Thoughts About Iguodala

[The Guilty Party]

Alright... we all know it's only 4 games into the season and that it is WAY too early to hit the panic button... but with that being said, what role do you see Andre Iguodala serving on this team going forward?

Thus far this season, he hasn't gotten on track offensively and while it's entirely possible he will get back into the groove he was in last year, a part of me thinks he will not and here's why. Last season, Iguodala got a lot of his points in the transition game and with 1 on 1 isolation plays since we barely had a half-court offense. This season, he's out of sorts and while we could say that this is nothing more than an adjustment period with Brand, why doesn't that theory apply to the 2nd year player in Thad Young?

Either way, do you think Iguodala will eventually establish himself as the 2nd best offensive player on this team? What kind of numbers are you expecting from him this season? Finally, do those numbers gel with his salary?

[IversonsMother]

He isn't worth $80 mil, I think most of us agree on that.. If his offense is going to take a set back this season, he needs to be a shut down defender, something he hasn't done this season either.. Joe Johnson made him look like a school girl the other night.. I know JJ is a very good offensive player, but Iggy should have been able to at least slow him down a little in the second half.

[The Guilty Party]

Good point, Mother. It'll be interesting to see what role he eventually takes on here. I expect him to average 15/5/5 and if he does that, then I'm fine with his salary as long as his defense remains top notch. My fear is that we won't get those numbers or the level of defense that we want. Again, this is only 4 games in so I think there's plenty of time to "wait and see" but I'm curious as to what people expect from him on this team.

[tk76]

As I said in the game thread, Iguodala will find his role. Down the road he will not be a big time scorer in the half court, but he will raise his all around game to where he is putting pressure with drives and setting up scores for others. As teams have to focus n Thad, Brand and Lou, Iguodala will find better driving lanes, easier shots, and will learn the best way to set up his hight potency teammates.

Iguodala has struggled early in seasons asa he adjusts to new roles in the offense (which seems to change dramatically every season.) But, to his credit Iguodala improves as the season progresses- and the team usually improves with him. I see the same trajectory for this season.

Its not how many points he scores, but how much he impacts the game. I still think iguodala will be able to make a great impact coupled with Young in the backcourt. In fact, I think there skill sets realy could complement each other.

80M+ is indefensible- but that doesn't mean Iguodala won't be hugely important to this teams success.

[Skates]

The Joe Johnson game was not necessarily Iggy's fault. He was all over Johnson on a lot of those shots Johnson made, give Johnson credit, he used his tremendous upper body strength very well and the Sixers team D still isn't what it needs to be.

I thought Iggy finally started playing the way he needs to play in the second half today. His shot will start falling and he will score more, but he is a third option on this team scoring-wise. Offensively he is a tremendous passer, he shut down Kevin Martin tonight and was all over the place in the beginning of the second half, swatting balls, making assists, steals and grabbing rebounds and leading the break. He can hit the open three, although it has not fallen early this year. He is developing his post-up game which will help because he is bigger tha most guys he is facing, Joe Johnson excepted. He will eventually be a very good passer out of the post.

He is a good scorer, but plays a great floor game. Thad, Brand and Lou are the best scorers on the team, but Iggy can be thsecond best player on the team, just not the second best scorer. If we ever switch out Miller for a shooting PG like Hinrich it will be possible because Iggy is like a second PG passing wise in the backcourt. He can easily switch to SF and play big there.

Is he worth $80 million, sure, other teams would have paid it to get him. Is he a franchise player, nope, but neither is Brand, that will eventually be Thad Young. Pair him with a shooting PG and Thad at Sf and and the big frontline we are building and he be a big part of a winning team if he plays his game and doesn't try to be an Iverson level scorer.

[The Guilty Party]

Its not how many points he scores, but how much he impacts the game. I still think iguodala will be able to make a great impact coupled with Young in the backcourt. In fact, I think there skill sets realy could complement each other.

80M+ is indefensible- but that doesn't mean Iguodala won't be hugely important to this teams success.

