PrimeShaq wrote:You do realize that having the ability to dribble drive is not the only thing that constitutes a good handle right? There are multiple components that go into a handle. The ability to have great coordination, dexterity, the ability to coordinate feet movements with hands, The ability to break a defender down off the dribble to create an open shot, The ability to display multiple dribble moves as he did in these clips effectively to create (between the legs followed by a crossover to create an open shot, the low dribble to split two defenders and finish at the rim, shows the ability to control his dribble at a pace bringing the ball up the court), He's shown the ability to do all of these things and therfore he has a capable handle. I'm not saying he's some great ball handler but you talk as if he's shown no ability whatsoever to handle the ball and that's just not true. Are their other things he could add to his arsenal such as a dribble drive that would improve his ball handling skills and offensive game overall? Yes, but right now he's not being asked to do that. It will come with time and experience.
He has just played his first 11 games as a pro and has been asked to play a conservative role in the offense. I use the word comfortable because he himself said in one of the postgame interviews that as he gets more comfortable and used to the NBA game we will start to see more and more things on the offensive end.
I get what you're saying and maybe this is less of a "Isaac can't handle the ball" debate and more of a "ball handling moves that end in a 20 footer are meaningless to me" debate.
The ability to break a defender down off the dribble to create an open shot IS a great skill... if you're actually able to create an efficient shot. If your handle is functional enough to where it allows you get all the way to the basket and take advantage of your athleticism at the rim? Great. If you add that with the court vision and passing ability to find open spot shooters? Even better!
If Isaac goes between the legs and then crosses over and the end result is a 20 footer? The "moves" are nice and that's all well and good, but that's not a functional handle to me. That's just dribbling to create an inefficient shot.
RIGHT NOW - and I think this will improve over time - but right now Isaac has shown very little ability to effectively move forward on the attack with multiple dribbles. Everything is a jab step + sideways escape dribble or a hesitation pull up.
Also for what it's worth, that clip from the Miami game where Isaac split the trap and got all the way to the rim with multiple dribbles is legit one of the only times he did that all of last year at FSU.