fleet wrote:MrFortune3 wrote:BahamaBull wrote:Jordan Maly on lockedon Bulls said its laughable to think some fans believe PatWill will be a 3...
I think he will be a 3 from day 1...he can also play some 4 for sure but judging from this latest vids I cant see why he cant play the 3.
People assume he will get bigger and lose quickness to guard the 3 spot.
Something to consider. Yet Ron Artest was thicker. And if Lu was quick enough, Pat can do it because he’s more nimble than Lu imo.
So basically, all the pundits (Maly, Westerlund. Pearson et al) say that Pat is a 4 and only a 4 because he cant guard 3's. Why can't he guard 3's? The pundits say that its because he got burned on an island (usually by 1's if you check) on a handful of clips, and deduced that he has slow feet and poor lateral movement due to overdeveloped quads and a lack of bend in the hips causing him to turn his hips and run sideways instead of sliding his feet to stay in front of said 1's. Therefore, according to them, he cant guard NBA 3's.
OK. Fine. Pat is 6'7' with a 6'11" wingspan (if you are a hater) or 6'8" and up to a 7'1" wingspan (if you are a lover). The Bulls starting 3 (when mobile enough to play) is OPJ who is 6'8" with a 7'1" wingspan who is listed at his rookie weight of (*cough*) 198 lbs. Porter has had longstanding hip issues and more recently, stress fractures (*cough* Amare *cough*) which may or may not have been due to him being overweight depending on who leaked the story.
So who can 27 going on 40 OPJ guard that Pat can't?
A more important question is what 3's are going to torch him like he's Doug McDermott so that he can't play the 3? Lets look at the players listed as "small forwards" in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta - Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Andre Hunter
Boston - Jaylen Brown, Aaron Nesmith
Brooklyn - Joe Harris, Landry Shamet - I'll give you Durant who is listed as a 4.
Hornets - Heyward, Bridges
Cavs- Isaac Okoro , Kevin Porter
Detroit - Saddiq Bey, Sekou Doumbouya
Pacers- T.J. Warren, Justin Holiday
Heat- *Butler, Iguodala*
Bucks- Middleton, Connaughton
Knicks- Knox and god knows. I guess you could say Toppin.
Magic- Terrance Ross, James Ennis
Sixers- Thybulle, Robinson III, Seth Curry
Raptor- Anunobi, Norman Powell, Stanley Johnson
Wizards- Davis Bertans, Tony Brown Jr., Deni?
Poor lateral movement in my mind equates to blow by's in space. Of the 3's in the conference, who is blowing by him every time so you have to move him or take him off the court? Idk, maybe all of them cause I haven't seen Pat play one game in the NBA, but aside from the obvious players, the list is mostly meh and I think at a baseline given the athleticism he has shown on tape he should at least be as palatable guarding three's as OPJ. Conversely, I think he probably gets torched switching onto 2's at the same rate as OPJ. Therefore, in my mind, if Pat can't play the 3 than neither can OPJ. I like OPJ. I think he can play the 3. I also think we will see Pat play a lot of 3 this year regardless of what Cody Westerlund thinks and will find out whether or not he was right.