Ah, here we go, the Scottie slander thread. It was inevitable with zero patience fans who love to tear players down and require instant gratification, 'what have you done for me lately? wah!'
Scottie has been playing with a hand contusion and bum ankle and has never been asked nor played like this prior in his life, being the #1 main guy. This is all new for Scottie. But this is also old news: we learned this when we drafted him; that he needed to develop a jump shot, mid-range game and three point shot. The fact that
his mid-range has come this far so soon is really impressive. Plus of course, Scottie was practically shooting lights out from three at the start of the '23-'24 season. We've seen him shoot well and it's inevitable that someone so talented can get back to that standard through more hard work and developing further this summer.
Scottie isn't a finished product yet. He still needs to develop as he's nowhere near his ceiling.
Regardless, he really has to work his ass off this summer (improve the footwork, develop more of a bag and continue improving that handle).
However, this was the point of this season: to experiment, play outside of their comfort zones and develop, while racking up the Ls.
Nonetheless, this kind of nuance is often just tossed aside and not considered, ie "excuses! wah!" and sports fans in general tend to be overly reactionary and negative to such an extent that they end up digging their own hole:
Is Shai a little overrated?
He’s the primary option, and still doesn’t seem to have made any improvements in his game and is still pretty passive. I think everyone just needs to be realistic about him. At best, he’s a third option on a championship team. But I don’t think you build the whole enchilada around him when Baze and Dort are outplaying him most nights.
I realize that’s going to be unpopular, but I think it’s gotta become a realization. He’s a good player, but not this franchise-altering guy
I think we can all agree we shouldnt be planning on him being the primary option in the future but he will be a big piece for us and could possibly be a second option. He can come off as a little overrated i guess cause hes our best player and we stan him so much.
Yeah I’m not saying he isn’t part of the puzzle, but people don’t need to act like he’s going to be the savior. He’s not. He’s a secondary option to whoever we draft
He's currently and 18/6 type of guy. We need him to be a 24/8 type guy. Sometimes I feel he's on track and sometimes I feel he's not going to be that guy. Hard to get a read. Fringe All star potential I think. I don't think he'll be superstar level.
That being said, he's not a KD, Harden, Luka type scorer, and probably never will be. The player that I think of most when I watch Shai is Ginobili. Crafty, below the rim playmaker with good court awareness. Capable on a given night of being the best player on the floor. That's probably his ceiling. And if it is (and if he gets there) holy ****, that's incredible. That's a huge piece in building a contending team.
The truth is that even if we hit big on the next couple drafts we're probably still going to be 2-4 years from being a contender.
I like Shai but I still believe Bazley is the player with the most potential. The offense needs to flow through him a little more.Bazley kept us in the game today until later in the 3rd and 4th quarter. The team is still figuring out the dynamics of the offense but Bazley needs to at least be the 2nd option.
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