RealGM

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/NBA-Coverage/

Interesting read on Outlaw.

Looks like they got their facts a little wrong here...

The team thought long and hard about letting Outlaw go after last season but elected to re-sign him. Coach Nate McMillan must have been intrigued by the late season burst Outlaw showed last year as well as the good attitude and coach-ability he possesses.

Both Pritchard and McMillan made it pretty clear from the second the season ended that they planned on resigning Outlaw.

The two points that stood out to me were about improvements to Outlaws offensive game.

I was actually thinking that it'd be nice to see Outlaw add a post up game. Also, Outlaw has only taken 31 3's, making 11 of them. Obviously, it'd be great if he could become a consistent 3 point threat.

These are minor tweaks or additions to his game that I'd like to see him add to his game. Overall, I'm more that pleased with his quantum leap forward this year.

I wish Outlaw could finish better. It seems like whenever he drives, he cant really lay it in. He has to dunk it to finish. If you look at yesterday's game, he could have had three 3-point plays if he made the layup and was fouled but he missed every one. Yes, he was hacked, but if he had a little more upper body strength he could get the and-1. Adding some finishing skills like Roy has would make Outlaw soooo much better.

I mean, really, we're getting into nit picking a little bit. IMO the bottom line is that Outlaw is dramatically improved, and he has some nuances of his game to improve on. But good players are always looking for ways to improve their game, so hopefully this stuff will come in time.

Outlaw is becoming a star...And I think we all know it....

DeezXXnutZ wrote:Outlaw is becoming a star...And I think we all know it....

I wouldn't go that far. But even I, as a strong supporter of trading Travis the past year or so, have seen how remarkably he has improved. He went from making me cringe every time he touched the ball, to being excited what he might bring each game. He's certainly no star, but he is an excellent sixth man.

Khazim wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I wouldn't go that far. But even I, as a strong supporter of trading Travis the past year or so, have seen how remarkably he has improved. He went from making me cringe every time he touched the ball, to being excited what he might bring each game. He's certainly no star, but he is an excellent sixth man.

I'm in the same boat. Outlaw drove me absolutely nuts this year, and he has been a pleasant surprise most of the time this year. But he is no star.

Khazim wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I wouldn't go that far. But even I, as a strong supporter of trading Travis the past year or so, have seen how remarkably he has improved. He went from making me cringe every time he touched the ball, to being excited what he might bring each game. He's certainly no star, but he is an excellent sixth man.

Well, I guess thats kind of the point of this thread. I totally agree that Travis isn't a star yet, but I think that he finally has the potential to be.

I mean, if Travis can do the things that this article mentioned:

Add a little bit of bulk
Improve his three point shot/attempts
Add a post up game
etc.

Combine that with his existing skills, and you've got a pretty special player.

outlaw is slowly moving into a great 6th man with all the necessary skills at offense and defense.

i still remeber when supposedly he was lost and had very little BB IQ, but i think that he has responded to nate's patience and confidence and has been working really hard.

i think he only has room to get better, and he will.

BlackMamba wrote:i still remeber when supposedly he was lost and had very little BB IQ, but i think that he has responded to nate's patience and confidence and has been working really hard.

He still doesn't have a ton of BB IQ, but he's not nearly as bad as he was. He would constantly force shots up against double teams last year, and never met a pass he was remotely interested in making. This year he is still a bit of a black hole, but he seems more willing to consider passing the ball if he doesn't have that jab-step/step-back option available. He also seems, like Martell, somewhat able to recognize when he has a path to the rim and seems willing to take it. Like Martell, he doesn't recognize it enough, though.

Still, he's loads better than last year. I know that there is some sentiment that LMA should be our MIP candidate, but personally I think Travis has shown a lot more season-to-season overall growth. LMA's major improvement has been getting the minutes Zach used to have more than any super major leap in abilities.

I said becoming a star..Not a Star..He is showing a lot of signs that he can be a go to guy in the fourth this year and thats usually the first sign of a star...

DeezXXnutZ wrote:I said becoming a star..Not a Star..He is showing a lot of signs that he can be a go to guy in the fourth this year and thats usually the first sign of a star...

He's not becoming a star. He's becoming a very good 6th man. There's a big, big difference. Grand Canyon big.

Outlaw needs to pass sometimes too though before he can become something better than a 6th man. Every time I see him touch the ball he usually ends up shooting it, rarely passing even if he gets doubled. If he can fix that and DRIVE ALL THE WAY to the hoop instead of pulling up every time and fading away he can truly be something special.

JereUsa1 wrote:Outlaw needs to pass sometimes too though before he can become something better than a 6th man. Every time I see him touch the ball he usually ends up shooting it, rarely passing even if he gets doubled. If he can fix that and DRIVE ALL THE WAY to the hoop instead of pulling up every time and fading away he can truly be something special.

I agree, but I feel he is waaaay better this year at finding the open teammate and driving to the hoop instead of pulling up.

Too bad he's a base year player--I'd trade him straight up for Luis Scola, and I think both Houston and Portland are better off with that move. Houston gets more outside shooting to open up space for Yao, Portland gets more physicality and better rebounding with sacrificin g a ton of offense.

mojomarc wrote:Too bad he's a base year player--I'd trade him straight up for Luis Scola, and I think both Houston and Portland are better off with that move. Houston gets more outside shooting to open up space for Yao, Portland gets more physicality and better rebounding with sacrificin g a ton of offense.

From what I've heard about Scola from Houston fans, he's not adjusting very well to the speed of the NBA game. I like Scola, but there's not a chance I'd trade Outlaw for him at this point and time.