Rob Dillingham

[Lipoli390]

In college, Iverson was a hek of a defender. That's the big difference between the two.

That’s right, Cool. But I’m thinking that some of that might be attributable to the fact that Iverson played for John Thompson while Dillingham played for coach Cal. Interestingly, Iverson was exactly the same weight as Dillingham coming out of college. I’d say the main issue with Dillingham on defense isn’t size; it’s mainly lack of understanding and effort. According to TC, Dillingham has “an elite basketball IQ.” So he should be able to develop a much better understanding of how to play defense if he puts his mind to it. TC also referred to Dillingham as super competitive. So i would think we’ll start to see the necessary effort from Dillingham’s on that end of the floor.

[Monster]

In college, Iverson was a hek of a defender. That's the big difference between the two.

That’s right, Cool. But I’m thinking that some of that might be attributable to the fact that Iverson played for John Thompson while Dillingham played for coach Cal. Interestingly, Iverson was exactly the same weight as Dillingham coming out of college. I’d say the main issue with Dillingham on defense isn’t size; it’s mainly lack of understanding and effort. According to TC, Dillingham has “an elite basketball IQ.” So he should be able to develop a much better understanding of how to play defense if he puts his mind to it. TC also referred to Dillingham as super competitive. So i would think we’ll start to see the necessary effort from Dillingham’s on that end of the floor.

The difference in coaching is a worthwhile point. In my view coach Cal has basically been developing players for the NBA for idk like 10 years. It’s more like the g-league elite team or whatever than doing everything to become a championship level squad. Still at times UK has been a pretty good defensive team.

Like Cool said what separates Iverson and Dillingham defensively is Iverson was and absolute ball hawk on defense. Even in the NBA he was a guy you had to account for because he would come out of nowhere and get steals for easy buckets. He had that elite explosion and speed help him on that end and the guy had a hell of a motor.

Another guy that was very skinny that a big knock on him was Dejonte Murray. Obviously he has way more length but that makes his 170 pound frame even more slight. He went to the Spurs and basically instantly became at least average defensively as a rookie. He is still only listed at 180 pounds. Is there something people are missing about Dillingham that might make him some sort of asset on D? If McLaughlin was able to stay healthy and was able to more of a scorer and therefore a starting level offensive player I think his defense now wouldn’t be a complete liability. Would he get targeted on D some? Sure but he does have some positive impact on that end of the floor. Dillingham is bigger than McLaughlin can he become a guy that plays smart within a system and do things consistently with a motor? Idk again I’m looking forward to watching some UK games to see some game flow.

The other thing is he isn’t going to be given the task to carry the team offensively for 30+ minutes a night. He is gonna be coming off the bench so he can be going full tilt for all those minutes. Contrast that with Trae Young who I thought would have more steals a game than he does but at times in his career he has basically been almost the entire office for Atlanta.

[Lipoli390]

https://youtu.be/nSiRrnjGOYI

Yes, Draymond is a jerk. But he has a really smart basketball mind. He loves Dillingham and loves his fit with the Wolves.

[Monster]

I watched UK vs Tennessee from 3/9/2024 a few minutes ago. Here are some thoughts.

This wasn't the game to watch to get thrilled about Dillingham offensively. He got into foul trouble early in the first half and sat the rest of the half. He wasn't making thrilling passes but he made the right play a couple times for the assist. Late in the game UK had a hard time finishing it out with Tenn pressure and Dilly had some issues but he was not alone it was a team effort.

Speaking of effort Dillingham was pretty active on D and most of the time he was putting a body on guys on rebounds. Later in the game he had a couple key box outs for rebounds. He didn't look afraid of contact often battling bigs who are obviously much bigger than him. His poor closeouts were partly how he got into foul trouble to begin with and yeah he lost his man a couple times on D but for most possessions he looked engaged. My concern is that I didn't see much of him making instinctual plays on help D. That's something I will be looking for and also it's possible he was not willing to do that since he was in foul trouble. There was one drive it looked like he could have helped near the rim and he Backed away and it looked bad but then I remember he had 4 fouls so it was actually the right thing to do and he did look like he was looking for a body to box out if it came off the rim.

