Markelle Fultz Discussion

[Negrodamus]

I didn't like Dennis Smith as a top prospect, but his physical tools and three level splits made him much more likely to be a high volume scorer than Markelle.

Fultz is gonna need his 40% three point stroke to translate for him to have a chance at being a 20 point scorer. His physical ability is ordinary and his scoring style (mid-range jumpers, often contested) is a frowned upon approach in the modern NBA.

I think we all need to re-adjust our expectations of Fultz. Forget scoring as his calling card. Let's focus on him as a secondary distributor and a deflection generator on the defensive side. If he can lock down those two aspects while being a decentish mid-volume scorer, I'll be happy.

This exactly. I was never really enamored with his scoring ability in college. It was impressive for him to be a 20+ scorer while being an elite passer at a power 5 school. However, he didn't really do anything truly special as a scorer.

The only elite scorer, or a player with the potential to be elite in the NBA, to me was Jayson Tatum. There's a chance of Donovan Mitchell because of how athletic he is and his elite jump shot (great form, extraordinarily quick).

Fultz does have a slight chance, but it's lessened if he is doing weird things to his shot. I hope he plays tonight and can show off his jumper more. He was getting to the rim pretty frequently in the first preseason game, just not finishing.

[LloydFree]

Should have just drafted Kuzma because if his NBA ready game


...more importantly, he looks like Ben Simmons that will make it extra tough for opponents to defend Ben in transition.

Kuzma as our PF would have been great. The Lakers got a good one. I think he easily will be a top 5 rookie.

Ehhh. We'll be fine at PF when we bring Bolden back. He's as talented as Kuzma and has more size. They just want to see what they have with Saric before they crowd the position.

[Unbreakable99]

I didn't like Dennis Smith as a top prospect, but his physical tools and three level splits made him much more likely to be a high volume scorer than Markelle.

Fultz is gonna need his 40% three point stroke to translate for him to have a chance at being a 20 point scorer. His physical ability is ordinary and his scoring style (mid-range jumpers, often contested) is a frowned upon approach in the modern NBA.

I think we all need to re-adjust our expectations of Fultz. Forget scoring as his calling card. Let's focus on him as a secondary distributor and a deflection generator on the defensive side. If he can lock down those two aspects while being a decentish mid-volume scorer, I'll be happy.

Readjust? Lol. There’s nothing for me to readjust for. He is the prospect I thought he was. People said he was a great or very good athlete. I never thought that. His spin move is his bread and butter and NBA players aren’t going to fall for that. Relying on spins to shake free is recipe for disaster. I never thought we should have traded up for. If we stood pat and he was there at 3 then fine I would have been fine with taking him. But he is not s Guy you trade up for and give away good assets for.

[Unbreakable99]

Should have just drafted Kuzma because if his NBA ready game


...more importantly, he looks like Ben Simmons that will make it extra tough for opponents to defend Ben in transition.

Kuzma as our PF would have been great. The Lakers got a good one. I think he easily will be a top 5 rookie.

Ehhh. We'll be fine at PF when we bring Bolden back. He's as talented as Kuzma and has more size. They just what they have with Saric before they crowd the position.

If I had to choose between Kuzma and Bolden I’m taking Kuzma every time. And I like Bolden. The game just seems easy for Kuzma. Her big time. He’s the real deal. I’m a little jealous the Lakers have him.

[europeanfan]

Markelle is the most advanced PnR player on the team, Ben Simmons is better overall right now but you could see during the Palestra scrimmage the offense was flowing better for Markelle's team, he knows what to do if you give him a big willing to screen. I think he's too nice, too unselfish, should be barking for hard screens.

Look he scores easily vs "DPOY Simmons" and historically good nba defensive big Amir :

Watch on YouTube

Brings us to the second point where is elite defender Simmons? From where I stand I see more defensive upside for Markelle, he has the Marcus Smart 1-3 defensive body but both strength and length. He gets lost but still gets deflections/steals/blocks in his sleep.

Who is better defensively at guard? Explain to me how the team will be better defensively with Bayless. Cause defense seems by far the main issue.

Last point as a big Beal fan who saw him massively struggle with his shot at times, I hated Brown's comment on Markelle's shot, shooting is 90% about confidence and where your head is at, how do you come out publicly and say there's something massively wrong with his shot. Even if it was true (never believed it was that sever given his shooting splits 2 month ago in summer league) then you protect your player. Feels like a big blunder in regards to shooter psychology.

[LloydFree]

I didn't like Dennis Smith as a top prospect, but his physical tools and three level splits made him much more likely to be a high volume scorer than Markelle.

