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I realize this will probably get locked and please move this to where it rightfully belongs. I just couldn't find a Official Gilbert Thread anywhere.

Here is a quote from a NBA scout on Gilbert Arenas posted on this weekends daily dime over at ESPN.

"I think Arenas is still good enough to be a 20-point-a-game guy. But not a 30-point-a-game guy. He just seems to lack a little bit of burst that he had in the past. You see it in flashes over the course of a game, but he's more reliant on little pull-ups and long jumpers than he used to be. He used to get a dunk or two every game on dribble penetration. Now those are layups. Or missed layups."

I'm not sure if I agree or not, he is right that Gil lacks the explosiveness he once had. Has he even thrown down any yams this year? But I recall watching some highlights of him during pre-season and he was getting up there, head right around the rim up there. Maybe he just needs time, but the fact that a pro NBA scout thinks hes lost some hops is worrisome.

Bigswinrings wrote:I realize this will probably get locked and please move this to where it rightfully belongs. I just couldn't find a Official Gilbert Thread anywhere.

Here is a quote from a NBA scout on Gilbert Arenas posted on this weekends daily dime over at ESPN.

"I think Arenas is still good enough to be a 20-point-a-game guy. But not a 30-point-a-game guy. He just seems to lack a little bit of burst that he had in the past. You see it in flashes over the course of a game, but he's more reliant on little pull-ups and long jumpers than he used to be. He used to get a dunk or two every game on dribble penetration. Now those are layups. Or missed layups."

I'm not sure if I agree or not, he is right that Gil lacks the explosiveness he once had. Has he even thrown down any yams this year? But I recall watching some highlights of him during pre-season and he was getting up there, head right around the rim up there. Maybe he just needs time, but the fact that a pro NBA scout thinks hes lost some hops is worrisome.

I said this in response to you in another thread, but I think this is just patently false. Gil hasn't been a dunker for a good while, and we saw him dunking a lot over the summer. Probably not in tiring game conditions, but it's there. Time and confidence.

Also, IBTL/M?

Gilbert was a dunker early on in Golden State and has thrown it down with vengeance from time to time with the Wiz.

That was never his game though. He's relied on his range and quickness to keep defenders off balance and right now he's struggling to adjust because his 3s aren't falling and he doesn't get calls on contact in the lane.

His quicks are there, but his jumper isn't.

All in due time, it took guys like Wade and Kobe the better part of a season to come back from their injuries, why should Arenas be any different.

The scout is right and wrong.

Arenas was never a "once a game" dunker. For the first 5-6 years of his career, he was getting a dunk roughly every three games. He actually dropped off a bit as a dunker in 06-07 -- BEFORE the knee injury. He was down to one dunk every 5 games that season, which was the lowest mark in his career. Until he got hurt.

The past 3 seasons (34 regular season games), he has zero dunks. So yeah, Gil's dunking less than he used to.

I don't remember what game it was, but a few games ago Arenas had been blocked more than anyone in the league.....

Fact is, dunking or not he has zero vertical right now. Highest I've seen him get up was against the Pistons when he actually blocked a Pistons shot (then proceeded to lose his balance and fall down).

I think he just needs some time, but he looks exhausted every other game right now. Opponents seem to realize they can camp in the lane and swat his shot. Let's hope time heals this!

Yup.

Flip needs to scale back Arenas' minutes a bit so he can put forth max effort when he's on the floor. I'd like to see an end to the Arenas at SG experiment. I'd rather have Young or Foye at SG than Arenas. Arenas can't stay in front of anybody on defense right now. And offensively, he hasn't done enough to prove he's a better offensive option at SG than Young.

Have Arenas and Boykins split PG duties with Arenas playing 28-32 minutes and Boykins 16-20. Young and Foye can handle all the SG minutes.

nate33 wrote:Yup.

Flip needs to scale back Arenas' minutes a bit so he can put forth max effort when he's on the floor. I'd like to see an end to the Arenas at SG experiment. I'd rather have Young or Foye at SG than Arenas. Arenas can't stay in front of anybody on defense right now. And offensively, he hasn't done enough to prove he's a better offensive option at SG than Young.

Have Arenas and Boykins split PG duties with Arenas playing 28-32 minutes and Boykins 16-20. Young and Foye can handle all the SG minutes.

I don't know... there are times Gil and Boykins look pretty fluid together.