Fultz vs. Tatum: What do you think now?

[Patsfan1081]

I've been pushing Fultz for a while but even outside of the injury there are some concerning issues. One is his ability to finish at the pro level, his spin moves have become predictable, Smart literally grabbed the ball out of his hands on two occasions the first game when Fultz attacked the basket. I'm not too concerned with his shot, although if you believe his free throws are a better projection of three point success I won't argue.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Holy **** at Bryan Colangelo throwing Fultz under the bus. Imagine doing that to the #1 overall pick in the draft, a guy who you traded some valuable assets for. What a POS. If I'm Fultz, I'd probably be contacting the Players' Union at this point.
Holy cow. To come out and say "Hey, we didn't tell him to change his shot!" is just terrible. Why not just man up and say "We misdiagnosed his injury, so now we're going to let him rest"? I feel bad for the kid now.

You'd think as an organization you'd want to let this controversy die as opposed to fanning the flames and dragging it out in the media. What purpose does this serve? But if you read through his comments it's not that they misdiagnosed the injury, according to the 76er's still there is no injury? Colangelo just comes off as an egomaniac that needs to be right where as you say in your quote he should be looking out for the best interest of his player and the asset.

BC is the new ThanksDad.

Insane that Mr. Treadmill got to inherit the (ill-gotten) fruits of the Process.

Yup. What has Colangelo ever done, not counting the years he spent in Phoenix, where it was likely his dad calling the shots. He made a mess of the Raptors. Just look at his list of errors:

1) Drafting Bargnani 1st overall
2) Trading away TJ Ford and a 1st round pick (Roy Hibbert) for a washed-up Jermaine O'Neal. This led to the failed experiment of Bargnani at the 3 spot
3) Traded away O'Neal to the Heat for Shawn Marion (expiring). Why? Because they needed a good rebounding SF to pair alongside Bosh and Bargnani (now at the 5). This indirectly led to the Heat being able to carve out enough cap space 2 years later to get Lebron and Bosh.
4) Did a sign-and-trade for Hedo Turkoglu, who averaged a marvelous 11 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 4 apg in his one season. Great deal for 5 years/$53 million. Traded him for Leandro Barbosa after one season
5) Drafted Valanciuans ahead of guys like Klay Thompson and Kawhii Leonard.
6) Drafted Terrence Ross ahead of Andre Drummond. Doesn't look that bad until you fast forward a few months after the draft. OKC called up Toronto asking them for Demar Derozan, a pick, and Valanciunas in exchange for James Harden. Colangelo turned it down because he did not want to give up Valanciunas. Had he taken Drummond like he should have, then Toronto would be a very different team
7) My favorite Bryan Colangelo move was when he signed Landry Fields to a big contract. Why? Because the Knicks wanted to use him in a sign-and-trade for Steve Nash. Colangelo thought he'd be clever and take away the Knicks only bargaining chip. Unfortunately for Bryan, he failed to realize that this move would just piss off Steve Nash, who felt like he was being coerced into signing with the Raptors. Nash was already under enough pressure from the Canadian media to have Kid Canada come "home". The Raptors would pay him the most money, but Steve wanted to win. He felt like he'd just be a PR move to sell tickets if he were to sign with Toronto, with no chance of making the playoffs. This move was my favorite only because my co-worker's buddy is friends with Steve Nash. I saw the text messages that Steve sent. He wasn't a happy camper.
8) The team that did acquire James Harden - Houston, was able to do so partially because of the sweet lottery pick that was given to them for Kyle Lowry (It ended up being #12). Bryan Colangelo was the first GM to ever trade a pick that was guaranteed to be in the lottery. It was top 3 protected, but would only convey if it landed between 4-16.

And here we are again, with Colangelo giving us a Lakers pick only if it falls between 2-5, or we get the lesser of the Kings and Sixers pick in 2019, which will also likely be in the lottery. When Colangelo was hired in Philly, I'm guessing that no one was happier than Danny Ainge.

