That's both empowering and rattling if you're a pleaser like Augustin, still emerging from Larry-Ball.
Turns out Augustin is quite a driver. Silas never saw that, watching Bobcats games as a fan from his Lake Norman home. Silas knew Augustin could make 3-pointers and could finish in transition, but in the half-court offense, Augustin almost never got into the lane.
There's an irony there – when Augustin was a rookie, playing in the Las Vegas Summer League, all he did was beat people off the dribble. It's almost as if he forgot how.
I've always been able to do it," Augustin said of slicing through the lane. "But in the past, I always wanted to run the offense the correct way, instead of breaking things off like I've been doing. Just creating."
In reporting this story, the Observer analyzed three recent games, possession-by-possession, when Augustin played. They were home victories over the Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies and a road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Some themes emerged: He'll likely never dominate the ball like Denver's Chauncey Billups or Phoenix's Steve Nash. He's efficient as a playmaker, but not supremely creative. He suffers from a lack of finishers when he does make the right pass in proper rhythm.
A majority of the time (116 possessions out of about 200), Augustin had no direct impact on whether the Bobcats scored. You'd somewhat expect that from a point guard who is a spot-up jump shooter, playing with Diaw and Jackson – guys who see themselves as playmakers.
Augustin decided 66 possessions (nearly a third of the total) either with an assist or by making or missing a shot. He ended eight more by committing a turnover – roughly one-tenth of the total possessions (and that was somewhat skewed by the season-high five turnovers he committed against the Grizzlies).
While he might not be the most dynamic passer, he doesn't get much help from the Bobcats' limited offense (92.9 ppg., third-lowest in the NBA). Over the three games, there were 12 instances of what you'd call "near-miss" assists, where Augustin hit a shooter in stride for an open jump shot or layup, but the teammate didn't complete the play.
Augustin had to learn to get out of his own way, to be more vocal and assertive in a manner that doesn't come naturally.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/0 ... -just.html
Is he showing enough at this stage to think he could be our full time point?
