Game 67: Blazers (29-35) at Suns (22-44)

[ATTL]

Game, blouses.

[lilfishi22]

The TANK rolls on

[carey]

Jesus that was a big time move. Looks more and more like Kobe every game. Come at me haters.

Every time someone compares our future to my most hated player of all time, and I didn't particularly like his style either, I cringe. It's not a good comp imo.

Explain? There are a ton of similarities down to the attitude. His size. The way he punishes people on the block. His ability to score in isolation. The way he just goes on runs scoring in half a dozen different ways. I don't know. The more he matures the more he begins to resemble him.

I'm with you though. **** Kobe Bean Bryant.

[bwgood77]

Jesus that was a big time move. Looks more and more like Kobe every game. Come at me haters.

Every time someone compares our future to my most hated player of all time, and I didn't particularly like his style either, I cringe. It's not a good comp imo.

Explain? There are a ton of similarities down to the attitude. His size. The way he punishes people on the block. His ability to score in isolation. The way he just goes on runs scoring in half a dozen different ways. I don't know. The more he matures the more he begins to resemble him.

I'm with you though. **** Kobe Bean Bryant.

They have some similarities, but as a player, Booker has the better 3 pt shooting ability, is less selfish, and loves his teammates. He is also a worse defender.

I think for style of game, if we want high upside type guys, I'd put guys like Ray Allen or Reggie Miller up there.

[Coogi]

Having derrick Jones on the floor helps keep booker off some of the more talented offensive players. I could see a future where Jones is a starter for that reason.

Rooting for Airplane as much as the next guy, but that has a pretty decent possibility of being a really **** future.

[ATTL]

Having derrick Jones on the floor helps keep booker off some of the more talented offensive players. I could see a future where Jones is a starter for that reason.

Rooting for Airplane as much as the next guy, but that has a pretty decent possibility of being a really **** future.

Having a defensive role player starting next to booker wouldn't be the end of the world. I think Jones can develop into a good 3 and d player in a few years.

[Roy The Natural]

Every time someone compares our future to my most hated player of all time, and I didn't particularly like his style either, I cringe. It's not a good comp imo.

Explain? There are a ton of similarities down to the attitude. His size. The way he punishes people on the block. His ability to score in isolation. The way he just goes on runs scoring in half a dozen different ways. I don't know. The more he matures the more he begins to resemble him.

I'm with you though. **** Kobe Bean Bryant.

They have some similarities, but as a player, Booker has the better 3 pt shooting ability, is less selfish, and loves his teammates. He is also a worse defender.

I think for style of game, if we want high upside type guys, I'd put guys like Ray Allen or Reggie Miller up there.

Yea, I think he's a bit more of an amalgam of Brandon Roy and Reggie Miller. I really feel like Booker has a lot of the versatility that Brandon Roy had in scoring, but I don't think that as of now, Booker is nearly the ballhandler that Roy was, and he's a bit better off the ball. It's really hard to compare Booker to past players (as a Blazer fan) because his style is so modern. Iso Joe, Roy, Kobe, Vince Carter, a lot of these guys scored in a pure iso half court situation far more than Booker, and that doesn't necessarily mean one's better or worse, just that the game was different, and the offenses were structured different.

I'm not sure there's a great past comparison for Booker at the 2 guard. The guys of the past seemed to score off picks far less, and in actual isolation far more. Booker's a dynamite talent, and he really is his own player IMO. I think Brandon Roy is a good comparison impact wise, if Booker can up his play outside of pure scoring. They're two players who when I watch them, I never get the feeling they're supremely dominant at any one thing, but they're good at everything, which makes them really difficult to stop. But Booker needs to rebound better, pass better, and get better between the arc and the rim to get to where prime Roy was at. I think he's fully capable of getting there and maybe surpassing that though. Although, we'll never quite know what a healthy Roy was capable of doing in his prime.

[RaisingArizona]

Booker is Allan Houston 2.0. I don't agree with any other comparisons.

[bwgood77]

Explain? There are a ton of similarities down to the attitude. His size. The way he punishes people on the block. His ability to score in isolation. The way he just goes on runs scoring in half a dozen different ways. I don't know. The more he matures the more he begins to resemble him.

I'm with you though. **** Kobe Bean Bryant.

They have some similarities, but as a player, Booker has the better 3 pt shooting ability, is less selfish, and loves his teammates. He is also a worse defender.

I think for style of game, if we want high upside type guys, I'd put guys like Ray Allen or Reggie Miller up there.

Yea, I think he's a bit more of an amalgam of Brandon Roy and Reggie Miller. I really feel like Booker has a lot of the versatility that Brandon Roy had in scoring, but I don't think that as of now, Booker is nearly the ballhandler that Roy was, and he's a bit better off the ball. It's really hard to compare Booker to past players (as a Blazer fan) because his style is so modern. Iso Joe, Roy, Kobe, Vince Carter, a lot of these guys scored in a pure iso half court situation far more than Booker, and that doesn't necessarily mean one's better or worse, just that the game was different, and the offenses were structured different.

