Thorpe's take on Gordon Hayward
- Thread starter Zerol
- Start date
DWill_Gr8tness
Member
(anyone) plus Deron Williams = Much better (anyone)
Stifle Tower
Punch Bowl Re-Filler
AS long as Hayward is light on his feet and not light in the loafers, Sloan and Miller will be happy.
Not very productive? He is averaging team second 10 ppg in 22 mins on 63% shooting. How is that not productive? Plus gets some blocks, boards, passes well too. I really like what I have see so far. Other top draft picks George and Turner are shooting less than 35% from the floor. I am not even going to mention Favors, who is simply not ready for NBA yet. Sure, he is not tournament MVP, but he is definitely very productive. Not bad for a 20 year old who has not played ball since March. One thing he needs to do though is get stronger. He is able to keep up with the guys on the perimeter and showed surprisingly good athletic ability, but when posted up he is not able to defend very well sometimes. He really needs 10 lb of muscle or so and more strength. That will come though as he is just 20 and not that far off from where he needs to be.
Stifle Tower
Punch Bowl Re-Filler
For once I agree with you, Borat. Nice to know we can see eye-to-eye on a few issues.
Watching the games, I think Gordon is doing a pretty good job of running the Jazz offense. He's making cuts, trying to come off screens. He's put up a couple of bad shots, but overall, I like his restraint. It's exactly what you'd like to see happen during NBA games: only take a shot or make a drive when it's a high-percentage opportunity.
What has surprise me is Hayward is NOT a skinny, unathletic white kid. He's bigger than I thought, although I do agree he needs 10-15 more pounds of lean muscle mass. If he can improve his perimeter defense, I also think he might see some time opposite Deron. Can you imagine Hayward and CJ in there together at the 2/3? Both are considerably taller than most opposing SG's. One would have quite a mismatch.
I'm not saying I was wrong about the pick, Hayward was a good choice. But I still have no idea what the Jazz are going to do at the 5. Koufos has looked OK on the offensive end...against summer-leaguers. But he hasn't exactly been a defensive stopper.
Well, that's not once that we agreed. On Beasley thread you made a great point about him really being traded for a lottery pick, and with this information, I fully agree, there was not much KOC could do to match that. On Hayward though, his athletic ability was evident at the combine: the guy was one of the top players in entire draft class in vertical and sprint. Nice to see him using it to his advantage against some solid competition. Once he gets strength and weight, along with normal player development, he will be fine. I just hope Sloan gives him some minutes. That is the biggest problem: the guy benched Deron in favor of McLeod, but at the same time started Matthews. So, I hope we will get lucky here and Hayward gets some time during the season.
Also, you mentioned Koufos, and after poor first game, I thought he really improved his play. He made his presense felt in last 3 games and was able to block/alter some shots and made himself a force around the basket too. He has no jump shot though, and still has ways to go, but after watching him do well last 3 outings, I am cautiously optimistic. One good thing is that Koufos is actually same age or younger than many first round picks this year. He just turned 21 this year. Maybe not all hope is lost here. He is not going to be a star, but I do see progress. Maybe enough to get some minutes at the start of the season. Remember, starting spot is open right now, with Memo injured. And even is Fess is resigned, I think Kosta might surpass him by the time season rolls around.
Stifle Tower
Punch Bowl Re-Filler
Point well-taken re: Koufos. He is still young. And he does have great size. That's another thing I've noticed in the summer league. Kosta looks like he's put on 15 lbs. since his rookie season. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Summer league is a bit helter-skelter. Guard or forward beats his man, Kosta goes over to help, then his man scores. Kosta has a nice hook shot and he makes his FT's when fouled. Maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised by Koufos and Fesenko this year. All the changes will make Jazz games interesting to watch; that's for sure.
Gyp Rosetti
Banned
Sounds like Korver 2.0 to me. Color me unimpressed.
My guess is at his peak, he'll be a 13.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg player who's suspect on defense. In other words, a marginal starter.