[ryaningf]

In athletes, this vagal tone is particularly developed and allows them to toggle between relaxed and tense states very quickly. In an athletic arena, skill is expressed in relaxed states and pure athleticism is expressed in tense states so the people who can toggle the quickest between these 2 states are often the best players. (FWIW, if you're wondering how developed your own vagal tone is, you can now test it at home with a heart rate monitor and an app that tests your heart rate variability (HRV). Athletes tend to have very high HRVs).

A lot to unpack here, but really, really interesting, so thank you for taking the time to post it.

Re: the above in bold; the first player to jump into my mind was Jaylen Brown. Jaylen often shows dazzling athleticism followed by a clumsy finishing move - is that an example of what you are describing here? If so, can the ability to 'toggle' between the two be developed over time?

I think you can improve the ability to toggle between the two with deliberate practice and perseverance. I think athletics in general and most of the coaches you'll meet emphasize developing higher and higher levels of tension and don't spend as much time on toggling back to relaxation, and so that's usually left more to the player and their particular personality traits. Our culture values effort, doesn't really understand how to relax, and fundamentally misunderstands the nature of play. Just listen to great performers explaining how they play: they all warn of trying too hard. The great ones know that max effort isn't the key, it's maintaining max flexibility between effort and relaxation (i.e., the zone).

I think Jaylen is a great example, he's got everything you're looking for, he's deliberate in his practice habits, open to new ideas but confident enough in himself to make his own choices (if you don't come to good advice of your own accord it's difficult to make use of it even if it's exactly the right thing you should be doing...belief imparts more than we understand), and he deals well with failure. There's no doubt in my mind Jaylen will reach his potential. I misread him bigtime coming out of college, put too much weight on his lack of feel and basketball instinct and didn't have a strong sense of how practice habits could help him overcome these weaknesses.

If I was advising Jaylen, I'd be working on peripheral vision drills to improve his overall awareness of the floor because I think his biggest weakness is still poor feel and vision. His clumsiness is a product of trying to incorporate the periphery into his sphere of attention (this is also a matter of relaxation and effort, focusing on one thing takes everything else out of focus). He's a hyper focused individual, which predisposes him to tunnel vision. This stuff can be improved with very specific drills, but often doesn't improve because those drills just aren't well known.

This is a good article about how to improve vision. It's on the techy side. There are also basic vision drills that could accomplish much the same thing and I think as sports science progresses will start to see vision drills incorporated into the fundamentals of every sport.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18002545/kawhi-leonard-strobe-light-training-nba

Finally, what background do you have that gave you this knowledge?

It's a long story but basically I do data interpretation and synthesis. My job is to know enough of everything so I can spot trends, assess systems, and feedback data in an actionable way that helps people live longer with a higher quality of life. There's some AI and machine learning involved. It's kinda in the health care arena, though if it ends up the way I think it will it's gonna be far afield of what we currently consider to be health care. I know that's vague but what I do doesn't really have a name right now.

[3D Chess]

^^ fascinating, thank you.

[Celtic Esquire]

I just learned today that Tatum is Larry Hughes' nephew.

Plus Tatum used to wear a Kobe jersey.

Read on Twitter

[SeizeCoup]

Spoiler:

***
I don't know what happened with Fultz but I'll guess anyway. He had mysterious swelling in his knee all last year, and had a lot of downtime (especially after they shut him down for the year) and in the run up to the draft seemed to have really bulked up in his upper body. It's pretty easy to bulk up the upper body in a short time if you've never lifted much, and it looked from social media pictures that Markelle got ripped. Muscle fibers grow 6 times faster than tendons, and so when you put on that much muscle that fast you tend to inflame the tendons, and develop tendonitis or other joint/tendon dysfunction because the muscles are putting a load on the tendons that they haven't adapted to yet. In this case, the joint is structurally sound but there's swelling in the joint as the tendons scramble to adapt to the new load demands.