I'm not sure there's a great past comparison for Booker at the 2 guard. The guys of the past seemed to score off picks far less, and in actual isolation far more. Booker's a dynamite talent, and he really is his own player IMO. I think Brandon Roy is a good comparison impact wise, if Booker can up his play outside of pure scoring. They're two players who when I watch them, I never get the feeling they're supremely dominant at any one thing, but they're good at everything, which makes them really difficult to stop. But Booker needs to rebound better, pass better, and get better between the arc and the rim to get to where prime Roy was at. I think he's fully capable of getting there and maybe surpassing that though. Although, we'll never quite know what a healthy Roy was capable of doing in his prime.

Yeah, when I threw out those names, I realized they are not perfect because the game evolving so much for the 3 pt shot to become more valuable, it's tougher to compare apples to apples. I loved Roy...watched him in college against AZ...he's a bit of a tough comp since I think Roy played 4 years of college ball (though Miller did as well and Allen definitely played more than one), so Booker is likely a bit more evolved offensively than most of those guys at his age, given the fact he has gone against NBA competition for a year already. Roy is a good mention though. I'd be happy if he became Roy and really happy if he surpassed him.

[Roy The Natural]

They have some similarities, but as a player, Booker has the better 3 pt shooting ability, is less selfish, and loves his teammates. He is also a worse defender.

I think for style of game, if we want high upside type guys, I'd put guys like Ray Allen or Reggie Miller up there.

Yea, I think he's a bit more of an amalgam of Brandon Roy and Reggie Miller. I really feel like Booker has a lot of the versatility that Brandon Roy had in scoring, but I don't think that as of now, Booker is nearly the ballhandler that Roy was, and he's a bit better off the ball. It's really hard to compare Booker to past players (as a Blazer fan) because his style is so modern. Iso Joe, Roy, Kobe, Vince Carter, a lot of these guys scored in a pure iso half court situation far more than Booker, and that doesn't necessarily mean one's better or worse, just that the game was different, and the offenses were structured different.

I'm not sure there's a great past comparison for Booker at the 2 guard. The guys of the past seemed to score off picks far less, and in actual isolation far more. Booker's a dynamite talent, and he really is his own player IMO. I think Brandon Roy is a good comparison impact wise, if Booker can up his play outside of pure scoring. They're two players who when I watch them, I never get the feeling they're supremely dominant at any one thing, but they're good at everything, which makes them really difficult to stop. But Booker needs to rebound better, pass better, and get better between the arc and the rim to get to where prime Roy was at. I think he's fully capable of getting there and maybe surpassing that though. Although, we'll never quite know what a healthy Roy was capable of doing in his prime.

Yeah, when I threw out those names, I realized they are not perfect because the game evolving so much for the 3 pt shot to become more valuable, it's tougher to compare apples to apples. I loved Roy...watched him in college against AZ...he's a bit of a tough comp since I think Roy played 4 years of college ball (though Miller did as well and Allen definitely played more than one), so Booker is likely a bit more evolved offensively than most of those guys at his age, given the fact he has gone against NBA competition for a year already. Roy is a good mention though. I'd be happy if he became Roy and really happy if he surpassed him.

That's why he's his own guy. Booker is a really cool player with an interesting offensive style. I don't watch every Suns game or anything, but from the game's I've seen and the single game highlights I've watched of Booker's (I know, they're just highlights) my observations are that the way he drives to the basket reminds me a bit of Wade, where Wade would start his drive a lot from above the 3pt line. Guy's like Kobe and Roy didn't really do those looonngg looping drives as often iirc, they sized their man up, beat him off the dribble and scored in a variety of ways from there.

Booker really doesn't have the dominant athleticism of a Wade, so he doesn't really flash the ability to completely dominate high level opponents by overwhelming them, but he's a much better shooter, and can use that to pull up, and play off the ball for more effectively. One thing that I think that Booker is fully capable of getting better at, and which could really take his game to the next level IMO, is learning to probe the defense with the ball more. He plays so fast sometimes that I feel it locks him into scoring on drives. Learning better about when to play fast, and when to play measured would tremendously help his playmaking IMO. Although I may be way off base here and just not seen enough.

[DirtyDez]

Joe Johnson with more 'tude...

[carey]

Booker really doesn't have the dominant athleticism of a Wade, so he doesn't really flash the ability to completely dominate high level opponents by overwhelming them, but he's a much better shooter, and can use that to pull up, and play off the ball for more effectively. One thing that I think that Booker is fully capable of getting better at, and which could really take his game to the next level IMO, is learning to probe the defense with the ball more. He plays so fast sometimes that I feel it locks him into scoring on drives. Learning better about when to play fast, and when to play measured would tremendously help his playmaking IMO. Although I may be way off base here and just not seen enough.

It's weird how different people see different things. I see a guy that's under control more than any 20-year-old should be. He doesn't often seem to rush things. Does he force it sometimes? Maybe, but that often seems to be an extension of the offense literally doing nothing except clearing out and asking him to do so. Also, this concept about his lack of athleticism is a bit confusing to me. Maybe it's because he came in with the reputation of a shooter? Or that there are guys in the league like Giannis and Westbrook? Or maybe it's because he doesn't rise up & dunk in traffic like DJJ? Maybe it's a good thing that people underestimate his athleticism. He is much more than Ray Allen or Reggie Miller.

