Otto Porter Part 2

[nuposse04]

I think his ceiling is better than Ariza, worse than Kawhi. Prime Igoudala maybe? Luol Deng? Could he be as good as Draymond Green? Tough one. I think he could be better than Gordon Hayward, Batum, Chandler Parsons, and Joe Johnson when you account of defense, efficiency, usage, etc.

Obviously depends on him staying healthy, working hard, and continuing to improve.

Gordan Hayward is better then everyone on our team except Wall, if he turned out better then him i'd b astonished to be honest. A better Ariz is my guess, we may be even to run offense through him in 2-3 seasons on a consistent basis. You still can't do that with Ariza, he's mostly an out on the break and catch and shoot guy.

FWIW -- Hayward's career WS/48 is .106, which is about average.
Ariza .098
Iggy = .124
Kawhi = .185
Deng = .119

Otto's was .092 this year.

I know it's not a perfect stat, but the context is useful.

Hayward is an improving young player, his career average is pointless. Look at this past season: ws/48 of .159. His career average only comes into play if he was like 32. He's 24, and improving. Also posting great numbers in the west, on a team without a legit starting PG. He's better then everyone we have not named Wall.

[stevemcqueen1]

Otto has what seems to be an instinctive aptitude for the game. It's uncanny how often he is in the
right place at the right time. And while he might appear to be awkward, he can be effective.

So is his ceiling still Tayshon Prince? Could he in time become something more like pre-injury
Paul George?

This was something I remembered most about him from Georgetown. He plays with superior anticipation. Doesn't just play hard, plays hard and smart. Piled up tough rebounds even though he was shorter and skinnier than the bigs. Tons of anticipation steals and always seemed in the fray for 50/50 balls.

This trait plus the length and the advanced offensive skill level in 2 pt land is why I though he could be a lot more than just a good 3&D wing like Ariza. I think it's starting to come together for him.

I don't know who to compare him to. Maybe some Nic Batum there. But he looks a lot taller than Batum, much more of a true front court player so it isn't a great comparison. He's such an odd and original player. He stands out as an oddball simply for never getting into the AAU system. That's not a bad thing though. What he needs to do to make the next step, aside from continuing to build his body and play with confidence and aggression, is work on that three ball and that FT shooting. He needs to get up close to the 80% mark from the FT line to really punish defenses for fouling him. And he needs to eventually get close to the 40% mark on three point attempts where he catches the ball with his feet set.

[fishercob]

Gordan Hayward is better then everyone on our team except Wall, if he turned out better then him i'd b astonished to be honest. A better Ariz is my guess, we may be even to run offense through him in 2-3 seasons on a consistent basis. You still can't do that with Ariza, he's mostly an out on the break and catch and shoot guy.

FWIW -- Hayward's career WS/48 is .106, which is about average.
Ariza .098
Iggy = .124
Kawhi = .185
Deng = .119

Otto's was .092 this year.

I know it's not a perfect stat, but the context is useful.

Hayward is an improving young player, his career average is pointless. Look at this past season: ws/48 of .159. His career average only comes into play if he was like 32. He's 24, and improving. Also posting great numbers in the west, on a team without a legit starting PG. He's better then everyone we have not named Wall.

Hayward is indeed an improving young player. His career average is not pointless. Deng's best season was at 21. Hayward at 21 was better than Porter, but not monstrously so.

Again, I said I think he could end up better than Hayward. He may or may not. If Hayward evolves into a superstar and Otto doesn't reach his level, that won't mean Otto isn't a success. Go team.

[Ruzious]

I'd call him a mix between a taller Danny Green (though Green's a better ball-handler) and a slightly smaller Prince. He made 33.7% of his 3's - which is almost certainly going to improve with hard work, experience, and regular playing time. Of course, it'd help if he had the shooting coach Green and Leonard had.

[DCZards]

DCK - right to not make premature predictions. Hard to know what might happen.
As for being the starter, I'm not sure how much that matters as long as he is playing
solid rotation minutes ie 30 mpg +/- 5 min

I agree that we shouldn’t be fixated on Porter starting. What’s more important is that he gets regular minutes (somewhere in the 30 min. range) and that he gets plenty of on court time with Wall and Beal.

