The Gradey Dick Thread Part 3

[Scase]

I can’t judge the defence until I see a new coach lol. Everyone is just really bad in this defensive system. We were a bottom 10 defensive team with OG, Poeltl, Scottie and Schroeder.

He was average at best under Thibs, one of the best defensive coaches in NBA history lol. Ochai has looked fine under Darko, as has Jak and Scottie. The schemes aren't great for sure, but schemes don't get POA defenders blown by.

They look fine individually but clearly aren’t good at the moment. We’re 30th in defence, there’s no excuse for that. IQ hasn’t even played more than 3 games and were last in the league in defence with Ochai, Mitchell and Shead playing peremiter defence.

Clearly something is broken.

The problem is made way worse with Scottie out, when he's not on the floor there is a severe lack of communication on defence. It's something that you need when you have good individual defenders but they aren't stellar team defenders. OG never needed to be told where to go, cause he was elite at reading the offence and being in the right spots. But this team is missing that guy shouting out where people need to rotate when things are evolving, Scottie has always been extremely vocal with that and it helps a lot.

Ochai/Shead/Mitchell are good individual defenders, but you never see them directing someone how to navigate a screen, or someone rolling etc. There's also a lot of new moving parts to the team, so there's gonna be an adjustment time as well. I suspect it'll get better with time, but I'm in no rush for now since we need to suck lol.

[Grindhouse]

i am glad people are seeing what a true shooting guard looks like. gradey will be our scorer but its still scottie team. I would like to see battle become the klay type off the ball but his foot work needs improvement. if RJ could hit his outside shots this would be his job permanently but he cant so he is a place holder. yak is also a placeholder gradey and davion/shead are making yak look better than he is. I have started looking at the top 3 in this years draft and i like egor alot maybe a better fit than copper aeason just started so nothing is final.

bottom line is everything should run through gradey even when scottie gets back. sprinkle in some change ups to keep the defence honest.

[ConSarnit]

He was average at best under Thibs, one of the best defensive coaches in NBA history lol. Ochai has looked fine under Darko, as has Jak and Scottie. The schemes aren't great for sure, but schemes don't get POA defenders blown by.

They look fine individually but clearly aren’t good at the moment. We’re 30th in defence, there’s no excuse for that. IQ hasn’t even played more than 3 games and were last in the league in defence with Ochai, Mitchell and Shead playing peremiter defence.

Clearly something is broken.

Defense will be better with Barnes on the weakside. I havent looked at Poeltls defensive metrics but he was like top 5 prior to getting traded. Not sure where he stands now. POA defense is important but the backline defense will always be most valuable in the NBA. That's why I wonder what Poeltl's metrics are these days.

We foul too much. We give up the most ppg in the league off of free throws. Another issue that drags our defense down but isn't really related to defense is we give up the 3rd most ppg off of turnovers. We're playing a lot of young guys who foul too much and turn the ball over too much (both are sort of to be expected).

As far as Poeltl is concerned he's not the same defender he was in SA. In TO he has been hovering around -5 fg% as a rim protector. In SAS he was around -10%. When you get to that -5% range you're basically "decent" rim protector and no longer "very good". I've seen stats that say he's been very good on switches and the perimeter but the main trait we brought him in for (rim protection) has slipped. He's not a top 10 rim protector anymore.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I mean Poeltl himself told everyone he wasn't going to try that hard this year and that's what we get. The defensive intensity picks up in spots.

We give up a lot of transition opportunities and back cuts. That's coaching.

We foul a lot. That's reputation.

I've mentioned for like 3 years straight POA defense is the least important aspect of defense in the NBA right now and we went out and targeted those types of players in the draft. But we saw last season that offense was juiced by refereeing and taken away midseason by allowing more contact. Maybe we're waiting on another shift.

[earth007]

Man, if Gradey improves his handles in the next few offseasons, he has the potential to be a taller Steph imo. If we luck out and get Flagg/Ace, we can easily hide him on defense with Scottie and Flagg/Ace playing at the SF and PF positions. If I were Masai, I would try to get RJ's, IQ's and Jak's value high as possible and trade them for picks and some young talents. I don't think any of those 3 should be here long term.

[HumbleRen]

He was average at best under Thibs, one of the best defensive coaches in NBA history lol. Ochai has looked fine under Darko, as has Jak and Scottie. The schemes aren't great for sure, but schemes don't get POA defenders blown by.