***

Injecting cortisone into the shoulder at this point in Fultz's career is borderline malpractice. While I tend to be very conservative about most medical interventions (the body heals itself in most instances if you give it time and support), I'm really just struggling to see the upside in this treatment here. It's the preseason, he's a rookie, and the pain has caused him to alter his pattern of movement, and the resulting neurological, physiological, and psychological adaptions may prove hard to re-train in the long run. It's almost as if they're letting the previous injuries to Simmons and Embiid influence Fultz's treatment protocol. If he was a vet and it was the playoffs, okay, I see some argument for shooting him up. But as a rookie in the preseason? HELL NO.

***

I never really cared for Fultz as a prospect. The skills and athleticism are self evident (i was marveling during the most recent game about his top end speed when changing ends, he looked even faster than Jaylen), but I hated his personality and leadership skills. He's just very passive, with a flat affect, and seems prone to suggestability (he just goes with the flow and loyally/blindly follows others). I think that's a bad mix for your potential franchise lead guard, and it also gives his career a high degree of variability. If he lands in a good situation, he'll probably get the good cues and advice and progress appropriately, but if he doesn't he could plateau or crater. I don't think Philly is an ideal environment for him.

***

I've always been interested in what separates those of us who can play effectively through pain and those of us who can't. Pain is not simply a physical phenomenon, it is a subject experience that lives in the brain. This is why the pain response differs so radically from person to person. The physical component plays a part in the initial perception, but the biggest part is the neurological aspect.

Going back to Fultz's flat affect and passivity, there's a component of polyvagal theory that may be of interest here. Basically polyvagal theory states that the vagus nerve serves as a governor on several different bodily functions. For example, under normal circumstances the vagus nerve limits the amount of muscular power you can recruit at any one time so as to protect your tendons from snapping. But in times of stress, the vagus nerve will switch that governor to the off position and allow you to recruit all of your muscular power. This is why mothers have been known to lift a car off the ground and free their children who are pinned underneath, or why you can perform super human athletic feats when your life is threatened.

In athletes, this vagal tone is particularly developed and allows them to toggle between relaxed and tense states very quickly. In an athletic arena, skill is expressed in relaxed states and pure athleticism is expressed in tense states so the people who can toggle the quickest between these 2 states are often the best players. (FWIW, if you're wondering how developed your own vagal tone is, you can now test it at home with a heart rate monitor and an app that tests your heart rate variability (HRV). Athletes tend to have very high HRVs).

But the vagal tone is also expressed in social and emotional regulation too. In other words, you can "read" someone's vagal tone in their face and in how they speak. The more threats they're perceiving, the more tense they'll appear, the more monotone they'll speak and the more passive they will appear. The less they perceive threat, the more relaxed and melodious they'll be.

What does this have to do with Fultz? I think his passivity, flat affect, and sleepy eyes are manifestations of a threat perception system that's been permanently left in the on position. Whether this is because he has a history of trauma, who knows. Whatever the case, he seems particularly sensitive to threat, and may be contributing to his inability to play through pain. I mean, just look at his form:



As he brings his arm up, he's pausing briefly to shift his weight to the left, then cocks his head like a kid aiming a gun for the first time, then raises his right shoulder slightly and continues into his shot. These are some very severe neurological adaptions to the perception of the pain coming from his shoulder.

This is a guy who needs to be treated with kids gloves when it comes to injuries, somebody who may be overly injury prone, not because of physical reasons but because his pain perception system is very sensitive. And he went to a team with a long history of bad decisions when it comes to managing injuries!

***

It's unfair, but Fultz is already a bust. There are busts who simply can't play like Anthony Bennett and then busts who can play but can't fit well within the confines of team ball like Michael Beasley and then there are busts who simply don't live up to expectations but are still pretty good like Evan Turner. Fultz is gonna be in camp 2 or 3 because he's had some unfair expectations, landed in a poor developmental situation, and his passivity is gonna make it very difficult for him to right the course by himself.

