***The Official Musa Thread***

[Prokorov]

It is really diasappointing how he has handled this opportunity... he has gotten a ton of real minutes and a super long leash to stuggle and just has been god awful. His three point shooting makes RHJ look like a sniper... and if bricking them wasnt bad enough he finds the need to launch these curry range bombs for some reason?

all i heard was he is some 6'9" point-forward with gaurd skills but his passing has been non exsistant and his shooting really poor. regarding the 6'9" he plays really small (at least offensively). he doesnt bully smaller players once he gets in the paint and he doesnt finsih above the rim.. and he takes these awful off balance shots that not only do go in but put him out of position on defense when they go the other way

he doesnt really rebound like a 6'9" player either

the only thing that keeps you from sports-hating the dude is he does play hard and his D has been solid. but man, such a disappointment offensively with a golden opportunity

Yeah, but the biggest thing you are missing is he's 20 years old. Is he expected to look great right now....no. Did we expect him to look this bad either....no. Better yet did we even expect him to being seeing minutes right now if it weren't for the injuries...no. So he has been put into a position possibly too soon where you can see he overpressed. At the same time you can see glimpses of the talent he does posses and hope for him 2-3 years down the road when he probably should have come over from Europe ready to contribute. He has a winning mentality, has always won wherever he has been, is extremely competitive, and plays with a fire to him. Nets fans just need to remind themselves that he is 20. Spence was awful when he came into this league his first two years at Age 21-22, Musa is a year younger without the college experience against D1 athletes. My point is patience with him and understand what he has been thrust into when it wasn't expected.

i dont expect him to do much... the bar was low. i was hoping he didnt perform like the worst offensive player in the nba with his opportunity but he did.

I was hoping to see flashes of what he might become... but these flashes you speak of i dont see.

I dont see someone who showed flashes of being an above average shooter
I didnt see flashes of someone who could play above the rim or finish in traffic
I didnt see someone who showed flashes of being a solid passer for a taller player or create opportunities for others
I didnt see flashes of a 6'9" guy who punished smaller players or was too quick for bigger players

I saw a guy who looked like he had average handle, average speed and quickness, below avg leaping ability/explosiveness, average or below average vision and bbiq, and a broken jump shot.

i dont buy that he "overpressed" .. with the injuries he had plenty of consistent minutes with a coaching staff that encourages to be aggressive and lets you play through (tons) of struggles or mistakes. I saw a guy who aggressively threw himself and the rim and launched 35 foot curry type threes... thats not the signs of someone pressing.

Im not being hard on him, i didnt expect him to be much more then a G-leaguer being drafted late, being from another country/coming over for the first time and being young. but it is still disappointing he was THIS bad and showed 0 promise offensively. complete Opposite of kurucs

[Uncbball8293]

I guess me and you just see a completely different basketball game when we watch it. If you see zero promise, or zero anything for that matter then it's simple you are a complete stat man not watching the game within the game. I know you spend most of your time on here spewing out endless to stats, which to a basketball purist like me is meaningless.

We can disagree all day long that's what sports and being a fan is about. Bottom line is he is in the league along with hundreds of other players and we aren't. He's 20, so in 2-3 years we can really start to make our judgements on him, until then we are both wasting our time with the back and forth over him.

Just food for thought though on your zero promise thing....Spence showed zero promise his first two years in the league at ages 21-22, now he is a boardline all-star this season the way he's playing. It's all about the will, fight, and work ethic within the player that determines their outcome. Musa has that.

[MrDollarBills]

It's too early to give up on Musa.

[Prokorov]

I guess me and you just see a completely different basketball game when we watch it. If you see zero promise, or zero anything for that matter then it's simple you are a complete stat man not watching the game within the game. I know you spend most of your time on here spewing out endless to stats, which to a basketball purist like me is meaningless.

Get off your high horse, i watch every game twice and have season tickets to watch 19 live. Maybe there was some flashed in G-league, but during this stint, there hasnt even been a glimpse that gives you hope or makes you say "the balls not dropping but he can cleary do X/Y/Z).

His first step that looked adequet in G-league doesnt look quick enough now. So when he goes to the rim its more out of control and more contested. and his biggest weakness appears to be getting a qualtiy shot at the rim when there is traffic or a defender... his is throwing his body wildly to the point where he is ending up on the ground and the shot often isnt even touching the rim.