There were times where he collapsed the D and once he missed at the rim and the big was right there should have been an easy put back but they either barely corraled it or missed it because they mistimed their jump etc. Rudy would have jammed that thing.

Lots of other fun performances from both teams in this game and on both sides of the ball. 14 total blocked shots in this one.

[Lipoli390]

I watched UK vs Tennessee from 3/9/2024 a few minutes ago. Here are some thoughts.

This wasn't the game to watch to get thrilled about Dillingham offensively. He got into foul trouble early in the first half and sat the rest of the half. He wasn't making thrilling passes but he made the right play a couple times for the assist. Late in the game UK had a hard time finishing it out with Tenn pressure and Dilly had some issues but he was not alone it was a team effort.

Speaking of effort Dillingham was pretty active on D and most of the time he was putting a body on guys on rebounds. Later in the game he had a couple key box outs for rebounds. He didn't look afraid of contact often battling bigs who are obviously much bigger than him. His poor closeouts were partly how he got into foul trouble to begin with and yeah he lost his man a couple times on D but for most possessions he looked engaged. My concern is that I didn't see much of him making instinctual plays on help D. That's something I will be looking for and also it's possible he was not willing to do that since he was in foul trouble. There was one drive it looked like he could have helped near the rim and he Backed away and it looked bad but then I remember he had 4 fouls so it was actually the right thing to do and he did look like he was looking for a body to box out if it came off the rim.

There were times where he collapsed the D and once he missed at the rim and the big was right there should have been an easy put back but they either barely corraled it or missed it because they mistimed their jump etc. Rudy would have jammed that thing.

Lots of other fun performances from both teams in this game and on both sides of the ball. 14 total blocked shots in this one.

Thanks for reporting on that game. So far, I’ve just watched Dilly’s highlights. Interestingly, I’ve seen in his highlights bits of what you observed about his defense in the TN game. I’ve seen some highlights where he’s really locked in on and effectively harassing the guys he’s defending while I’ve seen other clips of him looking passive and disinterested defensively off the ball. I’ve also seen him get taken out easily on screens and letting guys get by him fairly easily. I haven’t seen any highlight clips of him looking anything but stellar on offense, but that’s because they’re highlights. . I know he has a pretty poor conversion rate on his shots at the rim, which aligns with your observation that he had a hard time finishing at the rim late in the game.

Getting stronger will be key to both finishing his shots at the rim offensively and fighting more effectively through screens defensively. If he’s as smart and competitive as TC emphatically asserts, then he’ll develop his defensive acumen and give the consistently intense defensive effort i saw in some of the clips I’ve watched. His finishing and defensive shortcomings are certainly causes for concern and things to watch, but I remain optimistic about Dilly’s chances of eventually becoming a very good - maybe all-star caliber - successor to Mike Conley as our starting PG in a couple years. In the meantime, I’m hoping he can provide some much-needed net positive offensive punch off the bench next season.

[Monster]

I watched UK vs Tennessee from 3/9/2024 a few minutes ago. Here are some thoughts.

This wasn't the game to watch to get thrilled about Dillingham offensively. He got into foul trouble early in the first half and sat the rest of the half. He wasn't making thrilling passes but he made the right play a couple times for the assist. Late in the game UK had a hard time finishing it out with Tenn pressure and Dilly had some issues but he was not alone it was a team effort.

Speaking of effort Dillingham was pretty active on D and most of the time he was putting a body on guys on rebounds. Later in the game he had a couple key box outs for rebounds. He didn't look afraid of contact often battling bigs who are obviously much bigger than him. His poor closeouts were partly how he got into foul trouble to begin with and yeah he lost his man a couple times on D but for most possessions he looked engaged. My concern is that I didn't see much of him making instinctual plays on help D. That's something I will be looking for and also it's possible he was not willing to do that since he was in foul trouble. There was one drive it looked like he could have helped near the rim and he Backed away and it looked bad but then I remember he had 4 fouls so it was actually the right thing to do and he did look like he was looking for a body to box out if it came off the rim.

There were times where he collapsed the D and once he missed at the rim and the big was right there should have been an easy put back but they either barely corraled it or missed it because they mistimed their jump etc. Rudy would have jammed that thing.

