shrink wrote:Sugarless wrote:Edwards' numbers for the last 7 games, since he played so 'great' against the Lakers and cost them the game by handling the ball every possession, missing shot after shot and losing the ball in the last 4 minutes:
30.8% FG with 18FGA per 36 minutes
26.4% 3PT with 8 3PTA per 36 minutes
36.8% EFG
40.5% TS
1.3 A/TO ratio
This is freaking stupid, and it's only gotten worse with Finch. Over the last 4 games he's now at 21 FGA and 10 3PTA per 36 minutes! WTF?
Thanks for getting these numbers together, Sugarless.
Rookies are going to be bad. Every year, almost every one of the top ten statistically worst players come from the lottery. They need to learn the speed and athleticism of the nba game, and break all the bad habits that led to previous success against lesser college players. Give them the ball, and they will be bad.
Personally, I look for flashes. Show me a quick first step. Maybe the player has no idea what to do with it at this point, but it’s an nba abi,it’s that can be built upon. Show me an athletic dunk. Show me a game with range. Show me the mental toughness to go dunk on the guy that just put you on the ground.
Edwards is not going to be the Wolves savior, especially in his 27th game in the nba. He’s not going to change this losing team into a winning one today. But I hope consistency will come, and I remain encouraged by the flashes I see now.
I see things differently. For starters, I don't care much about athleticism. It's great to have a quick first step to break the defense, while having a nice jump can help when it comes to finishing inside (though it's much more important to understand contact, balance, timing and coordination), but that's secondary to me, and it doesn't tell me anything about the player's development at that moment, or where it'll lead. The league is filled with uber-athletic guys that can't really make the most of their physical gifts. I also don't care for dunks or for fearless, alpha mentalities (hate that term, what it implies, and that so many people get caught in that type of thinking). I care about whether a guy has fundamentals, whether he understands the basic concepts of basketball on both ends of the floor, whether he's a team player, whether he understands his strenghts and limitations and how he molds his game in order the make the most of the first and reduce the effect of the latter. Of course I don't expect most rookies to have all of those qualities, but those -not others- are the glimpses that I look for in them.
I never felt Edwards had those qualities in UGA, and I don't think he has them halfway through his rookie season. I do think he could improve in a couple of those aspects (I feel he could be much more of a team player instead of a pure chucker) but he just doesn't know how to, and he's definitely not going to do it while the coaching staff and FO encourage him to keep his bad habits (in case it isn't clear, my problem is not with him -he's just a kid that has never learnt anything different- it is with the people in charge of the team and of his development).
