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Ace Bailey ROY watch

Ace needs to get a better feel for how to play defense in the floppy foul drawing NBA where defense is a sin.

His feel on offense is pretty good. He sees the court, and his passing/vision is great for a SF.

I think he'll be able to create for himself when hr tightens his handle and learns some pro moves.

I expect him to take a huge leap in year 2 when he has a summer to work on his game.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
Still a bit worried by just how bad he is at driving to score the basketball at the rim. Everything else I'm happy with.
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He can't dribble at an NBA level. Do that and this won't be an issue. Should probably be his number 1 priority in the upcoming offseason. Watch hours of Durant dribbling and replicate it.
 
His lack of rim attempts/FT's aren't just handle, it's his instincts. Lauri doesn't dribble well either, but he goes hard to the basket. Getting to the FT line is largely about how a player approaches situations where there's a defender between him and the basket. Lauri goes straight to the cup and invite contact. I get the impression that Ace has always evaded defenders, shot over them, faded away etc. He plays in a manner to "get his shot off", which doesn't lend itself to many FT's.

Old habits die hard, but I'm hopeful this is something our coaching staff can help with.
 
KqWIN said:
His lack of rim attempts/FT's aren't just handle, it's his instincts. Lauri doesn't dribble well either, but he goes hard to the basket. Getting to the FT line is largely about how a player approaches situations where there's a defender between him and the basket. Lauri goes straight to the cup and invite contact. I get the impression that Ace has always evaded defenders, shot over them, faded away etc. He plays in a manner to "get his shot off", which doesn't lend itself to many FT's.

Old habits die hard, but I'm hopeful this is something our coaching staff can help with.
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Also seems like his role is to space the court in the corners where Lauri's role is much more than just a floor spacer.
 
fishonjazz said:
Also seems like his role is to space the court in the corners where Lauri's role is much more than just a floor spacer.
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It's true, but given the same situation, Lauri is putting his head down and going to the hoop even with defenders in his way. Ace would rather shoot a mid range jumper and/or evade the defense.
 
KqWIN said:
It's true, but given the same situation, Lauri is putting his head down and going to the hoop even with defenders in his way. Ace would rather shoot a mid range jumper and/or evade the defense.
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Then again, Lauri actively seeking contact near the basket and getting to the line is a pretty late development in his career. I'd say it started in the 22-23 season, when he finally understood how to use his size and strength against smaller defenders.

The other factor is that NBA refs don't like to automatically reward you for drawing contact unless you've first shown that you can finish through it. Collin Sexton's always had this problem – he goes hard to the rack and invites contact, but gets blocked all the time and ends up on his *** because he's tiny and his drives to the trees are so hopeless. You won't get the whistle in those cases.

Ace has to go through the hard path of learning how to play NBA basketball, where contact initiated by the offensive player is an integral part of the game. No reason to think he won't get there eventually.
 
Tremendous Upside said:
Then again, Lauri actively seeking contact near the basket and getting to the line is a pretty late development in his career. I'd say it started in the 22-23 season, when he finally understood how to use his size and strength against smaller defenders.
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Exactly. On top of that, Lauri is more of a straight-line, full-speed-only type of athlete, so it was crucial for him to adapt to that bruiser playstyle.

Ace is a much more fluid athlete, so I don’t expect him to develop in a way that mirrors Lauri. He will find his ways.
 
Tremendous Upside said:
Then again, Lauri actively seeking contact near the basket and getting to the line is a pretty late development in his career. I'd say it started in the 22-23 season, when he finally understood how to use his size and strength against smaller defenders.

The other factor is that NBA refs don't like to automatically reward you for drawing contact unless you've first shown that you can finish through it. Collin Sexton's always had this problem – he goes hard to the rack and invites contact, but gets blocked all the time and ends up on his *** because he's tiny and his drives to the trees are so hopeless. You won't get the whistle in those cases.

Ace has to go through the hard path of learning how to play NBA basketball, where contact initiated by the offensive player is an integral part of the game. No reason to think he won't get there eventually.
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Yes and no. Lauri had a good Ftr in college so the foundation was already there. It’s extremely rare for players to improve their FTr from college, less rare for guys who had a good FTr to start slow and improve their career over time. Lauri didn’t have to unwind the habits that Ace has to.

And even in the NBA, Lauri’s FTr has always been significantly higher than Ace. He had some early years in CHI that were pretty good, and his lowest was .177 when league wide average was .247. Ace is currently at .125 with league average at .282. It’s bigger hill to climb for Ace, and he doesn’t have the priors that Lauri did.
 
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