Lots of other fun performances from both teams in this game and on both sides of the ball. 14 total blocked shots in this one.

Thanks for reporting on that game. So far, I’ve just watched Dilly’s highlights. Interestingly, I’ve seen in his highlights bits of what you observed about his defense in the TN game. I’ve seen some highlights where he’s really locked in on and effectively harassing the guys he’s defending while I’ve seen other clips of him looking passive and disinterested defensively off the ball. I’ve also seen him get taken out easily on screens and letting guys get by him fairly easily. I haven’t seen any highlight clips of him looking anything but stellar on offense, but that’s because they’re highlights. . I know he has a pretty poor conversion rate on his shots at the rim, which aligns with your observation that he had a hard time finishing at the rim late in the game.

Getting stronger will be key to both finishing his shots at the rim offensively and fighting more effectively through screens defensively. If he’s as smart and competitive as TC emphatically asserts, then he’ll develop his defensive acumen and give the consistently intense defensive effort i saw in some of the clips I’ve watched. His finishing and defensive shortcomings are certainly causes for concern and things to watch, but I remain optimistic about Dilly’s chances of eventually becoming a very good - maybe all-star caliber - successor to Mike Conley as our starting PG in a couple years. In the meantime, I’m hoping he can provide some much-needed net positive offensive punch off the bench next season.

FWIW UK switched a lot in this game so he wasn't tasked with getting through screens although he didn't few times including some where there were multiple screens and so even when there was a switch he had to get through some bodies.

As for finishing...Tennessee was a terrific defensive team and that was one reason I watched this one. They had plenty of size at the rim and I actually didn't think Dilly did poorly at the rim in this game because like I said even one of the shots he missed was basically an assist since at least 2 guys were contesting him at the rim.

I'll also mention that I would say that when Dilly was on the floor he was the guy bring on the ball over 50% of the time and he played possibly all his minutes with Reed Shepard. I'm probably gonna watch a couple more games since they go fast since Dilly doesn't play big minutes I speed up the game when he isn't in. Lol

[Q-is-here]

Dillingham versus other freshman blue-chippers that eventually went on to become great NBA scorers:

Name - Points per 40 Minutes/TS%
Rob Dillingham - 26.1/.595
Anthony Edwards - 23.1/.520
Tyrese Maxey - 16.2/.531
SGA - 17.1/.578
Jamal Murray - 22.7/.590
Malik Monk - 24.8/.586
Trae Young - 30.9/.585
Kyrie Irving* - 25.3/.697

* Irving only played 11 games for Duke before getting hurt as a freshman.

Only Trae Young scored more than Dillingham on a Per 40 minute basis. And his efficiency is second only to Kyrie Irving.

Of course the big caveat here is that Dillingham came off the bench mostly and didn't have the same responsibilities as a 30+ MPG guy.

[Lipoli390]

Dillingham versus other freshman blue-chippers that eventually went on to become great NBA scorers:

Name - Points per 40 Minutes/TS%
Rob Dillingham - 26.1/.595
Anthony Edwards - 23.1/.520
Tyrese Maxey - 16.2/.531
SGA - 17.1/.578
Jamal Murray - 22.7/.590
Malik Monk - 24.8/.586
Trae Young - 30.9/.585
Kyrie Irving* - 25.3/.697

* Irving only played 11 games for Duke before getting hurt as a freshman.

Only Trae Young scored more than Dillingham on a Per 40 minute basis. And his efficiency is second only to Kyrie Irving.

Of course the big caveat here is that Dillingham came off the bench mostly and didn't have the same responsibilities as a 30+ MPG guy.

Those stats are telling. I think I’ve now watched every Dilly video on the Internet, including Overtime Elite highlights and video draft reviews. Watching what Dilly does and how he plays leaves no doubt he’s an extraordinarily gifted offensive player. His handle, speed and change of direction/speed with the ball are phenomenal. His shooting is tremendous. His combo platter of ball-handling, quickness, craftiness and shooting is extremely rare. More than anything his feel for the game is off the charts. This kid’s go that special something. I expect him to put on 15 pounds of muscle in couple years. I believe the added muscle weight plus experience with a veteran winning team and the mentorship of Mike Conley over the next two years will develop Dilly into an all-star.

