Scoot Henderson

[tester551]

I will say that though I never thought Scoot was athletic, him being the 4th worst finisher at the rim in the NBA is pretty surprising.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2024_shooting.html

Only players worse: FVV, old Alec Burks, Jevon Carter. And all of these guys shoot very few shots at the rim as they're mostly shooters.

Only 10 players in the NBA shoot worse than 56.7% at the rim, Scoot is one of the 10 and is at 49.1%

The only changing belief from pre-draft to post rookie year is changing the belief on Scoot's explosion from "below average" to " well below average and actually bad"

This is a terrible take.

Scoot's explosion is actually good. I'd say well above average actually.

Scoot's finishing at the rim is atrocious. It's not because he lacks explosion... it's because he lacks touch. Most of the time it looks like he is just throwing it anywhere near the rim in hopes of getting a foul called. I'm assuming this worked very well for him at lower levels, but it's not working in the NBA.

He needs to spend all off-season working on developing shooting touch around the rim.

[zzaj]

It's a shame he keeps getting hurt. Every time he seems like he's putting a thing or two together he keeps getting little injuries which seem to take away any momentum that he had.

He wasn't this bad at rim finishing in the Gleague, and he showed pretty good touch around the rim in that environment. To me this hints at a few things:
1) He's not used to NBA interior defenses yet. Opps there are obviously bigger/stronger/faster than in the Gleague.

2) He's not used to NBA defense game speed yet. In the GL his first step could get him by most defenders and help defenses were slow enough that he typically had an easy path to the rim, or he could change of pace and get open middies. Especially secondary help defense is much better in the NBA so much of that has dried up.

3) He's adjusting to not being the first option on offense. In the GL he had the freedom to be primary scorer if he so wished, and he wished a lot--especially in early offense. In the NBA much of the early offense opportunities are gone because NBA teams actually know how to get back on D. It's an entirely different thing to be passed the ball with 7 seconds on the shot clock against a set defense.

4) A bit of Yips? Could be. If you go look at Gleague footage he looks confident and explosive off the dribble. Compare that to the NBA where he seems cautious, reticent, and like he may be overthinking much of the time.

He's not very good right now, that's for sure. The thing that worries me the most are the TOs. He was turnover prone in the Gleague too, and that is absolutely not something that can fly in the NBA from a guard. It's also something that is relatively hard to "fix" at this level of play.

Some positives:

1) He's good at drawing contact and getting to the FT line. That's something to build on, for sure.

2) He's a willing rebounder for his size. At 6'1"-6'2" he has a nose for the ball off of misses.

I've said it from the beginning...I'm not judging Scoot until he's had two years in the NBA. Next year he'll turn 21 and change by end of season. He'll hopefully be showing more consistency overall, better rim finishing, less turnovers, a bump in 3fg%, and just more confidence in his play.

13/3/5 isn't terrible for a 19-20 year old PG in the NBA, but the efficiency under those numbers is where the problem lies. I look forward to watching his career...

[Shock Defeat]

Amen Thompson from OTE has no problem adjusting to the nba. He is proving that he was the best pg in the draft

[Big J]

Amen Thompson from OTE has no problem adjusting to the nba. He is proving that he was the best pg in the draft

Yup, I called that and never waivered from it even when he wasn't getting minutes. Hope the Scoot guys aren't waivering either. Don't seem to see them as much around here anymore though.

[The-Power]

Amen Thompson from OTE has no problem adjusting to the nba. He is proving that he was the best pg in the draft

Except that he's not playing PG in the NBA.

[HadAnEffectHere]

Yeah, Amen's success this year is coming at... center, lol.

Watch on YouTube

Which is his natural position and he's extremely good at offense at center.

The issue is he's 210 pounds and he can't defend at center.

If Amen can bulk up to 245 pounds without losing his athleticism somehow, then he'll be a superstar center in the NBA.

(Amen and Sengun also are a terrible pairing because Amen's natural position is center, creating some difficult questions for the Rockets. Amen has blown up because Sengun is out for the year and Amen can take those center minutes)

[Big J]

Yeah, Amen's success this year is coming at... center, lol.

Watch on YouTube

Which is his natural position and he's extremely good at offense at center.

The issue is he's 210 pounds and he can't defend at center.

If Amen can bulk up to 245 pounds without losing his athleticism somehow, then he'll be a superstar center in the NBA.

