PG: Pistons vs Knicks

[DOT]

That's why Harden hasn't won anything and someone like Kawhi has, the mid-range game is really what separates guys in the playoffs. Even Giannis was hitting some mid post jumpers in the finals, you gotta be able to do something in between the rim and 3 point line as a wing.

Shooting 3’s and getting to the rim to break down defenses is still the most important aspect of basketball. Yes the midrange is necessary, but even players like Lebron and Luka mostly rely on getting to the rim and have limited midrange games.

It’s nice to have a midrange assassin like Booker and Middleton on your team, and hopefully Randle can be that guy for us. But for RJ as a 2nd option to have a Harden like game with good defense would not be the worse thing in the world for us.

The best version of LeBron was with the Heat when he was an assassin from the mid-range, there was no way to actually guard him then. Jason Kidd want's Luka to take more mid-range shots and not be limited to just threes and drives, he wants KP to shoot more middies too. The 3 and getting to the rim are important in the regular season, in the playoffs you have to be able to do more than that though.

The wings who can combine high level three point shooting with a great mid-range game are pretty much unstoppable (KD, Kawhi, Tatum). In the long term he's going to need the mid range shot, the finishing will clean itself up as he gets older and stronger, guys like Booker & Beal weren't good finishers early on either. The mid-range shot is what separates good wings from great ones in the playoffs.

Yeah, you definitely need that all-around shot creation ability

I think RJ shows flashes of it, and while he was still really bad from inside the 3pt line last year, his percentages from every distance marker improved by a significant amount, so where his rookie year he shot around 27% from mid, last year he got up to 33%. Still really bad, but that's a marked improvement

We'll also need to wait more than 3 preseason games to see how he does this year, and how that projects him going forward.

[FlashFlood]

I just caught the game, here's a few random thoughts;

Detroit read the scouting report on NY. They knew everyone's 1st and 2nd moves, and they identified the diagonal pass to the corners as a key way to stop the Knicks.

Did Julius somehow obtain another level over the course of the offseason? His shooting was off the charts today. He had a terrific duel with Jerami Grant, an all-star caliber talent. Grant clearly read his scouting report, catching Julius on 2 charges, but Julius was able to go to the rest of his bag. 3 years ago, we'd have seen nothing but spin-overs. MVP Julius might be his regular level now.

RJ's shooting was steaming garbage in the first half. His second half, like Randle, showed us other parts of his skillset. It's very good that he can start a game shooting flat, and still find other ways to help his team win. He kept playing defense, rebounding, making the pass, and started attacking the rim. The dunk attempts were pretty vicious. If those ever start landing, they are meanspirited morale crushers. Will he actually start hitting those? Not the best outing, but RJ's got 82 games to iron it out.

IQ was in his own duel vs Corey Joseph, a mirror image super sub. People think IQ isn't a plus defender, but I saw him stick to Joseph and effectively guide him towards help defense. Unfortunately I dont think Quickley was himself today. I'd like to see how he does in the next game against Detroit. He'll bounce back.

Obi equally wasn't allowed to get out and run. A pretty uneventful game from Toppin.

About the only other person who seemed to play well was Taj Gibson. Imagine if he was this confident to shoot jumpshots when he was younger? He might have been an all-time great Center, all-star, and triple digit millionaire.

Simms strikes me as a defensive specialist rebounder. No rim protection, didn't see any range on his jumpshot. Without a J I think he gets cut from the Knicks.

Fournier's great. If we combined Burks and Bullock's offensive skillset, you get Evan Fournier. His defense was good as well, staying in front of his man and guiding them to rim protection.

On the whole, it's good to see the Knicks be without some of their key rotation players and still able to put up 107 points against a well-coached tryhard team like Detroit.

[WajaBawl]

Mitch needs to work out with Taj. Imagine Mitch with similar footwork, ability to shoot the hook and middy? Sheesh.

[evevale]

So much chatter about Rowan and Julius but can we have a conversation about the elephant in the room, the 11th man in the rotation, the true first option:

Taj.

Tom really stepped outside of his comfort zone featuring this young, 36 year old prospect with major minutes where he showcased it all - confidence, middies, spinning, the layups and a rebound. Teams around the league watched on as he abused the league's best in the end of the bench studs on the Detroit Pistons. Hardened defenders like Trey Lyles, Jamorko Pickett, both of them at once, had no answer for Taj.

Now I know I'm going to take a lot of flak for this (and deservedly so) but I think it's time for us to explore some potential trade packages teams will aggressively be offering us moving forward. Taj is too talented to be playing limited minutes and value is peaking. Do the Sixers look to move Ben and picks for Taj? Dame for Taj/Knox/Theo Pinson? Somewhere In jersey I Know kyrie And The nets Scouting Team Has Taj On Their Radar. What's the play moving forward?

