Aleksej Pokusevski

nolang1 · Post #421 » by **nolang1** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:26 pm

He's a good defender already, just has the combination of being not a good shooter who's not shy about taking threes.

No-Man · Post #422 » by **No-Man** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:04 am

I dont think anyone who is posting here has really watched him, his touch looks worse than I expected but like I mentioned before he looks like he belongs already in a NBA court

Shy Gorgeous-Al · Post #423 » by **Shy Gorgeous-Al** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 10:33 am

Fischella wrote:I dont think anyone who is posting here has really watched him, his touch looks worse than I expected but like I mentioned before he looks like he belongs already in a NBA court

In what way does he look like he belongs?

Post #424 » by **ThunderBolt** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 12:09 pm

Shy Gorgeous-Al wrote:
Fischella wrote:I dont think anyone who is posting here has really watched him, his touch looks worse than I expected but like I mentioned before he looks like he belongs already in a NBA court

In what way does he look like he belongs?

Shy Gorgeous-Al · Post #425 » by **Shy Gorgeous-Al** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 12:10 pm

ThunderBolt wrote:
Shy Gorgeous-Al wrote:
Fischella wrote:I dont think anyone who is posting here has really watched him, his touch looks worse than I expected but like I mentioned before he looks like he belongs already in a NBA court

In what way does he look like he belongs?

Perfect year to tank.

Poku was a great pick just for that purpose.

Post #426 » by **ThunderBolt** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 12:19 pm

Shy Gorgeous-Al wrote:
ThunderBolt wrote:
Shy Gorgeous-Al wrote:
In what way does he look like he belongs?

Perfect year to tank.

Poku was a great pick just for that purpose.

Saying that a player currently sucks and has potential are not mutually exclusive things. I'm telling myself that at the end of next year we will have SOME kind of an idea if he's going to develop. He doesn't need to be a finished product by any means but with the future influx of players that will be coming in, he can't be shooting 17% from three in his second or third year. For the record, I don't expect him to.

No-Man · Post #427 » by **No-Man** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:36 pm

Shy Gorgeous-Al wrote:
Fischella wrote:I dont think anyone who is posting here has really watched him, his touch looks worse than I expected but like I mentioned before he looks like he belongs already in a NBA court

In what way does he look like he belongs?

some of his passes and shots are def wild and out there but he also has flashes of consistency as a decision maker, he understands basketball and doesn't look to sped up out there considering age/level of experience, which I thought would be the case because he just knows how to play

nolang1 · Post #428 » by **nolang1** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 5:20 pm

Shy Gorgeous-Al wrote:
Fischella wrote:I dont think anyone who is posting here has really watched him, his touch looks worse than I expected but like I mentioned before he looks like he belongs already in a NBA court

In what way does he look like he belongs?

Basically every way besides the result of the shot going in or not. He's definitely ahead of the curve defensively for a rookie and offensively he looks good handling the ball (a lot of his turnovers are just footwork stuff where he gets called for traveling before putting it on the floor). The Thunder are within a couple games of .500 like 80+ percent of the league, so acting like he's making them some horrible tanking team is just weird.

Anyhow this is just a rehash of the exact same conversation from the summer, where I said that 'not looking like he belongs' is generally based on little besides aesthetics and there would surely be rookies who would be worse than him despite doing better at looking like an NBA player physically (Anthony Edwards was who I had in mind, and so far that has been the case).

EvanZ · Post #429 » by **EvanZ** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 6:05 pm

The only thing from a physical standpoint that bothers me is he looks deathly afraid to take any contact going to the rim. He's going to have to get over that at some point. It's a physical league and he is a big guy. When he realizes that and puts on some more muscle, I think he'll be fine.

Post #430 » by **bondom34** » Mon Jan 25, 2021 6:48 am

Saw it mentioned on the OKC forum but honestly can't remember anyone who became good after this bad a start offensively. Not giving up hope as a prospect but the offense is so so terrible right now. And I'm not really buying some of the defensive numbers given some of the on/off splits.

clyde21 · Post #431 » by **clyde21** » Mon Jan 25, 2021 4:17 pm

0 FT attempts in 217 minutes so far, that's absolutely wild for a 7 fter...is he not getting calls or just refusing to attack?

Post #432 » by **ThunderBolt** » Mon Jan 25, 2021 4:34 pm

clyde21 wrote:0 FT attempts in 217 minutes so far, that's absolutely wild for a 7 fter...is he not getting calls or just refusing to attack?

Most of his shots are from three. He's been decent running the some pick and roll but when he drives on his own, it hasn't ended well.

Read on Twitter

bbms · Post #433 » by **bbms** » Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:00 am

Shy Gorgeous-Al wrote:
Fischella wrote:I dont think anyone who is posting here has really watched him, his touch looks worse than I expected but like I mentioned before he looks like he belongs already in a NBA court

In what way does he look like he belongs?

One of the weirdest rookies I have ever seen. This guy flipped every expectations I had.

Before watching him, I expected:

an abysmal defender
a marginal scorer
a good playmaker

what I have seen is:

an abysmal scorer
a marginal playmaker
a good defender

In certain ways, I am positively surprised by his performance. Pokusevski has been particularly a weakside defense monster. This is a fact, that you can see on tape, and can be supported by data. His BLK% is reminiscent of Ibaka on his rookie season. Adjusted plus-minus (epm, RAPTOR, B-Ref's On-Off) have him as one of the best defenders on this Thunder team. He also is not afraid to ask for the ball and take the shots. He's not scared of the stage. He handles the ball on transition well for his size.

