Chicago Bulls select Noa Essengue - #12 overall

[dawhizz]

Game 1: Oof
Game 2: eh
Game 3: Hmmmm!

[MGB8]

And today showed the upside of the boom-bust prospect - the boom side of the coin.

I’m very happy. I may have wanted a safer pick, but I can’t complain if the gamble pays off. And today was promising. Very good / great players generally show early (noting that Derrick Rose struggled his first summer league, so there are exceptions). Anyway, Noa showed.

[Muzbar]

Game 1: Oof
Game 2: eh
Game 3: Hmmmm!

It's almost like he's getting used to how the game is played at this level.

Nah, he's a bust.

[kodo]

And today showed the upside of the boom-bust prospect - the boom side of the coin.

I’m very happy. I may have wanted a safer pick, but I can’t complain if the gamble pays off. And today was promising. Very good / great players generally show early (noting that Derrick Rose struggled his first summer league, so there are exceptions). Anyway, Noa showed.

Not just Derrick, SGA had a poor summer league debut as well. 13 points but on 5-19 shooting.
Young kids can perform poorly in their first real league minutes, who would have thunk it.

[NecessaryEvil]

And today showed the upside of the boom-bust prospect - the boom side of the coin.

I’m very happy. I may have wanted a safer pick, but I can’t complain if the gamble pays off. And today was promising. Very good / great players generally show early (noting that Derrick Rose struggled his first summer league, so there are exceptions). Anyway, Noa showed.

I dunno, it seems like some posters may have not factored in that he’d actually be nervous in his first NBA game.

He’s also a kid. Literally

[Senor Chang]

The shooting has been great to see. It is the one part of his game that can unlock everything else offensively. Imagine if ben Simmons had a jumper. To be honest i was expecting him to be a hesitant non-shooter early on.


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[MGB8]

The shooting has been great to see. It is the one part of his game that can unlock everything else offensively. Imagine if ben Simmons had a jumper. To be honest i was expecting him to be a hesitant non-shooter early on.


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Probably not ready for prime time, but there is enough there to be optimistic.

[DuckIII]

Game 1: Oof
Game 2: eh
Game 3: Hmmmm!

I was more encouraged by the types of things he showed in game 2, but admittedly I don’t place much value on shooting accuracy when scouting summer league.

Regardless, each of the last two games had a variety of things you look to see.

Sidenote: It was really interesting during the game that during his interview and what he needs to work on he said his handle, playing point guard, and passing. Point guard play? I love the ambition I guess.

[WesPeace]

I hope Noa made it much tougher after tonight for The Bust Crowd lol.. he will be solid player, just be patient!

[GoBlue72391]

Are people not able to differentiate between "He's a bust" and "He has high bust potential"?

[GuardianEnzo]

His form on the 3 actually looks decent. I'd be more confident if we hadn't fired Patton for not brown-nosing well enough but I don't see why Noa can't eventually be a 35% 3-point guy on decent volume.

[Muzbar]

Are people not able to differentiate between "He's a bust" and "He has high bust potential"?

I think most people can, but there are also some calling him a bust after his first game.

He definitely has a high bust rate (he's quite raw), but he's been showing a bit more of that boom potential as of late (in flashes).

He won't be getting the same sort of minutes in the regular season.

[GoBlue72391]

All he had to do for me this SL was show flashes and he's done that and then some.

[nomorezorro]

His form on the 3 actually looks decent. I'd be more confident if we hadn't fired Patton for not brown-nosing well enough but I don't see why Noa can't eventually be a 35% 3-point guy on decent volume.

i think the problem with his form is largely in his lower half + he struggles because he can't consistently shoot with good mechanics. on the broadcast, tom crean was talking about how he doesn't like noa's outside shot because he doesn't think he gets enough lift when he's shooting from distance. then after one went in, crean said "oh the lift wasn't really a problem for him on that rep." but that doesn't mean it won't be a problem on future shots

in the short term, i imagine it's going to be a situation where a couple of shots will look good, and we'll talk ourselves into the idea that he's on the verge of figuring things out, and then he'll go on a super duper long cold stretch with some super ugly misses and we remember developing a shot is almost certainly not going to be a linear process for him & any early signs of promise are probably just a blip.

in the long term? i don't really know anything about building a shot mechanically, but i am delusionally hopeful that fixing his lower half will be easier than if he had a super janky upper body motion. that is solely based on the fact that the former is less visually distinctive than the latter, which is utterly meaningless from an actual logical perspective, but hey...i can't help how my brain works

[Axl Rose]

He had a good game that was unfortunately marred by him getting yammed on Give him the credit for trying though.

[Chi town]

Are people not able to differentiate between "He's a bust" and "He has high bust potential"?

I’ve said from the beginning he has a solid floor as an energy defensive big wing. I don’t see much bust potential at 12 there.

[Muzbar]

All he had to do for me this SL was show flashes and he's done that and then some.

Agreed.

I think the brakes need to be pumped in both directions. He's not a bust (yet), he hasn't even played an actual NBA game yet. But at the same time he needs to be stopped being compared to NBA greats.

Give the guy some time to develop before making any rash judgements one way or another.

[MrSparkle]

Looking better each game!

[JohnnyTapwater]

I think Noa is legit.

Playing like this at 18 is impressive to me. His work ethic will guarantee his success in the league.

[dougthonus]

i think the problem with his form is largely in his lower half + he struggles because he can't consistently shoot with good mechanics. on the broadcast, tom crean was talking about how he doesn't like noa's outside shot because he doesn't think he gets enough lift when he's shooting from distance. then after one went in, crean said "oh the lift wasn't really a problem for him on that rep." but that doesn't mean it won't be a problem on future shots

Lift as in height in his jump? Lift is for avoiding getting blocked and probably reduces accuracy all things being equal. If NBA players were sitting in an open gym and were getting paid to make as many threes in a row, they probably wouldn't jump at all. He's 6'11, he likely does not need any lift to avoid getting blocked. Any higher than necessarily simply lowers the margin for error.