[jcsunsfan]

Booker really doesn't have the dominant athleticism of a Wade, so he doesn't really flash the ability to completely dominate high level opponents by overwhelming them, but he's a much better shooter, and can use that to pull up, and play off the ball for more effectively. One thing that I think that Booker is fully capable of getting better at, and which could really take his game to the next level IMO, is learning to probe the defense with the ball more. He plays so fast sometimes that I feel it locks him into scoring on drives. Learning better about when to play fast, and when to play measured would tremendously help his playmaking IMO. Although I may be way off base here and just not seen enough.

It's weird how different people see different things. I see a guy that's under control more than any 20-year-old should be. He doesn't often seem to rush things. Does he force it sometimes? Maybe, but that often seems to be an extension of the offense literally doing nothing except clearing out and asking him to do so. Also, this concept about his lack of athleticism is a bit confusing to me. Maybe it's because he came in with the reputation of a shooter? Or that there are guys in the league like Giannis and Westbrook? Or maybe it's because he doesn't rise up & dunk in traffic like DJJ? Maybe it's a good thing that people underestimate his athleticism. He is much more than Ray Allen or Reggie Miller.

I agree. His athleticism is greatly underrated. He is VERY fast and VERY shifty.

[TheFire]

Booker really doesn't have the dominant athleticism of a Wade, so he doesn't really flash the ability to completely dominate high level opponents by overwhelming them, but he's a much better shooter, and can use that to pull up, and play off the ball for more effectively. One thing that I think that Booker is fully capable of getting better at, and which could really take his game to the next level IMO, is learning to probe the defense with the ball more. He plays so fast sometimes that I feel it locks him into scoring on drives. Learning better about when to play fast, and when to play measured would tremendously help his playmaking IMO. Although I may be way off base here and just not seen enough.

It's weird how different people see different things. I see a guy that's under control more than any 20-year-old should be. He doesn't often seem to rush things. Does he force it sometimes? Maybe, but that often seems to be an extension of the offense literally doing nothing except clearing out and asking him to do so. Also, this concept about his lack of athleticism is a bit confusing to me. Maybe it's because he came in with the reputation of a shooter? Or that there are guys in the league like Giannis and Westbrook? Or maybe it's because he doesn't rise up & dunk in traffic like DJJ? Maybe it's a good thing that people underestimate his athleticism. He is much more than Ray Allen or Reggie Miller.

I agree. His athleticism is greatly underrated. He is VERY fast and VERY shifty.

He also posted the fastest lane agility time and shuttle run at the 2015 draft combine. I don't think anyone should think his athleticism will ever hold him back from being a superstar, and even though he's not very vertically explosive, he's still an above average athlete.

[Roy The Natural]

Booker really doesn't have the dominant athleticism of a Wade, so he doesn't really flash the ability to completely dominate high level opponents by overwhelming them, but he's a much better shooter, and can use that to pull up, and play off the ball for more effectively. One thing that I think that Booker is fully capable of getting better at, and which could really take his game to the next level IMO, is learning to probe the defense with the ball more. He plays so fast sometimes that I feel it locks him into scoring on drives. Learning better about when to play fast, and when to play measured would tremendously help his playmaking IMO. Although I may be way off base here and just not seen enough.

It's weird how different people see different things. I see a guy that's under control more than any 20-year-old should be. He doesn't often seem to rush things. Does he force it sometimes? Maybe, but that often seems to be an extension of the offense literally doing nothing except clearing out and asking him to do so. Also, this concept about his lack of athleticism is a bit confusing to me. Maybe it's because he came in with the reputation of a shooter? Or that there are guys in the league like Giannis and Westbrook? Or maybe it's because he doesn't rise up & dunk in traffic like DJJ? Maybe it's a good thing that people underestimate his athleticism. He is much more than Ray Allen or Reggie Miller.

I agree. His athleticism is greatly underrated. He is VERY fast and VERY shifty.

It wasn't a knock on his athleticism, his athleticism is fine, but he's not an overwhelming specimen who can thoroughly dominate opponents from the sheer overwhelming athletecism he possesses, a la prime Dwayne Wade. Also want to clarify that I dont think he plays out of control, I just think that Booker doesn't often probe the defense, when he attacks, like I said though, I'm not a Suns fan, so maybe I just miss it, or he doesn't often score when he does, as it's not there in the single game highlights, and I didn't really notice it last night.

Watch on YouTube

Now these are just some highlights, but when I watch Roy, and other big 2-guards of the mid 2000's I see how calmly they get to their spots. I'm not suggesting that Booker overhaul his game, and I have seen him probe the defense, I'm just suggesting that he should increase the frequency at which he does it, and perhaps his effectiveness at it. Probing the defense with a slower and more navigational dribble I think will allow Booker to conserve energy, and allow plays to develop/actions to be run while keeping the defense off balance, because Booker is scary with the ball in his hands and has the toolbox to score from pretty much anywhere. He certainly has the toolbox to effectively play at a slower pace, and the capability to do both is often a huge boon for primary ball handlers.