Precious

[OakleyDokely]

It hasn't been stated enough just how much of a stopper Precious has been this season.

Overall, players are only shooting only 40.9% against him.

But what's interesting is that he's been equally as successful against guards/wings when he's been switched onto them.

20.2% of his minutes are against guards. They are shooting 42.9%.
39.8% of his minutes are against forwards. They are shooting 41.4%.
40.0% of his minutes are against centers. They are shooting 37.2% .

He's extremely versatile because he can defend on the perimeter against quicker opponents but he can also defend your tradional 5's.

When you combine this with his rebounding, which has also been good, there's a player with a lot of potential here, especially if/when he cleans up his shot selection.

[Psubs]

Too bad his offense is resembling Patrick Patterson during his late Raptor tenure.

Though he's still really young. I'm hoping his offense develops into Montrezl Harrell with ball-handling and a passable 3pt shot.

[PoundTown]

It hasn't been stated enough just how much of a stopper Precious has been this season.

Overall, players are only shooting only 40.9% against him.

But what's interesting is that he's been equally as successful against guards/wings when he's been switched onto them.

20.2% of his minutes are against guards. They are shooting 42.9%.
39.8% of his minutes are against forwards. They are shooting 41.4%.
40.0% of his minutes are against centers. They are shooting 37.2% .

He's extremely versatile because he can defend on the perimeter but he can also defend 5's.

When you combine this with his rebounding, which has also been good as well, there's a player with a lot of potential here, especially if/when he cleans up his shot selection.

We need this guy to learn how to be somewhat efficient offensively, improve his touch, but also his shot selection. Basically, take a page out of Birch's book and learn how to kick out when getting the ball in the paint. Because on the flip side, he is perfect defensively and rebounding, especially when it comes to late game situations where most teams go small. That 3 is going to come along, but finishing around the rim and letting go of the tunnel vision towards the hoop every time he receives the ball will be the important factors in his development. The weird thing is that it almost seems his jump shot from 3 and mid-range is closer to being reliable than his baby hook around the rim.

[aminiaturebuddha]

He should be spending as much time as possible with Birch, picking his brain about how to play the center position. Two of the things that Precious really struggles at are things that Birch does really well - setting screens and sliding to open pockets on offence to put himself in position to receive passes.

If Precious could improve at those two things, then the main thing he'd have to work on is simply improving his touch around the basket. He might never be an above average finisher, but if he puts in his work, thousands and thousands of reps at layups, up-and-unders, soft paint floaters, etc. he should become an average finisher with his athleticism.

I still have hope that he'll be able to put it all together, but it might not be until near the end of next season that he really starts to look like a starter-caliber big in this league.

[Indeed]

His rebounding was missed.

I think eventually he will play the 4 when his skill level improved. By that time, hopefully we get a bigger and longer C

[Spida888]

Yeah his defense has been good. His offensive skillset, selflessness, and IQ needs to improve, and hopefully that will come with experience - he's still very young.

His handle is actually pretty good for a big man as well.

[OakleyDokely]

Just for comparison purposes, opponents are shooting:

42.2% against OG
44.6% against VV
48.8% against Siakam
52.6% against GTJ
53.5% against Barnes
54.4% against Birch

[Hero_Panda]

Heading into the season, I had pictured Precious to be above average offensively while being average defensively, struggling against traiditonal 5s. He's built like a traditional 4 but for the sake of the team he'll need to cement himself as a bonafide C. Best case scenario is current Al Horford IMO but with the ability to start the fast break.

Glad I was wrong. His defence is sorely missed and he still has tools to be an above average offensive player. Hope to see him pushing the ball after a rebound leading to positive outputs, if not just for the sake of keeping the pace up.

[Kingsway_fan]

Just for comparison purposes, opponents are shooting:

42.2% against OG
44.6% against VV
48.8% against Siakam
52.6% against GTJ
53.5% against Barnes
54.4% against Birch

wow... can we conclude from this that Precious and OG are our best defenders, followed by fred? ... and that out of that group, GTJ, Barnes and Birch our poorest? ..

[OakleyDokely]

Just for comparison purposes, opponents are shooting:

42.2% against OG
44.6% against VV
48.8% against Siakam
52.6% against GTJ
53.5% against Barnes
54.4% against Birch

wow... can we conclude from this that Precious and OG are our best defenders, followed by fred? ... and that out of that group, GTJ, Barnes and Birch our poorest? ..

I'd rank our top 3 this season:

1. OG (still faces the top competition)
2. Precious
3. VV

...then GTJ who makes up for a lot of his weaknesses with a crap load of steals/deflections. I might even put him 3rd over VV but it defends on if you prefer VVs steadiness or GTJs turnover creation.

[will]

Previous is all over the place. He needs to get 1-2 things down pat first. Box out/Rebound, defend and be on time with his rotations.

He has to chill on grabbing the board and running the fast break. Especially running the fast break with Father BooShay.

[nikster]

Just for comparison purposes, opponents are shooting:

42.2% against OG
44.6% against VV
48.8% against Siakam
52.6% against GTJ
53.5% against Barnes
54.4% against Birch

wow... can we conclude from this that Precious and OG are our best defenders, followed by fred? ... and that out of that group, GTJ, Barnes and Birch our poorest? ..

well fg% isnt everything. For example GTJ forces a lot of deflections and turnovers. May cause him to get beat occasionally leading to higher fg% but would say the steals he force are a net positive for the team

[niQ]

Yea, I think people are quick to comment on his offense, which is a work in progress, but no one really mentions how well he's been playing on defense. He just needs to let the game come to him on offense.

There's still a lot of development for Precious and he's in a good place with the Raps.

[alienchild]

Previous is all over the place. He needs to get 1-2 things down pat first. Box out/Rebound, defend and be on time with his rotations.

He has to chill on grabbing the board and running the fast break. Especially running the fast break with Father BooShay.

He's good at all those already. Nurse shouldn't pair those two in the rotation. Boucher should pair with Birch.

[TeamDisgruntled]

Posted this in a different thread but it’s also relevant here. He is Biyombo reincarnated right now. Game changing defender but also game changing on offence, as in 4 vs 5 out there. His touch around the rim has honestly felt worse than Biyombos in his tenure as a raptor, but the jumper seems like it has the potential to come along eventually.

[ItsDanger]

And he's shooting 37.2% against all of his opponents. Net loss. These stats are kind of misleading anyways. Kind of hard to accurately compile them from game situations. Maybe more valid over a bigger sample. Anyways, this guy should have been viewed as a work in progress and I'm sure most can see it now. Played better after return from injury.

I wonder if they should consider carrying 3 C's. Birch to me is 25 minutes max. Achiuwa questionable today. Can they handle the physical toll being smaller over 82 games? So far the evidence indicates no.

[anj]

Back when Larry Bird was playing, he ran a basketball camp for Indiana kids at a YMCA. When they broke for lunch, local guys would file into the gym to shoot around or run some pickup until the kids got back to it. One afternoon, before Bird kicked the last straggler out of the gym after lunch, he gathered all the kids together at one end of the court. He pointed to the guy at the other end of the gym. “You see that guy?” Bird said. “I played against him in high school. He was the best defender I’ve ever seen. Now let’s work on our shooting.”

[execoftheyear]

Yea, no complaints on the defensive side. On offense though, he needs a tighter leash. Give him Siakam's rookie role (rim runner, crash boards) and then as he develops gradually increase his role. We're allowing him too do too much right out of the gate on offense.

[dTox]

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[DelAbbot]