Nerlens Noel Thread

[roma258]

I've been tracking Alex Len, who came out with Noel and also struggled to get going. Last couple games, he's started putting up good numbers on offense. I looked at his highlights and almost every single one of his buckets is- lob, put-back, dump off. He does have nice form on his jumper but that accounted for exactly one bucket. Basically, he doesn't need to make moves or think when he scores. This is how Noel should be getting his offense. Nut posting up, making moves, trying to drive to the hole. Quick, easy no thinking involved. Build his confidence, and then start expanding his game. He'll be fine though, just gotta keep grinding away and the talent will assert itself.

[Skates]

Noel only had a partial freshman year at college and has had less than ten games played in the NBA. In many ways he is making the jump almost from High School to the pros. He has a ton to learn about places to be on the court, tricks of the trade, the intricacies of offenses and defenses at this level and is playing wayyyyy too fast most of the time.

It almost seems like the only time the game slows down for him is when he is making a pass. He is very smooth and skilled at passing, which seems odd compared to his brick like hands on lobs and the way he shoots. Watching him catch the ball, or not, he looks like he is trying to frenetically snatch it from the air, his hands and arms are way too busy to be 'soft' on the catch. His offensive moves have no pace or rhythm, except when he passes. This is all stuff he is simply going to have to play, practice and gain experience with. It is a tank year, no problem letting him have his growing pains.

At the same time the guy has incredible hands on D, can get off his feet for a second jump far faster than most wings, much less big men. He is showing better rebounding instincts, though he needs to get meaner and stronger down there to secure the ball and keep guys from coming over his back. The guy we see now is very different than the guy we will see at the end of the year.

[AAKing23]

Even though some have already seemed to give up on Noel, I'm not ready to yet. Once you realize that he's a super raw young player who needs to learn alot, it becomes obvious that he will need more time to learn the nuances of the NBA game.

[FreesFro]

Another thing is he seems to be going a 1000 mph out there, especially when he has the ball in his hands. Not uncommon for a rookie. Once the game slows down for him you'll see some improvements.

[BoomBap]

he is young and raw, but his defesnive instincts are amazing.

[Snotbubbles]

I was glad to seem him attempt (and make) a jump shot. He needs to just fire away.

[76ers 2020]

The guy rushes things like he is worried about his opponents having his explosiveness. I'll compare it to when I worked with students as a guitar teacher in college. It was easier for me to work with the people that needed a metronome because they never used one and they were going too fast. It wasn't instant but changing the approach of someone going too fast was mostly just mental and once they stopped overplaying they were really good. Noel has the tools you can't teach.

I doubt Noel feels like he has a defined role just yet. I think it is another reason to strongly consider playing Embiid this year when healthy if it is early enough in the season. Would help Noel just as much to see how will be used in the future and give a clearer view of what needs worked on. He could use someone of that talent level to compete against at practice as well.

I do want to be fair to the people that are worried about Noel's game though. Not everyone has the patience to sit and watch a bad basketball team every game. I do and most people here do. There are moments though where I feel like I am suffering through the game. So you have people that aren't watching as much and will judge Noel using stats. I don't think it is a mystery why those people might be worried right now. It is just too early for what I would consider genuine concern or excitement. Again look at the team being 5-4 last year as the perfect example of why. As for why the stats are kind of concerning to those only looking at them:



Maybe they aren't all that alarmed though since they could also be seeing Wroten=Harden. Not sure.

[42uptop]

Noel has been fine so far. His recent struggles are more to do with the quality of Howard, Duncan, and Chandler than anything Noel has done.

Our next 5 games are against some of the weakest defensive big men in the NBA. If Noel doesn't show up against them it will be time to start questioning his game.

No. It's still way, way too early to start questioning his game even if he struggles the next 5 games. Big men take time to develop, especially guys that missed 19 months with a severe knee injury.

There's a guy some compare Noel to who came into the NBA right out of high school, Tyson Chandler. Go back and look at his 2nd season, 3rd, 4th season. It takes time. Hopefully, not as long as it took Chandler, but don't rush to judgment on Nerlens after 15 games.

This has nothing to do with his game long-term. I'm talking this season, if he can't produce versus Kelly Olynyk and Miles Plumlee then he is definitely too raw to produce anything offensively. For the record, I think he is going to tear up these next 5 games because the defenses aren't anything special.

[Sixersftw]

yeah... comparing 80 games of Kwame Brown's 2nd year to 8 games of Noel's 1st might just be a bit unfair. Noel's defensive instincts are miles beyond Kwame and he doesn't have the GOAT turning him into a sniveling shell of his former self. Just a bit premature to compare him to one of the greatest busts in NBA history.

