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Taylor Hendricks Hype Thread

KqWIN said:
Maybe….I think his entire game looked off in the G-League. Like I remember talking with you about how odd it was that loose balls were floating right past his face and he wasn’t getting them. Now I’d say it’s one of the better things he does and I think it’s because he can focus on those little things.

IMO….TH has always been a defense first prospect. For as much skepticism as I’ve had about him having an expansive offensive game, I thought he had the potential to do a lot on defense. He is still somewhat raw on defense and will need to improve his awareness, but I think he can go really far. He’s not guarding any Jimmy Butler’s in the G-League, that’s for sure. I think guarding the best of the best and being thrown in thrown into the fire is a good thing for him.

I don’t like to get ahead of myself and talk about end game state….but even with Walker we probably need at least one more elite defensive player in starting lineup to be competitive. Much more if Key+Sexton are the future backcourt (they won’t imo….just saying). Investing in TH’s defensive development is important and he needs to be in the NBA for that imo.

Water under a bridge now though.
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Yeah, I dont think the Jazz need elite defenders, they just need to get rid of the guys who are negatives (like Sexton/Clarkson/Collins) or greatly reduce their minutes (Clarkson being a 20 mpg instead of 28+)
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
Yeah, I dont think the Jazz need elite defenders, they just need to get rid of the guys who are negatives (like Sexton/Clarkson/Collins) or greatly reduce their minutes (Clarkson being a 20 mpg instead of 28+)
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I think to really compete in this league you need to have at least one perimeter defender that is near that elite category. I'm hoping Hendricks can grow into that Aaron Gordon type that can switch onto almost anyone and be effective. If we can come out of this draft with Castle then I think he and Hendricks could be a pretty dynamic duo at the 2/3 spots defensively.
 
sip said:
I think to really compete in this league you need to have at least one perimeter defender that is near that elite category. I'm hoping Hendricks can grow into that Aaron Gordon type that can switch onto almost anyone and be effective. If we can come out of this draft with Castle then I think he and Hendricks could be a pretty dynamic duo at the 2/3 spots defensively.
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Not having negative defenders is innumerably more important than having elite perimeter defenders. I dont think they are even that important.

You just need the defensive big who can play 30+ MPG. Currently the Jazz don't have that. Hopefully Walker can get there. Still has a lot of growing up to do before that though.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
Not having negative defenders is innumerably more important than having elite perimeter defenders. I dont think they are even that important.

You just need the defensive big who can play 30+ MPG. Currently the Jazz don't have that. Hopefully Walker can get there. Still has a lot of growing up to do before that though.
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not having value on having an elite perimeter defender is an interesting statement .. can you expand on that ? (genuine question)
 
Douchebag K said:
not having value on having an elite perimeter defender is an interesting statement .. can you expand on that ? (genuine question)
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Just dont think they are that valuable with how the NBA is played.

Most teams will seek out the worst defender on the court, so raising your floor is going to serve you better than having an elite perimeter defender.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
Yeah, I dont think the Jazz need elite defenders, they just need to get rid of the guys who are negatives (like Sexton/Clarkson/Collins) or greatly reduce their minutes (Clarkson being a 20 mpg instead of 28+)
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Eh...you're fighting a real uphill battle without elite defensive players. I don't think you're wrong that the weak link may be more important than the defensive ace....but if you look at the previous champions you will see a list of teams where the majority had multiple elite defenders. I understand the Nuggets won without the most impressive defensive personnel, but like I said, uphill battle without elite defenders.

To your point, I do agree that making up for a poor defender is something that can be done in the regular season and less so in the playoffs. Like if we're starting Key+Sexton (assuming Key doesn't improve his defense), we probably can't win the whole thing even if we have 1-2 elite defenders. But you'd still love to have elite defenders in the playoffs.
 
KqWIN said:
Eh...you're fighting a real uphill battle without elite defensive players. I don't think you're wrong that the weak link may be more important than the defensive ace....but if you look at the previous champions you will see a list of teams where the majority had multiple elite defenders. I understand the Nuggets won without the most impressive defensive personnel, but like I said, uphill battle without elite defenders.

To your point, I do agree that making up for a poor defender is something that can be done in the regular season and less so in the playoffs. Like if we're starting Key+Sexton (assuming Key doesn't improve his defense), we probably can't win the whole thing even if we have 1-2 elite defenders. But you'd still love to have elite defenders in the playoffs.
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I thought Aaron Gordon was elite last year for the nugs in that playoff run and KCP was also pretty damn good. The year before Andrew Wiggins was elite defensively for the warriors in the playoffs and in particular in the Finals.
 
KqWIN said:
Eh...you're fighting a real uphill battle without elite defensive players. I don't think you're wrong that the weak link may be more important than the defensive ace....but if you look at the previous champions you will see a list of teams where the majority had multiple elite defenders. I understand the Nuggets won without the most impressive defensive personnel, but like I said, uphill battle without elite defenders.

