gutobr wrote:[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtof9-Dsnv0[/youtube]
here is the stuff, to see his moves etc.
fall is not included.
2:24 - With his recovery block, I think that highlights some significant potential for team defense. That is a very similar play to when Val spun baseline and got it handed to him by Demarcus Cousins coming across from weak-side. If Val is there all of a sudden it becomes a volleyball block fest. Amir floats and looks to pick off the drop-off to DeMarcus.
4:28 – Strong situational awareness, comes down to block to double Boogie. His positioning also cuts off passing lanes out of double.
5:36 – Once again comes down while noticing Cousins baseline and Gay with the ball in paint. DeRo and Cousins are clearly outmatched in this scenario. He drives a wedge between Gay and Cousins as he goes for the block, innate positioning.
9:00 – If not for the whistle he was immediately jumping off his man to help if Landry spins baseline. He would have ate him for dinner, you can tell this demonstrates how jumpy he is to help.
11:06 – He was far from blown by. If he didn’t step into Casspi, he was too deep to get a shot-up. Sound positioning.
12:58 – This is something I’ve been very happy with so far. First one back, and he also goes up for the volleyball type block with verticality as opposed to going for the swat. I would be interested to know if he played volleyball to be honest.
14:52 – On that closeout he literally just has to shuffle out and not jump. With that length he’s got his number once he learns to stay down.
17:44 – Despite the good outcome of this play it demonstrates his tendency to move vertically with his body tilted as opposed to shuffle horizontally. This makes him susceptible to change of direction by ball-handler giving the appearance that he was “blown-by.”
20:10 – He cuts off the driving lines twice, first on Stauskas then on McCallum. Not flashy help defense but he gets there quick enough that they don’t even consider trying to split it.
He already has in my mind a very good understanding of where the ball is going to be and cutting off the passing lanes / drive, particularly in a team set. With his length I think he can be an efficient defender of most 3's today even with his current lateral quicks. Its all about positioning as what we need to understand is that with his length its like he covers an extra step, at the very least half-step, on either side of him, without having to make that step. I think ideally he will be a very active help defender cutting off the drive / passing lanes with average man to man. Let's not forget Larry Bird would let his man by to go for the chase-down block. That was one of his main defensive plays. There are ways to get around deficiencies in quicks based purely on positioning and thought. With that being said I would be willing to bet his strength training regime to this day has been non-existent. Get him doing some squats and agility drills for two years and we will talk at that time. It's not fair to compare him to North American players who have been doing advanced plyometrics and strength training since they were out of diapers.
