Rui Hachimura

[payitforward]

I think the biggest issue analytics folks have on this guy is that they see his age, where he's at stats wise and they call him a bust. Rui just started playing basketball yesterday (not really). He didn't go the AAU route, didn't play at a Blue Blood college so all the metrics you look for aren't there.

Ummm, who has called Rui a bust? I've never seen him called that anywhere. For good reason too, because... he isn't a bust.

He certainly wasn't a bust last year "stats wise" -- he was something different; he was a rookie.

I look at that 2019 draft, and where would Rui go in a re-draft? 4th? 5th? He's at least a top 5 pick if you re-did it.

I assume your claim that Rui would be a higher pick if the draft were re-done is based on how badly most of the guys from 3-8 performed? It's true -- they did.

So, I guess that means we should close the book on those guys? We know how good they'll be? Ok, no problem.

But, of course, we should definitely NOT close the book on Rui, right? That's different, right?

Oh, & forget all the guys picked later, sometimes way later, than Rui -- or who maybe even didn't get drafted at all! -- yet had better rookie years than he did. No way those guys would move up in the draft, is there?

38 rookies played a few hundred or more minutes last year. Rui performed right in the middle of that pack.

He was a ton better than R.J. Barrett, who was picked #3 in the draft. OTOH, he wasn't nearly as good as Terence Davis who was signed undrafted by Toronto.

The good news is that Rui is likely to improve. & if he improves..., why he'll be better! Esp. if he improves a lot -- then he'll be much better!

[DCZards]

From The Athletic (excerpts):

Rui Hachimura’s comfort grows even in Wizards’ preseason loss to Nets

by Mark Katz

The timing was perfect.

Rui Hachimura made a declaration about Russell Westbrook last week: “The first thing I noticed (was) he’s a great leader,” he told a group of reporters. He added, “He’s almost like a head coach. He always talks to us. … He actually changed our energy.”

Turns out, at the time of those comments, Westbrook had just finished trying to intensify Hachimura, himself.

Washington had conducted its first full-contact scrimmage earlier that same day. And apparently, Westbrook, who had been with the Wizards for less than a week at that point, was on Hachimura the whole time — getting in his face, screaming for him to be more aggressive when he touched the ball. The motivational language peaked when Westbrook began to repeatedly call the second-year forward a “bad ****,” according to someone who was there. And if you know Westbrook, you know he wasn’t exactly muttering the descriptor under his breath, either.

It seemed to have a positive effect.

The Wizards have wanted Hachimura to add some hostility to his game ever since they drafted him. Coach Scott Brooks and Bradley Beal reminded him to finish stronger at the rim time and time again a year ago. But he’d yet to experience The Westbrook Method. Later in that practice — just barely before he told reporters that Westbrook was changing the group’s energy — he threw down an emphatic dunk in traffic. The mentality bled into Washington’s preseason opener, too, a 119-114 loss to the Nets on Sunday.

Sure, some of the flaws from Hachimura’s rookie season showed. He didn’t sniff an assist. He attempted five midrange shots, not exactly a tiny number. He finished with 18 points and four rebounds on 7-for-16 shooting over 23 minutes. But the Wizards have wanted him to get more physical. And there’s no question that on Sunday night, he thumped down low more than he did on an average evening last season.

“He’s on the slender side, especially last year. But he was always strong, strong for his build,” Brooks said. “I think he’s gained a few pounds and it’s muscle. He’s a tough kid. He works hard. … He’s more comfortable within the offense, and he knows what he needs to do. He’s gonna get better.”

But he also didn’t settle for midrange positioning as often as he did a year ago. He was at the rim or the 3-point arc more often. He shot 3-for-4 from deep and looked comfortable lifting on all of them. He showed off more arc on those shots. The jumper was a little softer than the line drives he was catapulting last season. And he didn’t hesitate putting them up, as was the case as recently as during the Wizards’ bubble games over the summer.

[payitforward]

Good stuff!

[payitforward]

Top of the top 5...!

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[NatP4]

He played one game, but interesting.

[prime1time]

Top of the top 5...!

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What is this?

[payitforward]

Even though I posted this, I have no idea -- except that from context it's obviously some kind of prediction of how much players will improve this season. Note the name: CRYSTALbasketBALL.

The number "650" makes me think they rate everyone who played in the league last season. Yet, the top 5 are all young players, & 4 of them were rookies last year. And... I suppose it makes sense that it would be young players who improve the most.

That's all I got.

[Dat2U]

I have 3 outcomes for Hachimura. High end is Tobias Harris, meaning he's effectively spacing the floor and can operate as 2nd/3rd scoring option with efficiency who can get his own bucket when needed; defends adequately in space and has crisp rotations on D. My expected for him is Jabari Parker post injury; a streaky scorer who can put up 30 one night and 5 the next, no real defensive impact, gets lost in space and a mediocre shooter from 3 who doesn't space the floor. Mike Scott would be the baseline if his development hits a plateau and he's solely become an offensive weapon off the bench who can't be played for long stretches due to his other limitations - lack of rebounds/bad defense.