His shot looks broken. anyone can have a colds spell but i mean we could roll MDB out on the court and he would probably manage to shoot better than 17% from three. thats compounded by the fact he feels the need to take 30 foot curry distance bombs early in the clock.

He doesnt use his size to his advantage. he isnt bullying smaller guys, he sint finishing at the rim, he isnt making other teams go bigger at the 2 or 3 to deal with him. He isnt stretching the floor to pull bigs out and he isnt blowing by bigs forcing teams to go smaller at the 3 or 4 to contain his drives.

He isnt creating offense for others. he isnt selfish but he just isnt creating situations or movign the defense to where he can get someone a pass to a scoring opportiunty. his pick and roll play doesnt force the defense to where the pick and roll pass opportunity is there for him. he turns it over more then he creates a scorign opportunity via pass.

I ask you, what are these flashes you are seeing? if you are a "purist" who goes by the eyetest we live in the 21st century where you can post a clip of it.

We are ALL watching the games and that is why he is getting criticized... because we are watching a guy play as bad as you can offensively with an opportunity for real minutes.

We can disagree all day long that's what sports and being a fan is about. Bottom line is he is in the league along with hundreds of other players and we aren't. He's 20, so in 2-3 years we can really start to make our judgements on him, until then we are both wasting our time with the back and forth over him.

So we cant call out his bad play because we arent in the NBA? why even post on this forum? no one said he isnt young or cant improve, just that so far he has been as bad as you can be, quandered an opportunity and hoped to see something encouraging

Just food for thought though on your zero promise thing....Spence showed zero promise his first two years in the league at ages 21-22, now he is a boardline all-star this season the way he's playing. It's all about the will, fight, and work ethic within the player that determines their outcome. Musa has that.

Spencer is the exception not the rule. Musa could turn out to be good. right now he hasnt shown much to inspire confidence

[gigantes]

I guess me and you just see a completely different basketball game when we watch it. If you see zero promise, or zero anything for that matter then it's simple you are a complete stat man not watching the game within the game. I know you spend most of your time on here spewing out endless to stats, which to a basketball purist like me is meaningless.

We can disagree all day long that's what sports and being a fan is about. Bottom line is he is in the league along with hundreds of other players and we aren't. He's 20, so in 2-3 years we can really start to make our judgements on him, until then we are both wasting our time with the back and forth over him.

Just food for thought though on your zero promise thing....Spence showed zero promise his first two years in the league at ages 21-22, now he is a boardline all-star this season the way he's playing. It's all about the will, fight, and work ethic within the player that determines their outcome. Musa has that.

The thing is, from what I've read, Musa's confidence and such was always a big part of his appeal. You can still see he has that, and I can certainly appreciate it.

The problem is that, like Proky was saying, he simply doesn't impress in the many other areas that he needs to, if he's going to stay in the NBA.

As for him playing smaller than his height, a good part of that probably relates to his wingspan only equaling his height (6'9"). That might have worked better in the past, but in today's NBA, players are specifically drafted with longer arms compared to their height, probably because that gives the team more flexibility in terms of switching and playing multiple positions.

I have nothing against Musa in particular, but on behalf of everyone's interests, he belongs in the G-league at this point, and not in the NBA.

[MrDollarBills]

His shot looks broken. anyone can have a colds spell but i mean we could roll MDB out on the court and he would probably manage to shoot better than 17% from three.

bro I can't co sign this, in my playing days I patterned my offensive game after Richard Hamilton because I was terrible at shooting threes

[MrDollarBills]

I guess me and you just see a completely different basketball game when we watch it. If you see zero promise, or zero anything for that matter then it's simple you are a complete stat man not watching the game within the game. I know you spend most of your time on here spewing out endless to stats, which to a basketball purist like me is meaningless.

We can disagree all day long that's what sports and being a fan is about. Bottom line is he is in the league along with hundreds of other players and we aren't. He's 20, so in 2-3 years we can really start to make our judgements on him, until then we are both wasting our time with the back and forth over him.

Just food for thought though on your zero promise thing....Spence showed zero promise his first two years in the league at ages 21-22, now he is a boardline all-star this season the way he's playing. It's all about the will, fight, and work ethic within the player that determines their outcome. Musa has that.

