HangTime wrote: I'd like to know who made as drastic of a change, on the fly, on both sides of the ball.
You call it an excuse, I see what's going on. It really is that simple, if you pay attention.
It's an excuse if you're implying that he's going to magically overcome this to become worthwhile in a focal initiation role as a scoring threat. The role change during the trade didn't do anything meaningful; if he had the tools to score, he would have scored more effectively then or this year. It didn't "take his legs out," which implies stamina issues. He played 0.1 mpg more than the year before, and took 2.5 more shots per game. He wasn't pressed THAT hard. And if somehow he was, then he never had the juice to get it done in the first place. But he was taking literally an extra half shot per game inside the arc and passing a similar amount, but taking more shots from 3. That's it, that's the major change.
He went from taking 1 corner 3 per game and 1.8 ATB threes in 2023 to taking 0.8 corner 3s and 4.1 ATB threes (and shooting 34.7%). Then this year, he was at 0.6 corner 3s and 3.6 ATB 3s, and he tanked out on them very badly, shooting about what he did as a rookie (26.5 this year on 3.6 ATB 3PA/g, 27.9 as a rook on 1.7 ATB 3PA/g).
He's been increasing his 3pt volume the entire time, increasing his passing load the entire time, and largely maintaining a very similar volume from inside the arc. It's not like he's been pressing himself that hard with huge volume swings. He's added shots which are easy to get, and he's horrifically bad at pull-up 3pt shooting.
2022: 0.4/g, 32.6%
2023: 0.7/g, 21.9%
2024: 1.1/g, 17.1%
2025: 1.4/g, 25.5%
Catch and shoot?
2022: 2.1/g, 29.2%
2023: 2.1/g, 30.2%
2024: 3.9/g, 38.4%
2025: 2.8/g, 27.7%
Another big difference? 3P% with 0 dribbles.
2022: 2.2/g, 29.8%
2023: 2.2/g, 30.4%
2024: 3.9/g, 38.6%
2025: 2.9/g, 28.0%
Even last year, the minute he started dribbling before the shot, he couldn't hit it to save his life. Same same if the possession lasted longer than a second or two.
There are better ways to discuss Scottie. Making up excuses for a guy who isn't pressed with huge usage isn't really a solid angle, though. He had a hot streak from 3 and had increased his volume from there. Then he settled back down to what he has now done for 3 of his 4 seasons, which is evidence no real comfort or ability from 3. You call it a "huge role change," but it really, really wasn't. There were barely any perceptible changes in how he was playing other than increased volume from 3, which wasn't really taking anything from his legs. It just isn't what happened.
