green
Well-Known Member
I'm there with you. You have to remember that this is Exum's redshirt year. He isn't even on the team this year.
Jazz at Trailblazers 4/11 @8 PM Mountain Time
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I'm there with you. You have to remember that this is Exum's redshirt year. He isn't even on the team this year.
gregbroncs
Well-Known Member
Anybody giving up on Exum right now has a personal problem. Kid is 19 and just made maybe the biggest jump in competition the league has ever had. I'll give Exum a minimum of 2 years before I even think of starting to judge him very much. If in 2 years he's the same player he is today then we made a huge mistake.
Exum needs to learn to attack the basket STRONG. Doesn't matter if he gets it in or not, just attack it STRONG. Get fouled. Go to the line.
Work on that lower body strength too. He needs to go up STRONG.
Work on that lower body strength too. He needs to go up STRONG.
A personal problem? That's a little harsh.
The problem with the 19 year old excuse is that, even among other 19 year old rookies in NBA history, Exum's numbers rank among the absolute worst. I hope he develops into something, but I don't think he'll ever be great and I don't think it's really worth the wait if we have the opportunity to upgrade the PG position with a decent vet.
gregbroncs
Well-Known Member
You missed the part about the biggest jump in competition. He came from a high school team in Australia. Not exactly a European or American power house conference with NAU and European professional league's. The Personal problem is that to give up this early means you have no patience. Giving up on him this early with his defense and skill set is stupid. I see the talent to be good/great. His problems are fixable. Aggression can be taught. This season for him was going to be frustrating, If you didn't know that going in then the problem is yours not Exum's.
seattlejazzfan
Well-Known Member
Lol. You're not the most observant fella are you? This board, as it should be based on how it felt at draft time, is still very much pro Exum. You are far from alone, my friend.
"Your opinion is different from mine, you must be stupid/have no patience".
Thought this board had a little more maturity than that. Anyways, to repeat myself, even among 19 year old rookies (including those that have made the jump from high school, believe it or not), Exum's numbers rank among the worst. I didn't expect Exum to be good this season by any stretch, but I did expect more than one of the worst 19 year old rookies in NBA history. I think virtually everybody did.
How many 19 year olds played against worse competition than he did?
The Blue Elephant
Well-Known Member
You realize that there have been guards that have come out of high school and were younger than Dante that put up much better stats than him? A lot of these guys didn't amount to much. Shaun Livingston, DeShawn Stevenson, J. R. Smith, Louis Williams.
Dante's defense is decent but not anything near elite. For example espn recently ranked every starting PG in the NBA and ranked Dante's defense as the 23rd best, or the 7th worst. People on these forums act like he is a Gary Payton, Andre Roberson, or a Rajon Rondo on defense.
People have the misconception on these forums that Dante is a super athletic freak. His agility numbers and vertical jump was actually lower than Trey Burkes at the combine. Dante is no John Wall, Bledsoe, RW, or Derrick Rose. Not even close.
I hope Dante does great in the future but I don't know how anyone can call his rookie season anything but disappointing.
None, most likely. But that was the exact knock against him from his few detractors heading into the draft, wasn't it? That he was dominating against horrible competition. And it turned out to be a very legitimate concern - if he had played against better competition, he would not have been drafted anywhere near as high.
Look, I hope Exum pans out, and I think he will end up being decent (not all-star, but decent). But, in my opinion, the fact that he is one of the worst 19 year old rookies in league history is a concern and shouldn't be brushed under the rug. I do not think that is unreasonable to say at all.
Maneesh
Well-Known Member
My Friend I know we have come so far, but I must point out that you are also forgetting that Dante Plays PG, THEE hardest position to learn. I think we need to be patient. He has shown some flashes and if I remember correctly that was all we were told to expect.