nate33 wrote:prime1time wrote:Also, I'll go ahead and say it. If Rui get's his 3 point attempts up to 6 or 7 a game, the ROY is his to lose. Maybe Morant and Zion can compete but it'll be tough. If you have to worry about Rui knocking down 3's, he is simply too skilled offensively to be slowed down.
I don't think so. I think Rui will be a top 5ish rookie, but I'm not feeling rookie of the year. The big red flags for Rui are his low FTA's, poor 3pt shooting, and tunnel vision. It's going to be real hard for him to be all that efficient as a scorer with a FT rate so low. Ultimately, I think he's going to be viewed as a "solid player" in his rookie year, not really a star. Morant and Barrett will have the edge in ROY voting.
Ehhh, poor 3 point shooting? He was 4-9 in pre-season. 3-11 now. Combined that. 7/20, 35%. Low fta's small sample size. He was great at getting to the line in college (6 attempts). Did it in the summer league. Did it in FIBA. And did it in pre-season. There's nothing to suggest that that will change. As far as I'm concerned it's not a question of if he does those things but when.
As far as Barrett goes, surely you're joking. Something has to give with Barrett. He's shooting 40% from the ft line and 40% from 3. Morant will be competition I'll give you that. Perhaps the guy you should have mentioned is Kendrick Nunn. Regardless, it is ridiculous to Rui will be in the conversation. Currently he's averaging 18 and 7. And even though you imply that he can't be that efficient, he's doing it shooting 50% from the field. Which leads into a point I've made many times in this thread. The reason why comparisons to great SF wing's fail is that Rui is way more selective with his shot selection than these guys. To put it another way, he only takes shots that he wants to take. How good wicked Carmelo Anthony have been early on in his career if you eliminate the tough well contested jumpers? This is much closer to who Rui is. The efficiency was there all throughout college. And you are starting to see it in the NBA.
As long as he can continue around 50% Rui should get more shots. We should be looking to exploit Rui on mismatches against smaller guards. And exploit Rui's off the dribble game, when teams have non-scoring bigs that aren't good enough defenders. Rui has played well so far. But in terms of his offensive production the sky is the limit. He's a walking mismatch. Hearing the Wizards shooting coach talk about Rui's shooting form, you can tell that he expects Rui to shoot a high percentage. We need to uncuff him and see what he's capable of. Because we really don't have a clue.