[Guano]

Julius seems poised to make another leap with those perimeter skills. He looks more fluid and quicker than he was last year. He also seems ready to let the game come to him more, with better talent around him.

What I want to see from him is efficient scoring.

The starting line-up basically kept the team afloat last year but didn't create much separation against their opponents - the bench did. I think it's (to some extent) a reflection of their leading scorer, who ended the regular season right around (just below) league average in scoring efficiency.

Granted, Jules played with Elfraud for most of the season, but he doesn't have that excuse anymore. I want him to be around 59-61% in true shooting percentage. Anything below that will put a ceiling on our team as a cute team.

RJ also needs to be more efficient, to be fair.

i'm not a stat guy so i might be off here - isn't being at league average efficiency with a high usage rate like randle impressive?

[god shammgod]

So much chatter about Rowan and Julius but can we have a conversation about the elephant in the room, the 11th man in the rotation, the true first option:

Taj.

Tom really stepped outside of his comfort zone featuring this young, 36 year old prospect with major minutes where he showcased it all - confidence, middies, spinning, the layups and a rebound. Teams around the league watched on as he abused the league's best in the end of the bench studs on the Detroit Pistons. Hardened defenders like Trey Lyles, Jamorko Pickett, both of them at once, had no answer for Taj.

Now I know I'm going to take a lot of flak for this (and deservedly so) but I think it's time for us to explore some potential trade packages teams will aggressively be offering us moving forward. Taj is too talented to be playing limited minutes and value is peaking. Do the Sixers look to move Ben and picks for Taj? Dame for Taj/Knox/Theo Pinson? Somewhere In jersey I Know kyrie And The nets Scouting Team Has Taj On Their Radar. What's the play moving forward?

jokes aside, some contender might give up a late 1st for him. a smart team might do that since we have 2 other centers and a 3rd one in the g-league. we won't though of course.

[BugginOut]

that was basically Randle’s second season since he out his whole rookie season.

and even then Randle was flashing his mid range game… something we still haven’t seen from rj.

Even if you take Randle’s fourth season he only averaged 16 PPG and RJ hasn’t even played his third season yet.

I’m just wondering why the mid range is a necessity when this board loves players like Shai who take the same amount of mid range attempts as RJ

SGA has made way more mid range shots than rj and and can actually create his own shot. mid range is a necessity in the playoffs and helps you be unstoppable

Last year between 10 feet and the 3pt line:

SGA took 80 shots and made 35%

RJ took 169 shots and made 34.9%

They are basically exactly the same from that range

[Guano]

Julius seems poised to make another leap with those perimeter skills. He looks more fluid and quicker than he was last year. He also seems ready to let the game come to him more, with better talent around him.

What I want to see from him is efficient scoring.

The starting line-up basically kept the team afloat last year but didn't create much separation against their opponents - the bench did. I think it's (to some extent) a reflection of their leading scorer, who ended the regular season right around (just below) league average in scoring efficiency.

Granted, Jules played with Elfraud for most of the season, but he doesn't have that excuse anymore. I want him to be around 59-61% in true shooting percentage. Anything below that will put a ceiling on our team as a cute team.

RJ also needs to be more efficient, to be fair.

we need more from rj than Randle at this point or we’re just going to rely on Randle to bail us out with tough shots to win like he did last night. that was basically all we did last season as well. rj doesn’t look like he’s taking any leap this year. people hate it when we say this but it’s the truth, he’s just a good role player. i don’t see star

I'm not expecting RJ to make that leap yet. If it ever happens, it'll materialize in year 4 or 5 in my opinion. He was rawer as a prospect than people thought, so it'll take him time.

Julius and RJ are quite similar as players, except Randle's further along in his development (and flat-out better) because of age. Maybe RJ will never catch up to him, maybe he will, I don't know.

But neither is efficient, nor athletic, nor can they finish at the rim, although Julius is better at it than RJ.

Bottom line is they both need to become more efficient in their respective roles. Julius as the star, RJ as a role player.

I guess I have higher expectations for Randle because of his age and his contract extension.

[god shammgod]

we need more from rj than Randle at this point or we’re just going to rely on Randle to bail us out with tough shots to win like he did last night. that was basically all we did last season as well. rj doesn’t look like he’s taking any leap this year. people hate it when we say this but it’s the truth, he’s just a good role player. i don’t see star

I'm not expecting RJ to make that leap yet. If it ever happens, it'll materialize in year 4 or 5 in my opinion. He was rawer as a prospect than people thought, so it'll take him time.

Julius and RJ are quite similar as players, except Randle's further along in his development (and flat-out better) because of age. Maybe RJ will never catch up to him, maybe he will, I don't know.

But neither is efficient, nor athletic, nor can they finish at the rim, although Julius is better at it than RJ.

Bottom line is they both need to become more efficient in their respective roles. Julius as the star, RJ as a role player.

