Ruzious wrote:It's great to have a longer wingspan, but if you don't play like you have a longer wingspan, it doesn't mean anything. And a guy like Tyler Herro - who has a tiny wingspan - is a terrific player. Watching Rui - he does not at all play like someone who has an advantage with length. Jimmy Butler's wingspan = his height, and he's a star. And Rui shooting .417 from 3 didn't mean anything because he rarely shot from 3. I mean, nobody's going to be exactly the same as another player, but they were close - had virtually the same strengths and weaknesses.
Ruz... thats why we have to look at indicators. Rui is a very good FT shooter and very good on long 2's, so his SSS on 3PA in college and his poor 3Pt% as a rookie can cause people to overthink it. Rui will very likely be a very good scorer in this league on strong efficiency.
I also think his man defense will actually be very good. My questions are very specific. Will any improvements to his man defense help offset some of his issues as a team defender? Will his strong scoring on solid efficiency and usage be enough to offset mediocre rebounding numbers and below average vision/feel.
Now, you could point to someone like Tobias Harris as another Rui Comp to show that no matter how well you score, those other deficiency's simply dont go away and will, in time, cost your team. You wouldnt be wrong as growing into a better playmaker & rebounder are a bit harder that improvements in shooting.
But there outliers, and I dont mean extreme cases like Jimmy Butler.
In sticking with the bigs, you could look at Siakam, Bam, John Collins, Harrell
Siakam, as a 23 y/o going into his 2nd NBA season, had 3k minutes between college and the NBA under his belt that showed what type of player he was.
He appeared to be a defensive 3/4 that could guard 3 positions and would rebound. However, he was a terrible shooter from anywhere outside 10 feet (Including the FT line) and averaged more turnovers than assist. He appeared well on his way to being Aminu... which is a solid player.
But then... over the next 12-24 months, his AST% went up 5X and his TOV% went down while he went from a 50 / 15 / 68 shooter to a 55 / 37 / 78 shooter. Thats not some improvement, thats a complete change in the way in which a player plays the game. lol
Collins & Bam are other examples of guys who appeared to be black holes on offense all of a sudden making huge leaps. Again, Bam went from 1 Ast/36 in college to 2.7 his rookie year, to 5.5 this last year.
I know it may sound like Rui is a "Man, he just needs to put all the tools together" type player that leaves many fan bases unsatisfied... but I contend most of those players who dont put it together fall into 2 categories:
1) Overrated tools: This happens a lot with Prep/AAU kids who get the stigma of talented/athletic/etc. But in reality, they end up having only average measurements and/or functional athleticism. A lot of times, they are older and/or more physically developed than their peers which allows them to beat up 16 y/o kids... Examples from the last few years: Nassir Little, Josh Green, Quentin Grimes, Josh Jackson, Ivan Rabb, Diamond Stone, Stanley Johnson, Winslow, Shabazz Muhammad, etc.
And/Or2) Poor IQ/Work ethic: This is the bigger let down as its harder to let these players go. These guys never put it together because they dont work on their skill set enough and/or do not have the mental capacity/hardware/awareness to read the game and make good decisions. Examples of this: Anthony Edwards, Josh Jackson, Knox, Monk, Skal, Mudiay, Jabari Parker, Wiggins, Anthony Bennett.
I contend that Rui doesnt belong in either camp. His physical profile matches/exceeds what most thought of him over the last 3 years and every indication we've received from people that have been around him is that he loves the game, loves to work, and picks up new things quickly.
Point is, lets ride with him for another year and see what happens.