Kelly Oubre

DCZards · Post #1161 » by **DCZards** » Tue Sep 18, 2018 3:37 pm

I go back-and-forth from seeing Oubre as a long, athletic, high-energy player with the potential to be one of the top two-way wings in the league or as an immature, low IQ player who will never live up to his potential.

I'd like to think that the outstanding 3pt shooting we saw from him during the first half of last season was the real Kelly. But who knows? He certainly has continued to improve his handle. I love his emerging ability (and willingness) to attack the basket and get to the FT line. And there's no one on the Zards who consistently plays harder and with more enthusiasm, which gets him in trouble sometimes because he will often try to do too much on his own when he gets the ball in his hands.

It's usually frustrating to watch Oubre on D. He gets cocky and gambles for steals when he would be more effective staying in front of his man and using his length and footspeed to make it difficult for his opponent to pass, penetrate or get off a shot. Kelly can be awfully disruptive to the other team's offense when he simply does that. The steals will come.

I like the fact that we've heard little, if any, social media noise from Oubre this offseason, which, hopefully, means he's been focused on improving his game. He knows this is a make-or-break season coming up for him.

payitforward · Post #1162 » by **payitforward** » Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:07 pm

It's hard not to pull for Kelly Oubre -- he seems a great kid.

He's still only 22, so Zards might be going a little far in calling this "a make or break season... for him," but it's certainly a big season. The biggest, most important season in his career so far.

It would be just great for the Wizards if he plays really well!

Illmatic12 · Post #1163 » by **Illmatic12** » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:37 pm

Oubre's handle is looking improved. Those workouts with Drew Hanlen really paying off (imagine if Otto had been training with him all these years..)

Read on Twitter

Post #1164 » by **nate33** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:47 am

Illmatic12 wrote:Oubre's handle is looking improved. Those workouts with Drew Hanlen really paying off (imagine if Otto had been training with him all these years..)

Read on Twitter

Can anybody recognize who is on the floor? I see Harden, obviously. And the white guy in the paint is Kanter. Who is the guy with the black shirt and goatee guarding Oubre on the first and last play of the video?

Illmatic12 · Post #1165 » by **Illmatic12** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 12:51 pm

nate33 wrote:
Illmatic12 wrote:Oubre's handle is looking improved. Those workouts with Drew Hanlen really paying off (imagine if Otto had been training with him all these years..)

Read on Twitter

Can anybody recognize who is on the floor? I see Harden, obviously. And the white guy in the paint is Kanter. Who is the guy with the black shirt and goatee guarding Oubre on the first and last play of the video?

Tim Hardaway Jr. Also saw Ibaka there who was setting screens for Oubre.

Post #1166 » by **Ruzious** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 2:21 pm

When Oubre's got it going, he looks like Ariza with ball-handling skills. Watching that video, I'm reminded of how much the game has changed since when I was a kid. As Walter Brennan would've said, you young wippersnappers changed my game. Please don't ask who's Walter Brennan.

Iverson changed the game as much as anyone with the palming the ball before the crossover and especially the fake crossover dribble. MJ used to do it to a degree, but Iverson expanded it and took it to a new level. We'd get called for walking back in the day if we tried something like that, but now you're actually taught to do it that way.

dckingsfan · Post #1167 » by **dckingsfan** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:10 pm

Ruzious wrote:When Oubre's got it going, he looks like Ariza with ball-handling skills. Watching that video, I'm reminded of how much the game has changed since when I was a kid. As Walter Brennan would've said, you young wippersnappers changed my game. Please don't ask who's Walter Brennan. Iverson changed the game as much as anyone with the palming the ball before the crossover and especially the fake crossover dribble. MJ used to do it to a degree, but Iverson expanded it and took it to a new level. We'd get called for walking back in the day if we tried something like that, but now you're actually taught to do it that way.

This. And if he would just stay in front of his man on D, he would look like Ariza on D as well.