And you’re absolutely right about OP’s instinctive play. His high bball IQ was the first thing I noticed about him as a G’Town freshman. It's particularly apparent in his work on the boards. The NBA TV announcer may have summed it up best last night when he said: “Otto Porter Jr. has been in the right spot on countless occasions tonight.”

Those instincts are apparently in his DNA...both his mom and dad were outstanding bball players.

What I’m really looking forward to is the day that the Zards realize how effective Otto can be as a playmaker/facilitator and shooter out of the high post. He did that extremely well at G’Town and I expect that skill to translate to the NBA.

I used to love the “Ottomatic” chants during G’Town games at the Verizon Ctr.…maybe someday they will become a staple at Zards game.

[dckingsfan]

I am truly fixated on him getting in the starting lineup next year. It may be the wrong thing to fixate on but here is my thinking.

1) The sooner that Wall, Beal & Porter learn to play together the better
2) I want to see Pierce slide to the stretch 4 - the sooner the better
3) I think that with Wittman - starting is the key to getting consistent minutes

[DCZards]

I am truly fixated on him getting in the starting lineup next year. It may be the wrong thing to fixate on but here is my thinking.

1) The sooner that Wall, Beal & Porter learn to play together the better
2) I want to see Pierce slide to the stretch 4 - the sooner the better
3) I think that with Wittman - starting is the key to getting consistent minutes

I agree with #1; I disagree with #2 because I don't think you want to force Pierce to have to defend PFs on a regular basis. As for #3, you're letting Witt off the hook to not demand that Porter gets consistent minutes, whether he starts or comes off the bench.

I'm not opposed to Porter starting. I just don't consider it a priority for next season.

[fishercob]

I'd call him a mix between a taller Danny Green (though Green's a better ball-handler) and a slightly smaller Prince. He made 33.7% of his 3's - which is almost certainly going to improve with hard work, experience, and regular playing time. Of course, it'd help if he had the shooting coach Green and Leonard had.

Is he in fact any smaller than Prince? They're both listed at 6'9.

This is Tay when he was a year and a half older than Otto is now






Totally agree that his shooting his key. The huge improvements he made in college give me hope.

[hands11]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SymJsmjHsgs[/youtube]

Wish I could watch how many times he made Demar chuck up a brick too.

Did you see the spin he put on that ball... Now that's touch..

My main gripe with Otto right now is.... dude. hit the first of your two free throws. He has been missing the first one all year. Tighten that up, and dude looks like Butter.

[hands11]

I wish he would have started more games but they did get him through the season healthy and he is in the playoffs. Lets not overlook that. Could we have had more minutes of Otto and get him through. maybe..maybe not. Maybe the played it overly safe. Maybe they played is pretty damn close to how they should have. We don't know. What we do know is, he is in the playoffs and healthy. Thats a good thing. What he does here can end up mattering much more then the regular season.

I don't think health had any thing to do with Otto not getting minutes. I think it was simply a lack of vision on the part of Randy. Otto is 21 years old and, as far as I know, has not been injured since early last season when he had to sit out the first month or so. There didn't seem to be any need to limit his minutes to keep him healthy this season.

I'm glad to see Otto getting PT (kudos to Randy for that) and thrilled to see him contributing. But I can't help but think he'd be even further along if he had gotten consistent minutes throughout the season.

Could we have had more minutes of Otto and get him through. maybe..maybe not. Maybe the played it overly safe. Maybe they played is pretty damn close to how they should have. We don't know.

Its just speculation.

I do know Wall nor Beal handled heavy minutes very well. So I don't blame them giving Otto a lighter load.

[hands11]

Porter can play. His D on Derozan has been fantastic and now he's scoring too. Play him more Witt.

Wall, Beal, and Porter played the most minutes. The three youngest players played 40, 42, and 36 minutes.

Wittman didn't play Butler. Humphries hasn't been in either game. He hasn't preferred veteran play over youth.

You can say that again. Hell, he played KLife over Hump.

[hands11]

Otto has what seems to be an instinctive aptitude for the game. It's uncanny how often he is in the
right place at the right time. And while he might appear to be awkward, he can be effective.