That's an excellent way to put this. It really isn't about how many points he scores BUT is he impacting the games thus far? He has had some nice plays, yes. But from an impact standpoint, Brand, Young, Miller, and maybe even Sam have had bigger impacts. Again... 4 games in but I'm just a little concerned about his role.

[tk76]

Iguodala is struggling- but I don't think he will be able to shine in the half court until the team gels (which might be a chicken-egg type of argument.) Iguodala could go out and score nearly 20 a game, but he would have to dominate the ball- and no one would want to see that with the other weapons the team has. Right now he looks lost, but that just because he needs to learn where his teammates will be when he drives, and how to play off his teammates.

He did struggle finding his role as a complementary scorer while with AI- but I think his game has improved dramatically since AI was here.

I guess time will tell.

[Skates]

Bingo. He has to realize that he is being paid to stuff the stat sheet, score as needed and defend. With Iggy and Thad on the wings we have the chance to excel defensively. Thad shut Marvin Williams down completely and Iggy did a nice job on Kevin Martin today. If Iggy plays like he did early in the second half today I will be very happy. Thad OTOH is a beautiful scorer, it comes much easier to him. It's a knack he has and that Iggy lacks, but they can make a great pair together on the wing. Iggy started out slowly last year too, he tries to do too much early in the season.

[dbodner]

Either way, do you think Iguodala will eventually establish himself as the 2nd best offensive player on this team?

Well, no. Because I don't think he is the 2nd best offensive player on the team. I thought Thad would establish himself as that by the end of the year. But it appears he's doing that by the end of the first week of the season.

An odd game to post this after. Yeah, he only scored 10 points, but he also only played 23 minutes. In terms of production per minute, this was actually one of his better (and more efficient), games. He'll drop down to being the 3rd option eventually, hitting open shots when others double, being a terror in the open court, and taking it to the rim when someone doubles off of Brand or closes out on Thad too quickly. Right where he belongs.

A big part of Iguodala's game the past two years in the half court was getting to the line. Without being the primary option in the half court, I expect his scoring to take a hit. But I think it's the natural progression.

[tk76]

I wonder if teams will start game planning for Young sooner rather than later. As you said, once teams have to start running at Young it should open things up for everyone- especially Brand and Iguodala.

If Young is a weapon from outside, and plays consistently anywhere close to where he has so far, this team will be great on offense- a huge jump from last year.

Basically they upgraded arguably the two worse starters in basketball (Green and Evans) with two potential 20ppg, 50%+ scorers in Brand and Thad. Not too shabby. Should eventually give Iguodala much easier scoring chances than last year.

[9th Wonder]

An odd game to post this after. Yeah, he only scored 10 points, but he also only played 23 minutes. In terms of production per minute, this was actually one of his better (and more efficient), games.

I thought he played well tonight. He played a fairly typical Iguodala game -- did a little bit of everything and played some good D, both in terms of the team concept and on Martin.

I'll be happy with him if he's able to contribute all over the floor and play within his means. I think we can all agree that his nature is not that of a player who is meant to be a go-to scorer; it was quite evident last year and appears to be again this year. If he can hit open jumpers, continue to improve the pull-up J and excel in transition, he should be a great complementary player on offense who can score a decent amount of points and help facilitate the offense.

This team is shaping up to be very well rounded. We've got the post presence that hasn't been around for so long; it looks like Thad, Lou and Willie can keep the defense honest with their range; and we have a nice backcourt that can score in a myriad of ways, and is -- probably most important of all -- very effective at getting everyone involved. Add to that the fact that this team has been absolutely destroying its opponents on the offensive boards, and you've got a team that's shaping up to be potent both in the halfcourt and on the break.

[dbodner]

I wonder if teams will start game planning for Young sooner rather than later.

Two things I'd like to see Thad add:
- A move with his right hand. Pretty much whenever he drives right, he's going to spin back and finish with his left. People will start gameplanning for this. I think eventually he'll add this, but right now he's very predictable. That floater tonight was nice in this regard.
- Getting to the line. Right now he doesn't initiate contact all that well.

