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http://www.nba.com/magic/news/denton-ni ... ly-growing

The article speaks of AN's growing experience as a new Magic on the rise. How he contribute to the win vs. the Suns. And that he's showing signs to be an efficient offensive player. He has ways to go in terms of learning the game. As long as he continues to work hard and becomes the player that he needs to be, the Magic will reap the benefits.

His offensive arsenal is pretty darn impressive for a rookie.

And I think Kyle is to defense what Drew is to offense. Can't wait to see KOQ playing regularly.

It is pretty amazing that Drew started playing basketball so late in his teens and has the type of foot work that takes years to learn. I liken it to how late Tim Duncan started playing basketball and how quickly Al Jefferson honed his footwork skills during high school.

As J.J. said in that article, Drew has an extremely bright future in this league. He seems way too cerebral to not improve his defense down the line. I would love to see him spend a summer with Tim Duncan in the off season sometime in his career.

I'm not saying it's inaccurate, but it's just plain strange that every player and coach interviewed goes out of their way to mention his offense when talking about AK. Is his defense that bad, or is his offense that good?

Andrew Nicholson has one of the better post-games in the NBA. He's extremely patient and has a really soft touch. I think he can improve defensively after an off-season in the weight room. He'll be a starter for us at some point in the future.

It's interesting that both Nicholson and Vucevic are kind of anti-Dwights: polished post players with soft touch and a number of moves, soft defensively and not all that athletic. I'm betting that going with players with basketball skills is a good choice for the future.

The video of AN from Tuesday on that Denton article... my god that man is a bad interview. But, seems like a nice kid. Personality definitely reminds you of Duncan. Quiet, businesslike.

we're modeling ourselves like the spurs alright, drew is our timmy D.

rcklsscognition wrote:I'm not saying it's inaccurate, but it's just plain strange that every player and coach interviewed goes out of their way to mention his offense when talking about AK. Is his defense that bad, or is his offense that good?

I caught this also. They always throw out the "offensive" disclaimer when talking about his game. From watching the games, I can only assume it's because his offense skills are clearly ahead of his defensive skills.

Nyce_1 wrote:

rcklsscognition wrote:I'm not saying it's inaccurate, but it's just plain strange that every player and coach interviewed goes out of their way to mention his offense when talking about AK. Is his defense that bad, or is his offense that good?

I caught this also. They always throw out the "offensive" disclaimer when talking about his game. From watching the games, I can only assume it's because his offense skills are clearly ahead of his defensive skills.

Have you guys been watching the games? His rebounding and defense skills are that bad. On the other hand, his offense is that good. I consistently said that his rebounding and defense sucked even during summer league but pointed out that he showed "all-star" level scoring. I don't usually throw out that type of praise.

I think defensively people should remember that he still is just a Rook, Defense is the hardest transition for a Rookie coming out of College. That being said he's been bad on that end but not Gustavo bad, Part of his woes imo has to do with the fact that he's just not strong yet. Give him an off-season with the trainers with tailor made training regiments and nutrition plans and he'll be even better next season. If he bulks up i think Al Jefferson/David West could be his ceiling but i think he could end up being a better shotblocker than those guys with his great wingspan.

Offensively the kid is way ahead of the curve imo, he has moves that a good amount of veteran bigs don't have and he's just a Rookie. Scary thing is on the Offensive end he still has room to get better, he can learn to get better position, he can sharpen his post moves, he can become a better ball handler, he can expand his range to the 3pt line. Once he puts it together he can be a mainstay on this team and to be honest if we traded BBD tomorrow i would be Okay with it knowing we still have Nicholson around.

That being said i think he's in a good spot right now coming off the bench soaking up the knowledge and literally learning from BBD what NOT to do lol. Recently he has been better defensively, he's probably learning that defensive positioning goes a long way and he's been in good spots lately in the post defensively. He's still learning though it'll just take time

Looks like his rebounding is improving, 5,9,7 in the last 3 games in 22,25,26 mins and his PER is almost up to 18...can't wait to see how Drew plays 20 games from now, reminds me of Al Jefferson, it's crazy how similar their games are

Yup.. I do hope his rebounding numbers do go up

Honestly, I think the biggest reason he can grow is because he is smart, he learns things quickly. The kid is a physics major, so I know he can learn from observation and experimentation, and I feel like he has already progressed a little offensively and majorly defensively. From the suns game and 4th quarter of the hawks game in particular it seemed like his defense has grown a lot. I think he grabbed 4-5 rebounds in about a 4-5 minute stretch in that 4th quarter, and seemed to be playing some better defense. I'm excited to see him grow. And if he does put some strength on over the next couple off seasons he is going to be a major force.

Also, yes, his interviews are downright PAINFUL to watch. But what else do you expect from a physics major. Short and to the point, that's how they do.

Andrew is looking like a veteran. He wouldn't look out of sync in the early 90's era.