Re: Stepien article on Wendell Carter
Posted: Wed Aug 7, 2019 5:42 pm
Truth is his scoring needs a LOT of work. Always nice when a kid comes in and can defend at a high level, but his percentages outside the rim are bad.
However, it is half-promising that (a) He took a very low volume of shots away from the rim (especially along the baseline), and (b) He already demonstrated in college that he has the talent to score from the perimeter. But Taj did too (in college), and that never really made him a shooting threat in this league. That said WCJ demonstrates better hands and O fundamentals.
For a start, he needs to work on that baseline jumper. 11/49 for the year, from the (combined) left and right baselines is a horrible stat. We're talking about a 10 ft. jumpshot. IMO at his height and skill level, he needs to make that automatic. The front-of-rim/painted-area numbers look fine. But that is way too easy to scout if he has nothing outside of there.
He shot a really strong FT% so I have faith with work and higher volume he can become a strong mid-range shooter. If that happens, he can be a top-10 big man/all-star. There's an opening for the next-gen big man to claim those tier 2-3 spots, after Jokic/Davis/Embiid. Gonna be a battle between some young blood and guys coming off injuries or mediocre seasons.
KAT
Ayton
Bagley
Jackson Jr
Porzingis
Cousins
Vucevic
Bam
Gobert
Drummond
The top 4 obviously have more talent and potential; it's more on them to "fall short" with defensive effort and 3P marksmanship (3 of the 4 have poor defensive reputations). If WCJ and Lauri put in the work on that 3P shooting (which could be their winning asset, over the rest of the lot), they're in the same conversation, because they've shown at least a better team defensive IQ.
Getting old: Horford, Aldridge, Griffin. Don't think they're going anywhere, but they have 2 years of (consistent all-star) play left, at best.
However, it is half-promising that (a) He took a very low volume of shots away from the rim (especially along the baseline), and (b) He already demonstrated in college that he has the talent to score from the perimeter. But Taj did too (in college), and that never really made him a shooting threat in this league. That said WCJ demonstrates better hands and O fundamentals.
For a start, he needs to work on that baseline jumper. 11/49 for the year, from the (combined) left and right baselines is a horrible stat. We're talking about a 10 ft. jumpshot. IMO at his height and skill level, he needs to make that automatic. The front-of-rim/painted-area numbers look fine. But that is way too easy to scout if he has nothing outside of there.
He shot a really strong FT% so I have faith with work and higher volume he can become a strong mid-range shooter. If that happens, he can be a top-10 big man/all-star. There's an opening for the next-gen big man to claim those tier 2-3 spots, after Jokic/Davis/Embiid. Gonna be a battle between some young blood and guys coming off injuries or mediocre seasons.
KAT
Ayton
Bagley
Jackson Jr
Porzingis
Cousins
Vucevic
Bam
Gobert
Drummond
The top 4 obviously have more talent and potential; it's more on them to "fall short" with defensive effort and 3P marksmanship (3 of the 4 have poor defensive reputations). If WCJ and Lauri put in the work on that 3P shooting (which could be their winning asset, over the rest of the lot), they're in the same conversation, because they've shown at least a better team defensive IQ.
Getting old: Horford, Aldridge, Griffin. Don't think they're going anywhere, but they have 2 years of (consistent all-star) play left, at best.