Post #1168 » by **Ruzious** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:55 pm

dckingsfan wrote:
Ruzious wrote:When Oubre's got it going, he looks like Ariza with ball-handling skills. Watching that video, I'm reminded of how much the game has changed since when I was a kid. As Walter Brennan would've said, you young wippersnappers changed my game. Please don't ask who's Walter Brennan. Iverson changed the game as much as anyone with the palming the ball before the crossover and especially the fake crossover dribble. MJ used to do it to a degree, but Iverson expanded it and took it to a new level. We'd get called for walking back in the day if we tried something like that, but now you're actually taught to do it that way.

This. And if he would just stay in front of his man on D, he would look like Ariza on D as well.

But I'm doubting Oubre will ever reach Ariza in singing. He stole the show from Paul and Harden in that State Farm commercial.

NatP4 · Post #1169 » by **NatP4** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:43 pm

When does Oubre ever play good defense? He can’t even stay in front of his man. That’s my biggest concern with him. He’s going to be a decent spot up shooter eventually, and he rebounds and runs the floor and finishes well, but to have a real positive impact, he has to go from being an absolute trash defender, to being average atleast. I still believe, because he’s not a dumb person, he just hasn’t played a ton of basketball in his life or received a lot of 1 on 1 coaching until reaching the NBA. Ariza needed real NBA experience to finally become a good defender.

Best thing about Oubre is that he’s only 22. I still say re sign him as long as it stays under 18 per.

nuposse04 · Post #1170 » by **nuposse04** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:22 pm

Ariza is a much better team defender then Oubre. They are probably similar man defenders. I'd say team defense is probably more important then individual man defense these days, but if you can have both, all the merrier.

As far as that video goes, I mean... it looks mildly improved. Not like how Beal suddenly improved with his handles but we'll take w/e we can get.

Post #1171 » by **nate33** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:16 pm

Oubre has a nice hesitation dribble that sets up a jumper with a quick, high release. It allows him to take a jumper right in a defender's face even though the defender is up on him. He reminds me a bit of Carmelo Anthony in that regard. If the accuracy of that jumper improves, it's going to be a real weapon.

long suffrin' boulez fan · Post #1172 » by **long suffrin' boulez fan** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:13 pm

nate33 wrote:
Illmatic12 wrote:Oubre's handle is looking improved. Those workouts with Drew Hanlen really paying off (imagine if Otto had been training with him all these years..)

Read on Twitter

Can anybody recognize who is on the floor? I see Harden, obviously. And the white guy in the paint is Kanter. Who is the guy with the black shirt and goatee guarding Oubre on the first and last play of the video?

That’s was filmed at the JCC.

That was me in the lane, Rabbi Horowitz guarding him on the perimeter and my uncle Morty in the background choosing the jams.

dckingsfan · Post #1173 » by **dckingsfan** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 1:29 pm

For what it is worth - written by uncle Morty?
https://thesportsdaily.com/2018/09/19/washington-wizards-otto-porter-kelly-oubre-troy-brown/

Illmatic12 · Post #1174 » by **Illmatic12** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 2:05 pm

NatP4 wrote:When does Oubre ever play good defense? He can’t even stay in front of his man. That’s my biggest concern with him. He’s going to be a decent spot up shooter eventually, and he rebounds and runs the floor and finishes well, but to have a real positive impact, he has to go from being an absolute trash defender, to being average atleast. I still believe, because he’s not a dumb person, he just hasn’t played a ton of basketball in his life or received a lot of 1 on 1 coaching until reaching the NBA. Ariza needed real NBA experience to finally become a good defender.

Best thing about Oubre is that he’s only 22. I still say re sign him as long as it stays under 18 per.

We have seen him show a ton of potential on D -- he just needs to focus and stay locked in on a consistent basis.

