Dante Exum - 2014/2015 NBA Season Highlights

[NAOS]

^^^Best advice of the day.

But if your business is impacted by public perception, you'd better be aware of the blow back. Your organization must be strong enough to withstand the scrutiny, and you must have a believable spin on the story to soften the blow.

are we still talking about trading Trey? I don't think the PR Machine would have to work overtime on that one. It might have to call Dal's mom to see if he's okay, might have to also inquire about George and Sandy, but that won't take any special training or anything.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Nope.

I'm still really, really high on Exum and agree with Lindsey's comments - he has all the tools, including the intelligence, work ethic, and selflessness; he just needs to get stronger. We laud Gobert for the impact he had after the All Star break, but frankly the team's turn around started weeks before when Exum was swapped into the starting line-up. It means something that even when he wasn't playing well individually, he helped the team to win.

Dante has three weaknesses currently:

1. A lack of ball-handling ability, particularly with his left hand.
2. A lack of strength and conditioning.
3. A lack of finishing/mid-range.

And what people call his lack of aggressiveness isn't actually that - it's the culmination of the above three factors combined with Dante wanting the team to win. Lucky for him, the Jazz, and us, those three factors are entirely teachable and solvable. Everything that can't be taught, Dante already has in spades. (Side note: the biggest knocks on Jordan, at 20 years of age, was ball-handling ability with his left hand and his shooting - both were solved. Not saying Dante is the next Jordan, but even the GOAT had concrete skills that held him back early on in his career.)

I've been saying for the past year that PGs tend to make a minor jump between years one and two and then a major jump between years two and three. As long as we see minor to moderate progress next year with him, we're in a very good position. At this point, I think Dante's floor is Hayward with better defense. But I'd easily drop down a bet that he'll be a multiple All Star.

Whether he becomes a superstar or not, I'm unsure of, but the potential is very much there and this year didn't do much to reject that possibility.

Very well said... I think if we run him out there with Hood and Hayward we can hide his lack of creation for now. Hopefully he improves that jumper and his defense is really good right now already.

Don't think he's a multiple time all star, but think he'll be good.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Adding: Coach Thorpe at ESPN who I really think is a smart dude when it comes to thinking about player development, still thinks Dante will be the best point guard of the 2014-2015 class and has him as a lock for multiple All Star appearances as well.

I like Thorpe... but he's had his misses. Dude really like Fes. He probably didn't know his brain was broken, but still he's had his misses.

 

[orangello]

I like Thorpe... but he's had his misses. Dude really like Fes. He probably didn't know his brain was broken, but still he's had his misses.

He also said Markieff Morris would be awesome.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

He also said Markieff Morris would be awesome.

He is an awesome basketball player, but a world class douche.

 

[orangello]

He is an awesome basketball player, but a world class douche.

No denying that.

 

[Cappy_Smurf]

Nope.

I'm still really, really high on Exum and agree with Lindsey's comments - he has all the tools, including the intelligence, work ethic, and selflessness; he just needs to get stronger. We laud Gobert for the impact he had after the All Star break, but frankly the team's turn around started weeks before when Exum was swapped into the starting line-up. It means something that even when he wasn't playing well individually, he helped the team to win.

Dante has three weaknesses currently:

1. A lack of ball-handling ability, particularly with his left hand.
2. A lack of strength and conditioning.
3. A lack of finishing/mid-range.

And what people call his lack of aggressiveness isn't actually that - it's the culmination of the above three factors combined with Dante wanting the team to win. Lucky for him, the Jazz, and us, those three factors are entirely teachable and solvable. Everything that can't be taught, Dante already has in spades. (Side note: the biggest knocks on Jordan, at 20 years of age, was ball-handling ability with his left hand and his shooting - both were solved. Not saying Dante is the next Jordan, but even the GOAT had concrete skills that held him back early on in his career.)

I've been saying for the past year that PGs tend to make a minor jump between years one and two and then a major jump between years two and three. As long as we see minor to moderate progress next year with him, we're in a very good position. At this point, I think Dante's floor is Hayward with better defense. But I'd easily drop down a bet that he'll be a multiple All Star.

Whether he becomes a superstar or not, I'm unsure of, but the potential is very much there and this year didn't do much to reject that possibility.

