newyorker4ever wrote:T.Haliburton the next Lonzo Ball? https://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2020/04/20/tyrese-haliburton-2020-nba-draft-propsect-breakdown/Tyrese Haliburton is not the best prospect in this year’s NBA draft class, but he may be the most fascinating, a guy who is going to inspire debate in draft rooms for a number of different reasons.
A 6-foot-5 guard that just turned 20 years old in February, Haliburton had a breakout sophomore season that saw him average 15.2 points, 6.5 assists, 5.9 boards and 2.5 steals while shooting 50 percent from the floor, 42 percent from three and 82 percent from the free throw line. He’s the only player to reach those thresholds in Sports Reference’s database, which dates back to 1992. No high-major guard has posted a 63.1 true-shooting percentage while averaging 15 points and 6.5 assists in the last decade.
The numbers nerds are going to love him. He’s an aberration, a freak of efficiency, a glitch in the simulation.
And that’s before you consider the fact that he played as a ball-dominant lead guard as a sophomore after spending his freshman season doing nothing but playing on the wing, or that he was the best player for USA Basketball’s U-19 team, which won a gold medal last summer.
On paper, he looks like a guy that is tailor-made to have an NBA offense built around him.
The story the film tells is not quite the same.
This is pretty close to what I'm talking about...and no I'm not the guy that made this video.
In general about what he currently does well at the college level...
"varying degrees in how well he can do these things [referring to the things he can do real well in college]"
On his shooting and ball skills (which is pretty much exactly what I've said)...quoted word for word:
"by any account, terrific shooter with deep deep range...when he's give time and space he's deadly...BUT he has a long, slow and low release, his feet are positioned awkwardly and his mechanics are not ideal and this really shows up when Haliburton is forced to shoot off of the dribble...and it's exasperated by the fact that Haliburton can struggle to consistently turn the corner against good defenders...when you can't beat a man you are forced to shoot a mid range pullups, often a contested one...if he had struggles getting past defenders at the college level it's not a good indicator of his ability to get to the rim moving up to the professional level"
Being able to turn the corner, get by defenders and/or shoot off the dribble are key traits of top NBA PG's...NOT just being able to shoot open 3's. Haliburton has a slow ugly shot and a very high loose dribble (reasons why I said Kris Dunn wasn't an NBA PG and folks were screaming at me left and right about how Dunn would be a great NBA PG). In fact if you are an NBA PG and don't have the ball skills to be able to get by defenders then what's going to happen is that the (much) better defenders will be guarding you up close on the perimeter which, in turns, will signficantly hamper a players ability to get open shots IF you don't have the greatest form on your shot (see above).
And honestly, there's a difference between the "great passes" Haliburton makes and those made by the Ball brothers. It's more forced and mechanical. And Haliburton has an annoying habit of hoping in the air as he's making those passes (this vid also points that out) which the Ball's don't do which tells me that he's not as natural a passer. At full NBA speed, you need to be really really instinctive if you're going to be making those types of passes. In fact, IMHO, there's an overall rigidness (mechanicalness) to Haliburtons game that makes me dubious of him as a high end starting NBA PG. Saw the same thing with Kris Dunn.
What this article says, and why the Lonzo Ball, mention is that Haliburton's best skill is finding the open man and passing.
Defensively, says...
"...he's inconsistent and uneven defensively with his primary weakness being not having quick enough feet to stay in front of his opponent on defense...but the effort is there and so is the IQ...one of the best team defenders you'll find in this draft...terrific anticipation...he has the length to be a playmaker defensively"
Great for a team like the Spurs who rely heavily on smart team players on defense but on the Knicks 'free for all" defense, probably will be mitigated (see Frank for example).
Summarizes Haliburton as (and ergo the Lonzo Ball comps)...
"...a secondary ball handler that can space the floor, initiate offense and run ball screens on the week side"
Can Haliburton be a very good rotational player? Yep absolutely. But it's questionnable that he can be the type of player he is in college in the NBA...and that's basically the bottom line of this (and what A LOT of folks seem to fail to realize). High floor but not necessarily high ceiling for an NBA lead guard on account of the weaknesses in his game that may be masked at the college level but likely won't translate at the NBA level. It's still conceivable that he would be a viable option for the Knicks (depending on where they are picking) but I just want to point out that just because a guy has great looking college stats doesn't mean it can translate to the NBA in the same role that player had in college and this is a great example.
Before anyone says that Lonzo Ball was drafted 2nd overall, it's not hard to say that Ball was expected (hyped) to be able to do much more than he has.