They look fine individually but clearly aren’t good at the moment. We’re 30th in defence, there’s no excuse for that. IQ hasn’t even played more than 3 games and were last in the league in defence with Ochai, Mitchell and Shead playing peremiter defence.

Clearly something is broken.

The problem is made way worse with Scottie out, when he's not on the floor there is a severe lack of communication on defence. It's something that you need when you have good individual defenders but they aren't stellar team defenders. OG never needed to be told where to go, cause he was elite at reading the offence and being in the right spots. But this team is missing that guy shouting out where people need to rotate when things are evolving, Scottie has always been extremely vocal with that and it helps a lot.

Ochai/Shead/Mitchell are good individual defenders, but you never see them directing someone how to navigate a screen, or someone rolling etc. There's also a lot of new moving parts to the team, so there's gonna be an adjustment time as well. I suspect it'll get better with time, but I'm in no rush for now since we need to suck lol.

I don’t think Scottie is that level of defender. His impact is very overrated on that end.

We’re just not a disciplined enough team on that end.

[mieshpal]

what a player
3 level scorer at 20 , just think where he will be at 23

In this case I am sure he will improve quite a bit, but sometimes guys do peak quicker. Look at Gary Trent JR. So many people talking about he's 21, 22. He had an early ceiling.

I think Gradey will take some big steps. Not sure he will be a star, but hopefully

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[mieshpal]

I'm sticking by my Reggie Miller ceiling comp

I agree. That was my thinking when he was drafted... not quite as tall... but similar. That's a good ceiling.

That's a hall of fame ceiling

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[Scase]

They look fine individually but clearly aren’t good at the moment. We’re 30th in defence, there’s no excuse for that. IQ hasn’t even played more than 3 games and were last in the league in defence with Ochai, Mitchell and Shead playing peremiter defence.

Clearly something is broken.

The problem is made way worse with Scottie out, when he's not on the floor there is a severe lack of communication on defence. It's something that you need when you have good individual defenders but they aren't stellar team defenders. OG never needed to be told where to go, cause he was elite at reading the offence and being in the right spots. But this team is missing that guy shouting out where people need to rotate when things are evolving, Scottie has always been extremely vocal with that and it helps a lot.

Ochai/Shead/Mitchell are good individual defenders, but you never see them directing someone how to navigate a screen, or someone rolling etc. There's also a lot of new moving parts to the team, so there's gonna be an adjustment time as well. I suspect it'll get better with time, but I'm in no rush for now since we need to suck lol.

I don’t think Scottie is that level of defender. His impact is very overrated on that end.

We’re just not a disciplined enough team on that end.

No reason it can't be both, Scottie is extremely vocal on defence (and offence) and we aren't a disciplined team that has a new coach and is filled with a ton of rookies and 2nd year players.

[Vampirate]

what a player
3 level scorer at 20 , just think where he will be at 23

In this case I am sure he will improve quite a bit, but sometimes guys do peak quicker. Look at Gary Trent JR. So many people talking about he's 21, 22. He had an early ceiling.

I think Gradey will take some big steps. Not sure he will be a star, but hopefully

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GTJ never actually had both high volume and efficiency in any year.

Even if Gradey averages around 15 PPG on 56-58% TS at the end of the year, that's still quite a jump from his rookie year.

[mihaic]

what a player
3 level scorer at 20 , just think where he will be at 23

In this case I am sure he will improve quite a bit, but sometimes guys do peak quicker. Look at Gary Trent JR. So many people talking about he's 21, 22. He had an early ceiling.

I think Gradey will take some big steps. Not sure he will be a star, but hopefully

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Gary would only score from deep. Gradey drives to the rim so he is still a threat when his shot is off. Gradey's handles improved a lot between year 1 and 2. Gary's remained limited. Gradey has more length compared to Gary, I think.

Gary hit his ceiling most likely.
As for Gradey this is why I hope that his ceiling is so much higher so he still has a ways to go.

[WuTang_CMB]

Masai cant keep doing this

[OakleyDokely]

Masai cant keep doing this

[MEDIC]

GTJ doesn't play with speed or force. Gradey does. GTJ plays a methodical style of basketball. All footwork. It's kind of the same dynamic over and over again. Nobody getting tired guarding GTJ.