Great post. Exum isn't going anywhere.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Yeah, I just hope Jazz fans keep their expectations realistic. It might still be a year or two before he starts to put it all together. Hopefully he'll improve enough that we'll stop hearing some of the silly comments we heard last year that completely ignore the defensive end of the court, and the trade comments. Exum ain't goin' nowhere.

Yes, but we need to see some kind of significant jump from him. If he hasn't noticeably improved then people being concerned is only reasonable.

 

[da ThRONe]

Nope.

I'm still really, really high on Exum and agree with Lindsey's comments - he has all the tools, including the intelligence, work ethic, and selflessness; he just needs to get stronger. We laud Gobert for the impact he had after the All Star break, but frankly the team's turn around started weeks before when Exum was swapped into the starting line-up. It means something that even when he wasn't playing well individually, he helped the team to win.

Dante has three weaknesses currently:

1. A lack of ball-handling ability, particularly with his left hand.
2. A lack of strength and conditioning.
3. A lack of finishing/mid-range.

And what people call his lack of aggressiveness isn't actually that - it's the culmination of the above three factors combined with Dante wanting the team to win. Lucky for him, the Jazz, and us, those three factors are entirely teachable and solvable. Everything that can't be taught, Dante already has in spades. (Side note: the biggest knocks on Jordan, at 20 years of age, was ball-handling ability with his left hand and his shooting - both were solved. Not saying Dante is the next Jordan, but even the GOAT had concrete skills that held him back early on in his career.)

I've been saying for the past year that PGs tend to make a minor jump between years one and two and then a major jump between years two and three. As long as we see minor to moderate progress next year with him, we're in a very good position. At this point, I think Dante's floor is Hayward with better defense. But I'd easily drop down a bet that he'll be a multiple All Star.

Whether he becomes a superstar or not, I'm unsure of, but the potential is very much there and this year didn't do much to reject that possibility.

These are fair pro points for Exum. However saying a lack of aggression isn't apart of Dante's problem is disingenuous at best. Anybody who watched him enough saw a player pass up on open lanes to the basket consistently.

 

[Flc]

These are fair pro points for Exum. However saying a lack of aggression isn't apart of Dante's problem is disingenuous at best. Anybody who watched him enough saw a player pass up on open lanes to the basket consistently.

There's a difference between a mental lack of aggressiveness ("he's soft") and a lack of aggressiveness that stems from not having the strength and finishing skills to make anything happen at the end of a drive. In Dante's case, it's clearly the latter - mentally soft players don't play defense the way Exum does.

The issue, for me, is that people decry the absence of drives to the basket as if he's got some internalized mental issue when that just isn't the case. And frankly, I think that's why some people are so concerned for him - there's a big difference between a limited skill set and a limited mindset, because skills are much easier to fix.

Kid is going to be more than fine.

 

[fishonjazz]

In my opinion, his lack of aggression on offense can't only be attributed to strength. There has to be some mental (soft) problems too.

I mean Wiggins, lavine, durant, Jeremy Evans, etc etc are not exactly muscle bound body builders.

 

[da ThRONe]

There's a difference between a mental lack of aggressiveness ("he's soft") and a lack of aggressiveness that stems from not having the strength and finishing skills to make anything happen at the end of a drive. In Dante's case, it's clearly the latter - mentally soft players don't play defense the way Exum does.

The issue, for me, is that people decry the absence of drives to the basket as if he's got some internalized mental issue when that just isn't the case. And frankly, I think that's why some people are so concerned for him - there's a big difference between a limited skill set and a limited mindset, because skills are much easier to fix.

Kid is going to be more than fine.

Saying it's "clear" that he isn't "soft" doesn't seem very clear to me. Failing to attack isn't about strength it's about mindset. Like Fish pointed out there's a long list of young weak players that not suffering from a lack of aggression.

 

[NAOS]

Y'all don't know Exum and what he thinks. Maybe he knew that his drives would convert at very low efficiency. They would have. Maybe he looked to fit into a scheme that would have produced points more efficiently (and thus the emphasis he gave to his 3-point shot and passing). Maybe Q was guiding this entirely. Maybe.

Calling someone soft when you are watching from home with a beer is always something of a stretch.

 

[BabyPeterzz]

Y'all don't know Exum and what he thinks. Maybe he knew that his drives would convert at very low efficiency. The would have. Maybe he looked to fit into a scheme that would have produced points more efficiently (and thus the emphasis he gave to his 3-point shot and passing). Maybe Q was guiding this entirely. Maybe.