***

TL;DR version: I think we dodged a major bullet. Fultz was overhyped and Danny used that hype to extract an asset and still get the guy he liked best. Boston may have been the best developmental spot for Fultz, but Fultz was not close to the best guy available, either in terms of role available in Boston or in terms of best player available. And while I don't think Tatum was the best player available either, I think he's damn good and likely Danny's best pick ever.

Do you think all things considered- role, need, fit, position, it was better picking Tatum, even if you feel Ball was the BPA?

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

I just learned today that Tatum is Larry Hughes' nephew.

Plus Tatum used to wear a Kobe jersey.

Read on Twitter

Our last homegrown Celtic great grew up a Laker fan. Worked out well for us last time. Let's hope for some more of that.

[Writebloc]

https://amp.usatoday.com/story/800136001/

Here's Sam Amick who actually talked to Fultz's trainer. What's going seems to be a combination of physical and psychological which is a terrible combination. It would seem that the brain doctor was fully involved in the evaluation process. Not sure BC's heavy handed approach will help the situation. Damn Bryan has to be fuming at Danny.

On the psychological front, Fultz’s confidence has clearly been affected by the physical factor. When he raises his arm without the ball, he can reach full extension. When there’s a ball in his hands, the pain and stress returns. And until that changes – preferably without the need for a cortisone shot, which he recently took – Fultz and the Sixers should take the long view here.

Watch on YouTube

Damn Daniel, back at it again with the fresh trade!

[jfs1000d]

Who were the people who said Tatum wasn't a good athlete.


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[sully00]

Don't overthink this. Fultz is injured. When his shoulder heals, he will grow to become a genuine problem for the rest of the NBA.

Im not saying he is guaranteed to develop into a better player than Jayson Tatum will. But he's gonna be a top 30 player in this league some day, unless there's something irreparable about his shoulder.

It isn't as simple as he is injured. There are reports (one I think was from Mike Gorman) that the kid may have the yipps like a golfer. That he he makes shots in practice and warm ups and then when he is in a game his form develops a hitch and he can't make a shot. The shoulder may be grasping at straws to explain what is happening, it doesn't sound like it is pain related and it seems one message was that fluid was drained and another was that he got a cortisone shot. If it hurt he wouldn't be playing. This is terrible if true and would really hope some time off might help but he didn't play most of the conference season it isn't over use. He did look like he blew up some in photos pre draft so it may be a weigh lifting issue. But just wow.

[Ben-N1ce]

Only thing I know for sure is that Tatum has a high floor and based on what type of weight or if he grows more who knows what his ceiling could be. The kid can flat out play and shoot and Brad told him to stop KO'ing it up and he was netting 3's instead of pump fake travels last game. Already has a post game and has length. I'm excited for sure.

[Writebloc]

Read on Twitter

[Fencer reregistered]

People keep saying Fultz shoulder is hurt, but i've seen no indication of that in how he plays. He hustles for loose balls & extends his right arm on defense trying to steal the ball. I think it's 10X more likely that he's a headcase & decided to change his shot mechanics based on something he was told regarding his shot.

There's gotta be a reason he was the slam dunk #1 pick & then as soon as he came in for his visit everything flipped. I bet he flunked the brain doctor's test.

He was never a slam dunk #1 pick. The worst thing and best thing that happened to Fultz was Giles knee injury, Giles was the slam dunk #1 pick and blew out his knee. He never should have played a game last season. I think based on play Jackson was probably the #1 pick but he created questions about his game and make up and ditched a work out. Ball is a pure PG not a guy who you can pair with another PG if that matters. Tatum has a ton of talent but a slow start it took some balls to take him over Jackson but I think talent wise it was the right decision.

I don't know how you watch college basketball and the NBA and not have reservations about Fultz and the year he had. Felt a little bit like that with Simmons but there was no other option I didn't also have concerns with. That said I was all over KO over the Greek Freak so what do I know.

Giles was a PF who didn't have great range, poor vision and didn't have the defense of a center. You could see the potential when he crossed people while being 6'10'', which seemed really crazy, but he wasn't a sure thing either. He could have been a high usage, low efficient PF, or an undersized C with poor defense.

