Being the explosive seven footer he is Lauri will always have the option of driving to the basket if teams are trying to smother him at the three point line. I also hope that he keeps on developing his turnaround midrange jumper, that thing could be money in the playoffs cause with his size he can shoot it over anybody.
Thread for misc Jazz News leading up to training camp
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Tremendous Upside
Well-Known Member
The thing about modern NBA basketball is... you need to have someone (capable of) providing spacing in the corner, usually a front court player. If you don't really have that guy, you're always trying to work around that deficiency and handicapping your team in the process.
We all know Kessler is not that player, and frankly, I have zero faith in him ever becoming one as long as he's shooting 50% from the stripe. Collins ended up getting parked in the corner in Atlanta, and by all accounts hated the ensuing lack of touches and being a spectator in the offense. That's a major reason he wanted out. With the Jazz, he's looking to get back into his preferred role – the roll guy and alley-oop target roaming the middle. That alone makes him 100% incompatible with Walker, and also pushes Lauri into the passive spacer role that made his career plateau previously.
Who knows, maybe Collins surprises me by being ready to sacrifice for the good of the team and agrees to spend a lot of this time in the corner again. Not holding my breath though. But a Walker-JC-Lauri front court is impossible, that much is clear. I presume Kessler will be going to the bench. That's something the fanbase as a whole won't like.
We all know Kessler is not that player, and frankly, I have zero faith in him ever becoming one as long as he's shooting 50% from the stripe. Collins ended up getting parked in the corner in Atlanta, and by all accounts hated the ensuing lack of touches and being a spectator in the offense. That's a major reason he wanted out. With the Jazz, he's looking to get back into his preferred role – the roll guy and alley-oop target roaming the middle. That alone makes him 100% incompatible with Walker, and also pushes Lauri into the passive spacer role that made his career plateau previously.
Who knows, maybe Collins surprises me by being ready to sacrifice for the good of the team and agrees to spend a lot of this time in the corner again. Not holding my breath though. But a Walker-JC-Lauri front court is impossible, that much is clear. I presume Kessler will be going to the bench. That's something the fanbase as a whole won't like.
Tremendous Upside
Well-Known Member
For that, we need spacing from other frount court players. Both Walker and Collins want to live in the middle.
Yup. Agreed. Every modern NBA team needs a lot of spacing. If Collins isn't finding his shooting stroke again then they'll probably bench him and start Olynyk instead, just like last season.
Edit: or like someone else said in this thread already: experiment with Lauri - Collins - Olynyk starting lineup and bring Walker off the bench
Developing his midrange arsenal would help a lot. I dont know what his FG% on fadeaways is but in turnarounds I feel its on the low side. Could be wrong though, but at least the latter is not a reliable go-to option for him as he doesnt use it that often.
Tremendous Upside
Well-Known Member
I think Lauri's just playing the percentages. And obviously he's doing it extremely well, since this approach has made him one of the most efficient volume scorers in the entire league. His current level is a max player, no ifs or buts.
Lauri almost never takes bad shots or forces things. Sure you'd sometimes like to see him try the types of shots that he's more or less deleted from his regular menu (midrangers, fadeaways, etc), but on the other hand... you can't argue with results.
As I've said before, extremely efficient volume scoring is the holy grail of the NBA.
I agree. Its just something thats good to have in your bag in late clock moments when the defense isnt giving anyone easier looks.
Like the late game shot he had vs the Suns early season, where he essentially beat a double team with a turnaround shot.
Most of the best bigger players in the history have at least one unguardable shot which isnt often super high percentage but its something thats always available as the last resort.
Engorged On Unborn Gore
Well-Known Member
Back to dog news:
The mutt belonging to our neighbor upstairs ate an entire chocolate cake and had to get its stomach pumped at the vet.
There's nothing like a huge vet bill on your birthday to make you just love dogs
The mutt belonging to our neighbor upstairs ate an entire chocolate cake and had to get its stomach pumped at the vet.
There's nothing like a huge vet bill on your birthday to make you just love dogs
Brice Sensabaugh is listing at 6'6". That would be nice. I thought he might be more like 6'4" or 6'5". At the present moment, he might be our best hope as a young, dynamic wing who can playmake.
I mean, wasn't that pretty much known? At worse he is probably 6'4.5 barefoot which would make him 6'6 in shoes by NBA measurement standards.
Just for the fact that we didnt get to see them at all during SL, I'm most excited for Sensubean/Hendricks in the pre-season.