He has played well defensively, he has played poorly offensively. That's what we all assumed coming into the season and people are upset when that's the case? Anyone who bought the reworked offensive game thing hook line and sinker needs to pump the brakes. People don't put on 15 pounds of muscle in a summer, People don't completely retool their offense in a summer, and Giannis isn't going to grow a foot every summer.

[roma258]

[Unbreakable99]

Noel will never be a good offensive player. I never thought he would be from his first game at Kentucky. I never thought he would be from his last game at Kentucky and I never thought he would be good offensively today. It's never going to happen. Never. People need to stop thinking he will somehow be good. He just needs to concentrate on defense since that's his fortay. He needs to get bigger and stronger and know how to rebound better.

[bigdavid]

This is not Noel's fault alone. The management made an ill advised decision to trade away the entire team and rely on picks, D league players, and whomever was available. Perhaps occasionally this might work but not often No high end players were brought in.
We spent one whole season trying to teach Noel how to shoot with one hand, what NBA player comes out of college and can't shoot.?

It seems that Harris and his partners might be concerned more about making money than building a franchise team.
His background is buying low and selling high not neccesarily devloping a good product. This is done sucessfully in the stock market but not in Basketball.

Some of the most sucessfull owners put there heart and soul in deveoping a great team, it does not appear that is happening here. Sadly

[WVU]

Meh, we are ten games into year 2 of the rebuild.. I'm not hitting the panic button yet. Embiid is our prize. Noel is a comlimentary big who can shape the way people play against the 76ers. Paired with Embiid on defense, he should shine. He may be able to develop a little jumper down the road but that is going to take a long time. I'm eager to watch his free throw shooting throughout this year. If he shows he can raise his FT% and be consistent then I have hope his offensive game can get to a par level.

[504ByrdGang]

That Jrue Holiday trade was a fleece like you guys said, that turnover prone guard is averaging 1.4 per game.

[CoreyGallagher]

That Jrue Holiday trade was a fleece like you guys said, that turnover prone guard is averaging 1.4 per game.

His turnover percentage is currently 8.8, his career average is 16.8, more than double. Perhaps it's the 9 game sample size?

[CoreyGallagher]

You do realize how stupid it is charting similar career trajectories for players because at some point in their respective careers they had similar stats? Especially when one of those players has only played 10 games... Also, you're comparing Kwame's sophomore season to Noel's rookie season.

[76ers 2020]

You do realize how stupid it is charting similar career trajectories for players because at some point in their respective careers they had similar stats? Also, you're comparing Kwame's sophomore season to Noel's rookie season... Dumb post, brother.

Yeah I said I don't buy it and the image I posted I found elsewhere. Seemed pretty clear about it I thought.

[ankle420breaker]

I don't think anyone expected Noel to be anything more than a garbage man offensively, but his inability to hold onto the ball is definitely alarming. Un-teaching bad hands is no easy task. Its also strange, as I don't recall this being as much of an issue at Kentucky, or maybe I just didn't notice.

His free throw shooting has underwhelmed early on too, which is a bit of a disappointment since that's been advertised as an area of his game that he put a lot of work into improving. Still early, but he looks far from dialed in there.

He'll probably abandon his back to the basket game entirely once we have more talent on board, as well he should. He's a guy that will get his points finishing above the rim, off put-backs, dump-offs, drives, and the occasional 12 footer.

Sadly, until he starts accumulating some mass he's going to be limited. He just can't be an effective rebounder with such a frail frame and its keeping him from reaching his full potential defensively at this level.

[CoreyGallagher]

You do realize how stupid it is charting similar career trajectories for players because at some point in their respective careers they had similar stats? Also, you're comparing Kwame's sophomore season to Noel's rookie season... Dumb post, brother.

Yeah I said I don't buy it and the image I posted I found elsewhere. Seemed pretty clear about it I thought.

I replied to the image that I saw and only read the paragraph that seemed to context it, I had edited my post prior to your response after reading the rest of your post though.

Wherever the image did originate that did make the original comparison is actually the stupid party.

We spent one whole season trying to teach Noel how to shoot with one hand, what NBA player comes out of college and can't shoot.?

What big men come out of college and can't shoot? Most...

[LeonJordanJr24]

This is not Noel's fault alone. The management made an ill advised decision to trade away the entire team and rely on picks, D league players, and whomever was available. Perhaps occasionally this might work but not often No high end players were brought in.
We spent one whole season trying to teach Noel how to shoot with one hand, what NBA player comes out of college and can't shoot.?

It seems that Harris and his partners might be concerned more about making money than building a franchise team.
His background is buying low and selling high not neccesarily devloping a good product. This is done sucessfully in the stock market but not in Basketball.

Some of the most sucessfull owners put there heart and soul in deveoping a great team, it does not appear that is happening here. Sadly

Hahaaahahaha just stop.