nate33 wrote:dckingsfan wrote:jangles86 wrote:Where has this Sato improvement come from?! I've missed the last few games and can't believe Sato has produced. Is he a legit 2nd option as a PG now? What sort of minutes does he get when walls back? I'm all for trading Frazier.
Feel like Sato has been played as a 2 and he's more of a point
So, my take - for what it is worth - is that he is getting back to playing like he did in Europe. I think he lost confidence then playing time when he came over. And I think Brooks didn't have confidence in him - which I think is on Sato as well. He was always a very good 3 point shooter and had a high assist rate (near to Walls) in Europe.
But alas - these are the Wizards, he goes back to the bench when wall comes back.
Yeah, he showed a lot of these same skills last year, but there was a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights look about him. He was energetic, but also a bit scared. The end result was that he was fine defensively, but a liability on offense. He looks much more confident this year.
I'm real encouraged that Brooks had him play with the starters during the 4th quarter. He had him in during crunch time against Philly last game as well. Maybe there's a chance he moves ahead of Frazier in the rotation.
there was literally a stretch last year where Teague took him to the woodshed like 5 times in a row and then Sato airballed a WIDE OPEN 3 and immediately got benched. It was so awkward, he definitely had a confidence issue last year, he wouldn't even attempt to look at the basket, last night he was actually turning the corner and looked to have a nice quick first step instead of looking hesitant.
these have been some really good signs from Sato.
