Austin Reaves Has Been Great In FIBA ... Could He Be An All-Star?

[Memories]

Remember when lakers fans thought THT was going to be an all-star. It helps when you play beside a all time great and another superstar like AD.

That was like a flavor of the week situation and it was during the preseason when THT was putting up 20+ points for a couple of preseason games. And even then, it was just fans liking his physical and very raw potential. He would never develop making a layup with his left hand.

Reaves has been doing this for a season and a half now, including TEAM USA. Making that comparison with THT is just disingenuous. It would be like saying Knicks fans always overhype players because of that one time they hyped the living hell out of Jeremy Lin for like, what, 12 games?

[Memories]

If he develops a decent mid-range game

Reaves shot 51.4% from mid-range the whole regular season last year. He's already more than "decent" at that area.

The long twos however are lower at around 45%, but those are the shots NBA teams are now discouraging others to take anyway. And Reaves's EFG% goes back to way above that number from deep. It's also keep in mind, combining the whole regular season. Not just the 2nd half of the season where he exploded after the trade deadline with Westbrick gone.

[oversteerdawg]

I'm a big Reaves fan, but Team USA play needs to be taken with a grain of salt. He's not exclusively playing against NBA level talent. With that being said, I do think he has the potential of being a 1-time all star. He reminds me a bit of a Sam Cassell-Lite.

[hoosierdaddy34]

Too many great guards in the west.

[Beethoven]

Austin Reaves is what Austin Reaves does.

[CP3nthusiast]

If he develops a decent mid-range game

Reaves shot 51.4% from mid-range the whole regular season last year. He's already more than "decent" at that area.

The long twos however are lower at around 45%, but those are the shots NBA teams are now discouraging others to take anyway. And Reaves's EFG% goes back to way above that number from deep. It's also keep in mind, combining the whole regular season. Not just the 2nd half of the season where he exploded after the trade deadline with Westbrick gone.

How many midrange shots did he take a game? 2, 3? And like you said, teams didn't catch on to how good he was until late into the season.

He needs the midrange game to fall back on since he's not a particularly strong or fast player who can get to the rim at ease. His rim finishing stats will most likely take a hit now that he's gonna face increased defensive attention with more lead ball handling responsibilities. If he can maintain his efficiency while increasing his volume from that range, he's got a shot at becoming one of the more complete 2 guards in the league.

[Yeggo Poleggo]

AR15 is dope, but hes not an all star. Hes just a really good player who hustles hard.

[NZB2323]

Steph, Ja, Booker, SGA, Ant, Fox, Dame, Kyrie, Luka.

No, I don’t think so.

Plus Murray.

[Big J]

Hell no! He's a fricken role player underdog who fans like because he reminds them of Rudy from Notre Dame.

[NUMBERICA]

I expect him to make 1-3 all-star teams at some point.

[NUMBERICA]

Hell no! He's a fricken role player underdog who fans like because he reminds them of Rudy from Notre Dame.

And the best TS% of any guard that actually plays minutes. He also moves the ball and runs the show well enough to be lead guard, he defends well, and, yes, he competes his ass off (this is a good thing).

The list of players that do what he does is very short.

[NBA4Lyfe]

the fans will vote him in

[FrobeBryant]

Hell no! He's a fricken role player underdog who fans like because he reminds them of Rudy from Notre Dame.

What a dumb take

[Memories]

Steph, Ja, Booker, SGA, Ant, Fox, Dame, Kyrie, Luka.

No, I don’t think so.

Plus Murray.

- Ant will be on a bad team next season (sorry wolves fans). This actually does matter. Just look at last year's all star game when Zion got in and AD didn't make the team despite putting up better numbers AND playing more games than Zion before all star break.
- Ja is suspended for the first 25 games. So he won't make it next season.
- Murray has never been an all star, that probably won't change unless he plays like he does in the playoffs, in the regular season.

That and usually injuries that happen to at least one of these players every year. Curry at his age maybe? Dame perhaps?

The West last season's all star game featured EIGHT (8) guards. So my locks are the following assuming they are healthy:

Curry, SGA, Dame, Luka. That's 4 more spots available. I don't consider Booker a lock since he didn't even make the all star team last season. Kyrie is crazy in the membrane, as well as injury prone (missing a couple of all star appearances the last 5 years). So who knows what happens with him? And last year was Fox's first time as an all star, and it was because the Kings finally for the first time in like, almost 2 decades became a good team again. So he's not a lock either.