(Amen and Sengun also are a terrible pairing because Amen's natural position is center, creating some difficult questions for the Rockets. Amen has blown up because Sengun is out for the year and Amen can take those center minutes)

lol, no dude Amen & Sengun are going to be an excellent pairing. It’s very similar to Jokic & Aaron Gordon. Sengun is going to be able to hit Amen on those cuts all game long, while Amen covers his ass on defense.

[HadAnEffectHere]

Yeah, Amen's success this year is coming at... center, lol.

Watch on YouTube

Which is his natural position and he's extremely good at offense at center.

The issue is he's 210 pounds and he can't defend at center.

If Amen can bulk up to 245 pounds without losing his athleticism somehow, then he'll be a superstar center in the NBA.

(Amen and Sengun also are a terrible pairing because Amen's natural position is center, creating some difficult questions for the Rockets. Amen has blown up because Sengun is out for the year and Amen can take those center minutes)

lol, no dude Amen & Sengun are going to be an excellent pairing. It’s very similar to Jokic & Aaron Gordon. Sengun is going to be able to hit Amen on those cuts all game long, while Amen covers his ass on defense.

Not really as Sengun is massively worse as a shooter than Jokic. There's a reason why the Rockets were playing so badly with Amen and Sengun on the court and why they exploded as soon as Sengun got hurt.

[Fifii]

RS almost done , so I writing a couple of sentence about him. I sometimes watching his game ( not game by game ) and he has slow start. I think expectations is very huge and he is young man who playing first season in NBA and this may be one of reason why he slow start. When he gets roiling , he suffered an injury which stops him on couple matches. After his return he has up and downs whole season. His strong side is physically , he can go to the basket , he is quickly and he has size on his position. He little improve his driving to the basket until start of season. He has some flashes matches ( for example against Denver ) when he look very good. In down he can’t shoot well but in may be better says : one match he can shoot brick after brick and another has 7/10 FG , very inconsistency. In D he is a little below mid, but this isn’t his problem when he playing in 19th Team in D. In better environment this would be easy to hide. To defend him I write that , he playing with lazy ass Ayton and bunch of rookie. His HC can’t improve young player and basically he is one of worst HC in this league. This factors also may be important.

What’s next ? I think he can improve after this season. A lot of things can be improve through next RS like D or driving to the basket , or playmaking. The most important thing that he must improve through this off season is his shooting. He has only 48 % TS , I think a couple of trainings with KD and he can be better scorer. He has a lot of potential and he isn’t bust like someone saying / writing.

[JRoy]

RS almost done , so I writing a couple of sentence about him. I sometimes watching his game ( not game by game ) and he has slow start. I think expectations is very huge and he is young man who playing first season in NBA and this may be one of reason why he slow start. When he gets roiling , he suffered an injury which stops him on couple matches. After his return he has up and downs whole season. His strong side is physically , he can go to the basket , he is quickly and he has size on his position. He little improve his driving to the basket until start of season. He has some flashes matches ( for example against Denver ) when he look very good. In down he can’t shoot well but in may be better says : one match he can shoot brick after brick and another has 7/10 FG , very inconsistency. In D he is a little below mid, but this isn’t his problem when he playing in 19th Team in D. In better environment this would be easy to hide. To defend him I write that , he playing with lazy ass Ayton and bunch of rookie. His HC can’t improve young player and basically he is one of worst HC in this league. This factors also may be important.

What’s next ? I think he can improve after this season. A lot of things can be improve through next RS like D or driving to the basket , or playmaking. The most important thing that he must improve through this off season is his shooting. He has only 48 % TS , I think a couple of trainings with KD and he can be better scorer. He has a lot of potential and he isn’t bust like someone saying / writing.

I appreciate your opinion.

Scoot has been an enormous disappointment. No amount of moving the goalposts can change that.

I hope he can find a path to a long and productive career but he really does not possess any high level skill. He has a sloppy handle, a weak shot, does not finish inside and his defense is a mess.

He is a rookie, so all of this will improve. The question is how much.

The absence of quality bigs (Ayton does not qualify) and coaching (Good God Billups sucks) are not doing him any favors.

He does seem humble and coachable, and wants to compete. Hopefully that is enough.