The thing is, from what I've read, Musa's confidence and such was always a big part of his appeal. You can still see he has that, and I can certainly appreciate it.

The problem is that, like Proky was saying, he simply doesn't impress in the many other areas that he needs to, if he's going to stay in the NBA.

As for him playing smaller than his height, a good part of that probably relates to his wingspan only equaling his height (6'9"). That might have worked better in the past, but in today's NBA, players are specifically drafted with longer arms compared to their height, probably because that gives the team more flexibility in terms of switching and playing multiple positions.

I have nothing against Musa in particular, but on behalf of everyone's interests, he belongs in the G-league at this point, and not in the NBA.

Yeah, he's not ready.

The defensive chops he has displayed will go a long way for him. However, until he can start knocking down wide open threes he's not going to be effective at this level because he can't get past his man off the dribble.

For someone who shot 36% from 3 in the G league this is inexplicably bad. However, I think it's 100% mental, but we're at a point in time where we really can't afford to wait for guys too much longer. We want to continue winning games, which means playing the best players, and Temple, Nwaba, and Shump are all better than him and they have made an impact on both ends.

Musa should either sit or go back to the G league to keep working on his game.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

i guess only musa and his coaches know whats happening with him, i wouldnt go that far to say his shot is broken, cause he shoot 36% on 5 attempts per game from the 3 point land in the g league and he also shoot 7-15 in the nba preseason

but so far in the nba, he shoots 8-44 (18.4%) for three, which is awful...

[gigantes]

Yeah, he's not ready.

The defensive chops he has displayed will go a long way for him. However, until he can start knocking down wide open threes he's not going to be effective at this level because he can't get past his man off the dribble.

For someone who shot 36% from 3 in the G league this is inexplicably bad. However, I think it's 100% mental, but we're at a point in time where we really can't afford to wait for guys too much longer. We want to continue winning games, which means playing the best players, and Temple, Nwaba, and Shump are all better than him and they have made an impact on both ends.

Musa should either sit or go back to the G league to keep working on his game.

You know there was an interesting article last week on SBN about his semi-countryman Doncic using a very modest first step to blow by defenders via change of pace, long strides, and stuff like that.

Dzanan, if you have time and you're reading this, could you maybe take a look?
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2019/12/4/20993740/luka-doncic-dallas-mavericks-mvp-race-stats-highlights

What was maybe most interesting of all to me is Doncic's brilliance at reading the defender and taking advantage with his mediocre NBA athleticism. For whatever reason we tend to focus on the opposite, as in humiliating the defender via sheer, unstoppable athleticism, but I like the every-man idea that you can also win by taking advantage of a defender's mistakes. And who knows... maybe Musa's high confidence works against him somewhat in that area.

[MrDollarBills]

Yeah, he's not ready.

The defensive chops he has displayed will go a long way for him. However, until he can start knocking down wide open threes he's not going to be effective at this level because he can't get past his man off the dribble.

For someone who shot 36% from 3 in the G league this is inexplicably bad. However, I think it's 100% mental, but we're at a point in time where we really can't afford to wait for guys too much longer. We want to continue winning games, which means playing the best players, and Temple, Nwaba, and Shump are all better than him and they have made an impact on both ends.

Musa should either sit or go back to the G league to keep working on his game.

You know there was an interesting article last week on SBN about his semi-countryman Doncic using a very modest first step to blow by defenders via change of pace, long strides, and stuff like that.

Dzanan, if you have time and you're reading this, could you maybe take a look?
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2019/12/4/20993740/luka-doncic-dallas-mavericks-mvp-race-stats-highlights

What was maybe most interesting of all to me is Doncic's brilliance at reading the defender and taking advantage with his mediocre NBA athleticism. For whatever reason we tend to focus on the opposite, as in humiliating the defender via sheer, unstoppable athleticism, but I like the every-man idea that you can also win by taking advantage of a defender's mistakes. And who knows... maybe Musa's high confidence works against him somewhat in that area.

Doncic is surgical man. He's got that craftiness to his game like guys like Brandon Roy and Paul Pierce had where their physical limitations don't hinder them because their on court IQ is so damn high.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

i dont know if anyone will agree with me, but musa looked really comfortable past two games, especially in the first half against charlotte... set up harris and dinwiddie for open threes (both missed), set up allen and jordan for layups (both missed), made one three on step-back, the other almost went in... he even drove on his right side two times

hope to see the same very next game...

