Post#1012 » by Hair Canada » Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:40 pm
Touchy issue mojo, thanks for bringing it up. I can't say I don't have my issues with RJ and I certainly share some of your worries. You mentioned the defense and that's certainly a concern, not so much the ability (he can defend decently when trying) but more the wavering effort level. I do think at least part of it is realizing that he needs to play 40 minutes a game and avoiding foul trouble, but in any case, it's been disappointing. Going into walls is also an issue and one that was there all along. I wrote about him a year ago and mentioned this quite a big. I actually think he's gotten better in avoiding really bad shots during the college year though, which gives me hope he can continue to improve. Still, right now it doesn't look great. And of course, the outside shooting also doesn't look great (I think if he ever gets to 35% or above it's going to open up the game quite a bit for him)
A couple of things to consider though which might paint a bit of a brighter picture:
1. He's only 18. Far from a done product in all respects: body (unlike Zion), experience, and skill. I don't know how the final product is going to look like, but I do know that he works very hard and is someone who will not leave a stone unturned in an effort to improve his body and skills.
2. Like MEDIC, I think the assertiveness has two sides to it. The one is what you describe above -- being over aggressive, chucking shots, not giving up the ball in time, etc. The other is that I know he really wants it and will not become a Wiggins or a Reddish for that matter. And I'll take an RJ over a Reddish or a Wiggins any day.
3. I do think part of the reason he looks bad sometimes has to do with Duke, which is actually not the best team for him. Their spacing is quite bad because they are so bad from behind the arc and it hurts RJ's ability to penetrate (perhaps his strongest quality right now) by allowing teams to seal the paint. In addition, when Zion is in the paint, it further blocks it and you can see that he actually looks worse with Zion there. Most NBA teams don't have such a dominant player in the paint and I think the spacing that most teams play with is going to agree with RJ's game.
4. Also relevant to Duke being a really bad three-point team is that I think RJ is actually a decent passer to three-point shots, but (1) many of his passes are being missed (many of them are to Reddish and Jones) and (2) he's probably less inclined to pass these in the first place when he knows that they are likely to miss.
5. Finally, the point you mentioned about not passing enough to Williamson. I think that's true only to an extent. First, he does pass to him, and before the injury, there were a couple of games (like the triple-double one) where most of his assists were to Zion. But also, Zion is mostly playing in the paint and teams make every effort to shut down passing lanes to him. And again, they can do that fairly effectively with a team that shoots so badly from the perimeter. So while it's true that when Zion does get the ball in the paint he's pretty much unstoppable, trying to make this happens often results in turnovers (by Barrett and others). So I think it would be one thing if you saw RJ just taking the ball past half court and then putting his head down in the penetration or chucking one from the 3-point line (which admittedly does happen sometimes; too often to my liking). But most of the time, the ball moves around trying to look for better options. And they don't manage to hit Zion inside (not just RJ; it's not as if Reddish is doing that and even Jones is often unsuccessful in this). Then RJ often gets the ball toward the end of the clock and is expected to create something. Which is partly the reason why his shooting percentage is not that good (that and his fairly poor shooting from the 3-point line).
Okay, after this rant, what am I saying? I guess that I have more faith than you in RJ turning out to be a good, even if not great, NBA player (certainly not another Wiggins). I'm not sure it will happen and there are certainly some warning signs. But as I say above, I'll take his dog mentality and go to war with it any day over players like Wiggins, Reddish, or others who are happy to blend in and not leave a mark. And given the shape of our SF position, I would like to have RJ on the national team for the coming WC.
“If every basketball player worked as hard as I did, I’d be out of a job.”
— Steve Nash