[JMAC3]

RS almost done , so I writing a couple of sentence about him. I sometimes watching his game ( not game by game ) and he has slow start. I think expectations is very huge and he is young man who playing first season in NBA and this may be one of reason why he slow start. When he gets roiling , he suffered an injury which stops him on couple matches. After his return he has up and downs whole season. His strong side is physically , he can go to the basket , he is quickly and he has size on his position. He little improve his driving to the basket until start of season. He has some flashes matches ( for example against Denver ) when he look very good. In down he can’t shoot well but in may be better says : one match he can shoot brick after brick and another has 7/10 FG , very inconsistency. In D he is a little below mid, but this isn’t his problem when he playing in 19th Team in D. In better environment this would be easy to hide. To defend him I write that , he playing with lazy ass Ayton and bunch of rookie. His HC can’t improve young player and basically he is one of worst HC in this league. This factors also may be important.

What’s next ? I think he can improve after this season. A lot of things can be improve through next RS like D or driving to the basket , or playmaking. The most important thing that he must improve through this off season is his shooting. He has only 48 % TS , I think a couple of trainings with KD and he can be better scorer. He has a lot of potential and he isn’t bust like someone saying / writing.

I appreciate your opinion.

Scoot has been an enormous disappointment. No amount of moving the goalposts can change that.

I hope he can find a path to a long and productive career but he really does not possess any high level skill. He has a sloppy handle, a weak shot, does not finish inside and his defense is a mess.

He is a rookie, so all of this will improve. The question is how much.

The absence of quality bigs (Ayton does not qualify) and coaching (Good God Billups sucks) are not doing him any favors.

He does seem humble and coachable, and wants to compete. Hopefully that is enough.

What do you think his most realistic role is to achieve success moving forward?

[JRoy]

RS almost done , so I writing a couple of sentence about him. I sometimes watching his game ( not game by game ) and he has slow start. I think expectations is very huge and he is young man who playing first season in NBA and this may be one of reason why he slow start. When he gets roiling , he suffered an injury which stops him on couple matches. After his return he has up and downs whole season. His strong side is physically , he can go to the basket , he is quickly and he has size on his position. He little improve his driving to the basket until start of season. He has some flashes matches ( for example against Denver ) when he look very good. In down he can’t shoot well but in may be better says : one match he can shoot brick after brick and another has 7/10 FG , very inconsistency. In D he is a little below mid, but this isn’t his problem when he playing in 19th Team in D. In better environment this would be easy to hide. To defend him I write that , he playing with lazy ass Ayton and bunch of rookie. His HC can’t improve young player and basically he is one of worst HC in this league. This factors also may be important.

What’s next ? I think he can improve after this season. A lot of things can be improve through next RS like D or driving to the basket , or playmaking. The most important thing that he must improve through this off season is his shooting. He has only 48 % TS , I think a couple of trainings with KD and he can be better scorer. He has a lot of potential and he isn’t bust like someone saying / writing.

I appreciate your opinion.

Scoot has been an enormous disappointment. No amount of moving the goalposts can change that.

I hope he can find a path to a long and productive career but he really does not possess any high level skill. He has a sloppy handle, a weak shot, does not finish inside and his defense is a mess.

He is a rookie, so all of this will improve. The question is how much.

The absence of quality bigs (Ayton does not qualify) and coaching (Good God Billups sucks) are not doing him any favors.

He does seem humble and coachable, and wants to compete. Hopefully that is enough.

What do you think his most realistic role is to achieve success moving forward?

He seems to have a great attitude, and the effort is there.

I think he needs to watch a lot of tape to see what he does compared to the greats at his position. I think he needs to lean into defense and shooting pull up jumpers.
I think he needs a solid vet mentor at guard, bigs that can screen worth a damn, and a new HC.

Someone compared him to Eric Bledsoe. Judging on what I have seen so far that is charitable.

I hope he proves me wrong. I have been a Blazer fan since Walton. I just don’t think it’s likely.

[JMAC3]

I appreciate your opinion.

Scoot has been an enormous disappointment. No amount of moving the goalposts can change that.

I hope he can find a path to a long and productive career but he really does not possess any high level skill. He has a sloppy handle, a weak shot, does not finish inside and his defense is a mess.

He is a rookie, so all of this will improve. The question is how much.

The absence of quality bigs (Ayton does not qualify) and coaching (Good God Billups sucks) are not doing him any favors.

He does seem humble and coachable, and wants to compete. Hopefully that is enough.

What do you think his most realistic role is to achieve success moving forward?

He seems to have a great attitude, and the effort is there.

I think he needs to watch a lot of tape to see what he does compared to the greats at his position. I think he needs to lean into defense and shooting pull up jumpers.
I think he needs a solid vet mentor at guard, bigs that can screen worth a damn, and a new HC.

