Marcus wrote:I like Emoni but its still suuuuuuper early. When the comp catches up to him i need to see the adjustments he makes to his game. Lot of skill though. My question for kids this good this early is if the confidence and success curbs the work ethic.
This is a great point you made back in 2019.
I’ve actually been reading about Emoni Bates struggling in his recent games as he’s been getting better competition.
https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/Emoni-Bates-basketball-prospect-Midwest-Mania-breakdown-164761930/#164761930_1
https://www.yardbarker.com/general_sports/articles/despite_recent_criticism_emoni_bates_remains_a_special_talent/s1_16793_34756232
^ And one of those articles was talking about just that.
“ Similarly to his physique, Bates matured early so while he was much taller than the kids early on in his career, he was also much more athletic. Again, similarly to his physique, he has remained a similar athlete since his early days and many of his peers have surpassed him in this area.
Bates is still a good athlete but does not possess the burst or strength to efficiently break down and get by his man on the perimeter. This isn't quite as simple to improve as raw mass and strength, but again there are plenty of means for Bates to improve his explosiveness.
It must be noted that Bates was drawing double- and triple-teams in both viewings this weekend so busting through a defense is no easy task. But it was still noticeable the amount of dribbles and energy it took for Bates to get into that second level of defense.”