bledredwine wrote:When people were doubting Jimmy Butler during his early slump (understandably), there was a Scottie Pippen thread where he stated that he was going to be an all-star. I strongly agreed.
When Lauri was slumping, I posted a thread on how I believe he was a future all-star and explained why.
I say this not to brag... but there's a tell on why they had this potential to be great.
Buzelis has the same qualities and I'm calling it right now, albeit a bit later than the other two players (simply because I'm not a following fan like I used to be).
All three of these players show a smarts and craftiness with how they score, combined with a calculated control of their body that is higher than most players. They are always balanced. Simply put, they are very rarely out of control in how they create buckets, and create 2's or 3's this way, which leads to high volume and consistent play. You don't see them taking wild shots as frequently as most players.
You see this balanced body control among the very best boxers as well. It's what separates the Golovkin's, Canelo's, Crawfords from the Garcia's, Pitbull's, and those that are a tier or two below.
Matas uses smart fakes, efficient footwork, great balance, and strength to create his buckets.
That's not unlike Lauri and Jimmy. Compare it to the opposite type of player; a Coby or Zach who though talented, are wilder, sometimes out of control and streaky as a result. Frankly, their smarts suffers from it at times because pushing yourself to less control equates to less mental control of the game as well.
I've noticed that this trait specifically alongside some kind of physical gift is more frequently than not a recipe for an all-star player. Consistent
greatness is what creates the elite players from the rest (today; Lebron, Steph because he's a ridiculously consistent three-baller Durant and so on).
This control was maybe the most absurd and underrated aspect of Jordan's game as well; he created all of these seemingly lucky circus shots out of nothing, but it was because even in those "wild" scenarios, he had such ridiculous mental control of his body that to him, those shots were in control. He was efficient in his movements and always in control, be it, dunk, fadeaway, circus shot, or simple layup. He palmed it, put the correct English, and scored the ball.
Buzelis is this way to a lesser degree (think Lauri).
For the record, I did not see this in Mirotic, nor Coby... but specifically Jimmy, Lauri and now Matas.
All three of these guys can create EFFICIENT movement and buckets while staying in balance
and have physical gifts to do so. All three have been or will be Allstars.
For Buzelis, the physical gifts to play this way are specifically his height and strength, like Lauri.
He has the constant balance. He actually may have better rim game as well.
He apparently has Jimmy's work ethic as well.
He's a future 20+ PER player. It's only a matter of time.
Yea. The big thing is he hasn't even fished for fouls or gotten the whistles yet. I can easily see him averaging 6+ FTAs, and his 85% FTs suggest it'll be free money.
I agree. I also was high on baby Jimmy (still remember him shutting down Carmelo like a boss, in his rare rookie minutes), and do see Matas as a higher-ceiling prospect for obvious reasons. I can't think of Matas' kryptonite: he is a very well-rounded versatile player with length, on-ball skills, athleticism and intangibles. Of course, he'll need to improve at everything to become a star. Most important thing will be ability to score well enough to draw double teams.
But yeah, ball security and awareness are the two most important things for a franchise player IMO, after the baseline averages are met (shooting, defense, athleticism, height). He's had turnovers against ball pressure, but he doesn't seem prone to butter-finger errors like Lavine, Coby and Ben Gordon, nor the awkward/ineffective handles of Deng, Kirk, Lonzo (pre-injury). He gets to the paint and finishes. All the more impressive he's the tallest of that bunch.