Tremendous Upside
Well-Known Member
Always LOVED this kid
Ace Bailey ROY watch
- Thread starter str8line
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Always LOVED this kid
rjfan
Well-Known Member
Fouled out
Tremendous Upside
Well-Known Member
No?
.
I actually watched the game. Queen scored on a variety terrible shots, hogged the ball and overdribbled while his bored teammates stood around. He also had like 6 plays where he blatantly traveled but it wasn't called. I guess the refs were bored too.
The Pelicans are truly in basketball hell. Queen wouldn't play rotation minutes for any non-tanking team. I literally can't remember an NBA big as unathletic as him.
Kon Knueppel is seen as the best rookie so far this year-- but he is playing about 36 min per game- which of course when mean much higher averages. For fun I compared Ace's number per 36 min. I also looked at his shooting percentages if you take the first 3 or 5 games out of the averaging- since he was recovering from illness and had some knee issue those first few games.
Ace's shooting percentage not counting the first 5 games = 51 % and 38.5 % from 3. Kon's percentages are: 47% and 40%. Kon has about 6% better free throw percentage.
But the per 36min scoring averages- if you don't count the first few games when Ace was sick-- are both just over 19 points. Making the same adjustments- rebounding, assists, and steals are also very, very similar.
I doubt that Ace will be bumped up to 36 min per game any time soon- or at all this season... but I think it bodes very well for what Ace can be when he is given the minutes. I think his long-term learned habits will be better because he was not thrown into the fire and is not being asked to play hero-ball in the formative stage of his career. Instead he is fitting into the flow of the offense and learning how to facilitate within that offense. He is also being asked to develop good habits on the defensive end to earn his minutes... which I believe will help him be a very rare 2-way player- with elite scoring potential.
Ace's shooting percentage not counting the first 5 games = 51 % and 38.5 % from 3. Kon's percentages are: 47% and 40%. Kon has about 6% better free throw percentage.
But the per 36min scoring averages- if you don't count the first few games when Ace was sick-- are both just over 19 points. Making the same adjustments- rebounding, assists, and steals are also very, very similar.
I doubt that Ace will be bumped up to 36 min per game any time soon- or at all this season... but I think it bodes very well for what Ace can be when he is given the minutes. I think his long-term learned habits will be better because he was not thrown into the fire and is not being asked to play hero-ball in the formative stage of his career. Instead he is fitting into the flow of the offense and learning how to facilitate within that offense. He is also being asked to develop good habits on the defensive end to earn his minutes... which I believe will help him be a very rare 2-way player- with elite scoring potential.
Thee Jazz Fan
Well-Known Member
I like what I see from Ace. He’s super young and has a lot to grow physically. I could see him being a Giannis type athlete if he fills out. Hoping for Giannis with a jumpshot. I just think he needs a couple years to grow into what he’s going to become. He’s got the highest ceiling of any of the rookies.
Interesting comparison.
Ace has that absolutely lightning-quick release which I think kind of makes his shooting percentage as a rookie even more compelling.
Tremendous Upside
Well-Known Member
While Ace's play lately has been promising and he's obviously worked hard, extrapolating a shaky rookie's 20mpg into a per 36 pace makes absolutely no sense. We have zero idea how Ace would play if his minutes were suddenly bumped to Lauri's (or even Kon's) level.
VJ Edgecombe is a great example. He's playing an absolute **** ton of minutes (37mpg) and putting up a lot of counting stats across the board, but he's struggled with inconsistency, made a LOT of rookie mistakes and his advanced stats look pretty ugly so far. It would probably be ideal if he played fewer minutes.
The fact that Kon has been able to provide steady, consistent production and high scoring while playing well over 30mpg as a rookie is remarkable. I wasn't a fan of the kid while he was at Duke but I'm eating crow now. We don't know what Ace's true ceiling is, but right now, Knueppel is clearly on another level. He's incredibly NBA ready.
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I agree about Kon. It's incredibly rare to start producing like he did from day one. And I don't mean to imply that if Ace played more minutes or had higher usage rates he would be getting stats like Kon right now. But for Ace specifically, I like that he seems to be studying the game, focusing on making the right plays- and not trying to chuck up shots every chance he gets. He has great discipline about passing when he sees a teammate open, and his shooting percentage is reflecting that he is learning when and how he can best score.