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I was just flipping through ESPN page and Moon's stats in Jan jumps at me:

Min: 34.6
PPG: 10.2
RPG: 6.9
Assists: 1.2
Blocks: 1.78
Steals: 1.56
Turnovers: 1.1
FT attempts Per Game: 1.7
FT% 73.3
FG%: 51.4

If there is a negative to this, it's:
3P%: 29.4 and he takes 1.9 3s per game (stop shooting treys Jamario)


Can he get any better than this? I am not sure he will ever be a big time scorer, but despite shooting those 3s, he still shoot over 50% from the field. Let's hope he stop shooting the 3 and increase the FT rate a little more.

We all know he is a big bargain for what the Raptors paid for him, but this is absoultely amazing for a guy who has never had a training camp invite.

One of, if not the biggest surprise in the entire league this season.

And those numbers don't even tell the half of it. His athleticism on defense has been a godsend to an otherwise unathletic team. Plus he's probably the best help defender on the team and can handle any switch without getting into a mismatch situation.

quality player

Another positive out of this is less floor time for Kapono.

The_Hater wrote:One of, if not the biggest surprise in the entire league this season.

And those numbers don't even tell the half of it. His athleticism on defense has been a godsend to an otherwise unathletic team. Plus he's probably the best help defender on the team and can handle any switch without getting into a mismatch situation.

You are right, the numbers don't thell half the story. He changes alot of shots on the defensive end, and is equally good as a man to man defender and a help defender (though he does bite on head fakes too many times; rookie mistakes, I know)

The question would be: Can he get even better on defense? Can he be a lockdown defender? He is 27, while he probably won't get too much better on offense, I can actually see him to get even better on D. He could be (maybe I am dreaming here...), first team all defense material.

elephunk wrote:Another positive out of this is less floor time for Kapono.

He can also play PF in a small lineup. His rebounding is good enough that it wouldn't hurt the team too much in a short period of time. His assertion to the starting lineup, allows Bargnani to continue to start at C.

If that guy works hard on his three point shot and really makes it at a healthy clip, he'll be a fixture for years to come.

Shaazzam wrote:If that guy works hard on his three point shot and really makes it at a healthy clip, he'll be a fixture for years to come.

Absolutely, although I'd much prefer for him to be way more aggressive on the offensive end and continuously take it to the paint.

Pchu wrote:The question would be: Can he get even better on defense? Can he be a lockdown defender? He is 27, while he probably won't get too much better on offense, I can actually see him to get even better on D. He could be (maybe I am dreaming here...), first team all defense material.

I think he could. He's already a highly valuable defensive player even while biting on too many headfakes. And as a rookie, that (biting) is a mental issue that he should be able to learn and improve on.

I think that he can keep most players in front of him right now (I've only seen him really struggle with a couple of players, Paul Pierce and his herky jerky/pump fake style being one of them). And man-to-man defense is one thing that you can expect rookies to improve on as they learn the players around the league. Plus he still plays the passing lanes extremely well. His anticipation on steals and blocks is pretty incredible at times.

Pchu wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



He can also play PF in a small lineup. His rebounding is good enough that it wouldn't hurt the team too much in a short period of time. His assertion to the starting lineup, allows Bargnani to continue to start at C.

Thats the sad thing with Bargs struggles this year IMO. When I saw Bargs getting 15ppg and 5rpg in the last 2 months last year I thougth that all we needed was a tall SF who could provide the rebounds, blocks, D and athleticism while Bargs would provide the scoring and outside shooting.

Thats why I even wanted us to spend crazy money for Kirilenko.

Now we get the perfect SF complement for Bargs almost for free, put them in the starting lineup together, and Bargs decides to stop playing

The_Hater wrote:One of, if not the biggest surprise in the entire league this season.

And those numbers don't even tell the half of it. His athleticism on defense has been a godsend to an otherwise unathletic team. Plus he's probably the best help defender on the team and can handle any switch without getting into a mismatch situation.

Just ask Al Horford!

Yuri Vaultin wrote:
Absolutely, although I'd much prefer for him to be way more aggressive on the offensive end and continuously take it to the paint.

I'm a little unsure about that. It seems that many times when he takes it to the cup, he comes up somewhat gimpy. Granted he did get annihilated a few times early this season IIRC, but I don't know about him going to the cup, he's got a really, really slight build. I'm not sure how much contact he can absorb.

Thing is, most teams are playing Moon for the drive and pretty much giving him open looks because of it. So in most cases Moon is probably making the correct decision by taking the wide open jumper rather than driving into a charge or into the teeth of the defense. His jumper ain't pretty but he has been making a decent percentage from 18-22 feet.

Plus he doesn't have a good enough handle to dribble his way through traffic. He's only really effective going to the rim when he sees a seem or a lane and drives it hard from point A to point B.

He is not a great ball handler, but he is extremely quick and it only takes him on one or two dribbles to go to the basket. He is competent enough to do just that (unlike Joey Graham, who couldn't even take one dribble without losing the ball).

The defense do leave him open for the jump shot, but I would like to see him step inside the 3 point arc more and shoot that midrange shot, which is pretty consistent for the most part.

Pchu wrote:He is not a great ball handler, but he is extremely quick and it only takes him on one or two dribbles to go to the basket. He is competent enough to do just that (unlike Joey Graham, who couldn't even take one dribble without losing the ball).

The defense do leave him open for the jump shot, but I would like to see him step inside the 3 point arc more and shoot that midrange shot, which is pretty consistent for the most part.

His handle is definitely better than Joey's... (not that it's anything to brag about)...

Yeah. 3 months in a row under 30% from the arc is a pretty big sign than he needs to camp out at 20-22 feet not 25 feet. Graham is very similar in this respect.

Seriously if someone was watching a raptor game for the first time they'd think Jamario would have been the 1st overall pick and Andrea the undrafted player

TorontoHuskies wrote:Seriously if someone was watching a raptor game for the first time they'd think Jamario would have been the 1st overall pick and Andrea the undrafted player

I actually believe this to be the case. I do not remember otherwise.

I sleep well at night knowing this.

The_Hater wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



His handle is definitely better than Joey's... (not that it's anything to brag about)...

Yeah. 3 months in a row under 30% from the arc is a pretty big sign than he needs to camp out at 20-22 feet not 25 feet. Graham is very similar in this respect.

Funny thing is that Matt Bonner actually did that in his first year. He knows it will take him time to adjust to the 3 point line, so he shoot 2 pointers instead; he shoot over 55% in his rookie year while taking less 3 pointers. Moon (and other players) could do the same thing. If I am Mitchell, I would make sure Moon isn't attempting more 3 pointers than free throws.