Someone compared him to Eric Bledsoe. Judging on what I have seen so far that is charitable.

I hope he proves me wrong. I have been a Blazer fan since Walton. I just don’t think it’s likely.

Would he be better in a Cole Anthony type of 6th man type of role long term?

[zzaj]

What do you think his most realistic role is to achieve success moving forward?

He seems to have a great attitude, and the effort is there.

I think he needs to watch a lot of tape to see what he does compared to the greats at his position. I think he needs to lean into defense and shooting pull up jumpers.
I think he needs a solid vet mentor at guard, bigs that can screen worth a damn, and a new HC.

Someone compared him to Eric Bledsoe. Judging on what I have seen so far that is charitable.

I hope he proves me wrong. I have been a Blazer fan since Walton. I just don’t think it’s likely.

Would he be better in a Cole Anthony type of 6th man type of role long term?

I know you aren't asking me, but I'm a ball hog and I'll jump in anyway.

Being only 20 and putting up decent boxscores on a bad team, I think it's too early to project where Scoot's ideal position will be. Right now I see him as a backup PG, but ideally you want your backup PG to be steady and mistake free--that ain't Scoot at the moment.

My hope is that he develops a high level NBA skill and makes strides in efficiency and lack of turnovers. If he can do that then he'll be a starting NBA PG.

[JRoy]

What do you think his most realistic role is to achieve success moving forward?

He seems to have a great attitude, and the effort is there.

I think he needs to watch a lot of tape to see what he does compared to the greats at his position. I think he needs to lean into defense and shooting pull up jumpers.
I think he needs a solid vet mentor at guard, bigs that can screen worth a damn, and a new HC.

Someone compared him to Eric Bledsoe. Judging on what I have seen so far that is charitable.

I hope he proves me wrong. I have been a Blazer fan since Walton. I just don’t think it’s likely.

Would he be better in a Cole Anthony type of 6th man type of role long term?

I don’t really see him in that role. He looks like a bottom tier pg to me at this time, hopefully becoming average in the coming seasons.

[Big J]

What do you think his most realistic role is to achieve success moving forward?

He seems to have a great attitude, and the effort is there.

I think he needs to watch a lot of tape to see what he does compared to the greats at his position. I think he needs to lean into defense and shooting pull up jumpers.
I think he needs a solid vet mentor at guard, bigs that can screen worth a damn, and a new HC.

Someone compared him to Eric Bledsoe. Judging on what I have seen so far that is charitable.

I hope he proves me wrong. I have been a Blazer fan since Walton. I just don’t think it’s likely.

Would he be better in a Cole Anthony type of 6th man type of role long term?

His game reminds me a lot of current form Westbrook. Not the OKC, Hou, or WAS versions. I think a 6th man role is probably a good fit for him down the road if this team has any interest in winning.

[FarBeyondDriven]

can the kid get a real offseason with NBA coaches and trainers before we relegate him to being a backup PG?

[zzaj]

can the kid get a real offseason with NBA coaches and trainers before we relegate him to being a backup PG?

Seriously...everyone knows skill development doesn't happen in-season. Hell, team practices barely happen in season.The Scoot that we see next year will be very telling...

[Big J]

can the kid get a real offseason with NBA coaches and trainers before we relegate him to being a backup PG?

Seriously...everyone knows skill development doesn't happen in-season. Hell, team practices barely happen in season.The Scoot that we see next year will be very telling...

He's not going to suddenly become a different player. A lot of what we're seeing this year is who he is. He might become a better version of that, but the idea that he's going to turn into DRose or prime Westbrook is laughable.

[zzaj]

can the kid get a real offseason with NBA coaches and trainers before we relegate him to being a backup PG?

Seriously...everyone knows skill development doesn't happen in-season. Hell, team practices barely happen in season.The Scoot that we see next year will be very telling...

He's not going to suddenly become a different player. A lot of what we're seeing this year is who he is. He might become a better version of that, but the idea that he's going to turn into DRose or prime Westbrook is laughable.

While I don't think he's going to turn into DRose or Westbrook, I think he's shown enough glimpses this season in "good Scoot" games that he can be an average starting PG. I expect 20 year olds to make some improvement over the summer, and it's absolutely crucial that he does. I'll say it again the Scoot that we see next year will be very telling--if he's as all around inefficient as he has been this year? That's a bit of a problem. If he looks consistently more like what we see with "good Scoot" this time next year? Then I think that's enough to show that he'll be an average, starting PG.