[Q-is-here]

Dillingham versus other freshman blue-chippers that eventually went on to become great NBA scorers:

Name - Points per 40 Minutes/TS%
Rob Dillingham - 26.1/.595
Anthony Edwards - 23.1/.520
Tyrese Maxey - 16.2/.531
SGA - 17.1/.578
Jamal Murray - 22.7/.590
Malik Monk - 24.8/.586
Trae Young - 30.9/.585
Kyrie Irving* - 25.3/.697

* Irving only played 11 games for Duke before getting hurt as a freshman.

Only Trae Young scored more than Dillingham on a Per 40 minute basis. And his efficiency is second only to Kyrie Irving.

Of course the big caveat here is that Dillingham came off the bench mostly and didn't have the same responsibilities as a 30+ MPG guy.

Those stats are telling. I think I’ve now watched every Dilly video on the Internet, including Overtime Elite highlights and video draft reviews. Watching what Dilly does and how he plays leaves no doubt he’s an extraordinarily gifted offensive player. His handle, speed and change of direction/speed with the ball are phenomenal. His shooting is tremendous. His combo platter of ball-handling, quickness, craftiness and shooting is extremely rare. More than anything his feel for the game is off the charts. This kid’s go that special something. I expect him to put on 15 pounds of muscle in couple years. I believe the added muscle weight plus experience with a veteran winning team and the mentorship of Mike Conley over the next two years will develop Dilly into an all-star.

Yeah, he is definitely being put into nearly an ideal situation. On the one hand, his skills are desperately needed by the Wolves. On the other hand, his weaknesses are the rest of the team's strengths. Like you have said, the question on defense is can he go from absolutely terrible to mediocre? How much can we hide him? Etc.

I think one of the encouraging things is that what he did at Kentucky was a big step up over what he did at Overtime Elite in terms of the outside shooting and passing. Say what you want about Calipari, but he is a genius when it comes to recruiting and developing elite shot makers in the short time he has them.

[WildWolf2813]

Dillingham versus other freshman blue-chippers that eventually went on to become great NBA scorers:

Name - Points per 40 Minutes/TS%
Rob Dillingham - 26.1/.595
Anthony Edwards - 23.1/.520
Tyrese Maxey - 16.2/.531
SGA - 17.1/.578
Jamal Murray - 22.7/.590
Malik Monk - 24.8/.586
Trae Young - 30.9/.585
Kyrie Irving* - 25.3/.697

* Irving only played 11 games for Duke before getting hurt as a freshman.

Only Trae Young scored more than Dillingham on a Per 40 minute basis. And his efficiency is second only to Kyrie Irving.

Of course the big caveat here is that Dillingham came off the bench mostly and didn't have the same responsibilities as a 30+ MPG guy.

Those stats are telling. I think I’ve now watched every Dilly video on the Internet, including Overtime Elite highlights and video draft reviews. Watching what Dilly does and how he plays leaves no doubt he’s an extraordinarily gifted offensive player. His handle, speed and change of direction/speed with the ball are phenomenal. His shooting is tremendous. His combo platter of ball-handling, quickness, craftiness and shooting is extremely rare. More than anything his feel for the game is off the charts. This kid’s go that special something. I expect him to put on 15 pounds of muscle in couple years. I believe the added muscle weight plus experience with a veteran winning team and the mentorship of Mike Conley over the next two years will develop Dilly into an all-star.

Yeah, he is definitely being put into nearly an ideal situation. On the one hand, his skills are desperately needed by the Wolves. On the other hand, his weaknesses are the rest of the team's strengths. Like you have said, the question on defense is can he go from absolutely terrible to mediocre? How much can we hide him? Etc.

I think one of the encouraging things is that what he did at Kentucky was a big step up over what he did at Overtime Elite in terms of the outside shooting and passing. Say what you want about Calipari, but he is a genius when it comes to recruiting and developing elite shot makers in the short time he has them.

And Rob doesn't appear to be someone who's gonna forget how to shoot threes, and definitely won't be unwilling.