I think a lot of the reactions about Fultz are in hindsight, we're judging a player who looks nothing similar to the player who scored efficiently from three levels while being 18 years old, was an above average playmaker and had elite measurements for a PG.
Josh Jackson wasn't quick enough to beat athletes off the dribble, his defense was overrated, one of the worst shot mechanics and 20 years old. Jayson Tatum did everything well, but nothing exceptional and he had troubles finishing around big guys and settled for long jumpers against good defenders. De'Aaron Fox was a historically bad shooter and his frame was so fragile. Dennis Smith jr. didn't gave a **** in 50% of his games and came close to Fox' efficiency from midrange on a large sample size.

I could go on and one, but at the time Markelle Fultz was the consensus #1 pick and most agreed on this forum (check the reactions after lottery). That doesn't mean he will be the best player from the draft and he'll certainly not be the best if he continues with his shooting issues.

There were a lot of guys in this draft who had (and of course still have) straightforward paths to greatness. Of course, they each came with risks of not completing their path. Tatum has done more in the early going to set the concerns about him to rest than most of the others have.

[Fencer reregistered]

Don't overthink this. Fultz is injured. When his shoulder heals, he will grow to become a genuine problem for the rest of the NBA.

Im not saying he is guaranteed to develop into a better player than Jayson Tatum will. But he's gonna be a top 30 player in this league some day, unless there's something irreparable about his shoulder.

It isn't as simple as he is injured. There are reports (one I think was from Mike Gorman) that the kid may have the yipps like a golfer. That he he makes shots in practice and warm ups and then when he is in a game his form develops a hitch and he can't make a shot. The shoulder may be grasping at straws to explain what is happening, it doesn't sound like it is pain related and it seems one message was that fluid was drained and another was that he got a cortisone shot. If it hurt he wouldn't be playing. This is terrible if true and would really hope some time off might help but he didn't play most of the conference season it isn't over use. He did look like he blew up some in photos pre draft so it may be a weigh lifting issue. But just wow.

His agent has said contradictory things about the medical details. So none of them should necessarily be believed.

[BfB]

It's obvious that you didn't give the draftniks the time of day to find out why they preferred Fultz to Tatum.

I'll briefly recap some of them for you:
- superior relative physical tools. While both Tatum and Fultz are more smooth than explosive and both are big and long, Fultz was bigger/longer for his projected position (PG) than Tatum (SF).
- long-range bombing. Fultz shot 41% from deep in college, many of them off the dribble. Tatum shot 34%, mostly spotting up. Fultz projected as a more dangerous scorer from behind the 3-point line.
- Tatum was absolutely beastly as post-up player, good as an iso player, and average to poor elsewhere, with a glaring deficiency in PNR play. Meanwhile Fultz was poor in iso but a beast in PNR, both as a scorer and playmaker. When you looked at how NBA players played - Fultz' elite strength projected to be much more useful than Tatum's.

Exactly. Superior realtive physical tools....NO.

Long range bombing. Meh. Both project as good 3-point shooters. And, Duke runs a flex, motion offense. they don't do PnR. And why would you PnR with tatum?

That's why I am criticizing the draft people. Got lost in their own analysis. tatum is a better realtive athlete to his positino and has mroe physical gifts than fultz at his position.

Just declaring no doesn't make it so. Fultz is more outlierish at PG than Tatum is at SF.

Likewise Tatum's deep shooting was a legitimate ding on his draft stock - not just the percentages but the nature of his attempts. And he hasn't exactly been lighting it up since.

Finally, PNR isn't just PGs (or from another angle everybody's a PG now). Along with volume 3-point shooting, it's the main engine of scoring and playmaking in the NBA. Tatum projecting as a professional scorer without a PNR game or a dominant longball was the biggest ding of all. It put him on the Harrison Barnes/Rudy Gay/Tobias Harris spectrum for a lot of people. Indeed the guy Tatum most closely resembled in terms of iso/post-up/non-PNR scoring was Dallas Harrison Barnes.