To your point, I do agree that making up for a poor defender is something that can be done in the regular season and less so in the playoffs. Like if we're starting Key+Sexton (assuming Key doesn't improve his defense), we probably can't win the whole thing even if we have 1-2 elite defenders. But you'd still love to have elite defenders in the playoffs.
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Your best defender is going to be a big on 90% of championship teams. The Heatles are the last team off the top of my head who werent anchored by an elite big. Jokic is the Nuggets best defender even though people want to act like he is bad.

When I said the Jazz dont need an elite defender, I meant perimeter. I think Walker has potential to be the Jazz's elite defender that makes everyone else work around him (assuming "everyone else" arent negative defenders).
 
sip said:
I thought Aaron Gordon was elite last year for the nugs in that playoff run and KCP was also pretty damn good. The year before Andrew Wiggins was elite defensively for the warriors in the playoffs and in particular in the Finals.
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Wiggins/Gordon/KCP have all been negative or average defenders at different points in their careers until they got on teams with highly intelligent defensive anchors.
 
sip said:
I thought Aaron Gordon was elite last year for the nugs in that playoff run and KCP was also pretty damn good. The year before Andrew Wiggins was elite defensively for the warriors in the playoffs and in particular in the Finals.
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I never said Aaron Gordon wasn't elite, I just said that Saint has a point that weak links mean a lot in the playoffs and that often cannot be made up for with elite defenders. I'm in the middle on this. I think that weak links mean more in the playoffs, but it's still very valuable to have elite defenders.
 
KqWIN said:
I never said Aaron Gordon wasn't elite, I just said that Saint has a point that weak links mean a lot in the playoffs and that often cannot be made up for with elite defenders. I'm in the middle on this. I think that weak links mean more in the playoffs, but it's still very valuable to have elite defenders.
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Yeah, of course. Having elite defenders is an amazing luxury (Jrue Holiday on the Bucks).

It's just extremely hard to prioritize those players because so few of them exist because they arent that important in the NBA and most of the ones who fit that description are truly awful offensive players (we have another one of those guys coming up in the draft, Ryan Dunn, who might be the next Thybulle, an elite defender playoff teams arent that excited to add/play because he is often going to be unplayable).

My overall point is that adding a Jrue Holiday is less beneficial to your defense than cutting out 30 MPG of Jordan Clarkson.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
Your best defender is going to be a big on 90% of championship teams. The Heatles are the last team off the top of my head who werent anchored by an elite big. Jokic is the Nuggets best defender even though people want to act like he is bad.

When I said the Jazz dont need an elite defender, I meant perimeter. I think Walker has potential to be the Jazz's elite defender that makes everyone else work around him (assuming "everyone else" arent negative defenders).
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Bigs are going to be the most important/best defender on most teams. But like I said, elite defenders (of all kinds) are still very valuable in the playoffs. That's why I said when you look at the list of champions, you will also find a list of teams that typically had multiple elite defenders. It was valuable to have Aaron Gordon, Jrue Holiday, Caruso, LeBron, Igoudala, Kawhi, ect.

Assuming Walker is elite and everyone else isn't negative, you'd still much prefer that one of those other perimeter guys is elite. I think it's very difficult to win a title without multiple elite defenders.
 
KqWIN said:
Eh...you're fighting a real uphill battle without elite defensive players. I don't think you're wrong that the weak link may be more important than the defensive ace....but if you look at the previous champions you will see a list of teams where the majority had multiple elite defenders. I understand the Nuggets won without the most impressive defensive personnel, but like I said, uphill battle without elite defenders.

To your point, I do agree that making up for a poor defender is something that can be done in the regular season and less so in the playoffs. Like if we're starting Key+Sexton (assuming Key doesn't improve his defense), we probably can't win the whole thing even if we have 1-2 elite defenders. But you'd still love to have elite defenders in the playoffs.
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I think what Cy is saying is you’re only as good as your weakest link. That one elite defender can’t guard everyone, and you can just screen said elite defender off the ball handler
 
Thee Idiotic Minivan K said:
I think what Cy is saying is you’re only as good as your weakest link. That one elite defender can’t guard everyone, and you can just screen said elite defender off the ball handler
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This is nonsense. You just need one guy, who guards both the perimeter and the rim at the same time, and you can have the other four guys stand around. It’s a pretty flawless plan. If it doesn’t work, it’s because your guy isn’t elite and he’s been exposed.
 
Thee Idiotic Minivan K said:
I think what Cy is saying is you’re only as good as your weakest link. That one elite defender can’t guard everyone, and you can just screen said elite defender off the ball handler
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That's true to some extent. It's also true that elite defenders are really important and almost every championship team has multiple of them. It's an uphill battle without them.
 
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