Can the Dante Exum Experiment Please End

[Engorged On Unborn Gore]

Is he healthy? Color me unconvinced.

 

[fishonjazz]

Is he healthy? Color me unconvinced.

He is hurt, too young, too inexperienced, has too good of players playing his position, missed too much time, is in the wrong system, is playing the wrong role, coach doesn't like him, is having a hard time adapting to American culture.... I think that explains all his struggles. Can't have anything to do with his actual ability and talent because he is obviously a hall of fame type talent. That length! That speed!

 

[Engorged On Unborn Gore]

He is hurt, too young, too inexperienced, has too good of players playing his position, missed too much time, is in the wrong system, is playing the wrong role, coach doesn't like him, is having a hard time adapting to American culture.... I think that explains all his struggles. Can't have anything to do with his actual ability and talent because he is obviously a hall of fame type talent. That length! That speed!

*shrug, I'm also not convinced that injuries equate to "weak excuses". Sure, it's is a popular myth preached door-to-door like the ****ing Gospel by eager missionaries. Like any religion, it feeds the ego and meets out punishment for "sins". But the reality is that injuries are just facts of the game.

If Exum has been playing through an inflamed knee, the Nateboz "toughness" squad should be worshipping prostrate at his shrine. I'm sensing a double standard here.

 

[fishonjazz]

*shrug, I'm also not convinced that injuries equate to "weak excuses". Sure, it's is a popular myth preached door-to-door like the ****ing Gospel by eager missionaries. Like any religion, it feeds the ego and meets out punishment for "sins". But the reality is that injuries are just facts of the game.

If Exum has been playing through an inflamed knee, the Nateboz "toughness" squad should be worshipping prostrate at his shrine. I'm sensing a double standard here.

Has he been hurt through his whole career?

Do other players not perform well when they play through minor things? Hayward seems to be doing pretty good with a jacked up finger imo.

 

[Engorged On Unborn Gore]

Do other players not perform well when they play through minor things? Hayward seems to be doing pretty good with a jacked up finger imo.

Were there zero complaints about Gobert last year post knee injury?

 

[fishonjazz]

Were there zero complaints about Gobert last year post knee injury?

I guess I just don't remember all the dnp's that Gobert got when he was available to play though.
Can't remember a scrub 2nd rounder taking his minutes. Odd.
Also, I asked if exum has been hurt his entire career or something cause this "injured" exum looks eerily similar to the exum I have always seen.

 

[Engorged On Unborn Gore]

I guess I just don't remember all the dnp's that Gobert got when he was available to play though.
Can't remember a scrub 2nd rounder taking his minutes. Odd.
Also, I asked if exum has been hurt his entire career or something cause this "injured" exum looks eerily similar to the exum I have always seen.

You mean his rookie year when he was 18? Yeah.

It'll be fun to read all the tantalizing trade talk.

 

[fishonjazz]

You mean his rookie year when he was 18? Yeah.

It'll be fun to read all the tantalizing trade talk.

I already said he is too young. That has been covered.
Right now he is simply too injured.

It will be fun to read the excuses if he plays poorly in the future.

 

[JAZZGASM]

uh, either you simply don't get it or you are not paying attention.

Isaiah Thomas' PER his rookie year was 17.
Kemba Walker's PER was 15
Kyle Lowry's PER was 14 his first full season (18 in 10 games his rookie year)
Jeff Teague's PER was 11
Schroder's PER was more Exum like at 6, not playing a full year, but his first full year, at age 21 his PER was 16.

Dante Exum's PER his rookie year was 6, and at age 21, it is sitting at 8.

Let's be clear - Nobody (or very few) are saying he can't or won't ever be good. But your comparisons above fall flat. Exum simply has a steeper development curve than the players you mentioned. From league low type production at age 19 and again at 21, it's incredibly rare that guys who don't produce ever become good players, even more rare - great players.

it's not impossible, Exum is his own guy, has his own skill set, his own work ethic, so you can't judge him by what other guys have done, but history shows us it is unlikely.

It is comparing apples to oranges. There really isn't good historical data for an inexperienced player like Exum. Every player but Schroder had college ball experience and came into the league around age 21 or older. (Lowery was a few months shy of 21 and Thomas was almost 23). Schroder played professionally in Germany for two years before coming to the NBA. So yes, these players all had higher PER, but they also had a lot more experience coming in. Dante essentially played high school, took a year off outside of the Nike Hoop Summit, and was drafted by the Jazz. So prior to this season, and inexperienced player sat out two of three years and suffered a knee injury.

Dante had a slow start his rookie year, but slowly improved month to month. He played great D, especially for a rookie, and at the end of the season, his offense started to look better as he got more aggressive. He is very tentative, probably due to age and experience. Add a knee injury to an already tentative player, and it is going to take some time to get confidence back.

The other problem with PER is it largely tracks offensive efficiency, and does not give credit for defense other than blocks and steals. Clearly this does not favor Exum at this stage compared to the above players. Dante's Defense has been good IMO. His offense is what is struggling. It looks like the coaches had him change his shot this year. It looks very mechanical (worse than before IMO). He is probably overthinking every time he shoots.

So he may not pan out, but based on his experience and the knee injury, it is still way to early to tell. I still think he will turn into a good player.

 

[fishonjazz]

You mean his rookie year when he was 18? Yeah.

It'll be fun to read all the tantalizing trade talk.

Also, just for accuracy sake, he never played a game in the nba as an 18 year old. He was 19 during his rookie year.

 

[silesian]

Lol. Simmer down. Weve had barely any top 5 picks in our history and were/are still in search of a true superstar. Thats where you find them and if we whiffed twice then thats frustrating.

And there were a ton of potential superstars on the board when we drafted Enes and Dante. Here is a complete list: (1) Kawhi (2)...... Doh!

By the way, Steph was 7, Kawhi was 14, Lillard was 6, Gasol was 48, Dirk was 9, Pierce was 10

 

[jope]

And there were a ton of potential superstars on the board when we drafted Enes and Dante. Here is a complete list: (1) Kawhi (2)...... Doh!

By the way, Steph was 7, Kawhi was 14, Lillard was 6, Gasol was 48, Dirk was 9, Pierce was 10

Plenty of players available of at least more value than kendrick Perkins (enea kanter), and whatever pennies people want to get for dante. Not to mention the trey burke loss of value.

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