Moderators: Duke4life831, Marcus
Fischella wrote:Makur isn't good man, neither is Wiseman by the way, Tshiebwe and Okongwu are the best bigs, maybe Jalen Smith, Stewart is safe-ish but not upsidey
clyde21 wrote:LaMelo really shooting 34% from the field so far?
Doctor MJ wrote:I don't understand why people jump in a thread and say basically, "This thing you're all talking about. I'm too ignorant to know anything about it. Lollerskates!"
NO-KG-AI wrote:I'm a lot higher on RJ Hampton than it seems the general consensus is, so I feel like I'm missing something. What is missing from him to keep him from being a star PG?
NO-KG-AI wrote:I'm a lot higher on RJ Hampton than it seems the general consensus is, so I feel like I'm missing something. What is missing from him to keep him from being a star PG?
GimmeDat wrote:Both RJ and LaMelo's 'stocks' have been really high (moreso RJ) in the NBL, they've definitely got tools. But overall they're still getting targeted on that end.
You ask most NBL watchers who has been better and most people will say RJ, but he's also in a different situation. RJ is playing on a really stacked team, he's playing 22mpg and playing on and off the ball. LaMelo is playing 30mpg (most on team and 14th most in league), on the team with the least talent/most poorly constructed roster in the comp.
LaMelo's FG% is really bad, but it basically boils down to the fact he's shooting 18% on three all season, over 7 games, on just under 6 attempts a game. Not downplaying that as an issue, because his shot is completely broke right now, but his finishing/floaters etc. have been fine and he gets to the FT line at a decent clip (would get there more if he holsted the 3's and attacked the rim more). Shooting 74% FT btw.
But what I just find so impressive is the fact that he's basically being asked to carry his team, and he's 3rd in the league in assists with a very low TO rate, he is super dynamic with his handle for his size, gets where he wants, makes some absolutely insane flash plays every game, and is his teams leading rebounder despite them being a big/plodding group.
Ball's team was basically constructed like this - they have Ball, they put Aaron Brooks beside him at the 2 to be their #1 option, they were starting 2 lumbering centers together up until recently (now it's an old undersized stretch 4), a shooter/scorer at the 3, and a bunch of young/developing guys off the bench.
That 3 (Blanchfield), one of the better shooters in the comp, is shooting like 25% or something off the top of my head, the dual C lineup was terrible, as a whole the team is not built to run, and the young guys, though promising, are not consistently productive. I can't emphasize how much their roster does not help Ball (you can tell by their blowouts).
Now Boone's out with a broken nose and Brooks just did his achilles and effectively retired. I'm very interested to see what replacement(s) they'll get in and how that'll effect the makeup of the team. Brooks was absolutely killing it and their only stud piece, but he did take the ball out of Ball's hands some when they played together. Now, their saying they're looking for more of a scoring wing replacement and will be putting the ball in Ball's hands full time.
Back to RJ, he's been really good, and you can tell his confidence is growing by the game. Again, better situation, maybe not in terms of usage but in terms of playing on a talented, functional team. Leading the league in SPG with 2, 14th in the league in BPG at 0.8, shooting 48% FG, 42% from 3, and 80% FT. Playing within himself, not forcing the issue, and not dominating the ball because he has other ball handlers out there. I don't think he's a big time initiator like Ball is, but he makes the right decisions with the ball and can on and off the ball, so long as the 3 ball keeps up.
I've seen some people say they like RJ better through the lens of a 2 guard, but I disagree. I think his physical profile is better suited to the 1, can keep up with guys speed wise, and use his size/tools to annoy opposing PG's. With so many teams with wings that initiate to some degree, I don't think every team needs a savant level playmaker, I'm not too caught up with him not being a 'true PG' per se. That's not to say he's not a good decision maker/passer, it's just easy to make the downgrade comparison when comparing to LaMelo's savant level reads all game.
As for Terry Armstrong, he's finally healthy and getting DNP's still. His team is rolling right now, they're deep with established wings, and I don't think, from what i saw in preseason, that the speed in which he's reading the game or the level of his shooting is up to where they want for him to demand minutes over anyone at this stage. All it takes is 1 injury for him to hit the court, though.
Dr Positivity wrote:So LaMelo goes and becomes a below average Australia league player (12 PER) and now he's gone from a joke to #1 pick contender? Ok. It seems like everywhere he goes he throws up bricks
