mattg wrote:The thing to me more than anything is that he’s being much more decisive. Catch and shoot instantly. One, two, dribbles into a pull up J. Pump fake and go, pull up at his spots with no hesitation. Everything he’s doing he’s doing decisively. Way less dancing with the ball, tons of rhythm dribbles and 4 second post ups, “going to work” on guys too much basically. His handle and lack of burst would get him into trouble when he was indecisive, and we’d see ugly stagnant possessions and silly turnovers. Now, just doing simple stuff quickly and with a purpose Khris is “playing faster” but is massively more effective. It’s such a marked difference from previous years.
I also think he’s in noticeably better shape (and better conditioned) than years prior and his defensive commitment is at an all time high. Also, now that’s he’s gotten recognition as an all star his confidence seems higher which should hopefully pay dividends when we inevitably face adversity again in the playoffs.
All of this. I still think conditioning and training explain just about everything. Hell, even some (not all) of his mishandles could be explained by conditioning. His lack of agility made it hard for his feet to keep up with his dribbles, and he couldn't execute his moves because his feet were too heavy.
It's interesting that it never seems to have anything to do with a contract year either. I mean, he was just as lackadaisical in his recent contract year as he was in the first year of his last pseudo-max deal. And now that he got his huge deal, he's working harder than ever. It's completely independent of contract status. Most players with inconsistent work ethics are blatant contract year guys, but Khris apparently needed some individual and team success to motivate him for more.
Wut we've got here is... faaailure... to communakate.