[J-Ves]

How can a guy with a 7’2 wing span end up with 8 blocked shots in 1444 minutes? Has that measurement been debunked yet?

[nate33]

How can a guy with a 7’2 wing span end up with 8 blocked shots in 1444 minutes? Has that measurement been debunked yet?

He never gambles... to a fault. The upside is that his foul rate is also extremely low. He has a lower foul rate per minute than anybody on the team except Beal and Ish.

He really needs to adjust his risk/reward calculation. He can afford to foul a bit more if it means he comes up with some more steals and blocks.

[NatP4]

I have 3 outcomes for Hachimura. High end is Tobias Harris, meaning he's effectively spacing the floor and can operate as 2nd/3rd scoring option with efficiency who can get his own bucket when needed; defends adequately in space and has crisp rotations on D. My expected for him is Jabari Parker post injury; a streaky scorer who can put up 30 one night and 5 the next, no real defensive impact, gets lost in space and a mediocre shooter from 3 who doesn't space the floor. Mike Scott would be the baseline if his development hits a plateau and he's solely become an offensive weapon off the bench who can't be played for long stretches due to his other limitations - lack of rebounds/bad defense.

I like this, but Tobias Harris has turned himself into an excellent defender over his career, can you Rui do the same over time?

I have little to no doubts about his development into an efficient volume scorer. The 3pt shot looks good to me. The rebounding probably says in the meh range. Will he be a plus defender ever? To me, that is what separates him from being an impact player and a mediocre role player like Mike Scott or Jabari Parker

[Hibachi_0]

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[NatP4]

Very disappointing. Was hoping to see a fast start for Rui. Gonna be a significant setback.

The team probably pivots to Wagner and Bertans at the 4 instead of playing smaller with more minutes for Brown, Bonga, and Avdija.

[Ruzious]

I have 3 outcomes for Hachimura. High end is Tobias Harris, meaning he's effectively spacing the floor and can operate as 2nd/3rd scoring option with efficiency who can get his own bucket when needed; defends adequately in space and has crisp rotations on D. My expected for him is Jabari Parker post injury; a streaky scorer who can put up 30 one night and 5 the next, no real defensive impact, gets lost in space and a mediocre shooter from 3 who doesn't space the floor. Mike Scott would be the baseline if his development hits a plateau and he's solely become an offensive weapon off the bench who can't be played for long stretches due to his other limitations - lack of rebounds/bad defense.

I think people often get messed up when they try to make comparisons.

[NatP4]

I’d like to see this with Rui out:

Westbrook Neto
Beal Mathews
Avdija Brown
Bonga Bertans
Bryant Lopez

[Ruzious]

Very disappointing. Was hoping to see a fast start for Rui. Gonna be a significant setback.

The team probably pivots to Wagner and Bertans at the 4 instead of playing smaller with more minutes for Brown, Bonga, and Avdija.

Well, the one good thing about this is it give more opportunities to other players. Hopefully they don't use Wagner at the 4 - particularly with Lopez at the 5.

[smoothSeph]

Very disappointing. Was hoping to see a fast start for Rui. Gonna be a significant setback.

The team probably pivots to Wagner and Bertans at the 4 instead of playing smaller with more minutes for Brown, Bonga, and Avdija.

I think we got a sneak peak of what Brooks wants to do. 3 guard lineup of Westbrook/Beal, Smith and Neto with Brown at the 4.

Hope to never see Wagner at the 4 ever again.

[NatP4]

Very disappointing. Was hoping to see a fast start for Rui. Gonna be a significant setback.

The team probably pivots to Wagner and Bertans at the 4 instead of playing smaller with more minutes for Brown, Bonga, and Avdija.

I think we got a sneak peak of what Brooks wants to do. 3 guard lineup of Westbrook/Beal, Smith and Neto with Brown at the 4.

Hope to never see Wagner at the 4 ever again.

The 3 guard lineup will prove to be just as awful as Wagner at the 4.

[J-Ves]

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?s=20

Oh no what are we going to do without our PF who doesn’t defend, rebound, shoot well, pass or get blocks. What a disaster!

[nate33]

It's weird. Hachimura is arguably our most indispensable player, even though he isn't one of our top 4 players. He is the only natural power forward on the roster other than Gil. When he misses games, we must immediately play guys out of position.

Hopefully Gil's horrible outing in the last preaseason game isn't an indication that he can't play on an NBA level.

I agree with NatP4 that we should start Avdija and Bonga together at the forward positions. Brown can now get a lot more minutes as he becomes the primary backup at both SF and SG. Bertans will play backup PF.