PhilBlackson wrote:yoyojw17 wrote:tiderulz wrote:Paolo has upside too. people need to stop thinking that his growth stops now.
THIS is where i think many have fallen. Less unknowns as the other two... therefore the potential part just becomes "meh" and it's easy to become complacent and just think... this is what he is when he comes in... and he has no room to grow.
Obviously the Magic see otherwise.... as they have said that they want to have player that THEY believe will be the best down the line. And I guess paolo won that projection.
Yeah I'm not sure where the narrative on Paolo changed but to me it felt like
Shiny New Toy Syndrome with Jabari & ChetJust think back to before the college season...everyone watched Paolo & said he's that dude!! He's the top pick in the draft.
Since then what from Banchero has changed?! Nothing lol he continued to prove that he was the best player in college. He dominated and he did everything Duke asked him too and on top of that when the big moments came Paolo was usually the guy STEPPING UP for Duke & win them games. But he lost some of his sizzle I guess in part to some of his wings struggled at times with Keel, AJ while he's rehabbing, Moore inconsistent so Duke didn't really seem like the powerhouse they should've been BUT it wasn't Paolo's fault. He just kept trucking on & doing everything he can to keep them going, so as an individual talent I don't see how he really fell short and I don't think anyone would describe his PERSONAL play as falling short of being the kind of player he was supposed to be. I think he was & was again the best performing player of all of the 3 top players in the draft. So what it is it?! Just Banchero Fatigue or blaming Duke's lack of success on him because if anything I feel like if they didn't have Paolo they would've been a much worse team...
So I dunno, feels like media started penalizing him for Duke not being the fun "powerhouse" that it was when Zion/RJ/Cam instead AJ was rehabbing from injury & Keels isn't Cam lol. But it turned & Jabari is a sexy store in a way because here's a kid who coming in was mocked in the 7-10 range. Everyone thought he might be some Bosh type then turns out his jumper is wet af so everyone gets super hyped hearing about some guy who's potential is much better than they originally thought. He might be a MP Jr with good defence or a bigger Isaac prob somewhere in the middle which is a great player too. But he still didn't outplay Paolo this year....Chet wasn't really even close statisically to either guy but you see all the length & skill that it's tantalizing and that's what catches the media's eyes. thinking he has all the physical tools & gifts to be a special player but will he?? Basing it off a Gonzaga, he was by far the least the aggressive of the 3. Who's to say he will be able to handle the PFs & Cs of the league?! Based on KD?! How many other tiny guys you know have held up?? Also keep in mind KD played many years as a SF...so that's a gamble that A) he may not even have it in him to be THAT guy night in & night out B) may not hold up physically. People get all caught in that and somehow just forget Paolo was still reeeeally good this year but maybe it's fatigue & a combination of what ifs with other prospects.
But I think all that day dreaming about other prospects has made people forget how big time Paolo was/is. Doesn't help when media likens him to a couple other lighter skin top picks lol (Ben & Blake) but so it skews what kinda player Banchero actually is because yes PHYSICALLY he's very similar to those guys (which is a great thing btw lol) but his offensive game is LIGHT YEARS ahead of those 2, it's a joke scoring/skill wise to even compare them. Blake was basically around the basket & dunk threat as a young guy, the ballhandling, some semblance of passing or shooting all really only started showing up as Griffin's athleticism eroded and his understanding of off the dribble pull ups, stepbacks etc that Paolo can ALREADY do. Ben lmao, offensively there's no comparison, Simmons can pass the ball, has few rudimentary moves around the basket -- Paolo has 100x the bag Ben has as a scorer, it's just stupid. All that to say you have a physical BEAST (that physically resembles Blake/Ben) but he's his own player and if I had to say the method which he scores (not level of talent), it's actually LeBron....but Paolo doesn't have that defence (at least not yet) and certainly not anywhere near the passer ALTHOUGH he's an underrated one and there's potential there to be a better distributor than I think a lot of people realize.
Soooooo to end my ramble, Paolo is and will be a star....if you guys can get the fans, the coaches, management to hold him accountable on the defensive end, to be bit more like LBJ on that end (don't have to be lockdown but contain anyone) AND get him to work on being a playmaker/better passer. Sky is truly the limit so don't think he still can't become the best player in the draft but gotta to find a way challenge him in new ways to really get the best out of him.
Sorry for the ramble
Bring that back!
