Warriors select Jonathan Kuminga with the 7th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft

HiRez · Post #601 » by **HiRez** » Thu Nov 18, 2021 5:11 pm

Early on I was getting worried he had bad hands because I saw him fumble the ball a lot. But now I'm thinking, fortunately, he doesn't actually have bad hands but is just struggling with timing and overthinking. If so, that's great news. He's already showing improvement there and as he evolves his moves from processed and mechanical to instinctual, it should get better. Now Wiseman needs to make that leap as well.

Flash Falcon X · Post #602 » by **Flash Falcon X** » Fri Nov 19, 2021 4:18 am

Flash Falcon X wrote:Nice footwork.

He'll get the ball at the 3 point line, drive in at a weird angle, but then he'll do some crafty spin move with a long stride that positions him right at the rim for an easy layup. Might end up being a player who despite needing work on his 3s, could still get you some easy buckets at the rim when the team's outside shooting is struggling.

I was browsing Youtube and found this long breakdown video of how Kuminga is pretty much gonna be a beast. The first play they use as an example is the play I was referring to in my quoted post above. Footwork is impressive for a kid his age.

Watch on YouTube

WESCO · Post #603 » by **WESCO** » Fri Nov 19, 2021 4:44 am

Tonight's shot selection wash very poor for him. I thought he was JP out there... (Nice to see Jp Hit an open 3 tonight btw)

Frozzy · Post #604 » by **Frozzy** » Fri Nov 19, 2021 4:49 am

WESCO wrote:Tonight's shot selection wash very poor for him. I thought he was JP out there... (Nice to see Jp Hit an open 3 tonight btw)

Ya a bit timid again, shooting jumpers when he has a lane to the rim

SpreeChokeJob · Post #605 » by **SpreeChokeJob** » Fri Nov 19, 2021 4:58 am

Frozzy wrote:
WESCO wrote:Tonight's shot selection wash very poor for him. I thought he was JP out there... (Nice to see Jp Hit an open 3 tonight btw)

Ya a bit timid again, shooting jumpers when he has a lane to the rim

He was doing that in the G league ignite. He shoots it even though he isn't great yet. Much different in the pro's, where possessions actually matter.

He should stick to his bread and butter for now. Drive into the paint and kick out if help comes.

Until he can nail 60-70 out of 100 in practice, he should drive and draw defenders.

Mac1958 · Post #606 » by **Mac1958** » Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:25 am

I'll say it again: With his mix of size, strength, athleticism, nose for the rim and alpha dog mentality, he could become a sturdier version of Zion. With the W's outside shooters, there's plenty of room for that in the offense, isn't there?

wco81 · Post #607 » by **wco81** » Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:01 pm

He needs to be able to hit some shots to make his drives effective. Otherwise they will back off him.

Also for his career too. If he can't hit at a high enough clip, he becomes another athletic wing who had potential.

KevinMcreynolds · Post #608 » by **KevinMcreynolds** » Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:30 pm

he's not taking 3's in rhythm, he's thinking about whether he should take it or not before he hoists it. he also passed up a huge lane to take one last night

DonaldSanders · Post #609 » by **DonaldSanders** » Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:57 pm

wco81 wrote:He needs to be able to hit some shots to make his drives effective. Otherwise they will back off him.

Also for his career too. If he can't hit at a high enough clip, he becomes another athletic wing who had potential.

He's good enough to blow by almost any defender with a running start. Sag off of him and watch him go to the cup for a dunk. There usually is no help defense on drives because of all the chaos Curry creates.

I don't think he needs to be shooting 3s at all. If he is setting screens, cutting, and driving that's all we need him to do. If you play with Steph you don't have to shoot 3s, but you do need to be able to score.

I hope Kerr is teaching the young guys that they don't have to copy Klay or Steph to be effective here, do you from 2 and that can be great.

Scoots1994 · Post #610 » by **Scoots1994** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 3:09 am

DonaldSanders wrote:
wco81 wrote:He needs to be able to hit some shots to make his drives effective. Otherwise they will back off him.

Also for his career too. If he can't hit at a high enough clip, he becomes another athletic wing who had potential.

He's good enough to blow by almost any defender with a running start. Sag off of him and watch him go to the cup for a dunk. There usually is no help defense on drives because of all the chaos Curry creates.

I don't think he needs to be shooting 3s at all. If he is setting screens, cutting, and driving that's all we need him to do. If you play with Steph you don't have to shoot 3s, but you do need to be able to score.

I hope Kerr is teaching the young guys that they don't have to copy Klay or Steph to be effective here, do you from 2 and that can be great.

Generally you don't want wings who refuse to shoot. Even if he doesn't hit at a reasonable percentage he has to take them occasionally or he hurts the whole team's offense.

watch1958 · Post #611 » by **watch1958** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:03 am

Doesn’t have to be a 3, either. The David West mid range would make him hard to guard.