Because Gradey plays with force & speed, he can get better in so many areas of the game. Even just conditioning and strength will help him play better as the years pass.

I used to think Gradey had no chance of being a decent defender. Now I am seeing glimpses of good footwork & anticipation & it makes me think that he could actually be a GOOD defender in his prime.

His ball handling will get better too, which will allow him to get his game off a little more.

I think Gradey has the "it" factor when it comes to work ethic & drive.

[WuTang_CMB]

Read on Twitter

[Psubs]

GTJ doesn't play with speed or force. Gradey does. GTJ plays a methodical style of basketball. All footwork. It's kind of the same dynamic over and over again. Nobody getting tired guarding GTJ.

Because Gradey plays with force & speed, he can get better in so many areas of the game. Even just conditioning and strength will help him play better as the years pass.

I used to think Gradey had no chance of being a decent defender. Now I am seeing glimpses of good footwork & anticipation & it makes me think that he could actually be a GOOD defender in his prime.

His ball handling will get better too, which will allow him to get his game off a little more.

I think Gradey has the "it" factor when it comes to work ethic & drive.

GTJr is just too undersized and doesn't have the wingspan, quickness or anything else to make him above average bench player.

[Psubs]

Read on Twitter

Laundry done.

[mtcan]

GTJ doesn't play with speed or force. Gradey does. GTJ plays a methodical style of basketball. All footwork. It's kind of the same dynamic over and over again. Nobody getting tired guarding GTJ.

Because Gradey plays with force & speed, he can get better in so many areas of the game. Even just conditioning and strength will help him play better as the years pass.

I used to think Gradey had no chance of being a decent defender. Now I am seeing glimpses of good footwork & anticipation & it makes me think that he could actually be a GOOD defender in his prime.

His ball handling will get better too, which will allow him to get his game off a little more.

I think Gradey has the "it" factor when it comes to work ethic & drive.

It comes down to court awareness and bbiq. How many times do we see Gary taking ill-advised shots and try to score no matter who is in front of him? And...Gary has no concept of moving without the ball.

Gradey's decision making is on a whole different level compared to Gary. That is the difference.

[WuTang_CMB]

GTJ doesn't play with speed or force. Gradey does. GTJ plays a methodical style of basketball. All footwork. It's kind of the same dynamic over and over again. Nobody getting tired guarding GTJ.

Because Gradey plays with force & speed, he can get better in so many areas of the game. Even just conditioning and strength will help him play better as the years pass.

I used to think Gradey had no chance of being a decent defender. Now I am seeing glimpses of good footwork & anticipation & it makes me think that he could actually be a GOOD defender in his prime.

His ball handling will get better too, which will allow him to get his game off a little more.

I think Gradey has the "it" factor when it comes to work ethic & drive.

It comes down to court awareness and bbiq. How many times do we see Gary taking ill-advised shots and try to score no matter who is in front of him? And...Gary has no concept of moving without the ball.

Gradey's decision making is on a whole different level compared to Gary. That is the difference.

For sure that, but the talent is night and day. Gradey at 20 is already a much better player. Gary can't finish at the rim for beans.

[ConSarnit]

I mean Poeltl himself told everyone he wasn't going to try that hard this year and that's what we get. The defensive intensity picks up in spots.

We give up a lot of transition opportunities and back cuts. That's coaching.

We foul a lot. That's reputation.

I've mentioned for like 3 years straight POA defense is the least important aspect of defense in the NBA right now and we went out and targeted those types of players in the draft. But we saw last season that offense was juiced by refereeing and taken away midseason by allowing more contact. Maybe we're waiting on another shift.

We're not really getting killed in transition. We're 14th in ppg given up in transition and our defensive ppp is 1.08, which is a solid number. We are giving up the most ppg in the league from FT's and we're 3rd in ppg allowed off turnovers (I'm assuming both live and dead ball ones, which don't necessarily all fall under "transition").

I agree that POA defense is overrated (especially in our case where our POA guys are giving it all back on through TO's or fouling). It's way more valuable to have shooting and competent playmaking from the pg position (with middling defense) than it is to have "lockdown" defenders who aren't offensive threats. I'm not really clear on the drafting POA defenders part. At least for this past couple of years the only one who fits that description is Shead.