The bad side is that his shot is not only bad, but it's all-time level bad and needs a complete rework. I think he has the stroke and rhythm, but it's flat and hasted. His body is not NBA-level. He knows it, and he makes all kinds of mistakes during dribble drives, looks panicked when making contact.

All things considered, I can see why he was the 17th selection. I think he belongs in the NBA.

The only scouting thing I rule out completely and seemed completely off was that "7" guard" ****. He doesn't move like a guard. He is definitely a tweener combo forward. Not enough quick-twitch and speed to play anything smaller than position 3. PPL need to stop with this **** comparing any 6'10"+ wing with Durant.

No-Man · Post #434 » by **No-Man** » Tue Jan 26, 2021 11:38 am

Oh he was always a PF, still moves well for that, the dude just turned 19, youngest player in the league, I think for his age you can be optimistic, obviously it will still take a while but he was a good bet at that range or even higher

nolang1 · Post #435 » by **nolang1** » Tue Jan 26, 2021 12:20 pm

bbms wrote:
Shy Gorgeous-Al wrote:
Fischella wrote:I dont think anyone who is posting here has really watched him, his touch looks worse than I expected but like I mentioned before he looks like he belongs already in a NBA court

In what way does he look like he belongs?

One of the weirdest rookies I have ever seen. This guy flipped every expectations I had.

Before watching him, I expected:

an abysmal defender
a marginal scorer
a good playmaker

what I have seen is:

an abysmal scorer
a marginal playmaker
a good defender

In certain ways, I am positively surprised by his performance. Pokusevski has been particularly a weakside defense monster. This is a fact, that you can see on tape, and can be supported by data. His BLK% is reminiscent of Ibaka on his rookie season. Adjusted plus-minus (epm, RAPTOR, B-Ref's On-Off) have him as one of the best defenders on this Thunder team. He also is not afraid to ask for the ball and take the shots. He's not scared of the stage. He handles the ball on transition well for his size.

The bad side is that his shot is not only bad, but it's all-time level bad and needs a complete rework. I think he has the stroke and rhythm, but it's flat and hasted. His body is not NBA-level. He knows it, and he makes all kinds of mistakes during dribble drives, looks panicked when making contact.

All things considered, I can see why he was the 17th selection. I think he belongs in the NBA.

The only scouting thing I rule out completely and seemed completely off was that "7" guard" ****. He doesn't move like a guard. He is definitely a tweener combo forward. Not enough quick-twitch and speed to play anything smaller than position 3. PPL need to stop with this **** comparing any 6'10"+ wing with Durant.

Calling him a 7 foot shooting guard was and is an apt descriptor of his offensive style of play; right now he’s most similar to players like Grayson Allen, Damion Lee, or KCP in where his offense comes from. Clearly he’s mobile enough that teams aren’t trying to attack him on the perimeter, and if you insist on giving a position to such a weird player, he’s a very good shotblocker and is going to be guarding whoever allows him to be closest to the rim but doesn't totally overpower him, which is usually power forwards (who of course are largely interchangeable with 3s on most teams).

Obviously when you see some of the dunks in transition or passes off the dribble you can speculate about how much more he could do on offense if he puts on muscle, but even in a more tame scenario where his shot comes around to the point he’s like Danny Green in one of Green’s below-average shooting seasons offensively, that with the defense would be enough to be a valuable player.

King Ken · Post #436 » by **King Ken** » Tue Jan 26, 2021 3:17 pm

We are literally three to four years away from having an inkling of his potential

3toheadmelo · Post #437 » by **3toheadmelo** » Fri Jan 29, 2021 6:01 pm

He went too high. A second round draft player

The-Power · Post #438 » by **The-Power** » Sat Jan 30, 2021 2:39 pm

So what is the record for most FGA without a single FTA? He stands at 89 now. You'd think at some point he'd be fouled on accident in the bonus and get to the line. Crazy.

Mirotic12 · Post #439 » by **Mirotic12** » Sun Jan 31, 2021 2:51 pm

clyde21 wrote:0 FT attempts in 217 minutes so far, that's absolutely wild for a 7 fter...is he not getting calls or just refusing to attack?

The-Power wrote:So what is the record for most FGA without a single FTA? He stands at 89 now. You'd think at some point he'd be fouled on accident in the bonus and get to the line. Crazy.

Why do people think he was on Olympiacos' development team last season, and the coach had already said he would have still been on it this season? It's because he's like 4-5 years away (if not more) physically.

I really don't see why anyone would be surprised by this. Unless they really believed that ridiculous nonsense that "all EuroLeague teams purposely bench all good young players", which of course is completely made up nonsense.

He's not physically ready to compete with grown men in terms of banging and contact. He struggled with that last season in the Greek 2nd division..........Everyone should have already known that. Poku very obviously has the talent and the potential. But of course he's not going to be able to compete at purely a level of physicality and contact with grown men yet.

No-Man · Post #440 » by **No-Man** » Sun Jan 31, 2021 3:02 pm

He is not 4-5 years away lol, he is having a tough time to contribute on offense with his shooting not translating and the wildness (fun) of his game, and that was predictable but he has looked like he belongs in several areas and the dude is the youngest player in the league with 0 pro experience

He is still a good prospect and good gamble