[Uncbball8293]

i dont know if anyone will agree with me, but musa looked really comfortable past two games, especially in the first half against charlotte... set up harris and dinwiddie for open threes (both missed), set up allen and jordan for layups (both missed), made one three on step-back, the other almost went in... he even drove on his right side two times

hope to see the same very next game...

He did look much better over the last two games. You can almost see him getting more comfortable, and the game starting to slow down a bit. Confidence will always be there for him no matter what. It's tough to watch a large majority of Nets fans be tough on a 20 year old, but it comes with being a pro athlete in a bigger city. Plus he just flat out hasn't performed up to par so far this year. His coach in the Gleague last year called him the "best passer" in the entire league. He averaged 4apg and threw some beauties. He has the ability to make plays for others and fans will stat to see it in due time.

It's obvious that Marks and Kenny thing highly of him and they see a lot of what he is doing behind the scenes and know what he's capable of. He's putting in the work and doing everything asked of him right now. Him not having the ball in his hands at all times is the hardest adjustment for him to make. After every made shot you see him hang around the baseline like the PG to get the inbounds pass. It's what he's use to his whole life, so these past 15 games have been a major adjustment for him.

I will continue to support the kid no matter what because I see the potential in him although others may not at this point. In 2 years he will be a household name in the NBA!

[Paradise]

Musa looks like an NBA rookie at times because that’s exactly what he is. He primarily last season in Long Island, so despite how much we’ve got our expectation set in, he’s still got room to get better this year.

[SpeedyG]

Yeah, he's not ready.

The defensive chops he has displayed will go a long way for him. However, until he can start knocking down wide open threes he's not going to be effective at this level because he can't get past his man off the dribble.

For someone who shot 36% from 3 in the G league this is inexplicably bad. However, I think it's 100% mental, but we're at a point in time where we really can't afford to wait for guys too much longer. We want to continue winning games, which means playing the best players, and Temple, Nwaba, and Shump are all better than him and they have made an impact on both ends.

Musa should either sit or go back to the G league to keep working on his game.

You know there was an interesting article last week on SBN about his semi-countryman Doncic using a very modest first step to blow by defenders via change of pace, long strides, and stuff like that.

Dzanan, if you have time and you're reading this, could you maybe take a look?
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2019/12/4/20993740/luka-doncic-dallas-mavericks-mvp-race-stats-highlights

What was maybe most interesting of all to me is Doncic's brilliance at reading the defender and taking advantage with his mediocre NBA athleticism. For whatever reason we tend to focus on the opposite, as in humiliating the defender via sheer, unstoppable athleticism, but I like the every-man idea that you can also win by taking advantage of a defender's mistakes. And who knows... maybe Musa's high confidence works against him somewhat in that area.

Doncic is surgical man. He's got that craftiness to his game like guys like Brandon Roy and Paul Pierce had where their physical limitations don't hinder them because their on court IQ is so damn high.

I do think there are similar skill sets between the two, but Luka's IQ and the way he sees the game is 1000% better than Musa right now. He just...for the lack of better word, but often used for guys like LeBron, Kidd, etc...he just sees the game.

Musa isn't doing that right now, and I'm pretty sure he isn't ever going to be at that level.

But he still has pretty good vision as a passer, and has good size. The outside shooting will come around, but quite frankly I think the team did him a disservice trying to expand his game to far out too soon (though it's fair to say they probably didn't expect him to be playing this much this soon).

The 2-3 steps away from three-point line should be reserved for elite shooters...Joe, Kyrie, the Curry's, DLo. Yet, Musa jacks them up with regularity. And by all accounts he talked about it on off season this is something the team worked with him during the off-season, and wanted him to do.

I think someone posted it on Twitter that half his 3 point attempts have been at this range, and he's shooting it at an abysmal rate. If we took away these shots? His FG% might be more...average. Not to mention it improves the eye test of "why is he taking these shots? these are terrible".

The second issue might be that, our offense really is built one-way...downhill guards. Spencer, Kyrie, and Caris all thrived in that ability to get by their man. Even Theo is doing that (without the finishing ability).

