Welcome Stauskas

[agiaco]

Nik's best game by far. Some amazing plays along with Embiid, of course.

[HartfordWhalers]

Just a month ago:

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1481580#start_here

I voted yes just because I believe in the Easter Bunny.

My faith has never let me down!

Spoiler:

(Minus the guys I refuse to remember)

[Ericb5]

I think that Stauskas, for the first time in his career, is actually improving on the court. He will probably never be a starter on a good team, but he is turning himself into a nice shooter off the bench type of guy. I no longer think that he is at risk of being cut, and I owe him an apology for being pissed that he was still on the team not too long ago.


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[voodooguru]

He started trying to drive in the second half of last season. It was so disturbing that it should have had an R-rating to protect minors from it's hideous inappropriateness.

I saw him miss a fistful of absolutely gift-wrapped chocolate Easter Bunnies in the preseason and thought

Go Saucekas, go!!!

[tk76]

I remember when Hawes had that tremendous fool's gold start to the season the last year Collins was here. Then his game quickly regressed after New Years. So with Nik I'm waiting for him to string a few good months together and maybe see him fight through some adversity before I'm sold that he is an NBA player.

[Kolkmania]

Just a month ago:

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1481580#start_here

I voted yes just because I believe in the Easter Bunny.

My faith has never let me down!

Spoiler:

(Minus the guys I refuse to remember)

Haha, so am I.

Perhaps Paul has a better shot at actually improving the squad this year, but there's still have a very slim chance of Stauskas becoming a decent combo guard. I'd take the risk and keep investing in Stauskas (and Thompson).

I think the Elton Brand cut is quite logical, giving him a 1 million guaranteed contract and add a coaching salary on top of that to mentor the players. With Embiid, Noel, Okafor, Holmes and perhaps Saric there is no playing time available for Brand anyway.

He's grading as the third worst defensive SG in the NBA right now (ahead of only Booker and Klay). I don't think he'll ever be a positive on that end but if he can keep up these offensive contributions, he'll have a bench role.

I think another jump in his strength (which I think has been apparent this year) and effort and awareness by the time he really grows into his body at say 26 will put him at a not negative defender. Never will be a lock down but he has the potential to be top 5 offensive SG and maybe top 25 on D?

The accelerated development phase for the average NBA player tends to end roughly age 23. Players tend to still improve marginally until around 27-28 but it's unrealistic to expect massive gains - obviously it's possible for players, just not common.



This is Stauskas' third year in the league and has graded pretty similarly in each of those years (DRPM -2.45 in 2014-15, -2.44 in 2015-16, -2.35 this season). He's very marginally better this year but has actually decreased in position among SGs. He's probably a massive underdog to ever be a top 40 defender among SGs (roughly league average), much less top 25.

It's also probably just as ridiculous to expect him to get anywhere near top 5 offensive SG given that he's shooting at unsustainable levels in a small sample right now and he's still only grading as 32nd best offensively.

Well like you said, it's uncommon. Stauskas is a special case because he came into the league with the Kings and that season basically destroyed his confidence for two seasons. This summer was his first season in a steady situation and with him gaining confidence, it's not inconceivable that his progression at his age is bigger than the average prospect.

But, Stauskas will always be limited due to his below average lateral quickness and strength on the defensive end. I'm not expecting him to be close to an average defender for a long time. If he's going to be one, BB IQ would be the reason, just like Reddick and Korver are decent team defenders.

BTW a stat that ranks Klay Thompson as the worst defender at SG, Evan Turner 89/92 and Avery Bradley 82/92 ( ) might not be the most accurate one. RPM based on 11 games is extremely noise sensitive anyway.

[TTP]

Well like you said, it's uncommon. Stauskas is a special case because he came into the league with the Kings and that season basically destroyed his confidence for two seasons. This summer was his first season in a steady situation and with him gaining confidence, it's not inconceivable that his progression at his age is bigger than the average prospect.

But, Stauskas will always be limited due to his below average lateral quickness and strength on the defensive end. I'm not expecting him to be close to an average defender for a long time. If he's going to be one, BB IQ would be the reason, just like Reddick and Korver are decent team defenders.

BTW a stat that ranks Klay Thompson as the worst defender at SG, Evan Turner 89/92 and Avery Bradley 82/92 ( ) might not be the most accurate one. RPM based on 11 games is extremely noise sensitive anyway.

Maybe, I don't see tremendous physical gains happening.

Avery Bradley was a negative defender last season, despite the fact that he made the subjective 1st Team All NBA Defense. The Celtics gave up fewer points per possession while he was off the court. He was a very good defender the two previous seasons, though probably not a top 3 defender for his position, certainly not Tony Allen level.

Anything based on 11 games is extremely noise sensitive, including Stauskas' current level of production. That's why I listed it next to the two seasons prior. It's significantly less likely to be noise when it matches his historical (lack of) production.

[HotelVitale]

Sauce has a game worthy of a highlight reel and it's got like 5 views on youtube. The man's finally got a positive VORP and ortg/drtg--someone please watch this aside from me!

Watch on YouTube

[kriss73]

I'd like to see the mental coach hired by Nick, working with Cov too.
And with Agholor ASAP

[CoreyGallagher]

Sauce has a game worthy of a highlight reel and it's got like 5 views on youtube. The man's finally got a positive VORP and ortg/drtg--someone please watch this aside from me!

It's been reuploaded, here's original w/ about 10k views. Also, somebody in the comments mentioned about our crowd and it is awesome how packed it seems.

Watch on YouTube

[HotelVitale]

Sauce has a game worthy of a highlight reel and it's got like 5 views on youtube. The man's finally got a positive VORP and ortg/drtg--someone please watch this aside from me!

It's been reuploaded, here's original w/ about 10k views. Also, somebody in the comments mentioned about our crowd and it is awesome how packed it seems.

Ah thanks. Good to know there are some Sauce-watchers out there.

About the crowd: I go to a bunch of games, usually 12-15 per year, and in the 2 games I've been this year I haven't noticed a big increase in attendance. The Suns game was a weekend game, which always draw significantly better than a Mon/Tues night one, so that might explain the crowd then. People are definitely way more hyped on Embiid than they have been on anyone else, though, stadium gives collective surge when he fires a 3 (and collective gasp whenever he tumbles to the ground).

[HartfordWhalers]

At this point: 38.6% from 3, 59.4% TS%. Nik rocks.