They know they can be physical with him and put smaller guys on him to not let him be free on offense at the perimeter. Key for us is him getting the ball when matched up like that against smalls.

On defense they have definitely figured out they can be physical with him and get away with it plus he seems very protective of the basket area and teams are catching him with open looks from outside while he's not able to rotate from that interior rim protection position.

I feel so far I've seen significant improvement in his shot and creative instincts, especially his ballhandling. At the same time I feel he hasn't focused as much on defense and the boards. Last year he wasn't expecting to be a top 2 option so he tried to impact with defence and boards. This year you clearly see he wants his priority to be scoring.

Paris907 wrote:Gibson was pushing him around pretty good. I think That PZ and Lopez clearly developed a rapport in defense and that helped JP considerably and the same will occur with Noah. The best is yet to come. From last night game, if Rose can score 14-16 and facilitate and feed Kp then his chances of resigning are improved. Melo had some garbage buckets late but since last year his Shooting is no longer lights out. Kp shoots a better % and it matters. Lee is the real deal.

Lee is the man on both ends !he shut down butler like durant and harden butler gets to the free throw line but man what a great signing .

nyknickzingis wrote:Teams have scouted him heavily now.

They know they can be physical with him and put smaller guys on him to not let him be free on offense at the perimeter. Key for us is him getting the ball when matched up like that against smalls.

On defense they have definitely figured out they can be physical with him and get away with it plus he seems very protective of the basket area and teams are catching him with open looks from outside while he's not able to rotate from that interior rim protection position.

I feel so far I've seen significant improvement in his shot and creative instincts, especially his ballhandling. At the same time I feel he hasn't focused as much on defense and the boards. Last year he wasn't expecting to be a top 2 option so he tried to impact with defence and boards. This year you clearly see he wants his priority to be scoring.

Part of the confusion may also be because how bad our overall team defense is. His instincts are to guard the rim bit he had to help out on the perimeter when the others can't keep people in front of them. There are times he is the only one playing defense.

HofstraBBall wrote:Doing a 180 on KP. Wanted him to be a power Center that can also shoot and post up. Think the weight gained slowed him down a bit. Now thinking he should be more like KD. When was the last time KD needed extra weight to muscle guys down low? Liked him cutting, catching and shooting and taking wide open 3's last night. Looked active. He does seem more comfortable not having to defend 3pt. threats. Ie. Love, Anderson, Rockets. Think as the year progresses he will get use to the extra weight and only get stronger. He definitely looked quick last night! Just has to work on not leaving his feet defending jump shots. Kid has to realize he's 7'3.

KP simply must learn to NOT JUMP when guys pump fake. He doesn't need to jump anyway. If he can resist the urge to jump he'll cut down on his fouls too. It's ok to jump when it's help D but when it's on a close out he should stay down.

nixluva wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:Doing a 180 on KP. Wanted him to be a power Center that can also shoot and post up. Think the weight gained slowed him down a bit. Now thinking he should be more like KD. When was the last time KD needed extra weight to muscle guys down low? Liked him cutting, catching and shooting and taking wide open 3's last night. Looked active. He does seem more comfortable not having to defend 3pt. threats. Ie. Love, Anderson, Rockets. Think as the year progresses he will get use to the extra weight and only get stronger. He definitely looked quick last night! Just has to work on not leaving his feet defending jump shots. Kid has to realize he's 7'3.

KP simply must learn to NOT JUMP when guys pump fake. He doesn't need to jump anyway. If he can resist the urge to jump he'll cut down on his fouls too. It's ok to jump when it's help D but when it's on a close out he should stay down.

That's right. And with his length he doesn't need to jump. He can be disruptive all the same. Jumping to block a 3pointer is not a smart defensive play no matter what.