NBK wrote:Ladies and gents, RJ Barrett is definitely the real deal! Last night vs. the Spurs he dropped 21 points on 69% shooting. Unreal how tough this kid is. He's made to play in NY.

Just wondering tho, is going to keep playing him 37-38 minutes per game?

He seems to be intending to give him the Knox treatment, not sure why he thinks that's a good idea.

I'm hoping this draft turns out like the KP draft, where we thought be were doomed after missing out on the top three (Okafor, D'Angelo and whoever it was) but had the last laugh

wish he had more higher IQ players to play with, because he is way ahead of DSJ, Mitch, Frank and Knox.

knicks1248 wrote:He reminds me of Jalen Rose without a jumper..

wish he had more higher IQ players to play with, because he is way ahead of DSJ, Mitch, Frank and Knox.

Back up. Mitchell Robinson has amazing BB IQ. His court awareness and positioning is among the best in the league. Combined with his length and quick bounce, there really isn't much more you could ask for in a player.

Elf Payton might have the highest basketball IQ on the team. He appears a little weak, could use some man-strength to force contact in the paint, but his passing ability and shot selection is pretty good.

Knox -- smart kid. Needs to develop. I wouldn't make any judgments yet. Again, as he gets his man strength and learns defense better.

DSJ, alright, looked a bit timid. Might need some recovery time.

Frank. Wow, he had a bad game. It was pretty terrible. Gonna take a lot of work in practice to earn PT. Would love to see him working with Elf.

Randle -- he had a great game. Has good hands and court awareness. Solid BB IQ. Biggest issue I see with Randle and Barrett is maybe a power struggle over "who's team" this is. For now, Randle is top dog. But he should be ready to pass the torch pretty quickly.

Worst thing I saw last night was poor shot selection. Settling for 18 foot jumpers. That Spurs team is a veteran squad that makes better decisions. They consistently got into the paint and drew fouls, putting our better players on the bench.

Goals:

1) Get into the paint more. Cause contact. Elf is looking like the better floor general, but DSJ is the stronger player when not playing timid.
2) Get Robinson on the court. This team will look different with Mr. Robinson on the court. Getting into the paint can result in more lobs rather than getting stuck and forcing a bad shot (less turn around fadeaway jumpers out of the paint?). Notably the defense will be even better with Robinson on the court.
3) Take less long jumpshots. My biggest criticism of Morris is his tendency to take long 2 pt jump shots. Willing to give him time to find his groove. Most of us learned to just "take the open shot", but recent analytics tend to show that those 18 footers are just bad shots. Step back behind the 3 or take the ball into the paint. We may not have the personnel to play like this. But better teams navigate the paint well. Rudy Gay was great in the paint.

EwingsGlass wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:He reminds me of Jalen Rose without a jumper..

wish he had more higher IQ players to play with, because he is way ahead of DSJ, Mitch, Frank and Knox.

Back up. Mitchell Robinson has amazing BB IQ. His court awareness and positioning is among the best in the league. Combined with his length and quick bounce, there really isn't much more you could ask for in a player.

Elf Payton might have the highest basketball IQ on the team. He appears a little weak, could use some man-strength to force contact in the paint, but his passing ability and shot selection is pretty good.

Knox -- smart kid. Needs to develop. I wouldn't make any judgments yet. Again, as he gets his man strength and learns defense better.

DSJ, alright, looked a bit timid. Might need some recovery time.

Frank. Wow, he had a bad game. It was pretty terrible. Gonna take a lot of work in practice to earn PT. Would love to see him working with Elf.

Randle -- he had a great game. Has good hands and court awareness. Solid BB IQ. Biggest issue I see with Randle and Barrett is maybe a power struggle over "who's team" this is. For now, Randle is top dog. But he should be ready to pass the torch pretty quickly.

Worst thing I saw last night was poor shot selection. Settling for 18 foot jumpers. That Spurs team is a veteran squad that makes better decisions. They consistently got into the paint and drew fouls, putting our better players on the bench.

Goals:

1) Get into the paint more. Cause contact. Elf is looking like the better floor general, but DSJ is the stronger player when not playing timid.
2) Get Robinson on the court. This team will look different with Mr. Robinson on the court. Getting into the paint can result in more lobs rather than getting stuck and forcing a bad shot (less turn around fadeaway jumpers out of the paint?). Notably the defense will be even better with Robinson on the court.
3) Take less long jumpshots. My biggest criticism of Morris is his tendency to take long 2 pt jump shots. Willing to give him time to find his groove. Most of us learned to just "take the open shot", but recent analytics tend to show that those 18 footers are just bad shots. Step back behind the 3 or take the ball into the paint. We may not have the personnel to play like this. But better teams navigate the paint well. Rudy Gay was great in the paint.

Mitch is ok, but having a high IQ is not on his list of good attributes, right now he is getting by more on talent than brains, too many fouls, not enough rebounding, and trying to swat every shot. But he'll learn quicker than Knox and frank.

Knox to me is all talent, this guy will rebound the ball and forget he has teammates, i like the aggressiveness, but you can't get deep into the paint, have 3 guys wide open on the perimeter, and force the issue hoping for a pray or a foul. His defense is more like "WTF"

DSJ and Frank either over think or don't think at all..

RJ just seems to have the best Balance on the team..

Payton looks just like he played on the Pels, very very solid, and a absolute starter on this roster

im not kidding at all

anrst wrote:he's kind of like a young jordan

im not kidding at all

Maybe Zion took a lot of the pressure off of him last year and the crush of expectations. Jordan was on a star studded team in College. Took Jordan a few years to be Jordan and the winning is what defines him.
From you lips to gods ears!!!!

knicks1248 wrote:He reminds me of Jalen Rose without a jumper..

wish he had more higher IQ players to play with, because he is way ahead of DSJ, Mitch, Frank and Knox.

RJ reminds me of Dwayne Wade. If I recall, never the best shooter, but deceptive and able to get into the lane at will.

EwingsGlass wrote:

franco12 wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:He reminds me of Jalen Rose without a jumper..

wish he had more higher IQ players to play with, because he is way ahead of DSJ, Mitch, Frank and Knox.

RJ reminds me of Dwayne Wade. If I recall, never the best shooter, but deceptive and able to get into the lane at will.

Funny, I was thinking Tracy McGrady. Being both a lefty and the patience to his dribble.

I don't see Barret dropping 40 or 50 points like Tmac, but if he ever gets that perimeter game up..fogetaboutit