I guess I have higher expectations for Randle because of his age and his contract extension.

and he thinks people are gonna pay him for fashion advice. the unmitigated gall.

[3toheadmelo]

Even if you take Randle’s fourth season he only averaged 16 PPG and RJ hasn’t even played his third season yet.

I’m just wondering why the mid range is a necessity when this board loves players like Shai who take the same amount of mid range attempts as RJ

SGA has made way more mid range shots than rj and and can actually create his own shot. mid range is a necessity in the playoffs and helps you be unstoppable

Last year between 10 feet and the 3pt line:

SGA took 80 shots and made 35%

RJ took 169 shots and made 34.9%

They are basically exactly the same from that range

idk what stat you’re using there but I’m pretty sure RJ didn’t take 169 mid range shots at most it’s 20 for the whole year

[jvsimonetti0514]

If RJ hit the occasional step back. Nobody would be complaining or criticizing him. Some people need to see the flash to really think a guy has improved.

But he does need to take the middy more instead of forcing some drives. Teams are giving it to him at least in these 3 preseason games. If he’d take a few, it’d make getting to the rim a lot easier

This. I don’t even need to see flash like that but read the defense better. Pull up from mid instead of going all the way to the rack sometimes. He sucks at finishing in traffic so I rather him just take the shot the defense is giving him and live with the result

If RJ hit the two wide open lay ups he missed, we aren’t even having this conversation today but he missed so knives are out. With that being said, I agree with both your posts. I’d like to see him pull up more often. I’ve liked that he’s been taking and hitting the DHO three but last night he had an opportunity for a pull up 3 and decided to pass to Taj and took a hand off from him instead. We’ve saw work out videos with him trying that pull three and I wanted to see him attempt it.

[evevale]

So much chatter about Rowan and Julius but can we have a conversation about the elephant in the room, the 11th man in the rotation, the true first option:

Taj.

Tom really stepped outside of his comfort zone featuring this young, 36 year old prospect with major minutes where he showcased it all - confidence, middies, spinning, the layups and a rebound. Teams around the league watched on as he abused the league's best in the end of the bench studs on the Detroit Pistons. Hardened defenders like Trey Lyles, Jamorko Pickett, both of them at once, had no answer for Taj.

Now I know I'm going to take a lot of flak for this (and deservedly so) but I think it's time for us to explore some potential trade packages teams will aggressively be offering us moving forward. Taj is too talented to be playing limited minutes and value is peaking. Do the Sixers look to move Ben and picks for Taj? Dame for Taj/Knox/Theo Pinson? Somewhere In jersey I Know kyrie And The nets Scouting Team Has Taj On Their Radar. What's the play moving forward?

jokes aside, some contender might give up a late 1st for him. a smart team might do that since we have 2 other centers and a 3rd one in the g-league. we won't though of course.

Jokes? The only joke I see here is a late 1st for a potentially elite 3-level scorer who has yet to reach his prime (only 36). Would the Thunder trade Giddey for a late 1st? Or maybe I'll see a headline within the hour about the Hornets giving Ball away for a protected 1st rounder in 2024. Keep hating on our team shamms

[3toheadmelo]

So much chatter about Rowan and Julius but can we have a conversation about the elephant in the room, the 11th man in the rotation, the true first option:

Taj.

Tom really stepped outside of his comfort zone featuring this young, 36 year old prospect with major minutes where he showcased it all - confidence, middies, spinning, the layups and a rebound. Teams around the league watched on as he abused the league's best in the end of the bench studs on the Detroit Pistons. Hardened defenders like Trey Lyles, Jamorko Pickett, both of them at once, had no answer for Taj.

Now I know I'm going to take a lot of flak for this (and deservedly so) but I think it's time for us to explore some potential trade packages teams will aggressively be offering us moving forward. Taj is too talented to be playing limited minutes and value is peaking. Do the Sixers look to move Ben and picks for Taj? Dame for Taj/Knox/Theo Pinson? Somewhere In jersey I Know kyrie And The nets Scouting Team Has Taj On Their Radar. What's the play moving forward?

jokes aside, some contender might give up a late 1st for him. a smart team might do that since we have 2 other centers and a 3rd one in the g-league. we won't though of course.

Jokes? The only joke I see here is a late 1st for a potentially elite 3-level scorer who has yet to reach his prime (only 36). Would the Thunder trade Giddey for a late 1st? Or maybe I'll see a headline within the hour about the Hornets giving Ball away for a protected 1st rounder in 2024. Keep hating on our team shamms

sham hating on the god taj

[god shammgod]

jokes aside, some contender might give up a late 1st for him. a smart team might do that since we have 2 other centers and a 3rd one in the g-league. we won't though of course.