Fultz is gonna need his 40% three point stroke to translate for him to have a chance at being a 20 point scorer. His physical ability is ordinary and his scoring style (mid-range jumpers, often contested) is a frowned upon approach in the modern NBA.

I think we all need to re-adjust our expectations of Fultz. Forget scoring as his calling card. Let's focus on him as a secondary distributor and a deflection generator on the defensive side. If he can lock down those two aspects while being a decentish mid-volume scorer, I'll be happy.

Readjust? Lol. There’s nothing for me to readjust for. He is the prospect I thought he was. People said he was a great or very good athlete. I never thought that. His spin move is his bread and butter and NBA players aren’t going to fall for that. Relying on spins to shake free is recipe for disaster. I never thought we should have traded up for. If we stood pat and he was there at 3 then fine I would have been fine with taking him. But he is not s Guy you trade up for and give away good assets for.

Naaa. I think he was just speaking in general, to the collective thought process. Fultz is what I thought he was, so far. No worse, no better.

[europeanfan]

Watch on YouTube

One of the best 6"2 scorer in the paint ever, relied heavily on a spin move...

[Kobblehead]

Saying Tony Parker relied on the spin is a bit of a stretch. Just because he utilized it doesn't mean he outright needed it. He was unguardable based off of his elite level quickness and speed. Markelle doesn't have the benefit of those same physical tools.

De'Aaron Fox, on the other hand...

[Mik317]

Prime Tony Parker was stupid fast

[Unbreakable99]

Saying Tony Parker relied on the spin is a bit of a stretch. Just because he utilized it doesn't mean he outright needed it. He was unguardable based off of his elite level quickness and speed. Markelle doesn't have the benefit of those same physical tools.

De'Aaron Fox, on the other hand...

Exactly. Parker was one of the quickest player in the league. That spin was just that much deadlier when he did it.

[Unbreakable99]

Markelle is the most advanced PnR player on the team, Ben Simmons is better overall right now but you could see during the Palestra scrimmage the offense was flowing better for Markelle's team, he knows what to do if you give him a big willing to screen. I think he's too nice, too unselfish, should be barking for hard screens.

Look he scores easily vs "DPOY Simmons" and historically good nba defensive big Amir :

Watch on YouTube

Brings us to the second point where is elite defender Simmons? From where I stand I see more defensive upside for Markelle, he has the Marcus Smart 1-3 defensive body but both strength and length. He gets lost but still gets deflections/steals/blocks in his sleep.

Who is better defensively at guard? Explain to me how the team will be better defensively with Bayless. Cause defense seems by far the main issue.

Last point as a big Beal fan who saw him massively struggle with his shot at times, I hated Brown's comment on Markelle's shot, shooting is 90% about confidence and where your head is at, how do you come out publicly and say there's something massively wrong with his shot. Even if it was true (never believed it was that sever given his shooting splits 2 month ago in summer league) then you protect your player. Feels like a big blunder in regards to shooter psychology.

I do somewhat agree with you that Fultz is too nice. I think he doesn't want to step on the toes of better players in Simmons and Embiid. I want Fultz to get more dog in him and be more selfish. I don't want him Kobe Mamba mentality selfish but I want him to be like "hey I'm a number one pick too." It's ok if Simmons calls for the ball and he doesn't pass it to him one time and instead shoots it. I want him to feel confident he can shoot without thinking he's doing something wrong.

[Stribor]

These are all kids and they need patience. Overhype was ridiculous. I preferred DSJ but I did not really watch much of the college, still think that Fultz has All-stars written in himself so this is ok. People just need to let this kids grow. Their bodies are different that they will be in 3 years, their game is different .. I have a feeling people still live in the 80's when players came to nba as finished products. They rarely are this days, and you need to let them develop and give them some slack. We can really afford it, because there is no pressure to win now because our best player is in his prime or ready to escape to better team. I strongly believe this is also part of the process and if we want one or two rings down the road we need patience now, and definitely no overreactions.

[LongLiveHinkie]

I liked Dennis Smith a lot too, I think he has a chance to be great. I had Fultz ranked ahead of him on my Sixers board, both because I loved Fultz and the fit, but I did say many times I could see Smith being the best player in the draft. Depending on the day he was either my #2 or #3 guy.

Smith has always been impressive every time I've seen him, including SL and preseason. I've said it before, it's why all that over-analysis can so get under my skin. Not that there is anything wrong with breaking down every facet of a player's game down to the freaking subatomic level, but when I hear people go "Gee... I don't know about Dennis Smith... I really worry about him off the catch or off screens." It's like c'mon, just watch the dude play. Even an 8 year old can turn on a basketball game and see if a guy is gonna be good or not(most of the time) it's really not that hard to evaluate talent as people make it seem.