I'm with you on 99% of this being the arguments against, but the Barnes comp is way off - Tatum always had better handles and footwork, was always projected to score at a higher level than the comps you gave.

A lot of scouts were really hung up on the DeRozan comparison.




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[GoCeltics123]

Exactly. Superior realtive physical tools....NO.

Long range bombing. Meh. Both project as good 3-point shooters. And, Duke runs a flex, motion offense. they don't do PnR. And why would you PnR with tatum?

That's why I am criticizing the draft people. Got lost in their own analysis. tatum is a better realtive athlete to his positino and has mroe physical gifts than fultz at his position.

Just declaring no doesn't make it so. Fultz is more outlierish at PG than Tatum is at SF.

Likewise Tatum's deep shooting was a legitimate ding on his draft stock - not just the percentages but the nature of his attempts. And he hasn't exactly been lighting it up since.

Finally, PNR isn't just PGs (or from another angle everybody's a PG now). Along with volume 3-point shooting, it's the main engine of scoring and playmaking in the NBA. Tatum projecting as a professional scorer without a PNR game or a dominant longball was the biggest ding of all. It put him on the Harrison Barnes/Rudy Gay/Tobias Harris spectrum for a lot of people. Indeed the guy Tatum most closely resembled in terms of iso/post-up/non-PNR scoring was Dallas Harrison Barnes.

I'm with you on 99% of this being the arguments against, but the Barnes comp is way off - Tatum always had better handles and footwork, was always projected to score at a higher level than the comps you gave.

A lot of scouts were really hung up on the DeRozan comparison.



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Hopefully he can shoot threes better than DeMar

[Bluewhale]

I'm with you on 99% of this being the arguments against, but the Barnes comp is way off - Tatum always had better handles and footwork, was always projected to score at a higher level than the comps you gave.

A lot of scouts were really hung up on the DeRozan comparison.

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DDR didn't have the such high skill levels at age 19 and DDR is more explosive (on paper).

I think Deng/Melo is closer.

But before the draft several points hurt his draft position.

1. No one think Tatum is a good defender (too slow at SF, too weak at PF). But now we learned he is a plus defender in Celtics system.
2. Tatum is not a good three point shooter. (But as dean_on_draft pointed out, his super high FT% implies he has potential to be a good outside shooter.)
3. Tatum also didn't have the glory NCAA journal like Melo.
4. Tatum is smooth but not explosive like J. Jackson (on paper)

[Slartibartfast]

Exactly. Superior realtive physical tools....NO.

Long range bombing. Meh. Both project as good 3-point shooters. And, Duke runs a flex, motion offense. they don't do PnR. And why would you PnR with tatum?

That's why I am criticizing the draft people. Got lost in their own analysis. tatum is a better realtive athlete to his positino and has mroe physical gifts than fultz at his position.

Just declaring no doesn't make it so. Fultz is more outlierish at PG than Tatum is at SF.

Likewise Tatum's deep shooting was a legitimate ding on his draft stock - not just the percentages but the nature of his attempts. And he hasn't exactly been lighting it up since.

Finally, PNR isn't just PGs (or from another angle everybody's a PG now). Along with volume 3-point shooting, it's the main engine of scoring and playmaking in the NBA. Tatum projecting as a professional scorer without a PNR game or a dominant longball was the biggest ding of all. It put him on the Harrison Barnes/Rudy Gay/Tobias Harris spectrum for a lot of people. Indeed the guy Tatum most closely resembled in terms of iso/post-up/non-PNR scoring was Dallas Harrison Barnes.

I'm with you on 99% of this being the arguments against, but the Barnes comp is way off - Tatum always had better handles and footwork, was always projected to score at a higher level than the comps you gave.

A lot of scouts were really hung up on the DeRozan comparison.




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I didn't really mean it as a direct comp - just as a percentage of play type comp. Dallas Barnes was pretty much the only high scoring wing with a usage profile fundamentally similar to Duke Tatum. 45% isos and post-ups, very low PNR ballhandling.

