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Exum, Motum and Australia vs. Liethuania . Watch full game.

Yay! Let's all be super critical of a game that doesn't matter!!!


I love the offseason.

Here's the thing...what he did in the summer league, against a player who's actually a good NBA defender, matters more than this stupid exhibition game.
 
Howard said:
Yay! Let's all be super critical of a game that doesn't matter!!!


I love the offseason.

Here's the thing...what he did in the summer league, against a player who's actually a good NBA defender, matters more than this stupid exhibition game.
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That was a stupid exhibition game as well. We know about Exum's timidity from watching him play a full season of NBA basketball.
 
Siro said:
That was a stupid exhibition game as well. We know about Exum's timidity from watching him play a full season of NBA basketball.
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Yes, we saw his tendency to be timid in his rookie year. Then we saw him be aggressive against an actual NBA player who's known for his defense. Then we see him be timid in a game against ****ty opponents. Now I'm an optimist, so I'm going to see his game where he played against an agressive defender as more valuable than the one against ****ty opponents. And I get that he was timid last year, but players do improve on occasion, especially after their rookie year. I'll wait for pre-season when he's playing for the team that actually pays him money before I get too concerned.
 
I don't know what the hell people are talking about here about his defense. He got stuck on 1 moving screen, which wasn't called after which his man scored and was pretty much the only one on the Australian team contesting any shots. On the rest, for the most part he fought through and recovered. He iced on one occasion and got blown past, but that is part of a defensive scheme in which the bigs should cut off penetration on the baseline... it wasn't his fault. Gibson kept getting stuck again and again and again and if you can blame Exum for anything it's that he didn't adjust to expect that to happen every single time and just automatically switch to his man, which resulted in a couple of open 3s.

It wasn't his best effort but it was solid I thought.

Offensively he didn't get the ball a lot, he had some nice drives and a layup attacking the rim once. Whenever he ran the pnr Lithuania hard-hedged and he completely destroyed that hedge for most of the game. He was giving pin point passes beating the hedge almost every single time to an open man in the paint. They just couldn't convert anything around the rim. I don't know how you can watch that game and come away with - he was horrible on both ends of the floor.
 
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Stitches- these guys are banging on his defense, when he was a better NBA defender last year.

They are just hating. It's actually quite funny to read.
 
I think it's a bit of an overreaction to label a 19/20 year old timid after 1 season & a few exhibition games over the summer. There are very few people who wouldn't be somewhat hesitant when transitioning from competing against teenagers to professionals, not to mention doing so while simultaneously adjusting to a new country/culture. The fact that he was not only able to stick with the team for the entire year, but actually cracked the starting lineup (of a good team nonetheless) as a teenager is a feat in it of itself. I would be concerned if he hadn't displayed the necessary physical tools to stick in the league, but last year showed that he is more than ready physically (which is amazing considering his age), & the year before that (when he was playing against competition of the same age) he showed that aggression/attacking the rim is a major part of his game/playing style.

If anything, last year was extremely encouraging when you consider the fact that he was/is being asked to compete against grown men as a not yet fully developed 19/20 year old. I could understand being concerned had he not displayed a strong work ethic, but by all accounts, Exum is a very hard worker & a person of high character. It may take a couple more years for him to put it all together, but injuries are the only potential factor I see prohibiting him from becoming a pass 1st starting caliber PG with great to elite defense, court-vision, & (hopefully) slashing ability to go along with average to above average outside shooting (which would likely be a top 5 PG in the league). Once he catches up physically to the rest of the league, I expect to see that aggression return (if not increase) & (again) become an important aspect of his game.
 
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karl malone said:
I think it's a bit of an overreaction to label a 19/20 year old timid after 1 season & a few exhibition games over the summer. There are very few people who wouldn't be somewhat hesitant when transitioning from competing against teenagers to professionals, not to mention doing so while simultaneously adjusting to a new country/culture. The fact that he was not only able to stick with the team for the entire year, but actually cracked the starting lineup (of a good team nonetheless) as a teenager is a feat in it of itself. I would be concerned if he hadn't displayed the necessary physical tools to stick in the league, but last year showed that he is more than ready physically (which is amazing considering his age), & the year before that (when he was playing against competition of the same age) he showed that aggression/attacking the rim is a major part of his game/playing style.

If anything, last year was extremely encouraging when you consider the fact that he was/is being asked to compete against grown men as a not yet fully developed 19/20 year old. I could understand being concerned had he not displayed a strong work ethic, but by all accounts, Exum is a very hard worker & a person of high character. It may take a couple more years for him to put it all together, but injuries are the only potential factor I see prohibiting him from becoming a pass 1st starting caliber PG with great to elite defense, court-vision, & (hopefully) slashing ability to go along with average to above average outside shooting (which would likely be a top 5 PG in the league). Once he catches up physically to the rest of the league, I expect to see that aggression return (if not increase) & (again) become an important aspect of his game.
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This times a million. Some people need to get a clue. Sometimes I wish I could travel back in time and laugh in their pimply 19-year-old faces.
 
DownUnder said:
every one of you bitches whining about his timidity in a meaningless game will eat your words over the next two to three years.
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Oh... hope so! I'm a Dante 'homer' and was very patient and made excuses for him all last year. The single Summer League game was great... but then watching the Lithuanian... back to a very uneasy patient mode...

I'm hoping that playing the 2, trying to fit in with a new coaching environment and the Boomers is the reason... and how many barely 20 year olds step in with for more experienced players and think they should be running the show?
Was going to head down to the Slovenia game next week... but after watching this 1st Friendly... decided to spend my time at the France-Germany game at the end of the month.
We know a 23 year old who DOES think he is better than everyone else!!!
 
karl malone said:
I think it's a bit of an overreaction to label a 19/20 year old timid after 1 season & a few exhibition games over the summer.
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He was timid though. That's just a fact.
Is he the only timid 19/20 year old ever? Certainly not. But he was timid and I don't see why we shouldn't be able to talk about it.

Some 19/20 year old nba rookies were not timid
 
DownUnder said:
every one of you bitches whining about his timidity in a meaningless game will eat your words over the next two to three years.
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Hope so.
And if he becomes aggressive then we will talk about that.

I think it's weird that some of you bitches think there is something wrong with discussing how a player is currently playing and think we should only discuss his future potential and only look at the positives.
 
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