Watch on YouTube

What Kelly has to understand is that being a great defender isn't just about athletic traits, the elite defensive players are the ones who prepare before every game and read the scouting report on their opponents to know who likes to drive, who likes to shoot etc. That way when you're defending those players you position your body accordingly so as to not get beat. Sometimes it seems like Kelly is more invested in offense and not putting in that focus and preparation on D as he should. A change in his pre-game routines & habits will make a huge difference.

doclinkin · Post #1175 » by **doclinkin** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 2:27 pm

nate33 wrote:Oubre has a nice hesitation dribble that sets up a jumper with a quick, high release. It allows him to take a jumper right in a defender's face even though the defender is up on him. He reminds me a bit of Carmelo Anthony in that regard. If the accuracy of that jumper improves, it's going to be a real weapon.

The 'hesitation' seems to be that his right hand is still shaky. I still don't see him driving right effectively. Still work to do there. But his stroke looks much improved on that long range ball. Smooth, no hesitation, no hitch, hiugh overhead, confident, better mechanics than when he came into the league.

Post #1176 » by **nate33** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 3:18 pm

Illmatic12 wrote:

Watch on YouTube

Oubre does a really nice job against penetrating PG's like Isaiah Thomas and Kemba Walker - the kind of guys that Wall doesn't guard very well. Meanwhile, Wall has the size and length to defend shooting guards and small forwards just fine (and Wall is a good help defender and the team's best shot blocker). Perhaps Brooks should assign Oubre to guard PG's more often and move Wall off the ball.

Post #1177 » by **Rafael122** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 4:14 pm

payitforward wrote:It's hard not to pull for Kelly Oubre -- he seems a great kid.

He's still only 22, so Zards might be going a little far in calling this "a make or break season... for him," but it's certainly a big season. The biggest, most important season in his career so far.

It would be just great for the Wizards if he plays really well!

It's make or break in the sense that if his play doesn't improve or it tails off like it has at the end of the year then there's no sense in paying the kid $50 million, tying up your cap with more big salaries, when you have a kid like Brown who is 3 years younger waiting in the wings. Ideally you would love to keep everybody but Oubre and Sato are prime candidates to be traded with Mahinmi instead of having a pick involved.

NatP4 · Post #1178 » by **NatP4** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 5:06 pm

Brown won’t play much at all this year, but I’d Ben willing to bet that he’s already a better defender than Oubre in 2018-2019. Basketball IQ is off the charts.

trast66 · Post #1179 » by **trast66** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:09 pm

doclinkin wrote:
nate33 wrote:Oubre has a nice hesitation dribble that sets up a jumper with a quick, high release. It allows him to take a jumper right in a defender's face even though the defender is up on him. He reminds me a bit of Carmelo Anthony in that regard. If the accuracy of that jumper improves, it's going to be a real weapon.

The 'hesitation' seems to be that his right hand is still shaky. I still don't see him driving right effectively. Still work to do there. But his stroke looks much improved on that long range ball. Smooth, no hesitation, no hitch, hiugh overhead, confident, better mechanics than when he came into the league.

Had the exact same thought about him not going right as I watched the video. Certainly an important season for him financially, so he's putting in the work. Injuries aside, expecting a nice performance leap this year.

NatP4 · Post #1180 » by **NatP4** » Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:16 pm

I think he drives right well, he just doesn’t finish at all. It’s not even just that he doesn’t use the right hand, it’s that he tries to finish across his body with a jumpshot like finish, which is some high school BS.

The bigger issue with players is not being able to put the ball on the floor and drive to their weakside, he is able to do that, he just needs to cut that weird across his body finish.

The biggest problem is that he’s just misused on this team. He is constantly forced to play with scrub 2nd units that have no playmaking PG or structure. He’s built to play in a switch everything defense with spacing where he can shoot spot up 3s and attacking closeouts with straight line drives and use his athletic ability.

It’s simple, play him with Wall Beal and Porter, sit back and watch the results.