Jokes? The only joke I see here is a late 1st for a potentially elite 3-level scorer who has yet to reach his prime (only 36). Would the Thunder trade Giddey for a late 1st? Or maybe I'll see a headline within the hour about the Hornets giving Ball away for a protected 1st rounder in 2024. Keep hating on our team shamms

sham hating on the god taj

i'm a voice for the voiceless

[robillionaire]

SGA has made way more mid range shots than rj and and can actually create his own shot. mid range is a necessity in the playoffs and helps you be unstoppable

Last year between 10 feet and the 3pt line:

SGA took 80 shots and made 35%

RJ took 169 shots and made 34.9%

They are basically exactly the same from that range

idk what stat you’re using there but I’m pretty sure RJ didn’t take 169 mid range shots at most it’s 20 for the whole year

i'm going to need people to start posting citations for these stats from now on

[Clyde_Style]

So much chatter about Rowan and Julius but can we have a conversation about the elephant in the room, the 11th man in the rotation, the true first option:

Taj.

Tom really stepped outside of his comfort zone featuring this young, 36 year old prospect with major minutes where he showcased it all - confidence, middies, spinning, the layups and a rebound. Teams around the league watched on as he abused the league's best in the end of the bench studs on the Detroit Pistons. Hardened defenders like Trey Lyles, Jamorko Pickett, both of them at once, had no answer for Taj.

Now I know I'm going to take a lot of flak for this (and deservedly so) but I think it's time for us to explore some potential trade packages teams will aggressively be offering us moving forward. Taj is too talented to be playing limited minutes and value is peaking. Do the Sixers look to move Ben and picks for Taj? Dame for Taj/Knox/Theo Pinson? Somewhere In jersey I Know kyrie And The nets Scouting Team Has Taj On Their Radar. What's the play moving forward?

jokes aside, some contender might give up a late 1st for him. a smart team might do that since we have 2 other centers and a 3rd one in the g-league. we won't though of course.

Taj is the closest thing to his own child that Thibs will ever have so we won't be Marcus Morrising him anytime

[Clyde_Style]

Lock this thread now

Evevale has announced that Taj is our true # 1 option

Discussion is over

[robillionaire]

So much chatter about Rowan and Julius but can we have a conversation about the elephant in the room, the 11th man in the rotation, the true first option:

Taj.

Tom really stepped outside of his comfort zone featuring this young, 36 year old prospect with major minutes where he showcased it all - confidence, middies, spinning, the layups and a rebound. Teams around the league watched on as he abused the league's best in the end of the bench studs on the Detroit Pistons. Hardened defenders like Trey Lyles, Jamorko Pickett, both of them at once, had no answer for Taj.

Now I know I'm going to take a lot of flak for this (and deservedly so) but I think it's time for us to explore some potential trade packages teams will aggressively be offering us moving forward. Taj is too talented to be playing limited minutes and value is peaking. Do the Sixers look to move Ben and picks for Taj? Dame for Taj/Knox/Theo Pinson? Somewhere In jersey I Know kyrie And The nets Scouting Team Has Taj On Their Radar. What's the play moving forward?

jokes aside, some contender might give up a late 1st for him. a smart team might do that since we have 2 other centers and a 3rd one in the g-league. we won't though of course.

Taj is the closest thing to his own child that Thibs will ever have so we won't be Marcus Morrising him anytime

correct, Taj has solidified his spot in the rotation and as Nerlens is on a 3 year deal and a large part of our success and future he will also be playing, Mitch will get showcased for a trade by the deadline and we have Sims as 3rd string emergency backup

[mpharris36]

So much chatter about Rowan and Julius but can we have a conversation about the elephant in the room, the 11th man in the rotation, the true first option:

Taj.

Tom really stepped outside of his comfort zone featuring this young, 36 year old prospect with major minutes where he showcased it all - confidence, middies, spinning, the layups and a rebound. Teams around the league watched on as he abused the league's best in the end of the bench studs on the Detroit Pistons. Hardened defenders like Trey Lyles, Jamorko Pickett, both of them at once, had no answer for Taj.

Now I know I'm going to take a lot of flak for this (and deservedly so) but I think it's time for us to explore some potential trade packages teams will aggressively be offering us moving forward. Taj is too talented to be playing limited minutes and value is peaking. Do the Sixers look to move Ben and picks for Taj? Dame for Taj/Knox/Theo Pinson? Somewhere In jersey I Know kyrie And The nets Scouting Team Has Taj On Their Radar. What's the play moving forward?

jokes aside, some contender might give up a late 1st for him. a smart team might do that since we have 2 other centers and a 3rd one in the g-league. we won't though of course.

thibs would quit if we traded taj

and its not like Mitch or Noel are known to be durable...my guess Taj plays a lot this year.

[jvsimonetti0514]

Didn’t Melo start the R no J nickname last year? Then his curse kicked in and RJ went off behind the arc. So I’m expecting the same thing to happen with the off the dribble jumpers.