moocow007 wrote:whocares1 wrote:KnixtapeH20 wrote:Agreed except for the quick first step. It's the fact that he doesn't combined with his lack of dribble that keeps him from getting past his man with ease
I feel like one of the last few games against Miami he showed really good burst and they had a lot of problems staying in front of him but I will say that he certainly doesn’t have an elite first step either.
Yeah is first step isn't elite and his handle is still a bit choppy. He is real quick once he builds up steam. Can it be improved? Probably. To the point where he can be considered a top 15 PG (which I think is kinda the goal/wish)? Not sure. He still may be best suited for the Lou Williams type role which is not shabby by any means. He does seem to be adjusting his game. He was attacking more and not wasting time with the trying to draw those fake fouls.
I think there were three noticeable improvements by IQ, important to playing PG, but helpful in being a guard in general too.
I'm not going to try to pin down when they showed up, other than they weren't apparent at the beginning of the year, and it feels like it was the halfway mark at least, and definitely post all star break for all 3.
Quicker getting into the offense and less east west dribbling. This was noticeable before the others, he still did it at the beginning of the year, it got better first and earliest in the year
Better decision making, better at running the offense, making better reads. Better passing and making good passes. The passes are I guess part of "reads", but the passing in and of itself got better. He's not going to be Kidd or even LaMelo or even Giddy, but he can be good enough - in this aspect, I think.
Drove the ball more than last year, but I'm not going to say it's enough or a strength. Also took a some pull up midrange jumpers late in the year - again, not a lot, but the fact they are in the repertoire suggests knowledge on his part and the coaching staff it's needed and worked on. Also, both he and RJ have added that drive, stop, pivot and jumpshot which adds a solid game shot and a kind of counter if contested near the rim, and that's GOT to be Johnny Bryant, since both guys suddenly starting doing it this year. Good move for two guys not naturally great at finishing near the hoop.
Most promising at being a more valuable guard or a rotational PG is change of pace and hesitation dribble. This I really noticed after the all star break, where he was using it often and effectively. IQ doesn't have enough "handle" in terms of tons of adept stuff other top guards can do and it's been stated that doesn't appear in the NBA. A player has either been doing it their whole life and "has it" or they don't. If that's so, then I think at least change of pace/hesitation can be added, and for IQ it has. If IQ can get that whole Andre Miller hesitation down, (and he doesn't have to be at that level) he'll be good.
This list of 4 things isn't to hype him up. I didn't say he's great at them, or if he does them all he be awesome. It's that he had a solid year for a 1st year player, showing real energy, balls and at least at first, shooting skill. The shooting tailed off, but solid rookie year for a guy drafted near mid 20s, needed some work, still a bit of a project, like a lot of young players are.
He got better at stuff in his 2nd year.
It did take all year for it to show, though. He looked pretty bad first half.
). I don’t think hey get Brunson