Obviously a lot of factors will have to come into play for Reaves to become an all star. Especially through his own play. But if the team is great which is very possible after how the team exploded the 2nd half of the season, if Reaves is a big part of that success, and combined with the other factors I mentioned, he's got a shot despite how loaded the West is. It's just unlikely.

[Memories]

Hell no! He's a fricken role player underdog who fans like because he reminds them of Rudy from Notre Dame.

Go back to watching college football.

This might be the worst take of the offseason, and that's saying a lot.

[mkot]

I kinda hope he made it to prove a point

[Big J]

Hell no! He's a fricken role player underdog who fans like because he reminds them of Rudy from Notre Dame.

Go back to watching college football.

This might be the worst take of the offseason, and that's saying a lot.

You sound triggered.

[Crunch 99]

Deleted

[NZB2323]

Steph, Ja, Booker, SGA, Ant, Fox, Dame, Kyrie, Luka.

No, I don’t think so.

Plus Murray.

- Ant will be on a bad team next season (sorry wolves fans). This actually does matter. Just look at last year's all star game when Zion got in and AD didn't make the team despite putting up better numbers AND playing more games than Zion before all star break.
- Ja is suspended for the first 25 games. So he won't make it next season.
- Murray has never been an all star, that probably won't change unless he plays like he does in the playoffs, in the regular season.

That and usually injuries that happen to at least one of these players every year. Curry at his age maybe? Dame perhaps?

The West last season's all star game featured EIGHT (8) guards. So my locks are the following assuming they are healthy:

Curry, SGA, Dame, Luka. That's 4 more spots available. I don't consider Booker a lock since he didn't even make the all star team last season. Kyrie is crazy in the membrane, as well as injury prone (missing a couple of all star appearances the last 5 years). So who knows what happens with him? And last year was Fox's first time as an all star, and it was because the Kings finally for the first time in like, almost 2 decades became a good team again. So he's not a lock either.

Obviously a lot of factors will have to come into play for Reaves to become an all star. Especially through his own play. But if the team is great which is very possible after how the team exploded the 2nd half of the season, if Reaves is a big part of that success, and combined with the other factors I mentioned, he's got a shot despite how loaded the West is. It's just unlikely.

1. Ants team made the playoffs last year and likely will next year as well. You don’t need to be a top 3 seed in order to make the all-star team.

2. Booker didn’t make the all-star team last year because he was injured, but he usually plays a lot of games and makes the all-star team.

3. Fox is likely to be an all-star again. I’m not sure why him being a first time all-star would mean he wouldn’t be one again.

4. Murray I think is more likely to make it after winning the championship.

[madskillz8]

So the 2 (yes amazing, two whole games) he has played in the tournament mean that much?

Why not Schroeder and Hollis-Jefferson and co?

The box score vs Greece flattered him. Did you actually watch it?

He was out of control, turned the ball over, tried to turn regular passes into cringey no lookers and got phantom foul trips to the line.

He is trying way too hard to fit in and the real stars around him don’t seem to enjoy it from what body language suggests.

It's that Reaves is outplaying his much lauded teammates, not that he's outplaying opponents.

You're missing the point if you can't wrap your head around that.

(First of all, I didnt watch games- I stopped watching this "national" teams crap since they basically allow one American player per team even for U20s. Yeah, I'm not gonna watch Azerbaijanis celebrate for their national heros - Jaycee Carroll, Chuck Davis, Spencer Nelson, Jordan Davis... - thus, it's up to you to read the rest of this post)

Just yesterday, while reading that "Ingram is struggling" thread, I had questioned the USA's roster selection:

At first, picking the top 15 guys, or 15 stars (let's say 12-13 out of 15) sounds reasonable until you realize you're actually trying to build a winning "team".

I mean, you can always try making adjustments to construct a winning "team" from 15 stars, but it takes so called star players buy in their roles to play roles out of their strengths. You can also consider building a team with stars & good role players such as Reaves. What's the point of putting Brunson, Haliburton, Ingram, Edwards on the floor at the same time, and expecting them to adjust unfamiliar roles in 3-4 exhibition games instead of picking and playing more role players based on your coach's plan? If you need an off-ball, screen runner forward, go pick one instead of Ingram in the first place...

That's also why, in 2018, an average Euro role player Kurucs immediately became an average role player in NBA, while a superior player in Dzanan Musa struggled to adjust into a lesser role and looked like the inferior player.

Let's return to the topic, I think Reaves is a great pick for USA since he can play his own game. Like the way Kenneth Faried did back in time. Put him into a star - 1st or 2nd option - role on offense, which is necessary for any player to become a candidate for the west all star teams, he will likely struggle. Just like Ingram did, just in an opposite way.