heck even PF's these days have to have a jumper, that is the way is being played over the last 3 years or so.

I am not doubting Gordon's athleticism, but I'd rather have a guy who can hit a jumper and play decent D, than a SF (I say SF because he is really undersized for a PF) who can play superb D but might cause spacing problems.

Gordon might be the type of guy who will get his numbers even if you don't run a play for him, but I'm just not a fan.

If you play fantasy, Gordon will be a better player in reality than in fantasy. But even in reality, I just don't like guys his size with no range, not to mention that poor FT%.

People were comparing him to Shawn Marion, IMO, aside from the energy and size, that comparison is not close. Marion could score from anywhere. Excellent finisher, could hit 3s, mid range, and had a decent post game.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#53 » by LV-Suns » Mon Jun 23, 2014 9:04 am

Baller2014 wrote:Well they obviously didn't teach Kawhi to shoot, because it took 3 days for the Spurs coach to show him what he should be doing, and then he just went and worked on it. Kawhi is a quiet guy who does what he's told, and Fisher told him he would be a 4. Gordon insisted for a year he was a 3, and went to an elite program who gave him all the tools to make this happen. That he has made zero progress in this regard is very worrying for his prospects as a 3.

Huh, this is not true at all along with with the other post that you had. Kawhi Leonard may not have attended a prolific school like Arizona or any Pac 12 school, but SDSU was an elite basketball team that year. They were ranked in the top 5 all throughout the year finishing with the record 34-3 and a Sweet 16 finish. Leonard's shot was nowhere as broken in college as it may seem. He was consistently shooting 70% from the line in his 2 years there. It wasn't until he got to the league that he improved his range.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#54 » by Baller2014 » Mon Jun 23, 2014 9:09 am

Well they obviously didn't do a good job teaching Kawhi how to shoot, because the Spurs fixed his shot in 3 days.
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Re: Why cant Aaron Gordon play the 3? 

Post#55 » by Shamrock » Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:30 pm

Baller2014 wrote:Well they obviously didn't teach Kawhi to shoot, because it took 3 days for the Spurs coach to show him what he should be doing, and then he just went and worked on it. Kawhi is a quiet guy who does what he's told, and Fisher told him he would be a 4. Gordon insisted for a year he was a 3, and went to an elite program who gave him all the tools to make this happen. That he has made zero progress in this regard is very worrying for his prospects as a 3.

Interesting, didn't know you worked on the Arizona staff this past year.

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