Finestrg wrote:mreinman wrote:FistOfOakley wrote:this guy is terrible on defense... beyond salvageable...
he is ... and even a worse passer ... one of the blackest holes in the league!
Nothing has changed for me -- I continue to see this guy as our 2nd best frontcourt upgrade target behind Jahlil Okafor. I see a guy that Utah has no idea how to use and maximize. Whenever he gets enough shots at the basket (say right around 15+) he usually has an impact/standout game. And whenever he gets fewer shots than that, say just a handful 6-7, he usually doesn't have nearly the same impact. Tells me the kid should be getting the ball more, no? Can't understand why he isn't featured more in that offense. To me, he's Utah's best player--better than Hayward, Favors, Burks, Burke, Exum, you name it. I can't understand why these other guys have free rein on that team yet Kanter can't get a consistent amount of shots up at the basket every game. I'm sure some of you might come up with some advanced stats that may say different but I usually strip it down to the basics and try not to get too complicated when forecasting a young player -- I rely on projection as in 'what would a guy do with X amount more mins' and my own two eyes to tell me about a player. I don't think you need much more...Right now Kanter, in only 27.1 mins., goes for 14.1 ppg on only 12 shots per game (49.5% FG, slightly over 50% career), over 80% at the line (only 2.4 attempts per game) along with 7.6 rebs. Nic Vucevic by comparison: 34.1 mins. (that's a full 7 mins more a game over Kanter), 19.6 ppg on 16 shots a game (4 more than Kanter), 53.8% FGs, 78% at the line (on 3.1 attempts), 11.3 rebs. Neither guy is really a bonefide shot-blocker. I contend that if Kanter got Vucevic's mins., he'd be producing right around 20 & 10 a night. He clearly has a very advanced skill-set offensively from where I'm sitting (better than Vucevic imo)---I see the potential for a better version of Rony Seikaly on the offensive end (a very good player himself going back several years ago, though Seikaly could never shoot with range like Kanter's showing--Kanter's even putting up and hitting 3s now). He should be getting the same 15-16 shots a game Vucevic is getting if not more. Maybe Utah's trying to keep his PT down in order to keep eventual cost down, I have no idea, but this guy's too good an offensive player to misuse like they've be doing. Gotta take the shackles off this kid and let him go to work every game. Not as good a pure rebounder as Vucevic (or even Seikaly) but that's OK. Few are...He's still very effective--he's almost at 8 a game right now. A little bump up in playing time, he should be right there at 10 a game. He gets all that--the increase in mins and shot attempts--he's a 20/10 player -- a guy that should complement Melo well and a guy that should do very well in the weaker Eastern Conference. If we don't get lucky enough to draft this kid Okafor, I'd be prepared to make a big run at this kid Kanter if I were Phil. If we get a chance to get this kid Okafor in the draft, we gotta take it but something that's getting overlooked here I think -- how long will it take Okafor to get to a 20/10 level? Right away? Probably not. 2-4 years down the road? More likely. I think Kanter could be there next year. Kanter's only 22 years old too (Vucevic is 24) -- another positive to consider. I refuse to look at this guy with the glass half empty -- can't do this, can't do that etc. My focus is on what he 's doing right now and what else he could achieve given more PT/responsibility.
Kanter's problem is not his shooting. He is not as efficient on offense as Vucevic and he will still need to prove that he can hit the 3 (if he is gonna take them).
His issue is his defense which is pretty awful at this point and his passing which is terrible. You can be a young guy and still be a willing passer. If we got Towns in here, you don't think he would be passing the ball?
Kanter freezes out his teammates all the time and seems to miss open men knowingly pretty often.
He won't be that expensive so maybe Phil takes a shot at him, who knows. As I have said, I have no idea what he will do and I don't think that any of us know. Of course we can name and predict every FA and one of them will stick.
A lot of people still judge with just their eyes yet pretty much all basketball scouts and execs dont and heavily rely on advanced metrics as well.
so here is what phil is thinking ....