So is his ceiling still Tayshon Prince? Could he in time become something more like pre-injury
Paul George?

I think his ceiling is better than Ariza, worse than Kawhi. Prime Igoudala maybe? Luol Deng? Could he be as good as Draymond Green? Tough one. I think he could be better than Gordon Hayward, Batum, Chandler Parsons, and Joe Johnson when you account of defense, efficiency, usage, etc.

Obviously depends on him staying healthy, working hard, and continuing to improve.

TA with handles was my short term label.

Well, and a mid range. I'm hoping his top end ends up being Scotty Pippen Light.

[AFM]

I call him Baby KD, Lil Durant.

[payitforward]

Where are all the "blown pick" folks?

Otto had a great game yesterday. I was going to say he played like a man possessed until a closer look reminded me that really he played like a child possessed! Still looks like a teenager to me!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Funny thing is the guy Porter reminds me of a lot is Childress. Overall i didn't like Childress' game but the one thing he did well was move without the ball, constantly finding openings to get easy baskets inside. I see Porter doing this far better than most players. His court awareness is good for a few easy baskets each game, either for him or for someone else.

Childress couldn't play any D and couldn't score outside 5 feet. But Porter can shoot from deep and on the move and is showing signs of becoming a good defender.

Take Childress, Batum, and Rip Hamilton and morph them into one player. That's Otto's ceiling, the best of all three.

[hands11]

Where are all the "blown pick" folks?

Otto had a great game yesterday. I was going to say he played like a man possessed until a closer look reminded me that really he played like a child possessed! Still looks like a teenager to me!

Wait.. What ? You changing your tune on us ?

[dobrojim]

Watching Memphis tonight reminds me of another nice case scenario of what OP might become someday
and that's his fellow G'town alum Jeff Green. I don't know that that would be a bad thing.

[nuposse04]

FWIW -- Hayward's career WS/48 is .106, which is about average.
Ariza .098
Iggy = .124
Kawhi = .185
Deng = .119

Otto's was .092 this year.

I know it's not a perfect stat, but the context is useful.

Hayward is an improving young player, his career average is pointless. Look at this past season: ws/48 of .159. His career average only comes into play if he was like 32. He's 24, and improving. Also posting great numbers in the west, on a team without a legit starting PG. He's better then everyone we have not named Wall.

Hayward is indeed an improving young player. His career average is not pointless. Deng's best season was at 21. Hayward at 21 was better than Porter, but not monstrously so.

Again, I said I think he could end up better than Hayward. He may or may not. If Hayward evolves into a superstar and Otto doesn't reach his level, that won't mean Otto isn't a success. Go team.

I've always thought Deng was an overrated player to be honest. His best season was when he was 21, but that was his third season. Hayward is wrapping up his 5th season as a pro, and is trending in the right direction. Unless its injuries, I generally don't think young players like Gordon will go in a free fall in productivity, ESPECIALLY when their team has good up and coming young players that should make life easier for Gordon. If anything I expect Hayward to be getting easier and easier looks.

I think Porter will be a better defender, but Hayward isn't awful by any definition of the word on D. What he can do, which I question with Porter, is take his man off the dribble. Of course we got to see where Porter will be in 3 years to compare, and hopefully he'll be developing under a better coach and staff by then

[Illmatic12]

Watching Memphis tonight reminds me of another nice case scenario of what OP might become someday
and that's his fellow G'town alum Jeff Green. I don't know that that would be a bad thing.

I don't see it, Green isn't a hustle guy and doesn't do much when the ball isn't in his hands.

[Ruzious]

I'd call him a mix between a taller Danny Green (though Green's a better ball-handler) and a slightly smaller Prince. He made 33.7% of his 3's - which is almost certainly going to improve with hard work, experience, and regular playing time. Of course, it'd help if he had the shooting coach Green and Leonard had.

Is he in fact any smaller than Prince? They're both listed at 6'9.

Totally agree that his shooting his key. The huge improvements he made in college give me hope.

As skinny as Prince has always looked, he actually weighed in at 225 as a rookie out of Kentucky. Maybe it's in the legs. Prince looks at least an inch taller than Porter.