Calling someone soft when you are watching from home with a beer is always something of a stretch.

Coach and the FO mentioned on many occasions that they were encouraging Dante to be more aggressive. I think his lack of aggression stemmed from both being physically inferior and, after a few hard fouls, he was afraid to attack the rim. I don't blame him, it happens to a lot of rookies. He also wanted to defer to Hayward and Favors out of respect and because he wants to play team basketball. He focused on defense and his obvious fatigue problems set in.

All this added up to a rookie who avoided contact, was not confident on offense, and did his best to fit in.

The jury is still out.

 

[NAOS]

Coach and the FO mentioned on many occasions that they were encouraging Dante to be more aggressive. I think his lack of aggression stemmed from both being physically inferior and, after a few hard fouls, he was afraid to attack the rim. I don't blame him, it happens to a lot of rookies. He also wanted to defer to Hayward and Favors out of respect and because he wants to play team basketball. He focused on defense and his obvious fatigue problems set in.

All this added up to a rookie who avoided contact, was not confident on offense, and did his best to fit in.

The jury is still out.

I'm not really convinced by anything the coaches tell the media. Maybe Dante missed two or three drives a game that he was green-lighted to take. I have no doubt in my mind that his marching orders were limited; Q didn't want him barreling down the lane when the whim struck. In other words, I think that if Dante were AS AGGRESSIVE AS Q ENCOURAGED HIM TO BE, then most fans would still find that he LACKED AGGRESSION. Was he overly hesitant at times? Yes. Do fans make too big a deal out of it and miss properly emphasizing all that he did well? Absolutely.

 

[Cappy_Smurf]

Yes, but we need to see some kind of significant jump from him. If he hasn't noticeably improved then people being concerned is only reasonable.

I guess it depends on your definition of significant. We all want him to be more aggressive, but that may be a slow process that could take some time. IMO, he did pretty damn good for a kid jumping from HS to the NBA. He was literally a kid playing against grown men last year, and yet a lot of fans had unrealistic expectations simply because of how high he was drafted. Utah won a lot of games against the best competition in the league with Dante starting, and yet there are still people who think he sucks, or he isn't competitive, no aggression, etc. Even though it is frustrating to see him playing timid on offense, his self-awareness was a contributing factor to Utah winning games because Dante understands and plays within his limitations. I've seen comments by fans that they prefer/respect Trey Burke's mindset over Dante's, and I couldn't disagree more about that. A want a player that has a good sense about whether or not he's helping his team win, and although it's frustrating now, once Dante gets more comfortable taking risks, fans will learn to appreciate the way this kid approaches the game.

 

[Coach Ellis]

Watching the video, I'm highly encouraged by his defense and shooting (which were supposed to be two of his weaker points) and by the fact that three of his best drives came when he took it left and finished with a layup or reverse layup. . . again. . . one of the areas that he has been known to struggle with. I see a kid with a lightning quick first step, an amazing basketball IQ and the leadership qualities of a distributing PG who had his confidence in his own shot grow as the season went on - despite the fact that he started out the season fatigued and yet managed to play better after he hit the rookie wall and was inserted into the starting lineup. He fought with management to stay on the court and play all 82 games, which tells me that he has faith in himself. He knows that he's already a good defender and he's starting to become more confident in himself as a shooter. I'm excited to see what he can do after a full offseason program and hopefully some added bulk. He's already focused on improving in some of his weak areas, so if he comes back and improves in his handle, his driving and his aggressiveness. . . hopefully he'll already start showing signs of being the complete player that we hope he develops into someday. I won't judge him too much based on his rookie year, and I'm excited to see what the future brings for him. I'm expecting a big jump from him for year 2.

 

[Batman]

I like Thorpe... but he's had his misses. Dude really like Fes. He probably didn't know his brain was broken, but still he's had his misses.

Haha. Speaking of Fes, one of my favorite quotes came from him at the end of a game vs the Suns.

Reporter asked him if he was worried about a hard foul he had on Channing Frye. Fes responded, simply, with: "If he dies, he dies." Hahaha

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

Haha. Speaking of Fes, one of my favorite quotes came from him at the end of a game vs the Suns.

Reporter asked him if he was worried about a hard foul he had on Channing Frye. Fes responded, simply, with: "If he dies, he dies." Hahaha

Did you think he was joking?

 

[RandyForRubio]

Fes interviews were the best. Miss those days.