The guy I usually compare Tatum skillwise to is Danny Granger.

I do think Tobias Harris is decent lowball comp.

[Andrew McCeltic]

In athletes, this vagal tone is particularly developed and allows them to toggle between relaxed and tense states very quickly. In an athletic arena, skill is expressed in relaxed states and pure athleticism is expressed in tense states so the people who can toggle the quickest between these 2 states are often the best players. (FWIW, if you're wondering how developed your own vagal tone is, you can now test it at home with a heart rate monitor and an app that tests your heart rate variability (HRV). Athletes tend to have very high HRVs).

A lot to unpack here, but really, really interesting, so thank you for taking the time to post it.

Re: the above in bold; the first player to jump into my mind was Jaylen Brown. Jaylen often shows dazzling athleticism followed by a clumsy finishing move - is that an example of what you are describing here? If so, can the ability to 'toggle' between the two be developed over time?

I think you can improve the ability to toggle between the two with deliberate practice and perseverance. I think athletics in general and most of the coaches you'll meet emphasize developing higher and higher levels of tension and don't spend as much time on toggling back to relaxation, and so that's usually left more to the player and their particular personality traits. Our culture values effort, doesn't really understand how to relax, and fundamentally misunderstands the nature of play. Just listen to great performers explaining how they play: they all warn of trying too hard. The great ones know that max effort isn't the key, it's maintaining max flexibility between effort and relaxation (i.e., the zone).

I think Jaylen is a great example, he's got everything you're looking for, he's deliberate in his practice habits, open to new ideas but confident enough in himself to make his own choices (if you don't come to good advice of your own accord it's difficult to make use of it even if it's exactly the right thing you should be doing...belief imparts more than we understand), and he deals well with failure. There's no doubt in my mind Jaylen will reach his potential. I misread him bigtime coming out of college, put too much weight on his lack of feel and basketball instinct and didn't have a strong sense of how practice habits could help him overcome these weaknesses.

If I was advising Jaylen, I'd be working on peripheral vision drills to improve his overall awareness of the floor because I think his biggest weakness is still poor feel and vision. His clumsiness is a product of trying to incorporate the periphery into his sphere of attention (this is also a matter of relaxation and effort, focusing on one thing takes everything else out of focus). He's a hyper focused individual, which predisposes him to tunnel vision. This stuff can be improved with very specific drills, but often doesn't improve because those drills just aren't well known.

This is a good article about how to improve vision. It's on the techy side. There are also basic vision drills that could accomplish much the same thing and I think as sports science progresses will start to see vision drills incorporated into the fundamentals of every sport.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18002545/kawhi-leonard-strobe-light-training-nba

Finally, what background do you have that gave you this knowledge?

It's a long story but basically I do data interpretation and synthesis. My job is to know enough of everything so I can spot trends, assess systems, and feedback data in an actionable way that helps people live longer with a higher quality of life. There's some AI and machine learning involved. It's kinda in the health care arena, though if it ends up the way I think it will it's gonna be far afield of what we currently consider to be health care. I know that's vague but what I do doesn't really have a name right now.

Good stuff, I just posted something similar about Barnes and Jaylen, but your take is more specific.

Re: skill, for Brown I don’t think it’s just a matter of being able to dilate between relaxed and effortful (Kyrie is a master of that, he has so many intermediate gears), but drilling his moves and footwork enough that they’re within reach when he needs them - that “toggle” is easier when you don’t have to mentally fumble to think of a reaction, when it becomes more instinctive. From what I’ve seen of his practice sessions and improvements, he’s still malleable clay in terms of adding moves, footwork, handles.

Drilling peripheral vision could help - it’s not a strength for him - but I see his “feel” improving anyway and already with raw game reps. There are only so many ways a defense can react to you, but he’s not differentiating perceptually because it’s all still new, blurry - it’s not necessarily an innate deficit in his peripheral vision or concentration, but a product of inexperience.

[Andrew McCeltic]

Granger is an interesting comp for Tatum, Jayson has more defensive and athletic upside.