#45 - Jordan Nwora (Forward, Louisville)

[4xBuck]

He's somewhere between Duncan Robinson & Tobias Harris... If he gets in top shape and loses his baby fat like Harris did, he could be really good.

[Matches Malone]

Won't be long now... watch your back, Pat.

Watch on YouTube

[emunney]

In all seriousness, the rooks have barely played, but you'd much rather have them look like this so far (confident, aggressive, making shots, winning their minutes) than the alternative. You would think with a team this shallow, they'll start to get more significant opportunities.

[Pachinko_]

I feel if I was a GM and had just paid someone who plays like crap, I'd pressure the coach to give him a million opportunities before playing the rookies over him and basically writing him off.

[Matches Malone]

I feel if I was a GM and had just paid someone who plays like crap, I'd pressure the coach to give him a million opportunities before playing the rookies over him and basically writing him off.

Isn't this an example of when people talk about sunk cost fallacy or whatever? Pat got his money but if the rookies are panning out and helping to wins, I gotta think that's also good for the GM and his job, despite a misstep with Pat.

[HKPackFan]

Jordan looks real smooth out there.


I want the rookies ready to contribute in the playoffs, in my mind that means getting them reps and minutes now so they are working towards the playoffs.

5 months from now they won't be rookies anymore if they have been getting meaningful minutes throughout.

[ShootingtheJ]

I feel if I was a GM and had just paid someone who plays like crap, I'd pressure the coach to give him a million opportunities before playing the rookies over him and basically writing him off.

If keeping Pat was a move they thought they needed to make to keep Giannis, in not going to die over it, his contract is half of Tony Snell's.

Horst drafted the rookies, and they might make him look genius. I think they'll get their shot soon. I actually like that they're not being gifted anything.

They're both incredibly smooth, and both are playing with a sense of urgency.

[jute2003]

Jordan looks real smooth out there.


I want the rookies ready to contribute in the playoffs, in my mind that means getting them reps and minutes now so they are working towards the playoffs.

5 months from now they won't be rookies anymore if they have been getting meaningful minutes throughout.

Gotta worry about them hitting the rookie wall. Working them in slow is probably right.

[giannis and 1]

Nwora looks pretty good so far. One thing I noticed about him is he looks like he needs to fill out more. That extra muscle should help him against other forwards.

[buckbeer]

Won't be long now... watch your back, Pat.

Watch on YouTube

Nwora vs Pat. Nwora is a lot bigger and has the size to guard forwards, he is a better shooter and an offensive threat, and he plays better D than Pat. Pat is undersize for a SF and is a bad defender and a poor shooter.

It boggles the mind that Bud has Pat in the rotation ahead of Nwora , how is the team going to be successful if you pick the lousier player to play more than the better player? The better player should get much more PT irregardless of senority and contract size, as this gives the team a better chance of winning.

[bucksfansince88]

Won't be long now... watch your back, Pat.

Watch on YouTube

All i could see was Pat standing up on the sideline pissed knowing the rook is about to get all of his minutes! Nwora is way better than i expected, I compared him to Jared Dudley and that’s looking like a horrible comparison, he’s way better

[SupremeHustle]

Tell me I'm wrong:

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[soxperry]

We saw the best and worst of what Nwora can offer right now. Great shooter, possibly elite, tall and can get his shot off very easily, is already a catch and shoot dynamo. But extremely unpolished, doesnt have great handles, not a good passer, not an nba body yet, probably wont be able to create a shot against a starter quality defender, probably a defensive liability.

Lets see if we can patch a couple of these things for the playoffs and have him chuck a few

[M-C-G]

We saw the best and worst of what Nwora can offer right now. Great shooter, possibly elite, tall and can get his shot off very easily, is already a catch and shoot dynamo. But extremely unpolished, doesnt have great handles, not a good passer, not an nba body yet, probably wont be able to create a shot against a starter quality defender, probably a defensive liability.

Lets see if we can patch a couple of these things for the playoffs and have him chuck a few

I unfortunately didn't catch the part of his game as TNT cut away a lot of the second half. That said, if he can just be a great catch and shooter this season, work on his body and his game for a bigger role next season, that's a fantastic outcome.

Merrill already seems to have more polish to the other parts of his game. But both guys have lots of room to improve.

Also, just love how composed both guys seem to be.

[Ruzious]

We saw the best and worst of what Nwora can offer right now. Great shooter, possibly elite, tall and can get his shot off very easily, is already a catch and shoot dynamo. But extremely unpolished, doesnt have great handles, not a good passer, not an nba body yet, probably wont be able to create a shot against a starter quality defender, probably a defensive liability.

Lets see if we can patch a couple of these things for the playoffs and have him chuck a few

I unfortunately didn't catch the part of his game as TNT cut away a lot of the second half. That said, if he can just be a great catch and shooter this season, work on his body and his game for a bigger role next season, that's a fantastic outcome.

Merrill already seems to have more polish to the other parts of his game. But both guys have lots of room to improve.

Also, just love how composed both guys seem to be.

It's small sample size theater, so it might be too soon to go nwuts over Nwora. Tbh, I'm even more impressed with Merrill. This was definitely a good draft for 2nd round nuggets... er 2nd round bucks. Bol Bol was a 2nd round Nugget last year. Nwora - a 2nd round nwugget this... ok I'll stop.

[Ron Swanson]

Looked pretty good until he attempted to go up for that dunk and got absolutely stuffed by Chris Silva. Pretty much his game in a nutshell. Really promising shooter but he should under no circumstances be allowed to do anything offensively outside of spotting up behind the 3PT line and taking wide open layups. Remains to be seen if he's reliable defensively. Steve Novak/Matt Thomas/Jared Dudley vibes.

[ReasonablySober]

It's the regular season. I want to see the kids working on their games. Merrill trying some PG ****, Nwora attacking. We know they can be great shooters. No reason not to see what else they might be able to do better in five months.

[buckboy]

Bud has never developed a draft pick into a stud unless you consider Denis Schroder a stud. He had Bazemore after a year in the league as well.

My point? If Nwora or Merrill develop into more than average NBA players, it'll be a rarity for rookies coached by Bud.

ETA: I guess Bud was the coach when ATL drafted John Collins who should be a Buck anyway, but I digress...

[higharc]

Reminds me of Middleton. Good length, unconscious shooter, probably better athletically but still has issues against elite athletes and some handles. Have him study under Khris and we'll get a rotation player soon.
Middleton found playing time because of his defense. Someone should mention this to him.

[Matches Malone]

I think he'll be a better finisher than what we've seen so far.