But we saw that wasn't a fit for Russell. That wasn't his game, and through perhaps sheer need last season, both player AND coach evolved.

Russell went to his mid range more..and Kenny (plenty of reports confirming this) is and was not a fan of the mid...but allowed Russell to do his thing as it became clear that is what he was great at.

Now, I don't know that Musa has a legit midrange like Dlo. I don't know that he has a post game and footwork like Donkic.

But I think it needs to be something they need to look at and ask..

What does Musa do well? And how can we incorporate that into our team?

Because I think the team asking him to shoot long threes or trying to break down guards at the top of the key isn't a recipe for success at his current skill set.

I think last game we did see a bit of high PNR with him (with a shooter on the corner) and he had some success.

The people who are quick to dismiss him forget that not everyone is a Donkic.

A lot of young Europeans who came into the league at such a young age struggle with the rule change, the pace, and size/speed of the athletes.

Musa is still the youngest player on the roster (if I'm not mistaken he's a few months younger than Claxton).

He's already improved and developing on the defensive side (he's more disciplined there than Rodi was last season, while still being aggressive in contesting shots and ball denial using his length).

I think he can help this offense still because of his versatility, I just don't think is capable of delivering what we wanted him to be. I was somewhat surprised when Kenny talked about needing him as a "floor spacer" for Spencer, because I never got the impression that he is that.

Sent from my SM-G925T using RealGM mobile app

[Dzon Dilindzer]

musa is shooting 37% on four shot attempts for three, which clearly shows he felt pressure in the nba, given he was shooting 21.3% on two shot attempts... i believe 43 games are enough sample size to know he can shoot the 3-pointers at acceptable percentage

his fg% is improved, which is i believe due to his body improvement and that body is nowhere near finished yet... i believe it would be for the best if brooklyn trade him in the summer, they cant wait for him to break out given theyre going after chip starting next season and he needs minutes

[gigantes]

his fg% is improved, which is i believe due to his body improvement and that body is nowhere near finished yet... i believe it would be for the best if brooklyn trade him in the summer, they cant wait for him to break out given theyre going after chip starting next season and he needs minutes

Brooklyn's ability to chase a chip is very unclear to me at the moment. I think you could just as easily argue that it's better to keep this guy and see how he develops. Assuming he does, he might be useful as early as the ~midpoint of next season, or he might be useful a year or two down the line. Either thing might have value, depending on how the team goes.

Also, what do you think his trade value would be if he can't even crack the rotation on a bad team?

[Dzon Dilindzer]

his fg% is improved, which is i believe due to his body improvement and that body is nowhere near finished yet... i believe it would be for the best if brooklyn trade him in the summer, they cant wait for him to break out given theyre going after chip starting next season and he needs minutes

Brooklyn's ability to chase a chip is very unclear to me at the moment. I think you could just as easily argue that it's better to keep this guy and see how he develops. Assuming he does, he might be useful as early as the ~midpoint of next season, or he might be useful a year or two down the line. Either thing might have value, depending on how the team goes.

Also, what do you think his trade value would be if he can't even crack the rotation on a bad team?

it will be interesting summer for brooklyn, some big decisions are to be made

for example, will they trade for a third all-star or someone whos close to that or will they keep current team and make only minor roster changes, bring in one or two players like garrett temple lets say

if its the first scenario, i can see musa both being traded and kept (you can make argument for both things), but if its the second scenario, he should be traded, cause he will not be rotational piece next season (unless hes suddenly better than some players who are in the rotation right now)

but to answer your question, if he cant crack the roation on a bad team, he wouldnt have any value (or a little value, cause you can always get stuck behind a solid or good player on a bad team that plays at your position), why would anyone trade for a player like that... he would be heading back to europe... at worst, im sure musa will be like mario hezonja, who will always find an nba team

brooklyn looked like ideal landing spot for musa prior to the draft, but then they landed durant and kyrie and suddenly they are not anymore... well see whats going to happen, i dont doubt musa for one second, but are brooklyn nets prepared to wait for him to breakout and give him minutes, thats the real question

[Fallout_3]

You will be happy to know that Real Madrid has just signed Nets legend

[CalamityX12]

You will be happy to know that Real Madrid has just signed Nets legend

Hala Madrid!

[Papi_swav]

he was so trash lol I'm sorry