Some of the reasons these blog scouts don't want players these days is like if people nitpicked a restaurant over how comfortable the chairs are. It's relatively important and has value, but at the end of the day the quality of the food is what matters most.

[ivysixer2000]

Sometimes I wonder if we care about our team being good or more about ourselves being right about some other prospect.

If someone here is right about some dude, doesn't matter, thats a personal thing to look good and to try to get attention to make people listen to you. Doesn't mean anyone here is more right than anyone else.

At the end of the day, noone here has a crystal ball. Stop trying to predict the future and then brag you were right. Instead just support your team, hope they were right, and wait til they actually play NBA basketball for 30 games before making assumptions.

[AdotSmoove]

The dude had an off shooting night in his preseason debut where he switched to primarily a 2 guard for the first time in his career. He got to the rim just fine and I trust his finishing ability to return as the nerves subside. All the talk about his jumper mechanics is blogosphere nonsense, he had one bad game. Whether or not he altered his jumper mechanics since SL will be moot as muscle memory will take over as his nerves subside. He is thinking too much in the same way that we are all thinking too much in over analyzing one 2-13 night


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[Kolkmania]

I didn't like Dennis Smith as a top prospect, but his physical tools and three level splits made him much more likely to be a high volume scorer than Markelle.

Fultz is gonna need his 40% three point stroke to translate for him to have a chance at being a 20 point scorer. His physical ability is ordinary and his scoring style (mid-range jumpers, often contested) is a frowned upon approach in the modern NBA.

I think we all need to re-adjust our expectations of Fultz. Forget scoring as his calling card. Let's focus on him as a secondary distributor and a deflection generator on the defensive side. If he can lock down those two aspects while being a decentish mid-volume scorer, I'll be happy.

What splits? Dennis Smith Jr. was one of the most inefficient high volume shooters in the NCAA last year.

Guess the grass is always greener on the other side. Based on what should we adjust our projections of Fultz, ONE(!?) preseason game?

[Negrodamus]

Looks like Lonzo Ball is done for the preseason.

I'm sure the same people complaining about Fultz sitting out last game will point out that Ball is afraid to go up against Fox tonight, right? It's the same stupid commentary.

[Kobblehead]

I liked Dennis Smith a lot too, I think he has a chance to be great. I had Fultz ranked ahead of him on my Sixers board, both because I loved Fultz and the fit, but I did say many times I could see Smith being the best player in the draft. Depending on the day he was either my #2 or #3 guy.

Smith has always been impressive every time I've seen him, including SL and preseason. I've said it before, it's why all that over-analysis can so get under my skin. Not that there is anything wrong with breaking down every facet of a player's game down to the freaking subatomic level, but when I hear people go "Gee... I don't know about Dennis Smith... I really worry about him off the catch or off screens." It's like c'mon, just watch the dude play. Even an 8 year old can turn on a basketball game and see if a guy is gonna be good or not(most of the time) it's really not that hard to evaluate talent as people make it seem.

Some of the reasons these blog scouts don't want players these days is like if people nitpicked a restaurant over how comfortable the chairs are. It's relatively important and has value, but at the end of the day the quality of the food is what matters most.

I saw Smith's impact at N.C. State as underwhelming and don't like him, intangibly. I think he has bust potential. However, his scoring projected way easier than Markelle's, IMO. I was less concerned with Markelle's PPG and instead, focused on how he scored those buckets. 46% of his FGAs were mid-range jumpers. A shot that is discouraged in ours and most modern offenses in the league.

Whereas Dennis Smith has elite physical tools and scored in much more ideal ways (37% of FGA at the rim and 37% of FGA beyond the arc).

I still think Markelle is the more complete player and better prospect, but if we drafted him with the intent of him being a high volume scorer, we might not have picked the most ideal prospect for that role.

[Negrodamus]

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/10/10/16452324/markelle-fultz-free-throw-shoulder

Remember when he sat out last game and everyone was complaining about his toughness? Then he comes back and still shoots like Shaq due to an injured shoulder and everyone was complaining about his shot being screwed up.

I hope he sits the rest of the preseason and everyone shuts the hell up about preseason games for once.

[Negrodamus]

Fultz doubtful tomorrow with "right knee soreness".

Forgive me if I don't believe that. Definite shoulder issue and definitely not playing the rest of the preseason.