Camden wrote:I think Bazz may have lost too much weight. From my eyes, and you guys may disagree, he hasn't been getting great position in the post, and that's where he really eats. He used to just run to his spot, anchor down and normal-sized wings couldn't move him out of there. He's having to work a lot harder so far in pre-season. I think he lost that weight to get quicker and fight for SG minutes, but that's never been his game and I liked him as a bully ball wing on offense creating a mismatch.
I have to agree here. Bazz has no game for SG, so losing weight is kind of pointless. I'd prefer him working on his outside shot to complement his brute strength instead of perfecting his abs. So he could play some small ball PF for us.
I'm not sure on Bazz. One of the criticisms over the past couple years has been his led feet defensively. He did not move laterally well at all in his first two years.
What I have noticed defensively in pre-season in his limited minutes is that he is giving all out effort (the good) and appears to be moving well (also good). But he still has awareness problems, where he'll get caught ball watching and his guy goes back door for an easy layup. Or sometimes he'll unnecessarily sag off his guy to help (where none is really needed), only to get burned by an open 3-pointer.
So I'm not really sure yet whether his current weight is a problem or an asset. One thing I do know is that wild swings in weight can't be healthy. He was something like 260 early in the offseason and he lost nearly 40 lbs. That can't be good for the body.
I've seen very little of the pre-season action, so I can't speak to how Tyus Jones has performed defensively. But based on the box scores, he looks like a surprisingly good offensive player for a 19-year-old PG. His stats have been terrific: 7.5 PPG, 5 APG (against a very good 1.2 turnovers) and 2 RPG in only 25 minutes. The A:TO ratio is nothing short of extraordinary for a rookie in his first 4 games. Compare him to Mudiay for instance, who is averaging 6 APG while turning the ball over 5 times a game...frankly, not untypical for a young rookie. And while his shooting percentage of 41% is not overly impressive, he hasn't missed a free throw and is hitting 56% of his shots beyond the arc.
Andre Miller is also doing a good job protecting the ball with only 1.2 TO's compared to 3 assists, and he's making 75 % of his shots.
Put Tyus Jones in the pick and roll and he'll orchestrate your offense pretty well. He's way beyond his year's as a P&R ball-handler. That part of his game was never in question for me. It's always been defense and can he finish at the rim consistently despite his physical disadvantages.
One guy not mentioned so far....Mr. Wiggins. He hasn't been good and he hasn't been bad. He's just "been". I know - it's only four pre-season games. I'm the last one to panic. But we've seen the talent this kid has and obviously we are all hoping he can continue to take steps forward. He's sort of been invisible so far this preseason.
Carlos mentioned the high PER of Towns in his original post. Here are his numbers broken out, on a per 36 minute basis:
Points - 19.3
FG % - 54.5%
FT% - 87.5%
Reb - 10.4
Assts - 1.2
Blks - 2.3
Stls - 1.9
TOs - 2.7
PFs - 3.9 (less than I was expecting)
Holy crap that's good. It's only four games and it is pre-season, but we should all be encouraged by this.
As for the stuff that doesn't show up in the box score - defense, goal-tending, screen-setting - he's pretty raw obviously and I still think he will be a net minus this season because of these aspects of the game, but we should be encouraged about his long-term potential of being a #1 or #2 type player in the future.
Q12543 wrote:Carlos mentioned the high PER of Towns in his original post. Here are his numbers broken out, on a per 36 minute basis:
Points - 19.3
FG % - 54.5%
FT% - 87.5%
Reb - 10.4
Assts - 1.2
Blks - 2.3
Stls - 1.9
TOs - 2.7
PFs - 3.9 (less than I was expecting)
Holy crap that's good. It's only four games and it is pre-season, but we should all be encouraged by this.
As for the stuff that doesn't show up in the box score - defense, goal-tending, screen-setting - he's pretty raw obviously and I still think he will be a net minus this season because of these aspects of the game, but we should be encouraged about his long-term potential of being a #1 or #2 type player in the future.
Q12543 wrote:I'm not sure on Bazz. One of the criticisms over the past couple years has been his led feet defensively. He did not move laterally well at all in his first two years.
What I have noticed defensively in pre-season in his limited minutes is that he is giving all out effort (the good) and appears to be moving well (also good). But he still has awareness problems, where he'll get caught ball watching and his guy goes back door for an easy layup. Or sometimes he'll unnecessarily sag off his guy to help (where none is really needed), only to get burned by an open 3-pointer.
So I'm not really sure yet whether his current weight is a problem or an asset. One thing I do know is that wild swings in weight can't be healthy. He was something like 260 early in the offseason and he lost nearly 40 lbs. That can't be good for the body.
I'm never sure how much Bazz weighs or doesn't weigh so I am going to wait a few more games to see what he does or doesn't do as a post guy. The thing I like the most out of him in the preseason is him letting that 3 ball fly.
I agree with the thoughts on his defense. He is giving the effort but he just isn't there mentally and at times he has gotten beat by quicker players. He has some good vet players like KG and Prince that should be able to help him out but really the key to the future of this team's defense may be Towns. Remember that Billups and Rip were poor defenders before they went to Detroit. I am sure coaching was part of it but Inam sure Ben Wallace was a significant aspect of those guys being part of a god defensive team. I am not suggesting Towns will be that good but he looks to have legit potential to be a top defense anchoring big.
longstrangetrip wrote:I've seen very little of the pre-season action, so I can't speak to how Tyus Jones has performed defensively. But based on the box scores, he looks like a surprisingly good offensive player for a 19-year-old PG. His stats have been terrific: 7.5 PPG, 5 APG (against a very good 1.2 turnovers) and 2 RPG in only 25 minutes. The A:TO ratio is nothing short of extraordinary for a rookie in his first 4 games. Compare him to Mudiay for instance, who is averaging 6 APG while turning the ball over 5 times a game...frankly, not untypical for a young rookie. And while his shooting percentage of 41% is not overly impressive, he hasn't missed a free throw and is hitting 56% of his shots beyond the arc.
Andre Miller is also doing a good job protecting the ball with only 1.2 TO's compared to 3 assists, and he's making 75 % of his shots.
Those low TO numbers are really impressive in preseason especially for Tyus a 19 year old Rookie.