But, considering what he's done with his 3 pt shot (he's made more 3 pointers in 4 games this year than 74 games last year) and his handle, I almost expect him to have all that taken care of by december.

[9th Wonder]

And before I get too ahead of myself, I want to add that I'm excited to see how this team matches up against some of the elite teams once they've got some more time to put it all together.

[9th Wonder]

I wonder if teams will start game planning for Young sooner rather than later.

But, considering what he's done with his 3 pt shot (he's made more 3 pointers in 4 games this year than 74 games last year) and his handle, I almost expect him to have all that taken care of by december.

Pretty crazy how fast this guy is coming along. The best part is he's only 20 and could be a junior if he stayed on at Tech. I've got high hopes for this team over the next five years and beyond.

[tk76]

And before I get too ahead of myself, I want to add that I'm excited to see how this team matches up against some of the elite teams once they've got some more time to put it all together.

I'm glad to see the team can spank bad teams-because they will be up and down against good and great teams for a while before it all clicks. Thad being ahead of schedule (as usual) certainly should help the team come together faster- and there won't be any question about who should be starting next to Iguodala.

[youngcrev]

I personally thought he played great tonight. He was swarming all over the place defensively, and made some nice plays getting to the basket and creating for the guys inside. If he's going to get his scoring average back up he's going to have to get out in transition more though.

In the future, I think his playmaking skills become extremely important to us if Lou Williams is ever going to step into that starting role.

[Sixerscan]

I wonder if teams will start game planning for Young sooner rather than later.

Two things I'd like to see Thad add:
- A move with his right hand. Pretty much whenever he drives right, he's going to spin back and finish with his left. People will start gameplanning for this. I think eventually he'll add this, but right now he's very predictable. That floater tonight was nice in this regard.
- Getting to the line. Right now he doesn't initiate contact all that well.

But, considering what he's done with his 3 pt shot (he's made more 3 pointers in 4 games this year than 74 games last year) and his handle, I almost expect him to have all that taken care of by december.

Yeah I was thinking that as well. 4 FTAs in 115 minutes is pretty bad. Last year he didnt get there that often either.

[tk76]

I'm O.K. with the low FTA's at this point if he continues to shoot a high percentage.

Getting to the line is an important part of being efficient on offense- but so is having a high fg% (and shooting 3's.)

If Thad ends up a good 3pt shooter and shoots over 50% for his non-3's and grabs some o-boards, then I'm not worried about drawing fouls. not to mentio, once defenses have to run at him at the three point line, he should be able to draw more fouls- similar to how Kevin Martin started drawing a ton of fouls once he was an established 3 pt shooter (not that we can ever hope for Thad to go to the line as much as Martin.)

Do you see Thad becoming a consistent 37%+ 3 pt shooter? I would have thought no time soon, except that he benefits from great shot selection and he keeps exceeding my expectations.

His learning curve is the fastest I've seen for a young player. Some kids are ready to dominate at a young age (Lebron, Durant, MJ to name a few.) Thad seems much more raw, but he then picks things up so quickly, and seems to put himself in a position to succeed. I guesss Kobe and TMac had rapid learning curves- but both also were much more polished when they entered the league. It makes it hard to guess what type of player Thad will be at his peak. Is he going to be a near star like RJ and Butler, or could he become a true stud like a TMac in his prime?

[Sixerscan]

If he's going to be a 3rd/4th option then yeah, it's fine if he just shoots a decent percentage.

But if he's going to be a great player he's going to have to figure out how to get to the line. He was able to do a lot of great things last year, getting to the line was not one of them, and he never got to the line in college either. He needs to make a vast improvement here, otherwise this will hold him back.

Just something to work on, the bar is very high for him.

[76ciology]

I'd like to hear SOMETHING from the guys who were saying that EB would help Iggy's scoring.

hah..

Told ya..