The-Power · Post #612 » by **The-Power** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 1:03 pm

Scoots1994 wrote:Generally you don't want wings who refuse to shoot. Even if he doesn't hit at a reasonable percentage he has to take them occasionally or he hurts the whole team's offense.

He's not a wing, though. Even though him being able to hit 3s consistently would significantly raise his ceiling, it's not as important for him to be a valuable player in the league as it is for someone like Moody.

Draymond Green cannot shoot – and doesn't exert nearly as much rim pressure – and look how he turned out. Obviously Draymond is unique but the point is that if Kuminga cannot shoot well enough, he'll ‘just’ have to be able to defend 4s and some 5s.

Onus · Post #613 » by **Onus** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 2:28 pm

I’m starting to see kuminga more as a bam type player than a wing.

EvanZ · Post #614 » by **EvanZ** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 2:56 pm

Onus wrote:I’m starting to see kuminga more as a bam type player than a wing.

How did it take you this long? He's clearly not a wing.

DonaldSanders · Post #615 » by **DonaldSanders** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 3:49 pm

Scoots1994 wrote:
DonaldSanders wrote:
wco81 wrote:He needs to be able to hit some shots to make his drives effective. Otherwise they will back off him.

Also for his career too. If he can't hit at a high enough clip, he becomes another athletic wing who had potential.

He's good enough to blow by almost any defender with a running start. Sag off of him and watch him go to the cup for a dunk. There usually is no help defense on drives because of all the chaos Curry creates.

I don't think he needs to be shooting 3s at all. If he is setting screens, cutting, and driving that's all we need him to do. If you play with Steph you don't have to shoot 3s, but you do need to be able to score.

I hope Kerr is teaching the young guys that they don't have to copy Klay or Steph to be effective here, do you from 2 and that can be great.

Generally you don't want wings who refuse to shoot. Even if he doesn't hit at a reasonable percentage he has to take them occasionally or he hurts the whole team's offense.

With Curry in the game I don't think this is true. Generally as an NBA principle, yes. Playing with Stephen Curry he is seeing very little resistance overall. Like I said if they sag on him, he can just blow by. Everyone is so focused on Steph.

Watching him with the "B" squad last night he did need to do what you describe, some of those shots he needed to take. The defense was much more collapsed to the interior like teams usually play in the NBA. With Steph though, things are different. Someone who can get to the cup and does it consistently would be absolutely huge.

ChuckDurn · Post #616 » by **ChuckDurn** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 4:21 pm

EvanZ wrote:
Onus wrote:I’m starting to see kuminga more as a bam type player than a wing.

How did it take you this long? He's clearly not a wing.

Yeah, to me, he’s a pretty pure 4, albeit with good handles that are more typical of a 3 and with foot speed and agility on D that allows him to guard down to the 3 or even the 2 (in addition to the 4 and some 5’s). But offensively, his skill set is absolutely more of a 4 right now.

As he matures even more physically, he’ll be able to slide up to play more of the 5, and if he can develop consistency with an outside shot, he’s going to be really dangerous. But that will just make him more of a 4/5 with perimeter skills than a wing, IMO.

tarantism · Post #617 » by **tarantism** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 4:40 pm

ChuckDurn wrote:
EvanZ wrote:
Onus wrote:I’m starting to see kuminga more as a bam type player than a wing.

How did it take you this long? He's clearly not a wing.

Yeah, to me, he’s a pretty pure 4, albeit with good handles that are more typical of a 3 and with foot speed and agility on D that allows him to guard down to the 3 or even the 2 (in addition to the 4 and some 5’s). But offensively, his skill set is absolutely more of a 4 right now.

As he matures even more physically, he’ll be able to slide up to play more of the 5, and if he can develop consistency with an outside shot, he’s going to be really dangerous. But that will just make him more of a 4/5 with perimeter skills than a wing, IMO.

He should be able to guard 1-5 in his prime. They already frequently have him matched up against 1's, including putting him on Steph in practice (which is what earned him game minutes).

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GSWFan1994 · Post #618 » by **GSWFan1994** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 5:14 pm

Kuminga is a combo forward IMO. Stuck in the middle as of now.

I believe he will improve his handle over time, and his long term future is as a 3, with spot minutes as a 4.

Post #619 » by **FNQ** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 5:27 pm

Kuminga will never be a 3 on this team, and probably not going forward on any team either. Is this still a discussion really? He's a 4 and might even be a 5. He's 6'7 220. He's taller than our PF/smallball C.. and shoots worse than him.

Onus · Post #620 » by **Onus** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:21 pm

EvanZ wrote:
Onus wrote:I’m starting to see kuminga more as a bam type player than a wing.

How did it take you this long? He's clearly not a wing.

I never really thought of him as a wing. As a prospect saw him as a 4. In summer league I saw him getting more minutes as a 5 and like a baby Giannis that will continuously attack the rim. Now I’m seeing he’s more like bam than giannis. Hopefully he gets Giannis desire to attack the rim all the time, but Giannis’ length is also missing.